what is a chef's responsibility?

A couple of weeks ago I received an email from an owner of a famous restaurant near the civic center. To the left of it's header, "Emergency!" was a red exclamation mark. It seems that their pastry department had a first assistant walk-out/AWOL, the pastry chef had been given a bit of time off, and they needed someone to come in and relieve their weary working-every-day assistants.

I have been in a few days now and have a number of shifts this weekend and next week. What I have found there has been disappointing and sad and I feel moved to write a bit about it here.

What does Chef mean? People get out of their cushy culinary schools and are told by those establishments, (not all of them, thank god) that they are chefs. Coming back to craft, chef is a lifetime's work. One "apprentices" for years and years and then, maybe, develops some mastery in a few tiny areas.

For me a very basic way to separate chef and cook is management. A chef has a responsibility to those in their charge.

In Haddock's Knife's Edge thoughtful post he writes about keeping cooks, keeping them interested, and the tug of war we have with ourselves as managers when our support staff wants what we feel is unconscionable to give them:

"Now it seems I've got more Mayans wanting jobs than I know what to do with. Plus the hires have created some ripples in the existing crew. My most solid line cook is fearing he's going to lose hours and he also wants to do some prep shifts during the day. Although I speak rudimentary Spanish and he comprehends a good bit of English it's a little hard getting the overtime laws through to him. He's certainly willing to work for the same rate but it's not something I can legally do. What I can do and had planned to do is give him a raise."

And what is the responsibility of a chef? A good schedule? A menu that changes? Somewhere to work? A safe work environment? Good pay?

I take the responsibility of being a chef beyond these tight little stingy envelopes. Kitchens are hot, dangerous, competitive, loud, and masochist in the extreme. I teach because I want to intentionally give back to people what was, every so often, given to me. I teach in the workplace, among my friends & colleagues, at the farmer's market, basically every where I go. As Eric Ziebold once said, there are chefs who share, and chefs who don't. {Take a moment to reflect on this: when was the last time you saw in the press a chef or an owner naming anyone but themselves as a person who helped make them and their restaurant's name famous?} There are many chefs who want you to take the time to watch them closely. It has taken them centuries to learn what they know and they don't want to give it away so easily, or think you can "get it" so quickly. In a quiet way they are asking you to be patient. Then there are ones who are chefs by accident and they fear their staff will find them out so they hide behind overblown egos. There are so many kinds of chefs but there are a few private characteristics that we all share.

The restaurant kitchen is a place that tests every milligram of your essence. A perfectly balanced recipe of cockiness, humility, hubris and actual skill is needed. If you have no cockiness whatsoever you will be turned into mushy concasse. If you have too much you will be fired and/or humiliated in the most demoralized ways. I knew a meat cook who was videotaped by the sous chefs, and shown the performance only to be tortured with verbal and visual critique, then fired. It was no coincidence that this kitchen's movie was Reservoir Dogs.

A chef that cannot self critique is doomed. At The French Laundry my pastry chef, Stephen Durfee, made me grade each and every recipe I made. And at Gramercy Tavern I heard that Claudia Fleming made a practice of timing, on a stop watch, one of her assistants. I have used this method and it works.

An cook moves around going to different kitchens the way a graduate student picks the place where they will get that degree. We work for those who inspire us. We go where we will learn the most. About food, and ourselves.

A chef that does not teach, inspire, push, answer questions, and explain why is not a chef to me.

A chef is an overseer. Is the person the kitchen looks to to pull it all together. Who can direct a ship that feels like it's sinking. A leader, teacher, listener and barker. If you work for a chef who considers abuse as part of their management style you better be getting an incredible education out of it. The hours are too long, the conditions too rough and the pay too low to be in the kitchen for any other reason than your extreme {obsessive?} love of food. The delusional kind of love that you would lie on train tracks for.

I am saddened by the kitchen I am in because the pastry assistants are starving for information. They are nervous around me and don't believe in themselves because their chef has not given them enough. This pastry chef should count their lucky {expletive deleted} stars that they have assistants!! And a Coldelite ice cream maker! At my last job I worked in a restaurant with 120 seats and I was the only person in my department.

When I worked at Citizen Cake I had so many assistants all I did was think of new and interesting ways to keep them interested and learning. And the result was that I could create wildly creative and complicated tarts, cookies, candies and plated desserts, and have all this input on how to fix interesting problems. I created a book list, assigned mandatory reading from modern magazines, organized trips to farms and introduced them to farmer's markets, favorite farmers and food artisans. We had a lot of interns/externs from culinary schools all over the country and I made it my mission to fill in the blanks of their rote school educations. I called my assistants my children and I kept myself up to date on their external lives.

These are the responsibilities of a chef. Being a chef is not merely about cooking well. Can you delegate? Can you trust your people enough to take a day off? Two? Will they leave your charge better and more confident than when they came to you? Can you pass on the importance of humility? And by this I mean reverence for the craft, the repetition and the stamina of cooking, the food stuffs that don't get to the kitchen without hard labour, the gift of being able to feed people delicious, innovative and nourishing meals. When you cook for others you become an intimate part of their lives, if even for a few hours.

