I wanted to learn everything I could about what it takes to be a great chef. It was a turning point for me.

in 1992 with his girlfriend of the time to distribute Provençal-style olive oil and red wine vinegar. In his teenage summers he worked at the Palm Beach Yacht Club starting as a dishwaThomas Kellerr and quickly moving up to cook. Bouchon.

He and his landmark Napa Valley restaurant The French Laundry in Yountville California have won multiple awards from the James Beard Foundation notably the Best California Chef in 1996 and the Best Chef in America in 1997. The restaurant is a perennial winner in the annual Restaurant Magazine list of the Top 50 Restaurants of the World. Thomas Keller (born October 14 1955) is an American chef restaurateur and cookbook writer.