Harvest America CUES BLOG

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  • BEING A LINE COOK IN THE 60’S – WHAT IT WAS LIKE

      The kitchen in the Buffalo Statler Hilton Hotel was in the sub-basement of this 1,200 room property. There were 18 banquet rooms with the largest, the Grand Ballroom, capable of seating 2,000 people and the smallest – an intimate… Continue reading

  • WHY COOKS HANG OUT WITH COOKS

    In the era of social media the term “friend” has been misconstrued. A Facebook friend is likely distant from the true definition that has been an essential part of a full life since the beginning of time. A social media… Continue reading

  • WHAT MAKES A CHEF’S JOB SO CHALLENGING

    If you cook in a serious way, if you have defined the process of cooking as something that you want to invest in, if you find that the passion of working in a professional kitchen is something that inspires you,… Continue reading

  • WHEN LINE COOKS CONNECT WITH THE FOOD

    It’s the chef’s cuisine after all – right? The role of the cook is to prepare what the chef tells him or her to prepare in the manner prescribed, because that’s what the cook is paid to do – right?… Continue reading

  • CHEFS AND COOKS – KEEPING IT REAL

    I thought that it would be interesting to talk menu for a change. What we relish most is the opportunity to create dishes and cook in a manner that pays justice to the ingredients and the heritage of a dish.… Continue reading

  • CHEFS – HOW STABLE ARE WE – REALLY?

    If you are a chef I know that you have experienced it many times – people around you who shake their heads and wonder what’s wrong with you. They are astonished at the hours you work, the physical and mental… Continue reading

  • A ROADMAP TO SUCCESS FOR COOKS AND CHEFS

    Although some my choose to turn down an unknown road to see where it leads – most of us would prefer to predetermine a destination and plug in our GPS. There are those who would state that the best way… Continue reading

  • COOKS – LEARNING HOW TO FIT IN

    There is a definitive culture in a professional kitchen – a culture that requires certain attributes of members. Membership is not automatic – far from it. It is this culture that attracts many to the profession – it is this… Continue reading

  • WE CAN NEVER FORGET – A CHEF’S PERSONAL REFLECTIONS ON 9/11

    Monday is the 16th anniversary of one of the darkest days in American history. This was truly the day that changed the world, impacted each of our lives, and bore witness to the worst and the best of mankind. The… Continue reading

  • COOKING AND ALL THAT JAZZ

    I have often compared serious cooking to the free-form interpretations of jazz musicians. Since at the core of jazz you can always find the foundations of a melody there is a baseline of discipline that allows the improvisation of jazz… Continue reading

  • I REMEMBER – A CHEF’S REFLECTIONS ON TIME

    It was 1964 when Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones sang: “Time is on my side, yes it is.” I wonder now if there is any truth to that statement. When you are 14 years old, as I was, time… Continue reading

  • I LOVE BEING A CHEF BUT I’M MAD AS HELL

    From that first moment when I held a spatula in my hand at the age of 15 and was shown how to flip a pancake and how the flick of my wrist could coax an egg to gently change sides… Continue reading

  • THINK ABOUT WHY YOU WANT TO BECOME A CHEF

    In another week or so the hundreds of culinary schools across the country will welcome a new class of freshmen with visions of becoming a chef. It is interesting to note that many if not most of these aspiring cooks… Continue reading

  • THE RECIPE IS A BOOK WORTH READING AND HOLDING CLOSE TO YOUR HEART

    There has rarely been a better time for a book like this. I don’t normally use my blog to talk about books that you really should read. My focus is to pay respect to cooks and chefs, restaurateurs and servers,… Continue reading

  • BUFFALO – MY KIND OF FOOD TOWN

    Originally posted on Harvest America CUES BLOG: Yes, in case you have not guessed, I am originally from Buffalo. After you get all of the stinging quips out of your system let me tell you what Buffalo is really like.… Continue reading

  • COOKS FINDING THEIR PURPOSE

    When all is said and done, when we push aside the challenges that face us as career cooks, when you take the time to brush aside those things that can be pointed to as “negative”, there is a common bond… Continue reading

  • IS THE RESTAURANT BUBBLE ABOUT TO BURST?

