Ex-Waldorf Astoria cook recounts salad days as youngest executive chef

John Doherty, former longtime top chef at the Waldorf. So where did he learn to cook in the first place?

Doherty: “I grew up on Long Island. At 15, I got a job washing dishes. A little restaurant, Johnny’s Charcoal House, husband and wife team, asked me to help them. I cooked through high school then to the Culinary Institute at 18.

“At 19, I started at the Waldorf and stayed 30 years. I got off a bus, saw this massive building and was like, ‘What the hell.’ I walk in, I say, ‘Where’s the kitchen?’ Second floor. A crazy busy place. I see the one guy wearing black pants and figure he must be the chef.

“I introduced myself. I said, ‘Excuse me, sir, I am looking for a place to do my externship and need to do it here. I will wash dishes or sweep floors.’ He hired me as a cook to replace people on vacation. That lasted five months.

“I quickly learned that a very high volume makes things difficult. Like you don’t create something that can’t be reproduced. And, yeah, sometimes we screwed up. Take one of our biggest events of the year — asparagus was the vegetable served to 3,500 lawyers. So I thought I’ll be smart. Dinner’s 8 o’clock, so we shock the asparagus cold at l p.m., butter, salt and pepper them, then around 6 heat them up again.

“I said, ‘Put ’em in the heater.’ Two hours before service the smell of sour vegetables hit me like a truck. Oh, my God. They went sour. It was a heart attack. It was like, OK, you three guys go down to the store. Get every damn green vegetable you can find. Don’t care what it is. Fill three, 80-gallon kettles of boiling water. Throw the old ones in the garbage. Boy, I never did that again.

“I became a sous chef, which is administrative — schedules, quantities of food, implementing recipes, new menus. We’re talking 150 cooks and chefs, nine different kitchens, three restaurants, 24-hour room service.

“People ask was there a taster when you’re cooking for the president. No, but always somebody from the State Department in the kitchen. Like Nancy Reagan saying I had to change a menu because President Reagan was having that same dish for lunch.

“And if we had an accident, we had to start over. Apologize or get them a glass of wine or a salad while we redo stuff. Like, when I was doing burgers and I kept burning the buns. After the fifth I’m like, my God, I can’t even toast a bun. You just gotta scrap it and start over.”

Checking in to Waldorf

I HAVE recently toured the newly resold and redone and still now being re-resold and re-redone Waldorf after its recent redoing and reselling and reopening. It’s glorious. Shiny, brassy, glassy, golden. A maharajah’s palace looks tacky in comparison. The street-level restaurant — A-1. The lobby — breathtaking. However, those touring their permanent apartments for sale wonder whether that part is ready for occupancy. Beautifully decorated but no person in charge to give hard answers to the myriad questions of a possible long-term owner.

TWO insomniacs discussed their problem. One: “I’ve lost 10 pounds due to lack of sleep.” The other: “I just take a martini every hour after dinner.” First one: “Does it help?” Second one: “No, but it keeps me happy while I’m awake.”

Only in New York, kids, only in New York.