French Laundry Chef Timothy Hollingsworth In Brief

After news broke late yesterday that Corey Lee is going to be leaving the kitchen at Thomas Keller’s French Laundry, to be replaced by Timothy Hollingsworth, the natural question was, who is this Hollingsworth character, anyway?

The short answer is that the 29-year-old is an eight-year veteran of both of Keller’s kitchens, having worked a slew of jobs at French Laundry — most recently as a sous-chef — and been on the start-up team at Per Se. He also competed in last year’s Bocuse d’Or competition, where he placed sixth.

Hollingsworth hasn’t sought out the spotlight by appearing on cooking/reality shows, but he was naturally the subject of media attention when he won the U.S. finals and then represented the country in the most prestigious cooking competition in the world. Grub Street interviewer Alexandra Vallis asked Hollingsworth how he got on board with the competition.

“It’s very different from being a restaurant chef, so I said ‘I don’t think so.’ Four days before the deadline, Thomas Keller asked me in a meeting and I said ‘okay.’” Hollingsworth also shared his concept of American cooking: “I think it’s very regional: Texas barbecue; Northeast clam chowder; Louisiana Creole. It’s about using the ingredients you have around you. American [cooking] is built on not one country, but every country.”

While Hollingsworth didn’t break the United States’ sixth-place glass ceiling in the competition, he got the chance to cook on an international stage. That’s pretty much what he’ll be doing on a daily basis in Yountville, as he steps up to take over the kitchen at French Laundry, where he says he feels “at home.”

Hollingsworth has said his goal is to operate his own restaurant some day, for which we’re guessing he’ll be more than prepared by the time he finishes running the French Laundry kitchen.

[Photo: Via Grub Street]

French Laundry Chef Timothy Hollingsworth In Brief