Josiah Citrin: How a Personal Vinyl Collection Became Part of a Two-Michelin-Starred Restaurant

Citrin grew up in a home where music played an important role, even at the dinner table. Years later, that personal relationship with sound found its way into Mélisse. At first, it came through playlists that brought more rock ’n’ roll into a room where, according to the conventions of fine dining, it perhaps was not supposed to belong. But when Citrin redesigned the restaurant after its first twenty years, he decided that music would no longer serve merely as the soundtrack to dinner. It would become part of the experience itself, alongside the food, the wine and the service.

When I first heard his story, I wanted to speak to him about how something as personal as musical memory can ultimately become part of a chef’s professional identity. 

What is your earliest memory of music?

My earliest memories of music go back a very long way, to when I was three or four years old. My mother always had music playing at home, and we had this huge stereo system with a turntable right in the middle of the living room, next to the dining table.

I was constantly listening to the Rolling Stones, one of her favourite bands, which later became one of mine too. Van Morrison, The Doors, Miles Davis, John Coltrane. There was an enormous range of music in our home.

When did your relationship with vinyl begin?

The first record I bought, and the one that really started my collection, was Destroyer by Kiss. I was completely obsessed with it. I think Kiss was one of those bands that a lot of kids from that generation could really latch on to. The costumes, the sound, the rock ’n’ roll. Some older kids in my neighbourhood were listening to them at the time, and that is how it became my first album. It was a record I kept and listened to for many years.

I am constantly searching for sounds I remember, for new ones, and sometimes for old emotions. Music has this ability to take me back to a feeling, a particular period or a place. When I hear something and it brings that feeling back, I want to find the album, if I do not already have it, buy the vinyl and play it in the restaurant. Maybe because I imagine it might evoke the same feelings in the people there, or completely different ones.

The other day, for example, I was thinking about how much I love the soundtrack to The Harder They Come by Jimmy Cliff. I thought, “I have to own this.” I found it, bought it and I still cannot wait to play it in the restaurant.

Something similar happened with Bryan Ferry’s Boys and Girls, an album I used to love. I heard one of the songs on the radio, tracked down the album and bought it. We have had it here for a few months now, and it is remarkable how many people have spoken to us about the memories certain songs bring back for them.

It is a search that never really ends. For music I used to listen to and have forgotten, and for things that are out there that I still do not know. In the end, all of it serves one purpose: to create an experience and an emotion inside the restaurant.

Are there particular records that immediately take you back to a specific period in your life or career as a chef?

Absolutely. Led Zeppelin, for example, take me straight back to Paris. I listened to them a lot when I was there. Their songs reminded me how much I missed home, but at the same time I was very happy in Paris. Those two feelings existed side by side. I was also listening to a lot of The Doors, David Bowie and Lou Reed at the time. The Rolling Stones, on the other hand, take me mostly back to my childhood. They were my favourite band for many years. There are other records that are tied to particular periods in my professional life too. Cesária Évora, for example, takes me back to when we opened Giraffe. We played that CD constantly when the restaurant first opened.

When did something so personal begin to find its way into Mélisse? Was it a conscious decision to bring your own musical identity into the restaurant?

My personal relationship with music had started to find its way into Mélisse long before the restaurant took its current form. Gradually, I began playing more rock ’n’ roll through the sound system. Back when we were making playlists on iPods, I would add different tracks, mixed in, of course, with plenty of jazz.

I remember getting comments like, “A Michelin-level restaurant shouldn’t be playing this kind of music,” or, “A fine-dining restaurant can’t play rock ’n’ roll.” But I stuck with what I had in mind. People did not stop coming. Gradually, the negative comments became fewer and the positive ones started to grow. It was only when we redesigned Mélisse and created the intimate five-table dining room that I really decided music would become part of the experience itself, alongside the service, the wine and the food.

You have said that when you redesigned Mélisse, you wanted sound, flavour and atmosphere to work together. How much can music really change the way a guest experiences a meal?

Music is so important in all our lives because it can transport us to different moments and memories. Most of the time those memories are happy ones, but they can also be sad or difficult. There are songs you hear and immediately want to skip because they remind you of something you would rather not remember.

Most of the time, though, music brings back good memories. I think that is what we have managed to incorporate into Mélisse. It creates a different atmosphere and changes the dining experience by making it more personal.

We can put on a David Bowie record and all five tables might enjoy it. But every song and every album will evoke a different feeling in each person and at each table. So even though everyone is listening to the same music, each person is experiencing something different. I think there is something very special about that when you decide to place music at the heart of a restaurant.

Every evening at Mélisse begins with the Rolling Stones. Why the Stones, and what does it mean to you to put one of their records on at the start of service?

