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Culinary Cues
DECEMBER 3, 2022
It’s 5:30am when the alarm clock screams “it’s time!” My bare feet hit the cold floor while the muscles in my legs resist with a creeping cramp that brings me quickly to my knees. Crap!!”, I shout while frantically rubbing my calf trying to work out that Charlie horse pain.
Culinary Cues
AUGUST 22, 2022
Bigger isn’t always better. Bigger brings a significant upswing in headaches, unforeseen challenges, an inability to flex, and long-term costs.
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Culinary Cues
NOVEMBER 22, 2022
I may be in the minority, but I have always felt, and often promoted, that restaurants can and occasionally do serve a higher purpose. Since those early days as an apprentice and maybe even before as a 16-year-old dishwasher, I saw something special in restaurant life.
Culinary Cues
SEPTEMBER 15, 2022
Ironically, there is always room to be great and there is plenty of room to be mediocre. With more than one million restaurants in the US we can flip a coin and hope for the great, will likely step through the doors of good, and far too often settle into the mediocre.
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Culinary Cues
NOVEMBER 11, 2022
Push it out, how many covers, lock, and load, finish strong, over the hump, wrap it up: this the language of the kitchen during service, these are the timestamps like the number of quarters in a football game or innings in baseball.
Culinary Cues
NOVEMBER 6, 2022
I have always loved the restaurant business.
Culinary Cues
MARCH 10, 2022
March 9 was National Dish Washer Day. I’m not sure who decided that this declaration be made, but for those of us in the restaurant business – it is so appropriate.
Culinary Cues
AUGUST 9, 2021
The goal of every restaurant and every chef is to create memorable experiences for the guest. Somewhere in our internal job description is a desire, and even a need to build an environment of WOW!
Culinary Cues
AUGUST 18, 2022
I still remember that day in downtown Buffalo. I was probably 10 or 11 years old on a shopping trip with my parents when we walked by a diner window with full view of their short order cooks. I was instantly mesmerized by their motions, their intensity, their speed, and their control.
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Culinary Cues
MARCH 26, 2022
Are you thinking about owning a restaurant? You are not alone if the thought of putting your name on a restaurant awning has crossed your mind. One of the most tempting forays into entrepreneurship is the restaurant business. How hard can it be – right?
Culinary Cues
NOVEMBER 17, 2020
More difficult than you may have thought, more chaotic than you might expect, more poetic than you realize, and more fulfilling than you would understand: this, to me, describes the environment of the professional kitchen that few customers are able to view or experience.
Culinary Cues
OCTOBER 11, 2022
BEING A COOK IS MORE THAN THE PROCESS OF COOKING. If you are a cook who is happy working just for a paycheck – more power to you, but you can probably save some time and not read this article.
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Culinary Cues
OCTOBER 24, 2022
More than anything else, when I was in restaurant kitchens I looked forward to planning and testing the next set of menu changes. A stale menu is not cost effective, ignorant of quality issues with ingredients, uninspiring for employees, and just plain boring.
Culinary Cues
AUGUST 7, 2021
Identifying problems has never been a challenge in the restaurant industry – there are many. Making the effort to solve those problems is another story.
Culinary Cues
AUGUST 4, 2022
The greatest threat is not the labor shortage or supply chain issues, it’s not the pandemic or the price of real estate – yes, all those concerns are troubling and must be dealt with, but they are not what will bring the restaurant industry to its knees. Well then – what will? Try apathy on for size.
Culinary Cues
OCTOBER 4, 2022
When did civility (or lack thereof) become only referenced when considering political discourse? The left and the right may, to some, reference liberal or conservative political beliefs, but when it comes to acting in a civil manner – examples go way beyond politicians and their evolving platforms.
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Culinary Cues
JULY 16, 2022
A little over a week ago, a person whom I knew, worked with, and admired for more than 40 years, passed away.
Culinary Cues
OCTOBER 20, 2021
Kitchens are great equalizers – it is the place where individual talent and exceptional intellect can be less important that dependability, organization, focus, and teamwork.
Culinary Cues
JULY 9, 2022
It’s the start of another day in the kitchen. Seven in the morning and aside from the baker and breakfast cook, I am alone with clip board in hand and my roll bag of knives placed strategically at a workstation.
Culinary Cues
JULY 31, 2022
Now that I have your attention, let’s have a serious conversation. This is meant to be a chat with all the stakeholders: cooks, chefs, servers, bartenders, managers, owners, dishwashers, and customers. The end IS NOT near, in fact, restaurants have never been more important than they are right now.
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Culinary Cues
SEPTEMBER 29, 2022
Separating the good from the great becomes more difficult when your competition is seeking to do the same. In a field where mediocrity reins strong it is quite easy to stand out as better – but is this where you want to be?
Culinary Cues
JANUARY 23, 2021
In the restaurant business there are really only two ways to view profit: a very small amount of profit balanced by very significant volume, or a significant amount of profit on far less volume. How you approach the design of your restaurant in this regard will determine nearly everything else.
Culinary Cues
MARCH 15, 2021
There has never been a more important time for culinary schools than right now.
Culinary Cues
OCTOBER 18, 2022
So, this is something that I have been perplexed about for the past few months: more and more restaurants are beginning to charge for bread. At first, I was really put off by this. Come on – is this the way to address your food cost woes? But after I settled down, I started to think about it.
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Culinary Cues
JUNE 14, 2022
There are many questions that people ask with regard to the restaurant industry, but two seem to really stand out in the post pandemic world: Why should I spend money in a restaurant? Why would I choose to support a locally owned restaurant?
Culinary Cues
DECEMBER 28, 2021
I know you remember the first day that you slid your arms into the sleeves of that chef’s jacket with your name embroidered under the title: executive chef. It was that first time in the lead position – the commander of the kitchen brigade.
Culinary Cues
MARCH 4, 2022
I would assume that many chefs who read this article – at least the ones from my generation have reflected on where they are, what they have done, and what they are still able to do.
Culinary Cues
MAY 16, 2022
As a cook or chef there are many days that go well and a few that challenge the best. There are times when a service kind of clicks and the night ends without any problems – these are nights that allow you to feel good about what you do and the level of skill that you have built.
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Culinary Cues
APRIL 7, 2022
Decades of working in or focusing on kitchens and kitchen life have led me to wonder, and sometimes question what I really know. Our resumes never really tell the story, at least not the important story.
Culinary Cues
FEBRUARY 22, 2021
Ah…now is the time for everyone to start speculating about what the restaurant business will look like when all of this craziness is over.
Culinary Cues
JULY 23, 2022
Something became even more apparent to me today, something that I have felt for decades, but suddenly it became vividly clear. I had a call out of the blue from a former culinary student and co-worker at a four-diamond restaurant. He just wanted to catch up and share what was going on in his life.
Culinary Cues
MARCH 21, 2022
From first-in, first-out in the walk-in cooler to how you fold side towels and where your knives are placed – it is organization that allows a kitchen to run efficiently and keeps the mood and pace of the restaurant in sync.
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