Deep Dive with Eric Ripert on Great Coaching

Kelly Corrigan Wonders

Kelly Corrigan Show

Society & Culture

4.8 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 30 September 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the third episode of our Great Coaches series, Kelly sits down with Eric Ripert, chef and co-owner of Le Bernardin, whose three Michelin stars pale in comparison to his journey from surviving brutal kitchen culture to creating something entirely different. Through stories about the legendary cruelty of mentor Joel Robuchon and the moment Eric realized he was becoming someone he didn't recognize, he reveals how the restaurant industry's tradition of abuse nearly broke an entire generation of chefs. This conversation delves into the hard-won wisdom of a chef who discovered that kindness isn't weakness—it's the secret ingredient that changes everything. Eric's book (written with Veronica Chambers) which was mentioned in this episode is: 32 Yolks: From My Mother's Table to Working the Line Also mentioned: A Return to Cooking To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Kelly Corrigan Wonders. I'm Kelly Corrigan, and today in the third episode of our
0:12.3	Great Coaches series, I'm wondering about what it takes to guide others toward greatness.
0:18.1	I'm joined by Eric Repair, chef and co-owner of LaBernadenne, a Manhattan restaurant,
0:23.4	which has held three Michelin stars for over a decade, as well as four stars from the New York Times.
0:28.8	Recently, I was lucky enough to share one of the best lunches of my life with Eric and hear him tell
0:35.4	his remarkable story. His evolution from a young chef surviving brutal kitchen culture
0:40.8	to a warm leader who believes in kindness first,
0:44.7	offers insights into how we can develop not just skills but character
0:48.2	in ourselves and others.
0:50.8	Here is my conversation with chef Eric Repair.
1:01.9	Hello. Hello. How are you? I'm doing good and you? Good. I'm happy to see you again so soon. Me too. That was some lunch, huh? Oh yes. That was a fantastic lunch. Fun.
1:08.9	Delicious too. I want more four-hour lunches in my life.
1:14.0	Is it safe to say that the first great chef in your life was Monique?
1:19.2	My mother? Yes, for sure. Let's hear about her.
1:23.7	She was fascinated by what was going on at the time in Europe with chefs.
1:30.7	Nouvelle Cuisine was a revolution.
1:34.3	And some chefs were becoming celebrity chefs and having a huge influence on their audience
1:39.9	through recipes in magazines that you will collect and cut and put it in a book at home.
1:47.3	And she was also visiting those restaurants with me.
1:51.9	She was taking me as a young kid and I had those amazing experience.
1:55.7	But when she was coming back home, she was cooking those very, very elaborate meals for the family. It was an
2:03.3	experience for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was really special. And she was waking up at 5 a.m.
	...

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