My Bad French. His Grand Croque Madame

My French is terrible. To even insinuate that I speak any French is a big stretch. Years ago when I went to Paris I basically ate the same thing everyday because I only knew how to order a “crêpe” or a “croissant” …with variations like “oeuf” (egg), “jambon” (ham), “fromage” (cheese) and of course “chocolat” (that one’s obvious).

We recently had the privilege of working with Executive Chef Jim Filaroski from J. Alexander’s again, this time it was one of their signature brunch offerings–the Croque Madame. (Confession, I had to look it up when they first called. It sounds French. Turns out, it is.)

I get a little intimidated when working with chefs who are excellent at their craft. (It’s just me and my own insecurities…I’ll spare you my navel-gazing epiphanies for later.) Chef Filaroski is excellent at what he does, and to top it off, he’s got vision—artistic vision. I learned that last year on another project we did with him…artisan pizzas.

Despite my “I’m not worthy” feelings I enjoy our shoots with Chef Filaroski. Food stylist Teresa Blackburn, he and I all seem to share a certain amount of mutual respect when we work together…I contend he deserves the majority. Chef Filaroski and his team are great to work with and the general vibe is always one of artistic vision. (Come to think of it, working with people who have artistic vision is part of what attracted me to food photography from the beginning.)

So, here’s the final image and full page ad.

Also, a big thanks goes out to Jan (art director), Michael (assistant chef), Rory (first assistant), Mollie (agent) and Taylor (production assistant) for helping create a fun day and a great image.

Until next time… (or for you speakers of French… “jusqu’à la prochaine fois…”)

– Kyle