Cary On
BEFORE OPENING THE Crossing with Jimmy Fiala, then launching Revival and settling in at Winslow’s Home, Cary McDowell worked for (or hobnobbed with) the best chefs in the country, among them Daniel Boulud, André Soltner, Christian Bertrand, and Wolfgang Puck. More recently, the 52-year-old chef has kept Chris Sommers’ Pi restaurants on a steady path, where his fatherly guidance and mentoring abilities have become as important as his vast culinary skills.
When I was in Little Rock, I was told that to rise through the ranks, you had to write letters to chefs in France or in New York. I wrote a letter to André Soltner at Lutèce, whose best friend, Christian Bertrand, was opening his own place. André called me Monday and said, “Can you be here Friday?” I drove to New York City, and
