About Chef David Breeden
David Breeden is the Chef de Cuisine of The French Laundry in Yountville, California — Thomas Keller’s three-Michelin-star restaurant and one of the most demanding and celebrated kitchens in the world. He is only the fourth chef de cuisine in the restaurant’s history, succeeding Timothy Hollingsworth in 2013, and has helped the French Laundry maintain 12 consecutive years of three Michelin stars and 12 Forbes Five-Star awards. He also received the CIA Crystal Chef Award for culinary excellence and the Michelin Green Star for sustainability.
Breeden grew up in East Tennessee — the son of a welder, grandson of a certified master butcher — and started washing dishes as a teenager at Augustino’s in Greeneville. He attended culinary school and began his restaurant career in Charleston, South Carolina before staging at The French Laundry in 2005. He joined the kitchen as butcher, then chef de partie, before moving to Per Se in New York in 2006, where he rose to Executive Sous Chef over six years. He returned to The French Laundry in 2013 as Chef de Cuisine, succeeding Timothy Hollingsworth. In 2020 he co-authored The French Laundry, Per Se cookbook with Thomas Keller. This is his first appearance on Chef’s PSA. His second appearance is Episode 172.
Episode Overview
David Breeden’s path to one of the most coveted positions in American cooking did not follow a conventional line. He grew up in the mountains of East Tennessee, skateboarded through his teens, and found his way into professional kitchens through curiosity and stubbornness. In this episode, André Natera sits down with Breeden to trace that path — from washing dishes in Greeneville to running the day-to-day operations of The French Laundry.
Breeden talks about what the French Laundry’s culture demands from the people inside it, what it means to inherit a kitchen with that kind of legacy, and how Thomas Keller’s model of mentorship shaped the way he leads. He covers the philosophical framework behind precision cooking, why the standards at The French Laundry are non-negotiable rather than aspirational, and what the transition from cook to leader required him to unlearn. This is one of the most detailed conversations available about what it actually looks and feels like to work and lead inside one of the world’s great kitchens.
Topics covered in this episode:
- Growing up in Appalachian Tennessee — agricultural upbringing, family influences, and how food entered his life
- The path from skateboarding teenager to professional cook
- Starting as the kitchen butcher at The French Laundry and what that role demands
- Six years at Per Se in New York and what working both restaurants taught him about precision and scale
- Becoming only the fourth Chef de Cuisine in The French Laundry’s history
- The mentorship model Thomas Keller built and how it shaped Breeden’s approach to leadership
- The culinary philosophy behind The French Laundry — what precision means in practice day after day
- The transition from cook to leader and what it required him to change
- Co-authoring The French Laundry, Per Se cookbook and what documenting that body of work revealed
- What sustained excellence at the highest level actually demands from a chef over time
Links & Resources
David Breeden on Instagram: @chef_davidbreeden
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Visit Chef’s PSA Website → chefspsa.com
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