Harvest America CUES BLOG

chefs

  • KITCHEN WINS AND LOSSES

    I love to watch sports, especially football. I am a true-blue fan of my team and know that their performance sets the tone for my week. I reluctantly accept that sometimes, a loss occurs and although it stings, after a… Continue reading

  • CULINARY CONTEXT AND TRADITION

    “Wax on, wax off.” Most people over the age of fifty are familiar with this instruction from Mr. Miyagi, the karate master in the seminal movie – the Karate Kid. This discipline helped to prepare the student for the flow… Continue reading

  • CHEFS – IT’S DIVERSITY THAT MAKES US INTERESTING

    (Llyod the Jamiacan Sous Chef and Frenchie the Butcher (1971) I’m a bit puzzled by those who somehow consider diversity, a problem to be dealt with. I fully understand the need for legal parameters to control entry and citizenship but… Continue reading

  • ENGAGED IN LIFE

    As a consultant I was often faced with the challenge of determining what is missing. Why isn’t a particular business successful when their location was great, the product was well prepared, the facility was attractive and clean, and pricing was… Continue reading

  • WHERE DOES YOUR INSPIRATION COME FROM

    Is it just me or have restaurant menus become a bit too “ho-hum”? Some may argue my assessment, but everyone seems to be focused on who can present the best burger or chicken wings and frankly, it’s getting boring. I… Continue reading

  • A CRYSTAL BALL LOOK AT THE RESTAURANT BUSINESS OF TOMORROW

    Restaurants, in some form, have been around since the days of the Greek and Roman Empires. The modern version had its roots in models built in hotels during the time of Carême to sophisticated free-standing operations under the helm of… Continue reading

  • RESTAURANTS THRIVING IN A COMPETITIVE WORLD

    Operating a restaurant is a brutal undertaking filled with uncertainty, tough reality, highs and lows, and sometimes unwanted reckoning. If you are already running a restaurant, you fully understand this and if you hope to operate a restaurant you have… Continue reading

  • CHEF’S – PROTECT THE CRAFT

    The temptation of convenience can be very strong in a world where success is measured solely in dollars and cents and the labor pool is as challenging as it is today. Don’t misunderstand me – profit is a noble pursuit… Continue reading

  • A CHECKLIST TO RESTAURANT EXCELLENCE – Part One

    A friend once told me that operating a restaurant is not rocket science. I’m sure he meant well, although my initial reaction was to get a bit defensive. We all know that running a restaurant is enormously difficult, thus the… Continue reading

  • THE RETURN OF HARVEST AMERICA CUES BLOG

    Yes, it’s back! After a two-month respite and a chance to assess how Harvest Cues can be of service to those who choose to read the articles offered, my blog will return in August 2025. The look will be different… Continue reading

  • TO COOKS, CHEFS, AND ALL WHO ARE ENGAGED IN THE BUSINESS OF FOOD

    You are the salt of the earth! I started Harvest America Cues Blog in 2013 at the encouragement of Chef Curtiss Hemm. The blog was meant to parallel the start-up of Harvest America Ventures Consulting. At the age of 63… Continue reading

  • TIRED OF THE NEGATIVITY

    It’s the proverbial glass half full or half empty scenario. How you approach life is typically evident in everything you do from caring for your health, to relationships, to your work, and even your purpose. Do you seek sunshine or… Continue reading

  • CHEFS – SIMPLE AT A DIFFERENT LEVEL

    For generations – excellent meant complicated, intense, all-consuming, and sacrifice. Kitchens of great renown are staffed with dozens of talented young cooks, some even there as a stagiere – working just to learn and build their resumes. Meticulously clean kitchens;… Continue reading

  • THE WAY IT WAS, IS, AND COULD BE

    It seems like a lifetime ago, oh wait…it was a lifetime ago, that I stepped into my first professional kitchen. It was 1970 and the Statler Hilton kitchen in Buffalo, New York seemed like a complex, hard to wrap my… Continue reading

