The Madonna of the Kitchen.(Jean-Georges Vongerichten)(Interview)

In 1973 a 16-year-old Alsatian named Jean-Georges Vongerichten joined the kitchen of a three-star restaurant called Auberge de l'Ill. The rest, as they say, is culinary history. After cooking under legendary chefs like Paul Bocuse and at Bangkok's famed Oriental hotel, Vongerichten headed to New York to make it on his own. And has he. Today, like Madonna, he goes by just his first name. His restaurants gird the globe like a multinational of taste: Jo Jo, the Lipstick Cafe, the Mercer Kitchen and the upscale Jean Georges in New York; the French-Thai-tinged Vong in New York, Chicago, London and Hong Kong; the Prime Steak House in Las Vegas, and Dune on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Ironically, he's shunned his native France--known to many tastebugs as the place where new ideas in cuisine go to die. No more. This past fall Jean-Georges opened Market, a trendy midprice eatery just off the Champs-Elysees. That's where he met with NEWSWEEK's Dana Thomas recently to discuss cooking, eating and--get this--what the French can learn from America. Excerpts:

THOMAS: Were you apprehensive about opening in Paris?

VONGERITCHEN: I was a little afraid. But it was always in the back of my mind to come back one day and do something here. I wanted to bring my experience of 15 years in New York to Paris, to do something with American flair and energy. [Five years ago] I wouldn't have even dared. But now Parisians are more like Americans... going out five, six times a week. They want traditional brasserie fare, Michelin stars and they are open to new ideas, to a good time and a good ambience.

What's the most important thing that you learned in America?

Communication. French chefs are very--not closed-minded--but focused. My chef here is an American. I needed someone that is open-minded and flexible. The old-time chefs in France are very "do it my way."

Like the chefs you worked for when you started?

Yeah. I was very lucky to work with these men. But each time I went to another one, I had to erase everything I had learned from the one I had just left, like the way they peeled apples or potatoes. It was about one person's way of doing things. I was like that for a little while, too, but I changed because you learn so much from your colleagues. My kitchen is more like a democracy now. If someone has an idea, I want to hear it, see it. I want to taste it.