We’ve all been through this. You and your dining companions have chosen a restaurant, been seated, presented with menus and had your orders taken. When the food arrives, the server starts making you do all the work. It’s a conversation-stopper. Hands point to one another across the table. A glass of wine gets knocked over due to all the reaching and pointing. This system is known as “auctioning” food, and it’s a big no-no in fine dining table service. Continue reading Your number is up→
There is an unfortunate side effect that comes with a career in the hospitality industry: It can be difficult to enjoy yourself while dining out. Continue reading Can’t Have Anything Nice→
Folks who grew up in the 1970s will likely remember the Burger King ad-campaign jingle that went “Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce — special orders don’t upset us! All we ask is that you let us serve it your way. Have it your way, have it your way …” Continue reading Have it your way?→
I started a new job a couple of weeks ago. The kitchen there is populated with young cooks, many much younger than me. I’m the oldest person working in the back of the house. At this point in my life, that’s not notable. Restaurant cooking is a young person’s game. Continue reading Humble→
I applied for a job this week. I’m out of work right now, and things are getting pretty lean. I decided to swallow my pride and see about working at a corporate place, a place I knew would have job security and union protection and proximity to home and predictable hours to trade for a pretty crappy hourly wage. Continue reading Having standards→
Expediting the pass at a busy restaurant takes special skill. The expediter has to be precise, has to speak to everyone on the line, has to bring everything together like an orchestra conductor to ensure that every table’s food goes out on time and in concert. Continue reading In my hand→
I’m a morning person. Not that I greet the day by springing from bed singing songs with cartoon woodland animals like Snow White, all cheerful and such. But I am the morning person at a restaurant. I’ve always enjoyed being the first one in, greeted by a clean, cool, quiet commercial kitchen, with plenty of space and sparkling equipment to start the day’s prep. Continue reading Product wrangling→
Did you know that many professional cooks have poor eating habits? We taste dishes over and over all day while we tweak and verify for consistency. We nibble at our mise-en-place: a few roasted pine nuts here, a few slices of prosciutto there. A plastic tasting spoon shoved in your face with a “Taste this and tell me what you think!” when you have no idea what you’re tasting. Continue reading Family meal→
I was going through some random “not-very-important” kitchen boxes in the basement when I came across a brown box, roughly the size of a (single-sleeve) box of Girl Scout cookies. Valtrompia Bread Tube-Star, it says. Also: The (Name of the Company) and The Kitchen Store that Comes to your Door. Continue reading Tool Time→
Derby Derby Derby Derby Derby! For those of us in the biz in Louisville, it’s New Year’s Eve plus the Fourth of July times Easter Brunch this week. At least it’s not Derbygeddon this year (Derbygeddon is the nickname given to the years in which Derby and Mother’s Day fall on the same weekend. Yikes!). Continue reading Navigating a Tasting Event and a Bit of Other Derby Advice→
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