Harvest America CUES BLOG

cooks

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • TURN YOUR LIFE AROUND AS A COOK

    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.  If, however you have the sense that cooking is more… 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

  • 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

  • THAT FIRST NIGHT ON THE LINE ALL OVER AGAIN

    One thing is for sure – we will be back.  We don’t know exactly when, or what it might look like, but we will be back.  A year has gone by and most cooks have now forgotten what it was… 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

  • THE KITCHEN MAGIC OF CHEF PHIL LEARNED

    Our industry recently lost a giant of the professional kitchen.  Chef Phil Learned stood tall in the kitchen of The Balsams Grand Resort in Dixville Notch, NH.  In its day, the Balsams was one of the finest destination resorts in… Continue reading

  • THE RESTAURANT ECO-SYSTEM NEEDS HELP

    There are a number of reasons why restaurants fail – some are predictable and avoidable, while others can catch a business off guard.  None, however, are as devastatingly out of the operators control as this pandemic.  Even the best operators… Continue reading

  • MARC MENEAU – ONE OF THE WORLD’S GREAT CHEFS

    There are chefs who have mastered the craft of cooking, chefs who have built a public brand that defines a region or exemplifies a cuisine; there are others who give to their community and as a result uplift those who… Continue reading

  • COOKS AND THE SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS

    Sweat was creeping down Alex’s back.  The line was just 15 minutes into the 7 o’clock push and the board was full.  The pressure was on, but Alex was on his game – he was wearing an ear-to-ear smile because… Continue reading

  • CHASING THE DEVIL – SUBSTANCE ABUSE IN THE RESTAURANT BUSINESS

    Joe is a single guy, young and well educated, quiet yet personable enough, incredibly talented as a cook, reflective, and a closet alcoholic.  From the perspective of the chef who reigns in charge of the restaurant where Joe works –… Continue reading

  • THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENT IN THE MAKING OF A GREAT CHEF

    Is it possible to narrow down the secret of greatness to one ingredient?  What could it be?  Is it really that simple, or in this case is simplicity really complex?   I have had the honor to work with, know, or… Continue reading

  • IT’S STILL A TIME OF THANKSGIVING

    For most people this will be a different Thanksgiving, a day without the traditional celebrations of large family gatherings, a day with far too much leftover turkey as we attempt to keep some semblance of normality through the bounty of… Continue reading

  • CHEFS – FAILURE IS NOT INEVITABLE

    It seems that every time I check my email or flip through postings in social media – there is another restaurant, food business, or culinary school preparing to close their doors.  It is heartbreaking to read of life visions dashed… Continue reading

  • WHAT CUSTOMERS DON’T KNOW ABOUT RESTAURANT WORK

    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… Continue reading

  • A COOK’S SENSUAL OVERLOAD – TOUCH, TEXTURE, CHEW

    We are tactile beings – the feel and texture of things that we encounter is very personal and very important to our life experience.  Such is the case with the food that we consume.  As is stated by the Institute… Continue reading

  • A COOK’S SENSUAL OVERLOAD – SMELL

    Now that I have your attention – allow me to walk you through a cook’s journey of experiences that activate the senses.  One of the most amazing aspects of the human mind is its capacity to store and remember every… Continue reading