Harvest America CUES BLOG

food

  • MEASUREMENT BY MISE EN PLACE

    You can assess the quality of an operation and the effectiveness of a chef to lead a team within the first minutes of walking into a kitchen. It can be done without tasting food or even seeing a single plate… Continue reading

  • JUST DON’T KNOW OR JUST DON’T CARE

    It’s a disease that seems to creep into the mainstream; a disease that can be kept in check if there is a desire to do so; a disease, in other words, within our ability to thwart. This disease is highly… Continue reading

  • CHEFS – BE A ROLE MODEL

    Finding your purpose, making a difference, and creating your legacy are underlying goals that every chef seems to hold close. How important is this and in the big scheme of things, does it really matter? We invest so much time… Continue reading

  • “SHELTER ME, I WILL SHELTER YOU”

    So many times, throughout my life in the kitchen, I would watch in wonder at the patchwork of honest, fragile, determined, sociopathic, caring, hardworking, sensitive, brutal misfits (I mean that in the best way) people who tie on an apron… Continue reading

  • THE CHEF’S SECRET INGREDIENT – CONTEXT

    Memorable food, exceptional experiences, a perfect evening…these are the types of reviews that every chef hopes for and every restaurant strives for. Is it possible to set the stage for these reactions? What would it take for guests to rave… 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

  • YOUNG COOKS – CREATE YOUR FUTURE

    How eager are you to reach that position of chef? Are you hungry enough to do what you need to do, to build a plan and stick with it? Are you serious about cooking, creating, coaching a team, and contributing… Continue reading

  • THE LINE COOK’S DANCE

    I vividly remember being 10 years old, standing outside a diner window in downtown Buffalo, New York with my mother as I stared in amazement of the short order cook in full display. I only recall snippets of experiences from… Continue reading

  • WHAT WOULD ESCOFFIER SAY

    It’s been 89 years since Escoffier stood in front of a range for the last time, yet his presence is still felt by professional cooks and chefs. One could claim, and rightfully so, that he had the greatest influence on… Continue reading

  • THE BREAD BAKER’S LIFE

    It’s 2 a.m. and you’re wide awake knowing that in sixty more minutes your workday begins. It’s been this way, your routine, for more than a dozen years now. The sun won’t even break the horizon for a few more… Continue reading

  • CHEFS – DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE CRAFT

    I was listening to a person the other day who was involved in the restaurant business. He was making a point about how we (those of us who work or have worked in kitchens) need to embrace more technology and… Continue reading

  • EYES WIDE OPEN, EYES WIDE SHUT

    There is a real dichotomy in understanding, a gap in understanding between the employer and employee and how each views the work at hand. I’m sure it’s true in many industries, but let’s just focus on the business of restaurants.… Continue reading

  • CHARGING FOR BREAD -SERIOUSLY?

    A new word has been bantered about over the past few months, a word that ticks off consumers and demonstrates either greed or an inability to understand the public’s perception of “value”. “Shrinkflation” is a descriptor for reducing the size… Continue reading

  • ACCOMPLISHED COOK – WHEN COMPETENCE ECLIPSES A LACK OF CONFIDENCE

    Most of us have been there at some point. You know the feeling and you shake your head thinking back to those moments. You thought you were good, a solid line cook or prep cook, a couple years of experience… Continue reading

  • MY HEART ACHES

    I’m angry and my heart aches for the seven World Central Kitchen volunteers who were killed in Gaza. Of course, we all feel for the thousands who have been killed in this war and the dozens of other conflicts that… Continue reading

  • THE KING IS IN THE HOUSE

    Is there any real value to nostalgia? How clear is our memory and how often do we tend to embellish on the positive and diminish the negative? Looking back can provide us with context and content for making future decisions… Continue reading

  • CHOOSE TO BE GREAT

    When you walk into your kitchen today, what do you see? When you watch finished plates slide down the pass ready for service, what do you see? When you walk through the dining room and observe service and interactions between… Continue reading

  • KITCHEN GROUPISM VS. TEAM

    We all remember them from high school days – those cliques of conformity based on a desire to “fit in” – right? The cool people with whom you would do or say anything just to be accepted. Be mean, hurtful,… Continue reading

  • CHEFS – REMEMBER, REFLECT, RELISH, AND SHARE

    There was a time, maybe not too long ago, when you knew very little about food and cooking. There was an initial moment, maybe as a young guest in a restaurant, or possibly as a “first job” dishwasher, when the… 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

  • RESTAURANT EYES

    So, here’s the thing – knowing how to operate a restaurant is not difficult – executing the steps is a whole other story. The work is relentless, the unpredictability is insanity, the never-ending attention to detail is mind-numbing, and timing… Continue reading

  • THE PLATE AND THE PASS

    I am the canvas on which the cook paints, the frame that draws the viewers eye to the image drawn. I am the plate – too often disregarded except by those who understand the importance of the canvas and the… Continue reading

  • KITCHEN RESPECT

    Yes, I have been preaching the need for change in restaurants. Changing how we view our concepts, menus, pricing structure, our staff, marketing, and the list goes on has never been more critical. Change, however, does not infer that we… Continue reading

  • COOKS – CLAIM YOUR OWN PATH TO SUCCESS

    If you’re a chef from my generation then you likely have concerns over the changing landscape in the kitchen. I hear, nearly every day, “things are not what they use to be.” Chefs lament over a time when cooking was… 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

  • DON’T NICKEL AND DIME YOUR GUEST or IMPRESS THEM WITH QUANTITY

    There’s a reactionary movement that I keep seeing in restaurants; a movement that assumes the answer to the restaurant bottom line is to take more and give less or give too much to justify raising prices. Raising prices is inevitable… Continue reading

  • WHEN THE KITCHEN AND FOOTBALL COLLIDE

    It’s January in the Northeast – a time when the demands of the kitchen and the excitement of football converge. It’s the lull after the holidays in restaurants and the beginning of the NFL playoffs. As the chef of a… Continue reading

  • ANOTHER YEAR – A CHEF’S NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS

    I know, I know – New Year’s Resolutions seem to be a waste of time. We all make them and rarely stick to the plan. But lack of execution should never get in the way of planning, dreaming, and setting… Continue reading