Being the chef du partie means that that station is your home. If you are the poissonier you intuit fishes, become proficient in how fish cooks, reacts, should be butchered, and you fall in love with the creature, create a guild and respect it in a way that makes you humble.

I am a student of the egg. I thank whomever created it and it never ceases to amaze and delight me. I love a smooth custard, a cake with perfect crumb, the magic of consomme, and a coddled egg in an egg cup garnished simply with sea salt and black pepper. I will study with butter, eggs, cream, flours, and sugar my whole life and hope to create a few delicacies worth remembering.

Learning about food and cooking is a continuous process. It's about developing, arguing about, stealing, rethinking and having opinions. Straight up, with no god damned ice opinions. It's reading, eating out, experimenting, taking notes, asking questions, using the same foods season after season, struggling, spending hours in the cookbook section of various bookstores, traveling, and inspiring others.  Being a chef is a verb. As is love.

If you can't stand the heat get out of the fucking kitchen. Don't just stand there and pass on misinformation, misdirect those you're responsible for, abuse for no good reason, or use your ridiculously large ego to cower behind. I hold the belief that if your cooks are not well trained, it's your fault. A chef whose line cooks can't handle the kitchen without him/her is aweak and inferior chef.

In a short time I am vowing to make a difference in this kitchen. More than one assistant has nervously told me that though they really appreciate and want my tips and teaching, but they would have to resume doing things the way the pastry chef wants when that person returns. I have relayed all this to the chef de cuisine so that he knows what's going on, or not, in the department. And I have told him what I have found alarming.

In The French Laundry kitchen there were always little quotes and words pasted to the wall. To this day one my favorites remains:

"If you can't make a difference, who can?"

Comments

[Cathy]

Thanks for an inspiring post. I do not work in a restaurant or anywhere in the food business, but what you've said is something that anyone who supervises others should take to heart. It sounds as though your talent goes way beyond cooking.

[Dr. Biggles]

A chef is a person, share your treats!

Sez Biggles

[chronicler]

Excellent peice. My grandfather spent 12 years apprenticing his craft. Would that we all had to do an apprenticeship to work. It's a flaw in the industry. Kids pay $50,000 to become a chef. Give 'em a toke, teach them a few things, call them a chef. Unfortunately, as you state there is soooooo much more.

You are inspiring.

[haddock]

Thanks for both the reference and the post which so eloquently says much I hold true about our work.

Developing people and getting them ready to move beyond what I can teach them is the most important part of my job. It's exciting and devastating when a cook moves on. It's just plain devastating when a cook who should move on, doesn't.

I always credit my staff first. Particularly the dishwasher. Without him, I am nothing.

[sfmike]

As a teenager I did everything from dishwashing at the Ahwahnee Hotel to cooking short-order (terribly) at a "Heidi's Pies" chain to being a waiter at a Holiday Inn. The only food service role I was really excellent at was dishwasher (and thank you for your wisdom, haddock). But frankly the food and beverage industry was too tough for me so I left it, happily, and joined the sharks in the world of offices.

Thanks for the writing. It just gets better and better.

[alice]

You could replace 'chef' with 'scientist', and it all but summarizes the state of things in our field. Luckily, I work with someone who believes in the same principles as you, but there are plenty of cases that are just like what you describe. Case in point: I always say I work WITH my boss, and they say I work FOR their bosses. Subtle but important difference in mindset.

[purejuice]

thanks for this great post. a scholar of eggs. yesssssssssssssss!!!!!

[Felix]

fascinating.

I have a pretty low tolerance for hierarchy, authority, teacher/student relationships and the like, so everything you describe in both your critique and in your recommended style of interaction gives me a little of the shivers.

I'm curious: do you think the hierarchy of a fancy kitchen is necissary to produce the yummy food? Is there an alternative structure that would work?

My dad was a cook for a few years. A Laney cooking school guy. He warned me away from professional kitchens and my one week thawing cheap veal at a chain restaurant reinforced what he told me. It's certainly nothing I could do now.

Nice to see you last night by the way...

Wow, somehow I posted my comment 3 times. Feel free to delete.

F

[Nicola]

Hi Shuna,
I am bringing up the rear here (seven months later) but never the less I totally identify!

Here is a quote for the french Laundry- "nobody cares how much you know till they know how much you care"

[laura @ cucina testa rossa]

shuna - BRAVO! I am standing up applauding. This is fabulous. Thoughtful, exceptionally well written (like all your writing!).

More importantly you absolutely hit dead on on the essence that is tantamount to being a "true" chef. FOr real chefs, I look to Andre Soltner or Jacques Pepin. In school, Andre told us not to get big heads, show up every morning and cook good food day after day after day for 30 years...THEN you can call yourself a chef.

