Harvest America CUES BLOG

restaurants

  • IS A LACK OF FOOD TRADITION AND DISCIPLINE KILLING US?

    In recent years America has wrestled with the challenges of providing opportunities for every citizen to have affordable health care. This is an issue that divides the country as we are challenged by “who pays for it?” What few seem… Continue reading

  • ALL HAIL COOK’S APPRENTICESHIP

    John was 16 and a junior in high school. He came from a family of modest means; dad was a carpenter, a pretty good one too; mom had her hands full taking care of John’s three sisters, his younger brother… Continue reading

  • HAVE IT YOUR WAY – HAS THIS GONE TOO FAR?

    I have wrestled with how to approach this topic for some time. It began with a request from a blog follower who was looking for an article on Gluten Intolerance and how restaurants respond. So after a fair amount of… Continue reading

  • CELEBRATE CHEFS TODAY AND EVERY DAY

    Today, August 16, is National Chef Appreciation Day, a perfect time to reflect on the importance of cooks and chefs to everyone. If you are a chef or cook, then hug your coworkers today, if you are not, then find… Continue reading

  • WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN CHEFS?

    While I was a part of culinary education at two prominent U.S. colleges, I was proud of how many women were entering and graduating from culinary schools. By the late 1990’s, nearly a third of all enrolled students were women… Continue reading

  • COOKING IS THE ULTIMATE SENSUAL EXPERIENCE

    It’s 7 a.m. as the chef walks into the kitchen. He grabs a cup of freshly brewed coffee even before opening the door to the office. Nodding to the breakfast cook who has been there since 5, the chef enters… Continue reading

  • THE REAL KEY TO RESTAURANT SUCCESS IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MANAGEMENT AND STAFF

    Everyone seems to be free with advice on how to find and push the magic button creating a successful restaurant. There are certainly standard answers (ho hum) like location, product, atmosphere and service. These are certainly critical pieces of the… Continue reading

  • LIFE IN A BOTTLE – DON THE BANQUET CHEF

    It is a story, too often in the making. A person, too young dies from self-abuse. It happens frequently in kitchens, the question is why? Now Don, the banquet chef at a hotel where I worked in the early 70’s,… Continue reading

  • CHEF ESCOFFIER STILL INSPIRES AFTER 160 YEARS

    This framed picture has been hanging on the wall of my office through much of my career. It is a beacon of inspiration that requires me to self-assess and always ask, “Is what I’m doing right now, good enough for… Continue reading

  • COFFEE, THE REAL MAGICAL BEAN

      “I don’t know where my ideas come from. I will admit, however, that one key ingredient is caffeine. I get a couple cups of coffee into me and weird things just start to happen.” ― Gary Larson Isn’t that the… Continue reading

  • CAN CHEFS GET OLD AND STAY RELEVANT?

      I have often caught myself saying that cooking in a professional kitchen is a young persons game. Having left the kitchen for education and then returned at the age of 55, it was obvious to me that certain jobs… Continue reading

    CAN CHEFS GET OLD AND STAY RELEVANT?

  • DO YOU COOK TO LIVE OR LIVE TO COOK?

    My son, a technical education teacher once said, “There are two types of workers in the world; those who shower before work and those who shower after.” I thought this was quite profound and a way to categorize the type… Continue reading

  • TO BE A COOK – AN HONORABLE PROFESSION

    Walking down the street in my hometown back in the late-1960’s; an old acquaintance stopped me to say hello; “So, what are you doing with yourself?” My response, “I’m a cook in a restaurant.” Uncomfortable pause: “Oh, so what are… Continue reading

    TO BE A COOK – AN HONORABLE PROFESSION

  • KITCHENS ARE THE PERFECT ENVIRONMENT FOR LEARNING COMMON SENSE

    It’s likely everyone is familiar with the statement by Voltaire, “Common sense is not so common.” From our personal experiences I know that you, like me, have found this to be true. People are not born with common sense; they… Continue reading

  • DOES MUSIC BELONG IN THE KITCHEN?

