To many restaurant-goers, the ubiquitous term “contemporary American cuisine” conjures images of elaborate ingredient combinations tortured into show-offy contrivances–the purple potato-pomegranate-ponzu syndrome. Joel Findlay, chef-owner of 302 West in Geneva, calls those creations “silly fusion experiments”–and he abhors them. “I’m haunted by Julia Child’s remark, that you know four people spent five minutes with their fingers all over everything on that plate,” he says.
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A passionate chef and confirmed individualist, Findlay blazed his contemporary American trail circa 1987, out in a little movie-set town “where the train turns around.” His influences range far and wide, from New Orleans to Thailand. A fondness for seafood and shellfish reflects his time cooking in Florida and the Caribbean; a Mediterranean sensibility shines through in his dishes’ simplicity of preparation, brightness of flavor, and balance of acidity through use of citric acid and wine. “It’s all about play and pleasure, about letting ingredients speak for themselves,” he says. That playfulness sneaks in when he uses comfort food to engage our sense memories–by offering, say, chocolate chip cookie dough served on a beater.
His passion for food was kindled by an aunt he describes as “a foodie in 50s-era New York. She was just a geek; she had a real sense of classical, European-based cuisine. She moved in with us when I was 18, and we spent two years trying to outdo each other in cooking competitions, driving all over for ingredients. She left me her amazing cookbook collection.” His technique was honed at a Florida resort through “an old-fashioned European-style apprenticeship with an old Czech cook. It took almost three years to get Florida’s chef certification back then: six months in the butcher shop, six months in the bakery, a year in the prep kitchen, six months doing appetizers and hors d’oeuvres, six months as a line cook.”
“We’re a mom-and-pop operation,” he continues. “Unlike many downtown restaurants, we don’t have partners, teams of lawyers, layers of managers–there’s no one to answer to. We have several staff members who’ve been here 10 or 12 years, and they’re deeply infused with our philosophy. If a guest orders a bottle of cabernet even though his wife is having the Dover sole, the server will bring her the glass of wine he recommends with her dish–at no charge.”
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Dorothy Perry.