I love being around them because the teach and inspire. They get excited for you when they see you catch onto something, a new technique or skill. When cooking on Jacques' last show, Fast FOod My Way, he was there every morning at 7am and spent that first hour in the kitchen with us going over the day's recipes, demonstrating exactly how he wanted things done....and why! It was a private cooking lesson every morning and time I will treasure. If only more "chefs" in restaurants were like them....and you!

thank you for this! Laura

[deccanheffalump]

Is it ever too late to say "Thanks" for that. Hope not. Carry on being inspired and inspiring.

[shuna]

Deccanheffalump,

It's never too late to say thank you. You are welcome.

Sometimes it's frightening to be this honest.

Thank you for your comment.

[Kelli]

Wow, this is an inspirational post. Everything you describe comes down to one thing for me -- caring. If you care about your craft, your people and your own reputation you can't help but do the things you mentioned. Thanks for reminding us all about what's important.

[dennis ho]

recently, i read about your article titled 'what is a chef's responsibility' and let me start by saying how inspiring your article is to me. I am from Malaysia and Im studying hotel management and have grown a loving relationship with food and of course COOKING it. The reason i wrote to you is because i have an assignment with the title 'To succeed as a chef today, one needs to be able to do more than just cook'. I was wondering if you have anymore pointers you can share with me to make my assignment a great one.

[shuna fish lydon]

Hello Dennis,

Thank you for posting your question here.

Being a chef is indeed more than merely thinking of wonderful dishes and cooking them. The word chef inplies management: managing people, crews, stations, suppliers, fron of house staff, and one's own personality among all of these factors.

When we become management it's important that we know how to lead, how to inspire, how to instruct and how to answer questions. I never went to a management class so I looked to those who had managed me well. I thought back through all of my schooling and tried to think about what my favorite teachers my favorites.

Being a chef is not merely about doing the job you're being told to do, but to go above and beyond what's before you, learning new things every day, staying later, comiung in earlier. Being leader means that your cooks are looking to you for their own lead. Will you push lazy cooks or settle for the bullshit they hand you? When will you give up on them? Are you paying close attention? Cooks can smell fear, smell weakness.

And then there's all the math involved. What are the costs of your kitchen? Can you keep them under control? How do youplan the menu so customers order a little of everything-- those items which you can mark up a lot, those which barely break even.

The chef's kitchen is her home. The cooks are his children. The food they put out is consistent, even when they are not cooking it themselves!

Dennis, feel free to come back to Eggbeater and tell us a little bit about what you wrote about!

[Bishwo Raj Adhikari(Nepal)]

its really wonderful matters thats the Chef's responsibilities.Of course those perosns can't be Chef if he/she can't patient it own profession as well they can't if they don't have any creativity.

[Brigette R Joseph]

this was beautiful,and i will read it over and over,especially when i need inspiration.

I LOVE MY JOB
and u described it no better than i would
most beautiful blog i have ever read

my favourite line was "Being a chef is a verb. As is love."

this hits home..because being a chef,being with food,it is my #1 love,before my lover,friends,anyone.

[Heaveny Blankenship]

I'm doing a project about what a chef is and their responsibilities and their outlook toward their job.
If anyone can help me its due monday.
My email is heavenyb9@yahoo.com

Thank you!!!!!

[eknath parxemcar]

nice piece of advice iam going to save it word on my pc for future reference ,,, thank you very much regards
eknath

[Crystal Iechad]

Thank you so much for this wounderful informations and stories. Well, Im a High School senior student making a research about chefs and there responsibilities, you've really helpped a lot. well I am from a very small island called Palau which is located in the pacific ocean. and i am really intrested in your stories and advices.

[dizzy]

I have been a line cook for 15 years. In between I have learned how to do every position in the kitchen. I had the misfortune of working under the three of the worst "chefs" I have ever seen at my last job(Country Club). As cooks we were forced to call them"Chef insert name here" Every time I or any of the other cooks had to call them "Chef" poor Escoffier rolled over in his grave a few times. They obvioulsy couldnt "Chef" their way out of a wet paper bag. Its a shame to see a "Sous Chef" spill salad for a wedding party of 300 all over the floor, pick it and serve it like nothing was wrong.
I did learn alot. How not to treat people. How to lose all control over your kitchen staff. I wasted 4 months of my life in this place. But all in all I did learn something. Take a look at yourself as a Chef. If you don't understand why your employees don't come back every year It might not be them, it may be you! And be careful not to trip on your ego.
Much thanks to you Chef Eggbeater. For inspiring your cooks to live it, love it and be it. I would love to come to your restaurant and kick ass on the line sometime. I have a deep mistrust now of someone that I am forced to call "Chef". Those 3 were a disgrace to the name. A real chef dosent demand respect, he or she gets it.

[John]

Great post. A lot of true remarks you have mentioned. Nice to find others out there in the industry with good work and lifestyle ethics. Looking forward to reading more. Regards John

[farah]

i will be doing training in culinary skills-full time and had never ever been in this field before nor had any experienced. my question is on the wkends i would like to do some sort of part time jobs concerning with my carrer?? can anybody suggest wht type of job should i look up for ....thax

[Burnt chef]

As a assistant chef and 'chef' for 20 years the only thing that I hope to teach any young man or woman is to get out of the business. Seriously.