    It was inevitable. As cooks and chefs grew into the role of artist so too did they join the ranks of talented expressionists who use a multitude of mediums. If the chef is truly an artist, then it would make… Continue reading

  • RENT, LEASE, OR BUY – THE SIGNIFICANCE OF RESTAURANT LOCATION

    Was it Ellsworth Statler who, a generation ago proclaimed, “The three most important elements of success are location, location, location,” or was it the British real estate tycoon named Lord Harold Samuel who died in 1987? In either case, those… Continue reading

  • CHEF’S – BE ACTIVE WITH ALL PARTS OF THE DINING EXPERIENCE

    It would be accurate to state that there is more to do in operating a restaurant kitchen than most any chef can effectively deal with. Writing menus, testing recipes, ordering product, connecting with farmers and vendors, hiring, training and evaluating… Continue reading

  • RESTAURANT STAFF MEAL – THE IMPORTANCE OF BREAKING BREAD

    There are very few, if any other businesses that view a staff meal as not just a benefit, but rather a necessity. Labor laws do not mandate that a restaurant provide a meal for its staff, only that time for… Continue reading

  • RESTAURANT FRIENDS ARE UNIQUE

    Allow me to begin with a generalization: most restaurant cooks are introverts, viewed as different, sometimes odd and often times lacking in self-confidence. Now you might disagree from your experiences in the kitchen, but it is my theory that “the… Continue reading

  • LET THE GAMES BEGIN – A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A CHEF – Part Three

    As the first tickets started to arrive from the dining room – Jake gave some fleeting thought to the time. It was 5:30, he had already been here for nearly 11 hours and the night had just begun. What was… Continue reading

  • MID-DAY IN THE CHEF’S LIFE – Part Two

    Chef Jake moved beyond the fresh (or lack there of) fish issue and adjusted his mind-set to the other tasks at hand. It was too late to return to the sales meeting – he would catch up with the department… Continue reading

  • A CHEF’S DAY IN THE LIFE – Part One

    “Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged the comb across my head. Made my way downstairs and drank a cup and looking up I noticed I was late.” We all remember these lines from the Beatles storyline in: “A Day… Continue reading

  • THE IMPORTANCE OF DOING THINGS WELL

    Years ago, a friend offered a statement, maybe even a mantra that has echoed within me ever since. It is one of those over-riding beacons of light that sets a course for how you live and how the world views… Continue reading

  • WANTED: SUCCESSFUL RESTAURANT OPERATOR

    Here it is – the formula for a successful restaurant – almost a guarantee. There still are many people, for some strange reason, who continue to dust off their entrepreneurial suit and turn to restaurant ownership as a way to… Continue reading

  • THINGS THAT EVERY CULINARY SCHOOL GRADUATE MUST REMEMBER

    This is the time of the year when culinary schools pass out diplomas and send their graduates out into the world of professional cooking. These young culinarians are eager, full of energy and loaded with ambitious ideas about who they… Continue reading

  • WHY DO PEOPLE OWN RESTAURANTS

    Having worked in the restaurant field for more than four decades, I have often wondered why it is that people take the leap into restaurant ownership. There are numerous documented reasons why this is not a good idea, yet thousands… Continue reading

  • SO GOD MADE A CHEF

    A Most Noble Profession © Copyright 2014 This article was written in recognition of the wonderful piece that was done by Paul Harvey paying homage to American farmers. This version is a tribute to chefs and cooks who care for… Continue reading

  • FOOD IS THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE

    Once you brush away all of the superficial things that we accumulate in life and begin to prioritize those that are important it is remarkable to see that everyone shares the same list. It all boils down to family, faith,… Continue reading

  • COOKS IN THE WEEDS – GASPING FOR AIR

    There are times in a restaurant kitchen when things go terribly wrong. Every cook, every chef faces those moments that can only be described as desperate and out of control. There is so much truth to the theory of Murphy’s… Continue reading

  • IN THE KITCHEN – HIRE PASSION, TEACH DISCIPLINE

    Chefs seem to always lament about the difficult task of finding the right staff to fulfill the mission of their kitchen. “Where can I find good cooks who will show up to work prepared, who have a strong foundational knowledge… Continue reading