Harvest America CUES BLOG

kitchen

  • CHEFS – TRUST THE PROCESS

    As in the case with many professions, there is a process, sometimes built around tradition and often, proven effective over time. This process is methodically built on results and, as such, is acknowledged by those professions as being effective. The… Continue reading

  • IT’S THE KITCHEN PEOPLE I MISS

    Looking back on five decades of kitchen life, what provides the greatest memories, and a feeling of fulfillment are the people I met and those with whom I had the pleasure to work alongside. There is a kitchen culture that… Continue reading

  • GREAT QUOTES FOR CHEFS TO LIVE BY

    Inspiration comes in many forms. It may be from the actions of others, their successes, or even their failures; it may come from the visual arts, or music, science or medicine, or even from the beauty of nature. But few… 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

  • KITCHEN FOOD FOR THE SOUL

    I came across an old quote from Phylicia Rashad (for those my age – the lead actress in the series “Fame” from many years back) that gave me another opportunity to think about the cooks that I know and have… Continue reading

  • A CHEF’S MOMENT

    It was one of those rare moments at the end of service, nothing pressing on your desk, menus were done, inventories posted, schedules made, and another service in the hopper. This was a moment of peace and relative quiet. The… Continue reading

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • COOKS – THE COMFORT OF HEAT, SWEAT, AND HARD-WORK

    Staring at the POS printer, waiting for those orders to start their tap dance building to a crescendo in an hour or so, clicking a pair of tongs by your side, shifting weight from one foot to the other, and… Continue reading

  • WHEN A COOK IS TRULY IN THE ZONE

    In the zone is a phrase commonly used to describe a musician, athlete, or even a cook who experiences an “everything going right” situation, and when the person, or persons, involved are totally focused on the task at hand– but,… Continue reading

  • A COOK’S NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

    Yep – another year, another moment in time to reflect on where you are and where you might be going. To many people a resolution is a futile attempt at changing poor behavior, lost opportunity, broken promises, and failed attempts… Continue reading

  • WHEN COOKING BECOMES MORE THAN A JOB

    Typically, it starts off that way – old enough to work, they’re hiring, no experience required – it’s a job. Maybe it’s a local diner as a dishwasher or assistant to a short order cook; maybe it’s a fast food… Continue reading

  • LINE COOKS WHO TAKE THE LEAP

    At some point, fairly early on, restaurant cooks make a decision to either view what they do as a transitional job while they look for something that they really want to do, or decide that cooking is their life calling… Continue reading

  • BECOMING A GREAT LINE COOK

    Whether you are a product of a formal culinary education or working your way up through the school of hard knocks, it is likely that all roads leading to the position of chef will move through the line cook position.… Continue reading

  • A LINE COOK’S VIEW OF SUMMER MONTHS

    It’s pushing 10 a.m. when an evening line cook finally rolls out of bed. The July sun is starting to really show its ability to bear down with penetrating heat and the humidity is bringing those first beads of sweat… Continue reading

  • THE IMPORTANCE OF FIRE TO A COOK

    Fire has so many meanings, but to a cook – it is essential. Cook’s exist because of fire; it is the one ingredient that they cannot work without, the critical ingredient that brings everything together, the literal fuel of the… Continue reading