Ratlinks Redux: Think Like A Chef
Have you been cooking during quarantine? Thinking of starting? Either way you will enjoy some learnings from one of America's best culinary artists
THINK LIKE A CHEF
“Chef Grant Achatz of Alinea, detailed in his episode of Chef Table on Netflix about first meeting Thomas Keller of The French Laundry. When Grant walked in to inquire about a job he found a man sweeping the floor only to learn that the man was Thomas Keller. He took the job because he found the head chef who ran a world-class restaurant to be an everyman the opposite of the tyrant French chef.”
Chef Keller’s class provides a walkthrough of how he likes to cook and set up his kitchen, but what I found most interesting is most MasterClass lectures are structured exactly just like one of my bad high school essays. The overview and lessons up are front with the final two videos from the “master” detailing their life-thesis and essential philosophies that made them successful. Talk about burying the lead.
Thomas Keller’s 6-point essential philosophy:
Organization - not just of yourself but also organize others, so you are ready for your tasks and ready to lead.
Efficiency - Build templates and perfect your mise en place to be more efficient and better prepared. Do the heavy-lift once
Critical Feedback - when you notice a mistake learn from and correct it. Embracing criticism is crucial to improving.
Repetition - practice doesn’t make perfect, but it will make you better no matter the discipline. When you can teach someone a skill you know that you have mastered your craft.
Rituals - by setting and finding pleasure in rituals you can establish a sense of calm in even the most mundane task.
Teamwork - understand your team, that people make mistake but treat everyone with respect and make sure your team is involved and motivated
Lil Frankie
My wife and I are big fans of the LES restaurant Frank. Eponymous owner and chef Frank Prisinzano is a must-follow on Instagram, especially if you have any interest in being more confident in the kitchen. You will learn not just how to make almost all of his dishes, but develop methods to bridge you from cook (recipe follower) to chef. His crispy egg method will make you the share house MVP.
Standard practice is that learning a new recipe involves following a list of ingredients and a set of instructions. If you’re making a tomato sauce for pasta, you can look up a popular recipe on the Internet and have it nearby as you prepare it. You can repeat this exercise as often as you like, and eventually you’ll probably know the steps well enough to repeat it without a guide. But understanding the point of each step isn’t something that comes through in the instructions. Most importantly, understanding those concepts makes it easier to recognize and use the techniques in other, completely different dishes. If you simply know which flavors tend to conflict and which tend to complement, you’ll be way ahead of the chef who memorizes recipes. - Pete Hollins “Science of Self Learning”
Once I was at a bar with my coworkers when we spot former Cincinnati mayor and talk show host Jerry Springer. We turn to see his son holding an iPhone, displaying Frank’s Instagram story. My coworkers don’t believe that it is really Jerry Springer. That is, until he begins speaking, instantly confirming his identity, saying and I am paraphrasing here “that is a crispy egg!”