Chef Jean Francois Meteigner, La Cachette
By Leslee Komaiko
For dineLA.com
At the end of July, after more than 14 years, Jean Francois Meteigner and his wife, Allie Ko, are closing La Cachette, the French charmer that lured foodies and romantics to an otherwise sleepy stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard. But before you cry a tear for the warm lobster salad and veal sweetbreads never to be tasted again, wait just a second. La Cachette Bistro will open around the same time in Santa Monica. We spoke with Meteigner about his new project and how a kid from Cussat, a small town in the center of France, ended up in Los Angeles.
How are you?
Very good. The bistro is finally looking like a restaurant. It’s been an adventure to put that together, especially with this economy.
How long were you looking for a space?
Like five years. We looked at Downtown. We looked at a lot of things. We decided to go over there though because we thought that the clientele of Santa Monica will know the name of La Cachette better than the clients of Downtown.
Why not open the bistro in the original La Cachette space?
That’s still a possibility actually if we don’t sell it. Right now we’re thinking about selling it. We still have a 10 year lease. We’re trying to find a young chef who would be attracted to take it over. Someone could turn it over in one week. Everything is new in there.
I assume it was a hard decision to close.
It was. We have a lot of good clients. But the perception of La Cachette is like an upscale restaurant and right now upscale restaurants are not doing well at all. March and April were horrendously bad. In town the people doing well are the new restaurants. There is a trend in LA now you can’t ignore: people don’t go to upscale restaurants that much anymore.
Is closing something you had been thinking about for a while?
We decided that a month ago. If we don’t sell it, we’ll keep it open for catering and private events.
You don’t have the ongoing cost of staff for that. Is that what makes this feasible?
Exactly. The payroll is killing us. May picked up a little bit. But the beginnings of the week are scary. I get depressed. I think with the economy the bistro with 80 seats outside, 80 inside, 20 seats private room, 40 seat bar and lounge…
Will you be the day-to-day chef there?
Everyone is asking me about the title. I hate titles. I’m going to be basically the chef owner.
Did the fact that Anisette is a few blocks away give you pause?
No. Our concept is completely different.
What is the concept?
California bistro with a French twist. There will be a lot of raw fish: carpaccio, kampachi, tuna tartar, oysters. With California bistro, I am not restrained to one French concept. We’ll have a grass fed beef burger with organic cheese from California. All the oils and vinegars and fruits will be from California. And there will be a lot of California wines.
So it’s not a classic bistro at all.
I don’t want to be stuck in a classic bistro concept. We’ll have a really good fried chicken we do at La Cachette for customers at lunch. (It’s not on the menu.) Baby back ribs. Next to that we’ll have cassoulet, beef daube. We’ll have some classics, roasted leg of lamb with flageolet. I am going to try to find some beef and lamb from California. We have to keep our money in the state; California needs the business.
Let’s rewind a bit. Were you parents in the restaurant business?
No. Nobody in my family is in the restaurant business, just me.
How did you get interested?
Because I was cooking with some friends, making crepes and selling crepes in school.
When was this?
When I was like 13 or 14. One of my uncles was raising cattle in the center of France. He knew the Troisgros brothers very well. I cooked with them as an apprentice. My mom is a great cook and my grandfather was a really good cook.
How did you end up in LA?
The guy I was working for in Paris was friends with Gerard at L’Orangerie. Basically I was interested to come to the states. That was a long time ago, around 1980.
When you started were you the chef?
I was the chef du partie. After I was the sous chef. After three or four years I was the head chef for like seven years.
That was the golden years right?
We were really busy. We would do like 200 people a night.
Will you be doing some special farewell dinners at La Cachette?
We didn’t decide. If we close we will do something at the end of July. We will close that concept and reopen with a more casual concept if we have to. It will take some money. We’ll put in some wood tables. When we opened La Cachette 14 years ago it was like a bistro. 14 years ago it was a recession. We came full circle.
You work with your wife Allie right? What is that like?
It’s not easy.
Why do you say that?
It’s not easy for anybody. We work together. We live together. We have kids. It’s tough. The plan is to open another bistro exactly the same and like that we can be a little away from each other. We don’t know where yet.
In LA?
LA or maybe Irvine.
Why Irvine?
I think the market will be great there for that kind of California bistro.
Are your kids into food?
Oh yeah yeah. They eat everything.
Not just corn dogs?
Sardines, frog legs, snails, cod. They love meat.
I know you are very involved with Club Culinaire. Tell me a bit about that.
For 25 years.
And what is your current role?
I am the president.
It’s a lot of work yes?
Yes. But it’s good now because we connected with the Hope Foundation at the Children’s Hospital. We gave them $30,000 last year. We are also connected with an orphanage in India. We financed a kitchen.
Where do you and Allie like to eat?
Lately we went to Church & State downtown. Walter [Manzke] is a good chef. Bazaar was fun. I liked it. We’re going tonight with the kids to try Fig.
And when you are with your kids?
We go to Gjelina, Lily’s on Abbott Kinney. We go to Il Fornaio on Beverly Drive. We go to California Pizza Kitchen sometimes. Believe it or not, they have really good pizza.
It’s a weird time in the restaurant business.
A very strange time.
Yet you’re going forth and opening something.
We started to work on that project 14 months ago. We were not expecting a recession. [The bistro] actually fits perfectly the market right now. We feel very comfortable with it. We don’t feel over confident.
Can people still get the soy harissa sauce*?
It’s on the menu with the tuna.
Thank goodness.
And the swordfish will be back on the menu with the wasabi emulsion. We’re going to revive all the La Cachette classics.
Hey, can you remind me what “La Cachette” means.
It means hideaway.
Did you consider other names for the new place?
Yes because people are saying, “No, it’s too French.” The plan now is we’re going to answer the phone as “LC Bistro.” A lot of brain power went into that project. I am fried.
*One of writer’s favorites. She likes to keep a bottle in the fridge.
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