Harvest America CUES BLOG

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  • AN ACCIDENTAL CULINARY GIANT

    Unless you are from Vermont or part of the decades old culinary education world then you may not know whom this person is. Fran Voigt was the founder and past president of New England Culinary Institute (NECI) that in its… Continue reading

  • AVOID PAINTING ALL KITCHENS WITH THE SAME BRUSH

    There is no shortage of news regarding inappropriate, and in some cases – illegal behavior in restaurants and kitchens. Where it exists it must be stopped and dealt with in no uncertain terms. Treating people with disrespect, gender bias, unprofessional… Continue reading

  • IF YOU CAN’T CHANGE A TIRE – CAN YOU COOK MY MEAL? MAKING EDUCATION “REAL”

    The thought process behind this article began while watching a commercial for an insurance company. This was, to me, a startling revelation about our society and the lack of commitment by everyone towards life education. In the commercial a mother… Continue reading

  • WORDS OF ADVICE FOR EVERY CULINARY COLLEGE GRADUATE

    It is May and all across the country students from the more than 1,000 culinary schools will be graduating and starting their careers in the business of food. You have accomplished a great deal, assimilated more information than you thought… Continue reading

  • CHEFS PLANTING SEEDS – THE RETURN OF TRAINING ON THE JOB

    Here we are – seven or eight years into a steady economic recovery in the U.S. leading to the admirable statistic of a 3.9% unemployment rate (granted this is not qualified with regard to those who have stopped looking or… Continue reading

  • THAT’S HOW COOKS ROLL IN THE KITCHEN

    Many have written about the make-up of line cooks– what makes them tick? What is evident is that the best cooks are complicated characters, yet fairly easy to generalize. Having worked with a wide array of individuals filling the ranks… Continue reading

  • LINE COOKS GOING THE DISTANCE

    Jake woke up with a pounding headache. It was only 7 a.m. and he was already sweating from the July humidity or maybe it was from those last two shots of tequila just a few hours ago. As was the… Continue reading

  • The AMERICAN FARMER and YOU

    THE FARMER’S DILEMMA I have never done this – I have never used my blog to post an article from someone else, but this one was too compelling.  I could write pages on my feelings about this, but the author… Continue reading

  • IN THE KITCHEN: EVERYONE’S DIFFERENT – EVERYONE’S THE SAME

    This story may not be true – but it could be. “We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.” -Jimmy Carter Chef Michel looked around his kitchen and… Continue reading

  • OWNERS/OPERATORS – VALUING COOKS AND CHEFS

    It is certainly true that those who work in the kitchen are not the only reason why a restaurant may be successful, but it is certain that if the back-of-the-house team is not competent, is unable to function as a… Continue reading

  • THE PHYSICAL DEMANDS OF COOKING FOR A LIVING

    There are a few common denominators when it comes to viewing the job of a professional cook. One, of course, is the need to appreciate, understand, and practice the established foundational processes of preparing food – this is essential regardless… Continue reading

  • BEING A CHEF – THE PASSION AND THE COST

    Let’s first separate those three types of cooks who stand tall behind a range: Those who consider cooking to be their purpose in life, the career choice that inspires them, and the choice that let’s them jump out of bed… Continue reading

  • KEYS TO BUILDING A GREAT RESTAURANT MENU

    The heart of every great restaurant is the menu. The building of a menu impacts every other aspect of the business, in fact – every other aspect of the restaurant should be designed to support the style of cooking and… Continue reading

  • WE ARE COOKS

    I was thinking back to a fantastic lecture that I attended maybe in 1982 or 1983 that was presented by Andre Soltner – one of the true great chefs of my generation. Soltner was, at the time, the chef/owner of… Continue reading

  • TO THOSE WHO COOK FOR A LIVING – WHEN IS IT EVER OK TO BE MEDIOCRE?

