828: Charlie Mitchell Is Why the Tasting Menu Is Changing

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**Charlie Mitchell** (1:05)
I used to say a joke that it's important that you can leave dinner here and still want to have sex. Your body isn't gross and you're falling asleep in an Uber.
If you want to drink that much in a fall sleep in Uber, that's up to you. But I think the amount of food is also intentional from the chef. I think that's very important. I've had some meals, great ones, but I've definitely unbuttoned my pants at the table a few times.

**Matt Rodbard** (1:27)
This is TASTE. I'm your host, Matt Rodbard. Charlie Mitchell grew up in his grandmother's Detroit kitchens and talked his way into a line cook job while working as a valet. Years later, after stints at Benu, Eleven Madison Park and Per Se, he won the prestigious Best Chef New York State James Beard Award for his restaurant Clover Hill and then lost his mentor, James Kent, and inherited Saga's kitchen 63 floors above Manhattan. On this episode, we talk about growing up in Detroit, his interest in Japan, and how he views the evolution of the tasting menu. I hope you enjoy this episode.
Charlie Mitchell, welcome to This Is TASTE. It's so great to see you.

**Charlie Mitchell** (2:13)
Thanks for having me.

**Matt Rodbard** (2:14)
I'm excited to see where this conversation goes because we both were raised in Michigan.
I love speaking with a fellow Michigander. We'll go there and of course we'll talk about Saga and your work. There I had a meal a couple months ago and still thinking about it. It's really one of my highlights.

**Charlie Mitchell** (2:31)
Thank you.

**Matt Rodbard** (2:32)
We'll get into your philosophy about the tasting menu because I think you're doing something very progressive. Before we get to all that though, when you're off the clock in New York, where are you dining out these days?

**Charlie Mitchell** (2:45)
I feel like it changes. I feel like I get hooked on trends of what I like to eat right now. I think right now I've been really on a steakhouse kick, to be honest. Anything that's reminiscent of a steakhouse. I started back eating low-key. I started back eating beef this year.
I was out of work. At work, I always try it because I have to. I've been obsessed with going to steakhouses a lot lately.

**Matt Rodbard** (3:06)
Yeah.
Are these the modern steakhouses or the classics? Are you going to Keen's?

**Charlie Mitchell** (3:13)
Yeah. I've done a couple of classics too. I've been to Keen's for the first time recently, Winthrop Peter Luger was not too long ago. But also I like Dianne Ballou's new steakhouse a lot.

**Matt Rodbard** (3:23)
Yeah.

**Charlie Mitchell** (3:24)
I go there probably a little bit too much.

**Matt Rodbard** (3:27)
I feel like the chef speaking to the chef via steakhouse, like what Ballou's doing is pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah. What about, you know, with Saga, I know your menu is rotating somewhat and it's been a couple months.
What's on the menu recording this in early August? You know, what's exciting you? I know you have a couple tasting menus, a couple styles, like lengths, but just tell us what's going on at Saga.

**Charlie Mitchell** (3:55)
Yeah. We actually just changed the menu to summer, like in the last two weeks. So like you're still inside of the first, I don't know, the first month of the menu, I feel like is always being tweaked and is changing a lot. And it's always very exciting. So when we do menu changes at Saga, we flip the entire menu.

**SPEAKER_2** (4:10)
Wow.

**Charlie Mitchell** (4:10)
So it's kind of rare to anything. It was happened a couple of times, but it's kind of rare that anything really makes over to the next season of change. So it's always just like a lot for the team.