Harvest America CUES BLOG

cooks

  • THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY – IMMIGRANT NATION

    Certainly one of the hot topics throughout the past election cycle and moving forward is the immigration policies and shortcomings of the United States. There is a political bent and there is reality. You can choose the side that you… Continue reading

  • FUTURE PERFECT FOR RESTAURANT COOKS AND CHEFS

    It may be difficult to predict what will happen tomorrow, but there are most certainly indicators that give us a clue. There is always a tendency to be hopeful that things will somehow be better along with a reluctance to… Continue reading

  • PROFILE OF A MODERN LINE COOK

    It might be time to retire the concept of a job description. For all intents and purposes a job description is limiting and fails to address the unique characteristics of individuals and those intangibles that separate an average line warrior… Continue reading

  • A COOK’S FLAVOR MEMORY

    I imagine everyone would agree that the most important part of a restaurant dish is taste and flavor. This, of course, encompasses texture, aroma, and appearance, but to most – the intriguing part of enjoyable food revolves around what is… Continue reading

  • RESTAURANT FOOD- GENERATIONS OF DENIAL

    One of the more significant topics of debate in America is focused on the cost of healthcare and the millions of people who are ill-prepared to deal with health issues due to a lack of insurance or insufficient insurance. It… Continue reading

  • YOU KNOW YOU ARE A TRUE LINE COOK IF………

    There comes a point in time on most people’s lives when they finally realize that what they do for a living is what they are meant to do. It is this “aha” moment that can either serve as a breath… Continue reading

  • A COOK’S TOLERANCE FOR PAIN

    Those of us who have held court behind the range know it, our families know it, our peers know it, but the rest of the world has no real idea about the physical and emotional pain that accompanies the job… Continue reading

  • CHEF’S and COOKS GIVING BACK

    To many – cooking is a job, maybe a job that is rewarding in ways other than compensation, but never the less – a job. With more than 1 million free standing restaurants in the United States it is obvious… Continue reading

  • LINE COOKS – WALK A MILE IN THEIR SHOES

    Many jobs are physically demanding and others push a persons ability to think clearly and problem solve. Some jobs can be emotionally draining while others are adrenaline driven and allow workers to ride high and weather the storms of stress.… Continue reading

  • A COOK’S “LIFE IN THE MOMENT”

    The world spins around us, life takes us in many different directions – some exciting and rewarding, some seem to spin out of control, but in all cases we have to take it in stride. There are macro issues of… Continue reading

  • “THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGIN” – FOR COOKS AS WELL

    There is something fulfilling and yet final to the news that Bob Dylan is being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Many have chastised the decision by the Nobel committee to award such an international honor to a troubadour who… Continue reading

  • A CHEF’S THOUGHTS ON IMMIGRATION AND DIVERSITY

    Every day that I walked into a kitchen, from the time I was a 15-year old dishwasher with working papers, I saw something that made me feel special. It was the sense of camaraderie, the feeling that we were all… Continue reading

  • COOKS – BLUE COLLAR AND PROUD OF IT

    There is something inherently gratifying about making things with your hands. Developing and fine-tuning a set of skills that have been passed down for generations help to build pride in a profession that is timeless. In my mind there is… Continue reading

  • TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS AGO – THE TEAM OF TEAMS

    It was October 1988 – I was looking out the window of a Lufthansa 777 jet en route to Frankfurt. It seemed like a dream – after two years of relentless practice and a few trials and tribulations along the… Continue reading

  • CHEFS- KEEP IT SIMPLE, DO IT BETTER

    We (myself included) have become so obsessed with complex, challenging, unique preparations and presentations of restaurant food that, in many cases, we lost sight of the real enjoyment of food – flavor. Perfection may mean incredibly unique, beautiful, and in… Continue reading

  • COOKS and SERVERS BUILD A RESTAURANT ONE PLATE AT A TIME

    Many people think of a restaurant as the physical property, the décor and ambience of the dining room, and the space or location that the place occupies. In truth, the restaurant is much more ethereal. It is the food and… Continue reading

  • HOW IT FEELS TO BE A LINE COOK IN AMERICA

      This is not a scientific study based on polling a cross-section of cooks from coast to coast, but rather an observation from experience working with and managing cooks whom I have a great deal of respect for. First some… Continue reading

  • AMERICA’S CULINARY TEAM

      This is the motherlode time of the year for sports fans. Hockey, Football, and Baseball all intersect for a month making it difficult for many to choose what to watch. There is another sport that takes place during October… Continue reading

  • A COOK’S WEEK IN TUSCANY

    The morning air is crisp, the aroma of olives, and ripe grapes bearing the weight of sugar and juice pull the vines toward the earth, and the must of stone buildings that are hundreds of years old greet me each… Continue reading

  • WHAT “HARVEST” MEANS TO A COOK

    Summer is typically not a line cook’s favorite season. Sure, kitchens are always hot, but nothing compares to summer on the line. A cook comes from the heat of outside to the heat of the kitchen. The make-up air system… Continue reading

  • A LINE COOK – THE INTELLIGENCE CONNECTION

    In terms of human intellect, we evolved much faster than one might expect. The information storage and potential of the human brain is almost limitless – in fact, we use a very small portion of its capacity. How could we… Continue reading

  • THE FOUR TYPES OF COOKS – WHERE DO YOU FIT?

    We work – this is what people were meant to do, this is what helps to give us purpose, this is what shapes, to a large degree, the person that we are. How we approach this work, the type of… Continue reading

  • THE HEAT OF THE KITCHEN

    It’s August and the latest data points to July (last month) as the hottest on record for the United States. Think about that – it has never been hotter than this since records have been kept! While others may think… Continue reading

  • COOKS – DEFINED, RUGGED, AND READY – IS THIS FOR YOU?

    Even though there are certainly aspects of the job of “cook” that can and should change, there are others that truly define what it means to hold that title. Do you have what it takes? Do you really know what… Continue reading

  • THE STORY IN A COOK’S HANDS

    Your hands are incredible tools. Think about these hand facts for a moment: There are: 27 bones in the hand 17 muscles in the palm alone and 34 others that control the fingers and thumb 123 ligaments in each hand… Continue reading

  • WHAT COULD COOKS AND CHEFS TEACH THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

    The other day I jokingly said that the presidential candidates should work a few shifts in a busy kitchen to learn valuable lessons about America. The more I think about it this seems like a pretty good idea. I am… Continue reading

  • WINDS OF CHANGE FOR COOKS AND CHEFS

    The media has conveniently forgot the most significant challenges faced by the restaurant industry. Yes, it was the news flash for a few months, but now it is old news – old news that continues to haunt restaurants from coast… Continue reading

  • A LINE COOK’S “FOOD FOR THOUGHT”

    With all that is going on in the world it is understandable that people have many unanswered questions. We seek answers to questions from the time we are born – some remain unanswered or poorly addressed for some time and… Continue reading

  • THE PARALLELS BETWEEN COOKS AND MUSICIANS ARE HARD TO DENY

    I was 14 years old when my parents took me to see Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich play at a small club in Buffalo. At that age I was convinced that becoming a drummer could easily be my life’s mission.… Continue reading

  • SERIOUS COOKS AND CHEFS ARE THE WHOLE PACKAGE

    I was giving thought the other day to how I might describe the qualities of a serious cook or chef and how this description might change an outsider’s image of what makes these individuals so unique. As I wrestled with… Continue reading