CF:<\/strong> I had no idea that\u2019s what it used to be like until just now! [laughs] But when you go to a place like Fountainhead, people don\u2019t go [when they\u2019re] in a hurry to see a movie, they go to hang out, they go to drink and talk – it\u2019s a pub! You know what I mean? It\u2019s a gastropub. It\u2019s a gathering place.<\/p>\nAnd that\u2019s what Fountainhead stands for. Fountainhead stands for an outpouring of ideas.<\/p>\n
Whether that\u2019s from a creative standpoint behind the bar or in the kitchen, it\u2019s also a place where, you want to come hang out with friends, you want to have some drinks – my goal is to have that experience transcend into the food menu now. And let the food be a part of the Fountainhead experience.<\/p>\n
We want an actual experience. We want you leaving with a wholehearted experience with food and drink and conversation and community. When I go out to eat, that\u2019s what I want do.<\/p>\n
GDB: This is a random question that just came to me – have you ever read the actual novel, \u201cThe Fountainhead,\u201d by Ayn Rand?<\/strong><\/p>\nCP:<\/strong> I have not. And I have not for a few reasons: A) [the name of the restaurant is] not an Ayn Rand reference, which is interesting – I asked that the other day. B) I\u2019m not a big Ayn Rand fan. And C) any book that I\u2019ve read in the past 5 years have been cookbooks! I\u2019m ten pages into Steve Jobs\u2019 book, I just don\u2019t have time. So, no I haven\u2019t. [laughs]\nGDB: It\u2019s been a pretty busy past week for you in conjuction with the Fountainhead news and the Check, Please<\/em> finalist announcement – with your work at the restaurant, are you still hoping to land the host gig, or are you thinking that you might want to narrow your focus to just running the kitchen at Fountainhead?<\/strong><\/p>\nCP:<\/strong> No, I think I\u2019m on the same page as everyone at Fountainhead: I\u2019m gung-ho about hosting Check, Please<\/em>. In fact, it could only serve to do all of us that much better. It\u2019s not a huge commitment, so it\u2019s not like it\u2019s going to take me away – it\u2019s like 7 days of shooting, and it\u2019s once every other week or something – it\u2019s not a lot. It just so happens that you film like 2 or 3 episodes each time, and they wind up running those episodes all the time.<\/p>\nSo it could only serve to heighten and elevate the awareness of what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s funny, cuz\u2019 people will say, \u201cOh, now Fountainhead would never be on Check, Please<\/em>.\u201d It\u2019s like, Fountainhead will be on Check, Please<\/em> every time, because I\u2019m there, you know?<\/p>\nGDB: For a while I was thinking that maybe there would be a perception that it\u2019s not fair for a chef to run a show where the entire focus is reviewing other chefs, and would there be a conflict of interest there – but then I realized, Alpana [Singh] was with Lettuce Entertain You that whole time, and no one seemed to have much of a problem with that.<\/strong><\/p>\nCP:<\/strong> Right. How is it different? You\u2019re the master sommelier at Lettuce, what\u2019s the difference? I think that\u2019s what Check, Please<\/em> wants – they want someone who understands the industry. They don\u2019t want some tire salesman who doesn\u2019t know what a mirepoix is.<\/p>\nGDB: My final question, and it\u2019s actually more of a request – would you please tell me if they monkey bread is going to stay on the menu? Because that\u2019s the one thing I order every single time I\u2019m in there.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nCP:<\/strong> Okay – here\u2019s the deal with the monkey bread. The monkey bread will stay, but it will be tweaked<\/i>. Because apparently I can\u2019t take it off the menu, but I will make it better<\/i>.<\/p>\n I will put the Cleetus Friedman spin on the Fountainhead monkey bread, put it that way.<\/p>\n
This interview has been condensed and edited.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Q&A with the new Executive Chef of North Center gastropub Fountainhead, complete with Ayn Rand questions and Check Please gung-ho-ness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":10572,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[858],"tags":[387,986],"yoast_head":"\n
A Q&A with New Fountainhead Executive Chef Cleetus Friedman - Guys Drinking Beer<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n