Chefs Remember Chef Jasper White and His Legacy

As the news of Jasper White’s  May 11 death was shared around the food world, the New England chef was remembered as a mentor, expert on cooking seafood, and a beloved friend . 

White, who was 69 at the time of his death, was considered one the founding fathers of New American cuisine. His cooking demanded respect for classic New England dishes like pan-roasted lobster, johnnycakes, and seafood chowder. He first made a name for himself with his work at The Copley Plaza hotel while working with chef Lydia Shire, then went on to open Jasper’s, which stood out as a Boston fine dining landmark during its 12-year run from 1983 to 1995. Food & Wine named White to its honor roll of American chefs in 1983. He went on to consult for Legal Sea Foods, then in 2000 opened the first of three Summer Shack restaurants. He was notably one of the first fine dining chefs to turn to casual venues as a creative business opportunity. 

“Everyone called him the fish whisperer, but he was also just a big old bear,” says chef, cookbook author, and television host Sara Moulton. “We all loved him. When I was on the Food Network, I had him on my show several times. Unlike a lot of other male chefs (especially back then), he was not full of himself. He did not need to be famous. He’d come on the show and just wanted to share knowledge. And boy, did he have a lot of knowledge to share.”

“He was a chef’s chef, and a really wonderful human, too,” recalls New England chef and cookbook author Matt Jennings. “He had an altruism that is historically lacking from typical kitchen structures, and helped establish restaurants that were not just about great food, but had a leader who genuinely cared about the people who worked in them.”

Mary-Frances Heck, a former Food & Wine senior food editor, worked for White as a cook at Summer Shack. She notes that several staffers stayed at the restaurant for years, and that White had a great deal of respect for his employees — in particular, immigrants. The restaurant’s famous crab-stuffed pupusas were created by a Dora, a pastry chef who soon saw her name credited on the menu after White tasted them during the restaurant’s staff meal.

“He was the most curious, efficient, and intelligent person in the kitchen, though he was soft-spoken,” Heck says. “He was endlessly generous with his time, asking each cook how they were doing and sharing knowledge. He’d have his whites on by two or three in the afternoon on Fridays and Saturdays and join the team prepping for service. He’d set up a station like all of the other cooks and help them work through the prep list.

“To watch him butcher a fish or shuck a clam was to watch a master of a craft,” Heck continues. “His movements were graceful and intentional and completely engrained. He would quietly taste sauces and check all the prep, but he never called someone out if it wasn’t perfect. He’d have a quiet teaching moment where he’d show them how to make the fix.”

“I remember watching him in the basement kitchen of 21 Federal when I was a young cook; he was cooking 200 lobsters for an event,” says Jennings, who worked alongside White at several food events. “Jean-Louis Palladin was there, Todd English was there. I stopped and watched what he was doing; You know when you are amongst royalty. He was the friendly face in the room at so many cooking events like that. I spent a little time with him before I opened my restaurant in Boston, picking his brain, and he was so warm and friendly, and authentic.

“There was no B.S. with Jasper,” Jennings adds. “He was a good human, and such an inspiration. I was showing all the usual anxiety and angst, and he said to me, ‘Listen, give yourself a break. Give yourself patience.’”

In the four cookbooks White wrote, he shared his philosophy of cooking seafood and other seasonal ingredients simply in order to best show off their flavors.

“Remember that home cooking is about home. Don’t kill yourself. Make it simple,” he told Food & Wine in an interview. “It’s about the experience, having conversations with friends and family. If you come to my house, the food is not going to impress you. You’re going to love it, but it’s not going to wow you.”

Heck notes that even though the menu at Summer Shack was casual, it reflected White’s passion for perfecting every detail. “Every morsel of food was made from scratch, except for the chowder crackers,” she says. “He’d order Common Crackers from Vermont, which we’d split by hand, toss with clarified butter, and toast before serving.”

Those crackers were the subject of a memory White shared at one of Julia Childs’ memorial services after her death in 2004. “Julia had Jasper on her show, and when she found out he ordered the crackers, she insisted on making them herself,” says Moulton, who worked for Child for many years. “It took days to make them; it was so tedious. He told the story at her memorial that when they were done, they tasted the crackers side by side, and Julia could not tell the difference. They just laughed; she adored him, and I think he adored her, too.”

“He laid the foundation for everyone else who came behind him cooking in New England,” says Jennings. “He left an incredible legacy.”

White won the James Beard Foundation award for Best Chef: Northeast in 1991 and was nominated for the Outstanding Chef award in 1994. Summer Shack was nominated for Best New Restaurant in 2001 and he sold it to the Lyons Group in 2017. He is survived by his wife, Kathleen, six children, and two grandchildren.