Can you tell us about your background and how you got started in the culinary world? I was born in the north of France in a city called Rouen and lived in France for 18 years. My mother is Italian, my father is French. My family has been in the hospitality business as long as I can remember. As young as 11 or 12 years old, I remember washing dishes and making salads at a pizzeria. My grandmother was cooking a lot too—she was from Italy so her background is obviously Italian, and I started learning from her. At 16, I went to culinary school for two years. After, I worked for a year in Leon in the South of France. I decided to go to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and got a job as a cook. At 19 I got a job as a sous chef with the Westin Hotels and worked my way up from there. How did you find yourself in St. Pete? I loved Mexico and the United States was never my plan, but 15 years ago I met a woman who was moving to San Antonio. I decided to join her and stayed in Texas until 2010. After my daughter moved to Tampa, I took a job at the Waldorf Astoria in Orlando and then got the opportunity to become the Executive Chef here at Castile, and I’ve been here since September 2016. What inspires you as a chef? It's inspiring to watch customers eat my food. I spend so much time thinking about a dish and putting it together, figuring out if it will work and wondering if the customers will like it. When I look out and see people eating and I see the conversations starting, that's what really drives me. I also get inspired by colors and textures. What is the most difficult part about being a chef and what is the most rewarding? Most difficult is not seeing my daughter as often as I want to. Planning your personal and private life is nearly impossible. I think that’s the downside for any chef. The best? It's never boring. There’s always something new coming at you, always a surprise. You don't really have the same lifestyle as anyone else. It's great to be an artist and touch food and make people happy with what you do best. How would you describe your culinary style? My style is a lot of Mexican influence with French techniques. I also really love Italian and Mediterranean food, so I bring a lot of those ingredients to my cooking as well. Lots of tomatoes, olives and fennel. I like to think I’m somewhere in between fine dining and bistro casual. Here I am doing Spanish-Mediterranean with French techniques. What do you mean by French techniques? Basic sauces, reductions... techniques like how to make a sauce. I teach my team some techniques from home, but I don't call the food “French” because it's not French food. I add spices that make it Spanish. It's a French influence, so I call it French techniques because I use a lot of what I learned from France. Do you eat at other restaurants in the Tampa Bay area? What are some of your favorites? I'll be honest with you... in the 8 months I’ve lived here I haven't really had the chance to explore other restaurants. I've been to Mis en Place once. I had a chicken liver moose and loved it—can't wait to go back and have dinner with my wife. I went to the Oyster Bar in downtown St. Pete and ROOFTOP PHOTO COURTESY OF KIMPTON HOTELS & RESTAURANTS. PHOTOS COURTESY OF CASTILE RESTAURANT. Chef Nicolas Lebas 360º Rooftop at the Kimpton Hotel Zamora Castile's Paella 16 localsDISH JULY/AUGUST 2017
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