They have always been my favourite band. I love that rock ’n’ roll energy they have, and the way they have evolved in so many different directions over the years. They have played hard rock, blues, music that edges towards punk, reggae, disco. Over more than 60 years, they have done almost everything.

The idea of starting every evening with the Rolling Stones really came about when we found the plates we use on the table, which reference Some Girls and Sticky Fingers. Once we began using them as charger plates, it felt completely natural to start each evening with a Rolling Stones record. And it is not always the same one. We might go from their first album right through to their most recent. There is an enormous range in the sounds they have created over the years.

The music at Mélisse isn`t fixed; it can change depending on the atmosphere and the people in the room. What do you “read” in the space to decide where the music should go over the course of the evening?

It is difficult to explain. It is more of a feeling. We have a very close-knit team that has been together in the dining room for quite some time, and by now we can sense the direction we want to take. Sometimes something may have happened involving a particular artist and that influences our choice. Sometimes it is the guests themselves. We might overhear someone at a table talking about music or mentioning a favourite band. We are all alert to those moments. If we hear it, we can put that artist on, and people are usually amazed when they realise we noticed such a small detail.

There is no rule. It is something that has developed over so many evenings of service, listening to music, watching people’s reactions and learning to recognise those moments when someone mentions a record or an artist they love and we can respond immediately.

Is there a record you love listening to at home or in the car but would never play at Mélisse? And, conversely, is there an album or artist that you feel captures the restaurant’s personality better than anyone else?

There are some punk records I really enjoy listening to at home or in the car, like Dead Kennedys, the Sex Pistols or Violent Femmes. I do not necessarily think they suit the restaurant, especially when an entire album is very aggressive, loud and without many quieter moments.

If I had to choose something that I think fits Mélisse perfectly, though, I would say Sade. We love her. She brings a particular feeling into the room, something very sexy and smooth, and creates a wonderful atmosphere.

If tomorrow we removed the music, the vinyl and the sound system from Mélisse, but left the food and service exactly as they are, would it still feel like your restaurant?

No. I would feel as though half of my restaurant were missing. It would not be the same, and I think many of our guests would notice that too.

Music has become such a major part of what we do. People know me as someone who loves music, who enjoys creating playlists, choosing albums, searching for records and discovering new ones. For me, it is the same as looking for new plates, porcelain or glassware for the restaurant. It is a constant search for the next thing I am going to find and play. Without the music, it definitely would not feel like my restaurant.

Chefs often talk about pairing food and wine. Do you think there can be an equivalent pairing between food and music? If you had to match one Mélisse dish with a particular record or song, what would you choose and why?

Food and wine are among the most magical pairings there are. Pairing food with wine, or wine with food, is different from music because both are things you actually taste and enjoy. There is something almost inexplicable about getting the perfect pairing right.

Music is emotion and sound accompanying the food, so I do not think it can work in exactly the same way.

But if I had to make that kind of pairing, I would choose our egg and caviar dish. A soft-poached egg with silky cauliflower purée, crème fraîche with lemon and chives, and beautiful caviar. You dip your spoon in and encounter three or four different textures, layers and temperatures: the warm yolk against the silky cauliflower purée, the rich freshness of the crème fraîche with lemon and chives, and the saline, briny flavour of the caviar.

I would pair it with John Coltrane’s My Favorite Things. The way the music moves alongside the flavours, temperatures and different textures of the dish makes it, for me, a perfect pairing.

Fine dining traditionally comes with certain expectations about how a dining room should look and sound. When you started playing rock ’n’ roll at Mélisse, did you feel as though you were challenging an unwritten rule about what a restaurant at that level was supposed to be?

When I started putting more rock ’n’ roll into the Mélisse playlists years ago, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Queen, I was nervous. I knew some people would comment and that there would be a reaction. If we had been in France, they probably would have criticised us for it every night. But I was willing to try.

I wanted to do something different. After all, what does fine dining really mean? To me, it means offering a genuinely exceptional experience. The sound should be exceptional. The tableware should be exceptional.

I really embraced that idea when we redesigned the restaurant after 20 years and created the new Mélisse, with its five tables and the dining room and kitchen working together as one. At that point, I felt I was finally free to do exactly what I wanted.

I had already spent many years in this business. By then, I knew what I wanted the experience to be and what I wanted my restaurant to be. At first, I was afraid to do it. But once I decided to commit fully, I felt it would simply make the restaurant better and that people would love it.

Of course, the audience has changed too. The people who come today are different from those who were coming 25 or 30 years ago. They are much more attuned to music and to what we are doing.

It was a risk, but it was something I genuinely wanted to do. And I think, in the end, it created a better atmosphere.