I don’t know how to act my age. I have this bad habit of going to bed early, doing homework in the morning and not drinking nearly as much as a twenty-one-year old writer/cook should drink. Hell, I even occasionally go to class. My friend knows how to act his…
Eat it quick, right after it comes out,” instructs chef Ian Kleinman, “and then you can get some real smoke to come out of your nose.” He spoons an amorphous white puff that he calls Kettle Corn Space Foam from the liquid nitrogen, and I raise the frozen, seemingly meringue-like…
“Eat it quick, right after it comes out,” instructs chef Ian Kleinman, “and then you can get some real smoke to come out of your nose.” He spoons an amorphous white puff that he calls Kettle Corn Space Foam from the liquid nitrogen, and I raise the frozen, seemingly meringue-like…
We interrupt the constant coverage of awkward sweaters and fake snow with an important alert. Sorry to rain on your Winter Olympics parade, but there’s some serious international food news we must deal with: El Bulli is closing permanently!As reported by the New York Times’ Diner’s Journal and Eater (which cleverly called…
Our former Cafe Society intern just decided to chuck college in favor of a real education: as a sous chef. In Under Fire, he chronicles his daily trials and tribulations in the kitchen.I feel like a fucked-up version of Jane Goodall. When I decided to devote my time to working in the…
When I wandered through the first kitchen where I worked, very few things were clear. But I eventually learned how something showed up at the back door and ended up on a plate, as well as the hierarchy of the kitchen and the speed it takes to get ready for…
Our former Cafe Society intern just decided to chuck college in favor of a real education: as a sous chef. In Under Fire, he chronicles his daily trials and tribulations in the kitchen.A few days ago, I saw my chef talking to an older man with a funny-looking wicker basket. She called…
There are a few signs that the holiday season is coming. The first is red cups at Starbucks, the second is seeing way too many jeans tucked into Uggs, and the third is Halloween. When you’re a kid, by the time you come out of the candy daze, the turkey…
When I have time in the kitchen, I make notes of things to remember. I’ll scribble in a little yellow book and then later try to decipher the language of the Sharpie. If I’d had time tonight to even reach for my notebook, that time would have been better used…
Our former Cafe Society intern just decided to chuck college in favor of a real education: as a sous chef. In Under Fire, he chronicles his daily trials and tribulations in the kitchen.I learned many pointless things in culinary school. The knowledge of how to do tableside crepes suzette is now part…
Number 4627 in a series of things you don’t learn in culinary school: handling trash bags. This lesson may seem of minimal importance, but it is not. If you put in more than five pounds of garbage and tie the bag too close to the top, it snaps and the…
Dear Tyler,This is just a quick note from the alternate you, the one who didn’t drop out of school and who didn’t sign away his future to the restaurant life. First off, it feels fantastic not having a burn on your hand that ballooned up like a certain memorable floating object this…
Our former Cafe Society intern just decided to chuck college in favor of a real education: as a sous chef. In Under Fire, he chronicles his daily trials and tribulations in the kitchen.In the industry, It’s called “the dance” — the natural reaction that comes from working with the same group of…
Our former Cafe Society intern just decided to chuck college in favor of a real education: as a sous chef. In Under Fire, he chronicles his daily trials and tribulations in the kitchen. Throughout the day, I try to note stuff that might be worth writing about once I get out of the…
Our former Cafe Society intern just decided to chuck college in favor of a real education: as a sous chef. In Under Fire, he chronicles his daily trials and tribulations in the kitchen.There are different levels of reality in the kitchen, and I am stuck in several of them. I remember when,…
A new computer, a healed finger (the cut was all flash and no substance — the finger was working again after two days) and a new logo by graphic designer Taylor Marsh: It feels good to be back. The most significant events occur when you’re least expecting them. Last week,…
I am peering from the inside out now. “The Kitchen Life” that I have fantasized about is now under way, as I experience the daily repetitiveness that makes a kitchen run, start acquiring the mindset necessary to work twelve-plus hour days.It’s interesting how consecutive “normal” days at my new office…
Our former Cafe Society intern just decided to chuck college in favor of a real education: as a sous chef. In Under Fire, he chronicles his daily trials and tribulations in the kitchen. I am now a month into my quest of sous chefdom, but I feelt like I just…
Our former Cafe Society intern just decided to chuck college in favor of a real education: as a sous chef. In Under Fire, he chronicles his daily trials and tribulations in the kitchen. I quickly grabbed the oven door and flung it open, doing a close inspection of the chicken…
Our former Cafe Society intern just decided to chuck college in favor of a real education: as a sous chef. In Under Fire, he chronicles his daily trials and tribulations in the kitchen. When I got to the office around 11:30 a.m. yesterday, Chef was already working on the first…
Our former Cafe Society intern just decided to chuck college in favor of a real education: as a sous chef. In Under Fire, he chronicles his daily trials and tribulations in the kitchen. Cold weather lights my fire, and since this was the first real day of it, I couldn’t…