    I just don’t get it. Those with whom I have worked and enjoyed countless kitchen adventures have lived by the mantra: “Anything worth doing is worth doing well”. This is a philosophy that has lived at the core of success… Continue reading

  • COOKS AND THE BEAST OF SUMMER

    Americans have always seemed to live for summer. This is the season of fun, engaging with the great outdoors, tanned skin, beaches and water, convertibles and rock and roll. Everyone seems to agree with this except one segment of the… Continue reading

  • EVERYBODY WANTS TO ALIGN WITH A WINNER

    Pride can be a wonderful motivator. Chefs and cooks are, by nature, very proud individuals – they choose to enter a demanding field of relentless work because there can be immense amount of pride in creating beautiful, delicious food for… Continue reading

  • BREAKTHROUGH MOMENTS FOR THE AMERICAN RESTAURANT

    How did we (the restaurant industry) get to where we are today? With over 1 million freestanding restaurants in the U.S. and comfortable as the number two employer in the country (only surpassed by the government) the restaurant industry has… Continue reading

  • WHAT CHEFS & COOKS CAN LEARN FROM the OLYMPICS & OLYMPIC ATHLETES?

    I am very fortunate to live in a small village of around 5,000 residents in the Adirondack Park of New York. This is one of the most pristine areas in the world situated in a 6,000 acre protected area of… Continue reading

  • WHAT CHEFS CAN LEARN FROM BUSINESS DISRUPTORS

    Some of us look back with fondness at those individuals who inspired us and became our role models. Often, those same people were held at that level of esteem because their beliefs and work were somehow parallel to our own.… Continue reading

  • MORE LAWS OF THE KITCHEN

    A while back I posted an article that pointed to the Unwritten Rules of the kitchen. It seemed to strike a chord with almost 100,000 views. Any list that tries to address how a complex environment like a kitchen works… Continue reading

  • REAL KITCHEN HEROS

    There is never any shortage of rhetoric regarding the chefs who are destined to be admired and emulated. They are oftentimes the chefs who are pushing the envelope with technique, amassing an empire of restaurant concepts, winning awards, or pioneering… Continue reading

  • BANTER, INNUENDO, BULLYING, AND A CULTURE OF KITCHEN HARASSMENT

    Quite a title isn’t it? Maybe what is coming to the surface today in every facet of our society makes it easier to talk about this or maybe it is a topic that is one that we may want to… Continue reading

  • MARVELING AT KITCHEN CRAFTSPERSONS

    Even after nearly five decades of work in and around kitchens and kitchen staff – I continue to be impressed by the skills and the passion of the craftspeople who come to work each day and execute a set of… Continue reading

  • THE IMPORTANCE OF PAUL BOCUSE

    Since the passing of Paul Bocuse this past week there have been many tributes and acknowledgements of his contributions over a lengthy career. I thought deeply about this remarkable chef and how to pay homage to not just his contributions,… Continue reading

  • A LINE COOK’S LEGAL VICES

    The dictionary may define a “vice” as a bad habit or fault, but sometimes those habits cause less harm than the definition may imply and far more joy than one might assume. We all have a vice or two, some… Continue reading

  • IS THE KITCHEN A COOK’S “SAFE PLACE”?

    Look around the kitchen and pause to really assess what you see. The lifeblood of the kitchen is not found in stainless steel, contemporary equipment, or even the ingredients that fill cooler and storeroom shelves. The lifeblood of the kitchen… Continue reading

  • RESTAURANTS – PAY ATTENTION TO FIRST AND LAST IMPRESSIONS

    We all tend to focus on the main characters in a movie, a book, or play – the central plot and those individuals who seem to be the lead in a story. This is, I suppose, how we have all… Continue reading

  • WHAT WORKING IN RESTAURANTS TAUGHT ME

    I have often reflected on the lessons learned and the lessons taught in kitchens. When I look back at almost five decades of involvement in the food business I do so with great respect for the environment and the people… Continue reading

  • COOKING THROUGH THE SENSES – THE CHEF’S UNIQUE SKILL

    We are familiar with the human senses and likely understand that they are all connected as individuals try to distinguish flavor and the experience of eating. As cooks we know that there are many more opportunities for people to distinguish… Continue reading