the taggart table

Thyme with Tom at the Taggart Table…
Tom Schaudel is considered by many as Long Island’s top chef. Tom is one of Long Island's most prolific, prominent and dominant chefs, and has been the driving force behind many top Long Island restaurants, since 1983. Over the years Tom has owned more than a dozen restaurants and has received numerous awards over the years from The James Beard House, The Magro Foundation, The Child Life Rainbow Program, The Wine Spectator, The Wine Enthusiast, The Long Island Food Critic, Island Harvest, Long Island Press Best of the Best, and Dan’s Papers and in 2010 was the inaugural inductee to the Long Island Restaurant Hall of Fame. Tom has left an indelible mark on the Long Island culinary industry. Currently, Tom owns four Long Island restaurants and a catering business including Jewel. His impact is undeniable, say industry leaders.
Tom Schaudel is Long Island’s homegrown restaurant king.

Read more about Tom
at his website:

http://tomschaudel.com

Tom has had the friendly courtesy to share some creative thoughts with Frank Duffy from the Taggart Table.....

The Taggart Table: So, what was breakfast today?
Tom Schaudel: Hazelnut de-caf and a diet peach snapple

Taggart: High school was in Carle Place?
Any creative memories there?
Tom: I wasn't much into high school and was working full time by sixteen years old. I did do some interesting woodworking in Mr. Peterson's shop class

Taggart: And a Culinary graduate in 1973?
Tom: Yeah, it seems so long ago. I made some life-long friends there...and drank a lot of beer.

Taggart: When did you know you wanted to be a chef?
Tom: By sixteen I'd pretty much figured it out. I'd been working in a steak house and I fell in love with the restaurant culture and the pirate's life in the kitchen. I had a guidance counselor named Art Smulyan who I liked very much. WE wound up spending a lot of time together because of my aversion to school work. I told him, somewhat reluctantly, that I liked cooking and he suggested that I try to go to a cooking school. I had no idea that they even existed.

Taggart: If you were not a chef, what would you be doing?
Tom: I think probably a musician. It's a parallel existence, really. You have an art form, a way to express yourself, an audience, a performance, and if you're lucky, some groupies who follow you.

Taggart: What's your favorite area of Long Island?
Tom: There's always going to be a soft spot for Carle Place for obvious reasons, having grown up there, but my heart lies on the East End. I've lived in East Hampton, Montauk, and now Jamesport. I considered East Hampton my "Hometown" for a long time now but have since moved to the other Fork. There's a lot about the South Fork that I miss, but as I mellow out some I think the North Fork is now a better fit.

Taggart: What is your favorite vacation spot?
Tom: Any place that has great restaurants, great wines, and if possible, a beach. I've been doing Europe of late but I think it's time to get back the the Caribbean.

Taggart: Name a few creative and inspirational heros:
Tom: George Strunz, my grandfather. The kindest man I ever knew. Tom Waits, just the best songwriter. Steve Vai, the greatest guitar player I've ever seen. Muhammad Ali, he NEVER, EVER quit.   

Taggart: What ticks you off in the kitchen?
Tom: Passionless effort. Why bother?

Taggart: What do you do for fun away from cooking?
Tom: Golf and guitar and still trying to get better at both.

Taggart: Do you paint or draw?
Tom: I can't even draw my signature and if  I painted, it would be houses not portraits.

Taggart: Say a few words about your band….
How often do you play?
Tom: We play a lot in the summer. I'm lucky to be surrounded by phenomenal musicians. I'm really not sure why they let me in the band, frankly. Hurricane is Brian Le Clerc (Monster guitar player), Mike Le Clerc (Bass), James Benard (Drums) and Klyph Black (Guitar and slide). I also play an acoustic duo with guitar wizard, Mike Dorio on a year round basis. I've been fortunate to have played with some incredible talent over the years: Steve Vai, Andy Aledort, Bosco Michne, Frank Fornay, John Spanierman, and Johnny Ray, to name a few. It's been quite a ride.

Taggart: Who in the food world do you most admire?
Tom: There are many to be admired and I do but I'll name two. The first is Jean Georges Vongerichten. He's the man that, through his use of vegetable juices and such changed the way the world thought about food. That's huge. Anyone can make a great dish but to change the habits of an entire art form? Wow. Thomas Keller would be my second because he never sold out his art, struggled his ass off, and finally found his audience. He NEVER, EVER quit. and we should all be glad he didn't.

Taggart: Favorite foods to cook with?
Tom: I'm a fish guy at heart. There are so many varieties and so many ways that you could cook a particular piece of fish every day for years and not duplicate the dish. Add sauces, vegetable, vinaigrettes, ect and the possibilities are endless.

Taggart: What do you like to eat when you’re at home?
Tom: I really don't eat at home. I do have cheeses on hand in case of an emergency but nothing in the way of food.

Taggart: Are there any foods you just don’t like?
Tom: I'm not wild about okra and I can' get chicken or beef liver down, but I can eat my weight in foie gras. Odd, no?

Taggart: Favorite cookbooks?
Tom: Alfred Portale's Gotham cookbook comes to mind, The French Laundry cookbook. And the writings of Gensel, the only chef author of his time to write about the horrible condition of the kitchens and the trials of working in them. I have several hundred more and cherish them all.

Taggart: Where can we find your book: “Playing with Fire: Whining & Dining on the Gold Coast.”
(besides Amazon)
Tom: It's available at my restaurants and wineries and bookstores on the East End.

Taggart: Where can we find your wines, besides your restaurants?
Tom: In my cellar. :-) I make them exclusively for the restaurants and my own amusement.

Taggart: What do you most love about your job?
Tom: I get to create at my own pace and fancy. It's the greatest art form out there...and then you eat it...and start all over again.

Taggart: Is Jewel your proudest accomplishment?
Tom: That's like asking who's your favorite child. I only have one so the answer is easy, and she's my greatest accomplishment.

Taggart: Do you give cooking demos or cooking events?
Tom:I do occasionally do cooking demo although I have nothing scheduled at the moment. We do events all the time: charities and such.

Taggart: I spent time, years ago with Harry Chapin at his house. Would you do a cooking demo for Long Island Cares?
Tom: Sure, no problem.

Taggart: What else is there that readers might be interested in. What do people not know about you that you wish they did?
Tom: I'm afraid of spiders