Orphaned cookbooks find new home in Van Pelt

Correction appended

Fashionable Philadelphia restaurant Deux Cheminees is shutting its doors, to the disappointment of epicures all over.

But the retiring owner, Fritz Blank, hasn't decided on a closing date yet.

The reason? He's trying to unload thousands of books that now occupy his restaurant onto Van Pelt Library.

His library is one of the most well-known features of Deux Cheminees - French for "two chimneys." Thousands of volumes greet diners at the Center City restaurant.

And the process of finding a new home for them is a slow one.

Known as Chef Fritz in the culinary community, Blank is retiring and donating part of his 17,000-volume collection cookbooks and other culinary works to Van Pelt. The books will be sorted and parceled out to various collections, ranging from the Rare Book & Manuscript Library to general-circulation areas in Van Pelt.

Library employees travel regularly to his restaurant to catalogue the books. When the organization is complete, University vans will transport the books to campus.

"At this point, we'll probably get a lot of the books," said Lynne Farrington, curator of printed books at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library. There is a "lot of artwork, prints, letters. . It will be a valuable resource."

Blank, a clinical microbiologist by training - he served as chief microbiologist at the Crozer-Chester Medical and Regional Burn Center, in Upland, Pa. - opened Deux Cheminees in 1979.

A heavyset man with an earring and tattoos from his days in the army, Blank is a bit of an unusual candidate to be one of Philadelphia's premier chefs.

But his talent has gotten him a long way.

"My friends said, 'You cook so [well] - you should open up a restaurant,'" Blank said in a recent interview in his restaurant as he prepared cantaloupe for the evening crowd.

"So I said 'yes' to the guys pestering me to start [a restaurant] and said I would do it for a year," Blank continued. "That was 28 years ago."

Today Deux Cheminees has amassed a slew of awards, and was once named one of the 30 best restaurants in America by readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine.

And Blank's talents don't just extend to the worlds of microbiology and gastronomy; he is also a philanthropist.

Every year, he helps with a benefit that supports the Philadelphia Singers - a professional chorus that, along with performing, provides education and community activities for middle and high schools.

"I think he's an institution," said Peter Gilmore of Gilmore's Restaurant, a French establishment in West Chester, Pa. "One thing you can count on is Deux Cheminees."

Blank also isn't a stranger to the Penn. Working with then-director of the Rare & Manuscript Library Michael Ryan and Philadelphia-based writer Matthew Rowley, Blank showcased a portion of his library at Van Pelt for several months in 2002.

Titled "A Chef & His Library," the exhibition sought to "illustrate how a homegrown Jersey boy became one of America's foremost French chefs," according to Rowley.

Blank has also delved into Penn classes, hosting a dinner for Psychology professor Paul Rozin's class "From Biochemistry to Cuisine."

"We went out for four meals" for the class, Rozin said. "The fourth was at his restaurant. . Three kids came early and helped him make the meal."

Rozin added that Blank "loves students, loves interacting. . He stands for the best in cuisine."

Blank soon plans to move to Thailand, where he hopes to "write cookbooks" and simply "step back from the pressures of a restaurant kitchen."

"I'm 65 - that's a good time," he said. "I don't want to drop dead at the stove."

Correction: This story incorrectly states that the restaurant is closing. Though its owner, Fritz Blanc, is retiring, the restaurant will remain in operation.

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