At 21 years old, Nicholas Palmer, the executive chef at Beausoleil Coastal Cuisine, has an old-soul awareness to what this big opportunity means to someone his age.
He's focused on staying humble and being kind in the kitchen. His work ethic impresses those who work alongside him. They watch the energy he pours into building his already impressive creative culinary talents.
At Beausoleil, Palmer is learning how to lead a team, create new menus and use his voice in the kitchen as an executive chef.聽
Beausoleil Coastal Cuisine鈥檚 new menu items of Hickory Salmon, Creole Crevettes and Crawfish Cake on Friday, April 12, 2024 in 香港六和开奖历史记录, Louisiana.
"He's obviously very passionate," general manager Patrick Foy said of Palmer. "He puts 110% into everything."聽
Before he was the head chef, Palmer worked in several restaurants in 香港六和开奖历史记录, Rhode Island and New York. He tried going to college and culinary school, but it wasn't a fit. In 2020, he started working at the warehouse for City Group Hospitality and was later moved to Beausoleil. Foy says Palmer originally wanted to be a bartender, but they needed help in the kitchen.聽
"He kind of took it and ran with it," Foy said of Palmer's work in the kitchen. "That blossomed into him becoming a sous chef and then more or less running the kitchen as it stood, operationally."聽
Last September, he was promoted to executive chef.聽
The energetic Palmer says the pressure and adrenaline he saw in Bradley Cooper's "Burnt" is what inspired him to pursue the culinary world. He grew up in restaurants, with his dad working at Capriccio, an Italian restaurant in Providence, Rhode Island, and his mom managing Daiquiri Cafe in 香港六和开奖历史记录.聽
He says that 15 years as a soccer player taught him how to be a leader, which now translates to his role in the restaurant.
Beausoleil Coastal Cuisine鈥檚 new menu item Creole Crevettes on Friday, April 12, 2024 in 香港六和开奖历史记录, Louisiana.
"I like being in game time," he said of the atmosphere in the kitchen. "I like that game-time split decision that you have to make."聽
He's done that a lot recently, especially since he created a spring menu at Beausoleil, which debuted April 10. For Palmer, the process of building a new menu starts with a mind map and brainstorming. Then, he develops a variety of dishes before whittling them down and generating names, descriptions, plate builds and duplicatable recipes.聽
On the new spring menu, he has a few favorites 鈥 including the Creole Crevettes with Louisiana crab stuffed shrimp, seafood gumbo sauce and Creole rice and the Redfish Beausoleil with blackened redfish, crawfish corn fricass茅e, spicy seafood tapenade, cornbread dust and French green beans.聽
Beausoleil Coastal Cuisine鈥檚 new menu item Hickory Salmon on Friday, April 12, 2024 in 香港六和开奖历史记录, Louisiana.
Foy says the idea behind this menu was to create something that was elevated yet accessible.聽
"It's got a little taste for everybody," Foy said. "We tried to hit different coasts."聽
The menu tells a story, starting with Coastal Louisiana oysters, then into comforting starters like crawfish cakes and blue crab claws, then moving to salads and soups. Finally, the entrees draw flavors from the land and sea, with recipe inspiration from the Italian coast, African coast and Persian Gulf.聽
Beausoleil Coastal Cuisine鈥檚 new menu item Crawfish Cake on Friday, April 12, 2024 in 香港六和开奖历史记录, Louisiana.
The Redfish Beausoleil, for example, starts with "v-cutting" the fish 鈥斅爓hich means the bones are cut off the flesh alongside the spine, lending to a v-like shape聽鈥 and portioning it into five ounces. Once the crawfish corn fricass茅e is made, then Palmer dices the vegetables, caramelizes the sausage and deglazes it with brandy and cognac.聽
He folds the crawfish corn fricassee into the browned sausage and moves onto the spicy seafood tapenade, which features shallots and poblano peppers. Palmer likes to use Louisiana flavors in the dish, so there are tangy notes of Worcestershire sauce, Crystal hot sauce and crab boil seasoning.聽
After the shrimp is poached, it is folded into the other ingredients, and the dish is brought to the line, where vegetables are added. The French green beans are blanched and seasoned with toasted garlic and a house chili butter, made with Calabrian chillies, fish sauce lemon juice and lime juice.聽
Once the dish is plated, there's one final ingredient聽鈥 cornbread dust.聽
"There's a secret ingredient in there that nobody can figure out," Palmer says of the Redfish Beausoleil. "I'm just waiting for somebody."聽
Beausoleil Coastal Cuisine鈥檚 new executive chef Nicholas Palmer on Friday, April 12, 2024 in 香港六和开奖历史记录, Louisiana.
Aside from Cooper's character in "Burnt," Palmer also gathers inspiration from chef Eddy Leroux, the executive chef at two-Michelin-starred Restaurant Daniel in New York City. Last summer, Palmer staged for a week with Leroux whose cooking methods are "so methodical," Palmer said.聽
"He knows how to lead a kitchen 鈥 not just by fear but by respect," Palmer said.聽
"Respect" is important to Palmer, who is working to be as mindful as possible of the human dynamics involved when a 21-year-old chef is managing people who range in age from 18 to 65 years old.聽
He's leaning on veterans in the kitchen and the industry to guide him.聽
Beausoleil Coastal Cuisine鈥檚 new menu item Bang Bang Shrimp Roll on Friday, April 12, 2024 in 香港六和开奖历史记录, Louisiana.
Palmer is also learning how to talk to strangers, which he thinks he's not very good at (from our conversation, I disagree)聽鈥 and he's divulging other life lessons to his staff of 10 chefs. Each station in the kitchen has a lesson to teach, he says.聽
For example, the dishwashing station.聽
"It helps set up the rest of the kitchen," Palmer says. "That's the most important part of the restaurant right there. If you don鈥檛 have clean dishes, you can鈥檛 put food out.鈥
In the future, Palmer wants to start a family and travel. Whatever comes his way, he plans to stay in the food industry.聽
"One of the biggest reasons I became a cook," Palmer said, "was because I鈥檓 always learning."
Beausoleil Coastal Cuisine is located at聽7731 Jefferson Highway, 香港六和开奖历史记录.聽