  • THE IMPORTANT THINGS I LEARNED IN THE KITCHEN

    Maybe I tend to quote Bourdain too much, but he comes from a real place. Unlike some who may speak of kitchen and restaurant life, he was there and learned about life while standing in front of a range cranked… Continue reading

  • STEPPING INTO PROFESSIONALISM

    There are kitchens and there are kitchens. Painting the environment that surrounds cooking with the same brush is unfair and quite inaccurate; yet many do. Those operations that resemble the caldrons of hell filled with arrogance, bullying, unprofessional behavior, and… Continue reading

  • SUMMER IS PURE TORTURE FOR COOKS

    Since we were able to walk – summer has represented a time of freedom, fun, blue skies, dipping our feet in the ocean or a neighbor’s pool, and great music to sooth the soul. Well, if your career path focused… Continue reading

  • CHEFS – MAINTAIN RELATIONSHIP WITH INGREDIENTS

    Is our profession becoming a victim of circumstances? There is a deeper price to pay when looming issues like the labor shortage, rising costs of operation, an eroding passion for careers in the kitchen, and diminishing profits haunt our everyday… Continue reading

  • SWING FOR THE FENCES BUT RESPECT THE FUNDAMENTALS

    Look around you and try to dissect those businesses and individuals who are successful at what they do. Chances are, these are the players who refuse to lock themselves into the groove of always playing it safe. Playing conservative may… Continue reading

  • COOKS GETTING TO CONFIDENCE

    Confidence is vividly apparent with musicians, athletes, actors, carpenters, and other trades, and certainly with cooks and chefs. It’s that point in time when they are comfortable working side by side with their peers and mentors. Confidence is a wonderful… Continue reading

  • AMERICAN RESTAURANTS – AN INTERESTING EVOLUTION

    PART ONE: An Immigrant Nation Melting Pot: America was the land of opportunity and tens of thousands came to our shores, through Ellis Island, and stood at the gates of New York ready to become American and bring their ethnic… Continue reading

  • THE GREATEST THREAT TO AMERICAN RESTAURANTS

    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… Continue reading

  • CHEF OF THE COLD KITCHEN

    We have all heard the phrase: “If you can’t stand the heat – get out of the kitchen”.  To many it defines what it is like to work in a restaurant kitchen – toiling over cherry red hot flat tops… Continue reading

  • CHEF’S HAVE PERMISSION TO SUCCEED

    It was 1969 when the acclaimed “super group” – Blind Faith with Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, and Ginger Baker caused a stir with their self-titled album.  Although the group was short lived, they did leave us with an applicable lyric:… Continue reading

  • DON’T SETTLE FOR MEDIOCRITY

    It would be difficult to find a more sinister, demoralizing, harmful, or self-destructive word than mediocre.  Mediocre sucks the lifeblood out of an individual or an organization – it is the dark side of the moon, the harbinger of discomfort… Continue reading

  • THE AMERICAN RESTAURANT 2022 (Post Pandemic)

    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.  Let’s start with what we are fairly comfortable saying:  whatever “normal” is will likely not make… Continue reading

  • ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A TAVERN

    Every year, a significant number of new restaurants open and almost as many close their doors for good.  It is, that spark of “I have a great idea for a restaurant” that drives many people towards the leap into entrepreneurship… Continue reading

  • FOR THE LOVE OF RESTAURANTS and COOKING

    I am optimistic and realistic at the same time.  I am optimistic in the ability of the restaurant business to recover and shine, to bring people together once again, to return to a position of central to the life of… Continue reading

  • CHEFS – VALUE and the TOP LINE DRIVE the BOTTOM LINE

    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… Continue reading

  • CULINARY SCHOOL – STICK YOUR TOE IN THE WATER BEFORE BUYING A BOAT

    There are a handful of very significant decisions that we make in life – decisions that involve tremendous commitments of time, effort, focus, and yes – money.  Starting a relationship, a decision to marry, buying a house or an expensive… Continue reading