Keith Clinton puts the “experience” in “dining experience” at Chez Philippe.
In addition to what they find on their plates, diners also are surprised by the extras Clinton provides.
Clinton, 35, immediately put his footprint down earlier this year when he became chef de cuisine at the elegant restaurant at The Peabody. “I move so fast,” he says. “And I change the menu constantly. We’re so hyper-focused on seasoning and sourcing of ingredients. We must move. And I am constantly pushing and constantly recreating and developing. And they give me the space to do that.”
Also, he adds, “I’m just fascinated with food. Fascinated with nature. The process of it all.”
Clinton, who was chef de cuisine for five years at Erling Jensen: The Restaurant, was a private chef when he heard about The Peabody opening. “I was looking to have a little more fun. I missed service. I missed going fast.”
Clinton is now having fun. He searches for unusual ingredients, as well as the best familiar ingredients, for his cuisine. He and his kitchen staff are constantly making trips to Jones Orchard in Millington, Tennessee. “I really like taking my guys out there. And just spending an afternoon before service picking produce we’re going to use that weekend.”
Like the strawberries they bought last spring. “We would pick the green ones. Just a little ripe. A little not ready. And ferment them for a dish on the menu.”
He made a green strawberry sorbet with the fermented strawberries. They topped that off with some buttermilk ice. “So, it’s like a buttermilk granita.”
Clinton also regularly visits Viet Hoa Market — “an amazing resource on Cleveland” — to find unusual ingredients.
But he also educates diners. “I’ll take all the ingredients in raw format — ramps and raw mushrooms — out to the table and say, ‘This is what’s in this dish.’”
He pinpoints certain times during his seven-course menu to go into the dining room. He’ll show up with shoyu, a liquid made from cherry blossoms, for his tuna fish, grapefruit, and avocado dish. He’ll “pour the shoyu over the dish at the table and talk to guests. Explain it to them.”
Clinton also researches guests who’ve made reservations. “Gathering as much information about them so we can tailor the experience.”
He’ll look them up on LinkedIn and Whitepages. “I know I have two hours to figure out something about this person with the information I received. And I translate that into an experience that is customized to that person. Which is a challenge to me.”
For instance, Clinton discovered a particular couple once celebrated a wedding anniversary at Earnestine & Hazel’s. He assumed they had Soul Burgers, so he created mini smash burgers, which he surprised them with halfway through their meal. “Nobody else got a Soul Burger that night but them.”
His menus are “more seasonal than just the four main seasons. Especially when things are only around a couple of weeks or only once a month.”
His seven-course menu includes a snack course that can be eaten by hand. These include items like a fig and almond butter tart and a mushroom and truffle tuile. “I put in a hot towel service. When they’re done eating with their hands, I present them with a hot towel that’s steamed in essential oils.”
Diners even get “playful mignardise,” little snacks, maybe like a Windsor cookie, they can “eat in the car on the ride home or the next morning.”
He wants his diners to know, “We’re still thinking of you. And hope you’re still thinking of us.”
Clinton knows when to visit a table. “Some people seem open to it, some are more reserved. I play it by ear.”
He will “catch the vibe.” That’s when he might think, “I’ve been out there too much. I’ve been to their table five times. Let them eat.”
But, Clinton says, “Building that relationship with the guests, going the extra mile, is necessary.”
Chez Philippe is at The Peabody at 149 Union Avenue.
Marcia Woods 
Michael Donahue 