    It could be very easy to state that the restaurant industry has never been stronger, never more robust, and never more promising. There are, according to the National Restaurant Association, more than 1 million freestanding restaurants in the U.S., generating… Continue reading

  • CHEFS – 22 MORE SUREFIRE WAYS TO FAIL AT YOUR JOB

    What makes a chef successful at his or her job? It certainly takes many years for an accomplished cook to rise to the position of chef, but what should they have learned along the way? Just as with restaurant owners… Continue reading

  • LINE COOKS – TOUGH AS NAILS – USED AND ABUSED, DRIVEN AND CONTENTIOUS

    We are who we are or – are we defined by what we do and the environment that we function in? Look into a person’s eyes and you can determine quite a bit. A cook’s eyes are focused, tired, often… Continue reading

  • COOKS WITH DRAGONS IN THEIR CLOSET

    Make no mistake, the most enjoyable part of working in a kitchen will always be the interesting people who man that station or cutting board next to you. Of course we have a passion for the food – this is,… Continue reading

  • WHY COOKS APPRENTICESHIP MAY BE THE ANSWER

    What goes around does come around. For the past forty years the restaurant industry has relinquished its responsibility for serious training to culinary schools across the country. From the days of Careme, Pointe, and Escoffier till the early 1960’s the… Continue reading

  • CHEFS HAVE BEEN ALCHEMISTS FOR GENERATIONS

    With all of the more recent attention paid to the science of cooking, I find it important to note that chefs and cooks have been unwitting practitioners of food science since the first stove was created. Take a look at… Continue reading

  • A COOK DEEP IN THOUGHT

    If you are a restaurant cook – how often have you paused to think: “Why am I doing this”? Every cook understands that there is a balance of good, bad, and ugly with most careers, but at times it does… Continue reading

  • WHAT DRIVES A LINE COOK CRAZY

    Recently, I pointed to the things that drive a chef crazy, but line cooks share a list of actions or lack thereof that push their buttons as well. Some of these actions are real and correctable while others are simply… Continue reading

  • A LINE COOK’S MANIFESTO

    What we believe is drawn from our life experiences, our history, our family and friends, our heritage, and what we do during our time on earth. That may sound a bit too philosophical, but it is based on reality. To… Continue reading

  • THE WINE EXPERIENCE /THE WINE CULTURE – A CHEF’S PERSPECTIVE

    Is it possible that an area like the North Fork of Long Island could become the next serious wine region of the country? What differentiates the Napa Valley, Paso Robles and Sonoma County of California from the Willamette Valley of… Continue reading

  • Attention Line Cooks: Be Solid, Give it Your All

    This is my first commissioned article for San Pellegrino’s blog – finedininglovers.com.  I am honored to have this opportunity to share topics with their international base of followers and bring to light some of the challenges and opportunities that face… Continue reading

  • CHEFS – TWELVE SUREFIRE WAYS TO LOSE GOOD EMPLOYEES

    A common complaint from chefs and restaurateurs is that they can’t hang on to employees. The blame game always includes pointing a finger at those who leave claiming that they are ungrateful, lazy, uncommitted to their field, or just incompetent… Continue reading

  • ROCK SOLID – A COOK’S PROFILE

    A chef posts job openings for a restaurant kitchen “Looking for line cooks – dependable, experienced, strong work ethic”. These three descriptors summarize what most chefs are looking for. The resume is simply an elaboration on the critical traits of… Continue reading

  • ON THE THRESHOLD OF A DREAM – A CHEF’S LAMENT

    (So You Want to Own a Restaurant – PART II) Deep in every chef’s heart is/was a desire to open and own a restaurant. I think that I can say this unequivocally even though many chefs may choose to deny… Continue reading