By William Rock

The news spread rather quickly – Paul Smith’s College had finally filled the position of Culinary Department Chair. I was very excited when I heard this news, because leadership has been conspicuously absent during my time as a student in the Paul Smith’s Culinary Arts program. I have found some great teachers, great motivators, and even a mentor, but all of my searches for true leadership have come up empty.

My excitement quickly turned to curiosity. I had to know who my new leader was, where did he come from, and what would he be bringing here with him to Paul Smith’s College? As soon as I discovered his name, Chef Bruno Neveu, I began researching.

What my research revealed was both encouraging and fascinating, and I have to admit, when I offered to conduct an interview with Chef Neveu in order to write an article welcoming and introducing him to the Paul Smith’s College Community, I had some mixed motives. Indeed it was a great honor to be given the important task of writing the article, and it would be a very important article, but in all honesty, meeting Chef Neveu was my main motivation. Not only would I meet him, but I would have a private audience, and an in-depth conversation..

Chef Neveu’s experience, background, and qualifications are second to none. He has traveled and worked all over the world, both as a chef and an educator. His resume and experience are vast and impressive, including his work as Culinary School Project Manager in association with the Academie Culinaire de France, and as Director of Education at Ecole Nationale Superieure De Patisserie, which is Chef Alain Ducasse’s school (Chef Ducasse is one of the best and most renowned chefs not only in France, but in the entire world). He has been associated with and held leadership positions at Le Cordon Bleu School in both Paris and London, the The Connecticut Culinary Institutes in Suffield and Farmington Connecticut, and at The Culinary Institute Alain & Marie Le Notre in Houston Texas, just to name a few.

My original intention was to write a very basic question-and-answer style article that would be based on a list of questions I prepared. I was only a few minutes into our interview when I realized that I was going to abandon that formula, and instead I would be writing a story about a fascinating man, and about a conversation that I was very lucky to be having with him.

Chef Neveu greeted me warmly and sincerely at his office door. I handed him a small basket of tomatoes, peppers, and herbs that I had picked from my garden at The St. Regis Cafe. I could see in his eyes and hear in his voice that he was genuinely grateful for, and touched by, my offering. He offered me a chair, and a choice of beverages from which I chose a sparkling water, and my anxiety and apprehension quickly disappeared. We spoke briefly, off the record, about my time and experience here at Paul Smith’s, and a little bit about my life before coming to college. I found myself speaking very freely with him – much more openly than I usually am with people with whom I’m speaking for the first time. I even told him things about myself that I hadn’t told anybody else since coming here. I was shocked at my ability to open up to someone who I had thought was going to be intimidating and difficult to talk to – I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I began the “on the record” portion of our conversation by asking Chef Neveu what it was that brought him to PSC. Given that he could essentially go anywhere that he chooses, based on his accomplishments and experience, I asked him why he decided on our small school in the Adirondacks?

Chef Neveu smiled after I asked my question. Clearly he had been asked this question before. He explained that he does not like hiking or camping or hunting. He said that he is definitely not an outdoorsman and he does not like the snow! He described himself as a “city boy.” He did add that he may try going out in a canoe next summer, “just to say that he did it,” but he was very clear that he did not come here because he wanted to live in the mountains or the wilderness. He went on to explain that the reason he came here for was a challenge: an opportunity to make a difference.

Next I asked Chef Neveu when it was that he discovered his passion for food and cooking, and if there was anyone who inspired him.. This was the point when my interview veered sharply to the left and went from being a stiff Q and A session to a spirited and heart-felt conversation between two men from two completely different worlds, who are passionate about the exact same things. I could hear the excitement in his voice as he talked about his grandmother back in France, and how as a young boy he would look over her shoulder, fascinated, as she cooked and baked in their family kitchen. He also spoke about accompanying his grandmother to Fauchon, which is a great marketplace in Paris where his grandmother would buy her petit-fours. He spoke affectionately of all of the sights, sounds, and aromas at Fauchon, and how he was in such wonder and amazement at all of the different pastries and foods and the bakers and craftsmen..

Chef Neveu then asked me about my inspirations when I was young. I told him that watching my grandmother cook when I was very young had also been a great inspiration for me, but some of my greatest inspiration had come from watching Jacques Pepin and Julia Child on their PBS show everyday. I told him how Jacques Pepin became a hero and role model for me,, and that when I started culinary school  he was the Chef that I most wanted to be like. I even told him about how he was a good role model when I was young because he always treated Julia Child with great respect; even when she was telling him he was wrong, he never argued, he just apologized and did it her way. After telling Chef Neveu about the great reverence I had for Chef Jacques Pepin, Chef Neveu casually replied, “ I know Jacques. He’s a good chef.” I was already fascinated by Chef Neveu; Now I was trying to figure out if there was a word for “beyond fascinated.”

The more Chef Neveu and I spoke, the more fascinated I became. I had to get back on track to where I was the one asking the questions, and remember that I was here to gather information for an article, so I steered the topic toward new students, and to young people who may be considering attending culinary school. I asked Chef Neveu if he thought it took a special kind of person to be a successful culinary student, and if he had any advice for a young person who may be thinking of applying to cooking school. Chef Neveu’s eyes lit up when I asked this question. He opened his desk drawer and rifled through the contents until he pulled out a very large key ring with about 20 or 30 keys on it. He held up the key ring to me and said “One of these keys opens that door. I do not know which one. Take them and open that door.” He then explained that if someone took the keys and, after 10 or so keys started getting frustrated and impatient, then culinary school probably was not for them. If someone took the keys and calmly tried them one by one until the door opened, then they may be cut out for culinary school. Chef Neveu then threw the keys back into the drawer and removed a Bic lighter. He lit the lighter, then immediately blew it out. He held up the other hand with a fist and told me to pretend that in that hand he held a big torch. He lit the lighter again, blew on the lighter, and the flame went out. He then looked at the other hand, “the torch,” and he blew on that hand. He looked at me and asked, “What happens when wind hits a torch?”

“It gets bigger and brighter,” I said.

“What happens when wind hits a lighter?” he asked.

“The flame disappears.”

The wind from his breath represented pressure – as in stress – he explained. “If you want to be successful in culinary school, you have to be a torch – you cannot be a lighter.”

Those visual examples, and the point he was making, had more of a profound impact than he ever could have imagined. Not only did the message and the concept of what he was explaining carry great weight and truth, but the way he was able to tell a story with pictures and images meant a great deal to me. As someone on the Autism spectrum, diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, my brain works in pictures and colors and not so much with words or numbers. Whenever I am speaking or writing I am trying to think of words that go with pictures or images, or trying to figure out how to draw pictures with words. I greatly appreciated Chef Neveu’s ability to speak to me with pictures and images, and for teaching me a new communication tool.

Nearly two hours had passed in what seemed like about 15 minutes. We both agreed that we could go on talking for another two hours, but Chef Neveu had already lost track of our 90-minute appointment and was late for his next meeting. He said that he would like to talk again sometime, and I said I would like that too.

I walked away from the interview having asked less than half of the questions that I had prepared to ask, but having learned far more than I had ever expected. I was confident that not only does Chef Neveu have the experience and knowledge to lead our culinary program into the future, but that he is a kind and open-hearted man who will fit in well and be a great addition to the Paul Smith’s College family. I think there are very bright things in the future for our culinary program!