BRANDON BOUDET

Co-Owner/Chef

Co-Owner/Chef Brandon Boudet was born and raised in New Orleans, where his family celebrated life with generous portions of Louisiana and Italian cooking. Boudet began experimenting in the kitchen as early as eight years old, turning out French toast and perfecting a bread pudding recipe made with the kitchen’s novel new acquisition, the microwave oven.

Before graduating high school, Boudet landed a job at a local Italian restaurant in the French Quarter, where he quickly began to suspect that cooking could actually be a career option. After a brief time at the University of New Orleans, he enrolled at San Francisco’s prestigious California Culinary Academy. After graduating, he returned to his hometown for an internship with culinary icon Paul Prudhomme at the renowned K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen. Boudet then moved to work in the kitchen of another celebrated New Orleans chef, Emeril Lagassse, at NOLA. He then went on to collaborate with famed restaurateur Peter Morton, designing the menu for Mortoni’s at Morton’s Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

It was after meeting prolific restaurateur Sean McPherson that the young toque moved to Los Angeles and signed on at the Sunset Strip’s trendy Bar Marmont, followed by consulting jobs for McPherson’s other hip venues, including Swingers, El Carmen and Jones. It was during this period that Boudet met Warner Ebbink, his future business partner. In 1997, Boudet was named Executive Chef at the historic Argyle Hotel, succeeding renowned chef Ken Frank. After several years there, Boudet was anxious to try a new city and accepted a position at McPherson’s new project in New York called The Park.

Upon his return to Los Angeles, Boudet opened Hollywood’s 101 Coffee Shop in 2001 with partner Warner Ebbink. In 2004, Boudet and Ebbink, both proud of their Italian heritage, couldn’t resist buying the historic Dominick’s in West Hollywood, originally established in 1948. The Chef’s culinary philosophy is reflected in the restaurant’s straightforward menu of home-style Italian comfort food. “I believe in keeping things simple,” says Boudet. “There should rarely be more than three components to a dish and it should be absolutely true to what it’s supposed to be. Spaghetti and meatballs doesn’t need to be reinvented or reinterpreted, just prepared with skill and integrity.”

Although Boudet has worked for luminaries such as Prudhomme and Lagasse, he ranks his two grandmothers—one a talented Louisiana home chef, the other a master of Italian cuisine—as his greatest influences. During his rare time outside the kitchen, the 34-year-old Boudet enjoys golf, snowboarding and travel.

Whitefish Piccata

Courtesy of Chef Brandon Boudet

Dominick’s

Serves 2

2 6 oz portions of whitefish with skin on

3 tbs olive oil

2 tbs of capers

Juice one lemon

3  oz of white wine

3 tbs butter

1 tsp chopped fresh Italian parsley

1 cup of flour

salt and pepper to taste

1. Dredge the fish in flour lightly, shaking off excess flour. Season with salt & pepper.

2. In a non-stick pan, add the olive oil and heat on high until glistening. Add the fish, skin side down . Sauté on each side for 4 minutes or until the skin side is crispy.

3. Remove the fish from the pan place in a warm oven.

4. To the same pan, add the white wine, lemon, capers and parsley. Simmer sauce over medium heat until reduced by half.

5. Remove from heat and swirl in butter. Place fish on plate and top with sauce.