Douglas Keane’s interest in cooking developed when he was a young boy helping his mother in their Michigan kitchen, which eventually led him to enroll in Cornell University’s prestigious School of Hotel Administration.
After graduating, Keane headed to New York to cook at The Four Seasons, the seminal restaurant in New York City’s Seagram Tower, working his way up to Sous Chef at the venerable restaurant. He next spent a year at Lespinasse, one of the Big Apple’s premier dining destinations, under the direction of chef Gray Kunz. But California beckoned again and Keane returned to San Francisco to serve as Chef de Cuisine at the highly touted Jardinière. He then took a leave of absence to serve as Sous Chef at acclaimed Restaurant Gary Danko. It was there he forged a friendship with his Cyrus partner, Nick Peyton. After his time at Gary Danko, Keane returned to Jardinière as Executive Chef, where in 2002 the San Francisco Chronicle named him a “Rising Star Chef.”
In 2002, Peyton and Keane agreed to collaborate on a fine dining restaurant project for Sonoma County, which would soon become the four-star dining destination called Cyrus. While Cyrus was being created, Keane and Peyton opened the restaurantMarket in St. Helena. In sharp contrast to the bastions of haute cuisine to which he and Peyton had become accustomed, Market was a neighborhood purveyor of all-American comfort food, where Keane concentrated on dishes such as meatloaf, fried chicken, pork chops and even grilled cheese sandwiches.
At Cyrus, admittedly his “dream restaurant,” Keane specializes in an ambitious culinary style he calls “contemporary luxury” cuisine, which has a strong classic French foundation layered with contemporary global accents and an emphasis on seasonality. In describing his cooking philosophy, the young chef passionately explains, “I try to pull the most out of each ingredient, capturing its essence and treating it with respect.”
Since opening Cyrus, Keane has been named a “Best New Chef” by Food & Wine and “Best Chef” by San Francisco Magazine. Further, under Keane’s direction, Cyrus received two stars from the revered Michelin Guide, as well as a coveted four-star review from esteemed San Francisco Chronicle Restaurant Critic Michael Bauer, who exclaimed, “if you want to find the next superstar chef, look no further than Douglas Keane.”
Keane lives in Healdsburg with his wife Lael and their three dogs.
What inspired you to open Cyrus?
It was a process; it was what I wanted to do. I always wanted to open a four star restaurant, especially after being in New York.
Your bio mentioned that cooking with your mother as a child inspired you to become a chef, was there a favorite meal that she made?
Cajon shrimp. It is a great simple recipe. We make it for Christmas every year, with newspapers on the table. It is fantastic!
Do you have favorite ingredients to cook with?
Fish is my favorite. All types. Growing up in Michigan we didn’t eat a lot of fish. When I got to New York, I was introduced to really great fish and thought it was just incredible. It is a tricky thing to cook; it has to be just right. With meat it can be medium rare or well done, if it is fish it has to be cooked perfeclyt or it is not good at all.
What ingredients do you look forward to using in the fall?
Pumpkins are fun!
In New York you had the opportunity to cook for many celebrities, did you ever meet any of them?
A lot of soap opera stars were regulars. Andre Agassi came into the kitchen once and so did Bruce Willis.
What celebrity would you like to cook for?
I would love to cook for Bill Clinton or Al Gore. Al Pacino would be great too.
Why did you decide to leave the Big Apple and come back to California?
Personal reasons. I was getting tired of New York. It is a tough way to live. When you’re young it’s perfect; you blow all your money on living. And, I liked warmer weather; I got sick of snow too. I wanted to be close to my family and after New York; San Francisco is the second best place to cook.
What is it like cooking in the Napa Valley versus New York or even San Francisco?
There is more to offer seasonally. There is better produce, better products. There is, however, a different intensity cooking in New York versus the west coast. It is more laid back here. To cook well, you need that intensity, which I was glad I learned in New York. I had to train my staff to work at that level.
People come to Napa to dine. In New York and San Francisco people wanted to eat and leave, but in Napa people want an experience to savor their food. They are saying, “I’m yours for three and a half hours.”
What is your favorite fall comfort food? I am assuming that you have several since your restaurant Market in St. Helena specializes in down home cooking!
Chicken potpie with a flaky dough, handmade with great fall vegetables. Also, anything with truffles.
Was it difficult getting recognition for your talent being younger than many other top chefs?
No, not really. You have to put your time in. Hope for some lucky breaks. My lucky break was working with Tracy at Jardinière. She helped me get exposure and she pushed me. I knew what good food needed to be like .I was always confident in my ability and knew what I wanted to do. I also knew I neeeded to hire PR to get people in the door, but if your food is not good, people won’t come back or write about you. It was also great that I teamed up with Nick Peyton. I gained instant credibility.
What do you usually cook at home?
BBQ, tacos, simple stuff. We usually get home late, so we snack. We have a huge garden that my wife, Lael, and her dad made that we get vegetables for the restaurant that we will use to experiment with. We live in a great neighborhood and we like to get together with our neighbors and drink wine and throw steaks on the grill. Just relax.
What is your definition of luxury?
Feeling pampered and a sense of style. Like being in a Lexus with a great interior and a smooth ride or looking up at smooth Venetian plaster on the ceiling with a caviar and champagne cart nearby that just sparkles.
What is your most luxurious item?
The champagne and caviar cart. We have a truffle risotto on the menu that is super rich and people love, I was thinking of taking it off the menu for a summer dish, but the feedback that I got was to leave it.
What do you like to do when you are not in the kitchen?
I love being with my three dogs and working in the garden.
If you weren’t a chef, what do you think you would do?
I would like to work with animals. Something with animal conservation or dog rescue. I like instant gratification, so I like digging in the dirt in the garden.
