Printemps has brought chef Gregory Gourdet’s career full-circle. The chef, who grew up in New York, began his career at Jean-Georges before decamping for the West Coast. He opened Kann, his first restaurant, in Portland, Ore., in 2022, and was named “Best New Restaurant” at the 2023 James Beard Foundation Awards.
The pan-Caribbean restaurant and sister bar Sousòl had only been open for a year when the Printemps team reached out about bringing Gourdet onboard to oversee the culinary concepts for their New York flagship.
“I had never really planned on doing something else so soon,” says Gourdet, seated at Salon Vert, the open-concept raw bar located on the retailer’s second floor. The chef was one week out from opening the doors to Maison Passerelle, the fine-dining restaurant that will anchor Printemps’ dining options, steps away from the Red Room Bar and shoe department.
“I love fashion, and the mixture of fashion and French history and French culture,” says Gourdet, also known for competing on “Top Chef” and serving as a guest judge. “To be able to do something in New York with a bunch of strong partners after doing everything on my own for my restaurant was a little bit refreshing — and very exciting.”
The proposition was an immediate “yes” for the chef, whose culinary background is rooted in French fine dining. The original concept for the flagship restaurant at Printemps New York was a brasserie, but Gourdet ultimately led the project in a more distinct direction.
“New York has enough brasseries,” he says. “I always come from a place of history and culture when I think about food and food history. So it was exciting for me to think about French food, but think about the broader lens of French cuisine.”
The menu at Passerelle draws inspiration from North Africa, Haiti, the Caribbean, Louisiana, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and beyond. “All of these places that France has been around the world,” says Gourdet. “And those are all the flavors, the cooking techniques that influence us all in a French fine dining setting.”
Passerelle means “gateway” or “passageway” in French, and the name reflects the various cultural connections reflected on the menu — and the link that Printemps establishes between New York and Paris.
“In a fine dining setting we are able to tell a lot of different stories and think about, ‘how do we redefine luxury these days?’” Gourdet says. “It’s about really curating special experiences, and that’s something that we strive to do every night at the restaurant. And to be able to pique people’s interest in storytelling, and understanding why we have a beet salad with nuoc cham vinaigrette, why we have [French dishes] on the same menu as traditional Haitian food. Following that history around the world takes us through centuries of history and centuries of food culture, and people moving to different places; people being taken to different places.”
The emphasis is on serving delicious food in an elevated dining setting. Gourdet’s highlights from the menu include a dry-aged duck with cinnamon, vanilla, ginger, and black pepper, seared and glazed with maple syrup and tamarind-seasoned jus, served with marinated pineapple. “It’s a very traditional French technique-based dish, but you have like all these wonderful flavors of the pineapple and lime zest and the soft spices,” he says. There’s also a 30-day New York strip steak with a Haiti-imported coffee rub (the Kann coffee blend), habanero and thyme, served with frites and Creole ketchup.
Maison Passerelle is operated in partnership with Kent Hospitality Group. Gourdet worked with the group’s namesake chef James Kent, who passed away last summer, at Jean-Georges and the pair reconnected shortly before Kent opened his restaurants Saga and Crown Shy. “They’ve been really wonderful operators, and I’m super honored to carry on his legacy through what we’re doing here,” says Gourdet.
The restaurant completes the dining landscape at Printemps, which also includes a casual café on the ground floor and Champagne bar. Another perk of cooking at Printemps? Proximity to the luxury goods.
“Everyone sees me looking through everything,” says Gourdet. “I’m learning about some new designers. It’s fun.”
Gregory Gourdet
Courtesy Heather Willensky
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