Interview With a Celebrity Chef: Govind Armstrong

Travel Blog  •  David Farley  •  04.30.09 | 4:15 PM ET

Photo courtesy of Table 8 at the Cooper Square Hotel

Govind Armstrong may not yet be 40 years old, but the dreadlocked chef is already a veteran in the kitchen, having logged time in some of the world’s most famous restaurants.

It all started at the improbable age of 13 when Armstrong found himself working at Spago, Wolfgang Puck’s celebrated Los Angeles restaurant. Now, after working in some of the most acclaimed kitchens in Los Angeles and Spain, he’s on the verge of his own restaurant empire. The Los Angeles and South Beach outposts of Table 8 won rave reviews, and now he’s about to take his biggest leap yet: New York.

On his way up the celebrity-chef ladder, he’s found himself on Iron Chef America, as a judge on Top Chef and on People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People” list.

I met up with Chef Armstrong at the Cooper Square Hotel in New York’s East Village where he’s putting the finishing touches on the Big Apple outpost of Table 8.

World Hum: Where do you live now?

Govind Armstrong: I’ve been living in Los Angeles, but at the moment I’m living in the Cooper Square Hotel where my restaurant Table 8 is about to open up. I’m looking to relocate to New York on a more permanent basis.

Where did you grow up?

In Los Angeles—the San Fernando Valley, specifically. But as a kid I lived in Costa Rica for about six years.

What is the best city for dining in the world right now?

Wow, that’s a tough one. I think London is great right now, but I love going to Florence, but really all of Tuscany is great. I just can’t get enough of it. You have to put New York up there. San Francisco is very good. Los Angeles is getting better. Buenos Aires is good. You wanted just one place, didn’t you?

Yeah, but that’s OK. Where would you travel for a meal?

The River Café in London.

Who is the most famous person you’ve cooked for?

Elton John. He’s been in quite a few times in LA.

If you had to cook a meal for Barack and Michelle Obama, what would you cook for them?

It would be something I cook at the restaurant, something in that same style: a dish that’s organic and all-natural. If it were fish, it would have to be line-caught. I know they’re into seasonality, so it would really have a focus on what’s in season.

What about the Dalai Lama?

Oh boy. That would be a tough one. My grandfather was from India, so I’m familiar with a lot of the ingredients from that part of the world, but ... I would probably make a salt-roasted baby chicken.

Tags: Food, Restaurants, North America, United States, California, Los Angeles, New York, New York City, News and Briefs


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