Interview with Chef Morgan Wilson of Bijoux - Dallas

Antoinette Bruno: When and why did you start cooking? What inspired you to pursue cooking professionally?
Morgan Wilson: I started when I was 11 catering dinners for my parents at $20 a pop! My first kitchen job during the summer in a little Italian Bistro in Ashland, Oregon.

AB: Where have you worked professionally as a chef?
MW: After studying in Paris, I moved out to San Francico to work at One Market. In 1999 I was invited to open Cannnelle in Sao Paulo. While in Brazil I met Francois Payard and he hired me to run the patisserie kitchen at night and produce the desserts for the bistro. After almost four years in Brazil I was offered the pastry chef position at Aubergine in Newport Beach, California with Scott Gottlich. I have also taught pastry classes at The California School of Visual Arts.

AB: What advice would you offer young chefs just getting started?
MW: Share your passion; don’t just cook for yourself. Try to always balance texture and flavor, and above all, have fun!

AB: Would you recommend culinary school to aspiring cooks? Do you hire chefs with and without a culinary school background?
MW: I went to The California Culinary Academy (CCA) in San Francisco and then went on to study at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. I think culinary school is important. I would be nowhere without the basics I learned in school, and those basics are really the basis for all I do. But when I hire people a formal culinary education isn’t essential. One of our dishwashers became a prep cook because he earned it and could work well.

AB: Who are some of your mentors?
MW: Francois Payard, Scott Mezola, and Arnold Wong.

AB: What languages do you speak?
MW: English, French, and Portuguese.

AB: Which chefs do you consider to be your peers?
MW: Katherine Clapner at Stephan Pyles and Shannon Swindle at Craft.

AB: Is there any ingredient that you feel is particularly under appreciated or under utilized?
MW: Fennel: because of its obscurity it’s often not considered by chefs, especially in desserts. Almonds because they are so versatile. I like anise flavors in desserts like licorice jelly beans and Pernod bonbons.

AB: What are a few of your favorite flavor combinations?
MW: Mayan chocolate and citrus are key. Carrot and fennel is good. I like working with classic combinations like prune and Armagnac.

AB: What’s your most indispensable kitchen tool?
MW: Everything starts with a scale in my kitchen.

AB: What are your favorite cookbooks?
MW: Any books by Jaques Torres, Norman Love, Richard Leech and Emily Ludeti. The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern by Claudia Fleming is another favorite.

AB: Where do you like to go for culinary travel? Why?
MW: I always love to go to New York, and I'd like to go to El Bulli and Oriol Balaguer's place in Barcelona.

AB: What are your favorite restaurants-off the beaten path-in your city?
MW: Blue Goose on Greenville Avenue for Mexican tortillas, chimichangas, and slow cooked brisket.

AB: What trends do you see emerging in the restaurant industry now?
MW: A lot of people are bringing back classic gelatins and pâte de fruits. Dessert bars are getting big too.

AB: What is your favorite dessert to make? What is your favorite dessert to eat?
MW: To eat it's Tiramisu made with great coffee and mascarpone. When cooking I really like to work with chocolate and make bonbons.

AB: Which person in history would you most like to have dinner with?
MW: I would like to dine with Escoffier. I would make a cabernet-poached pear and black truffle ice cream.

AB: What is your pastry philosophy?
MW: I try to constantly adapt. I don’t want to test diners, I want to deliver things at a higher and more sophisticated level than they are used to.

AB: If you weren’t a chef what do you think you’d be doing?
MW: Pushing up daisies probably...or maybe I’d be an engineer, working on large structures.

AB: What does success mean for you? What will it look like for you?
MW: I want to expand my horizons here. I need to prevent my outlook from becoming dated so I want to keep learning.