Chef

PHILLIP FOSS
Executive Chef, Lockwood

You could consider cooking an innate calling for Lockwood executive chef Phillip Foss. As a two-year-old, Foss was always in the kitchen watching his mom cook. Aware that young Phillip wanted to get in on the action, Foss' father built him a cardboard stovetop and let his son’s imagination and future career take him away. Years later, Foss got his first restaurant job as a short order cook in his hometown of Milwaukee. With a passion for the behind-the-scenes speed and intensity of a kitchen, Foss quickly worked his way into better restaurants. And then came a break. An employer noticed Foss' cooking talents and referred him to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, New York.

After graduating from the CIA in 1991, Foss joined the New York City dining scene with a job at the New York Times four-star rated Lafayette restaurant in the Drake Swissotel. There, Foss basked in the shadow of one of the country's leading chefs, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who gained international acclaim for his innovative interpretation of classic French cuisine. Foss then went to the Quilted Giraffe, another four-star New York Times-rated restaurant, and under the tutelage of Barry Wine, worked every station in the kitchen. Here he learned how unique food presentations can make conceptually simple dishes more innovative and ethereal.

Recognized as a rising haute-cuisine star, Foss was hired by one of the world’s best restaurants, Le Cirque. There he worked as an entremetier preparing vegetables, pastas and accompaniments, on the fish station as a poissonier, and as a saucier, preparing and perfecting sauces, soups and meat dishes. After more than three years, he was made a sous chef.

Foss went on to help open Le Cirque 2000 in the Palace Hotel. "This was the first time in my career where I took on a leadership position," Foss explains. "People looked to me as the go-to person for Le Cirque’s standards." At Le Cirque 2000, Foss had the privilege to cook for several U.S. presidents, including Nixon, Reagan and Clinton, and for Pope John Paul II, whom he served lobster bisque. Bill Cosby was his favorite celebrity. "His charisma was amazing. He sat in the kitchen and we made him a private dinner with roast chicken and truffles. To date, that was the best roast chicken I ever made."

Foss acknowledges the additional challenge in making great dishes that let the flavor and freshness of the ingredients shine through, rather than falling back on the legerdemain of heavy sauces.  "Making a good roast chicken is something almost everyone can learn," Foss added. "But making a standout dish takes years and years to master."

After Le Cirque 2000, Foss traveled the world learning about indigenous ingredients and perfecting cooking styles from France, where he worked with super chef Jacques Maximin, as well as Israel, where he worked at the King David Hotel serving dignitaries such as Condoleezza Rice and Tony Blair. Foss' time with three-star Michelin chef Maximin made a lasting impression. "Maximin's uncompromising attention to detail and the quality of the products he used were incredible. Most everything came straight from the farmer to the plate." Foss also worked as a private chef in Palm Beach, Florida where the families of Winston Churchill and Donald Trump enjoyed his cookery. In addition, Foss also 'hung his toque' in the kitchens of Bistro Margot in Chicago (which earned three stars in the Chicago Tribune), the Four Seasons in Maui, and the AAA five diamond Newport Room in Bermuda.

"Cooking is and always will be a mixture of art and science.  One of the things I love best about being a chef is the constant challenge to adapt and advance what was previously considered 'the best there is.'  There is no recipe in the world that you can follow like a rote play book when you're striving to bring out optimal flavor from the freshest, finest ingredients every day, and make each dish and presentation a unique experience," notes the Chef.

At the helm of Lockwood, Chef Foss has complete discretion with one requirement: perpetual innovation. And that's just fine with Philip Foss. Of all his many culinary accomplishments, he's most proud of "Never being complacent and having an open mind to do new things, yet always honoring the traditions of where the cuisine has come from."