Kitchen Confidential

Suggested here, it talks about wild dynamics in kitchens; it can be applied to corporate life.

Beautifully written, Anthony is clearly a complex and conflicted person, but that world is absolutely out of its mind. He guided me through his career years, changing dozens of restaurants and pushing everything to the limit, up to fame and glory. It contains incredible gems and it is a very fun book to read, however controversial this figure may be. It makes me sad to know that he died by suicide a few years ago; fame did not do him any good.

I really liked the chapter on Japan and how it opened his mind after he was feeling a bit lost, and obviously all the stories in low-end restaurants and the crazy people he met. He writes very well, with no mincing words.

Nice final line, from a man who lived life with true passion:

I’ll be right here. Until they drag me off the line. I’m not going anywhere. I hope. It’s been an adventure. We took some casualties over the years. Things got broken. Things got lost. But I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

Notes

• You want loyalty from your cooks; you want them to trust you and follow you anywhere without arguing (he often favors Latin American cooks for this, citing cultural reasons).
• Cooking is craftsmanship, not an art. You are a laborer, not an artist. A kitchen that works is an extremely efficient machine.
• The kitchen world does not care who you are or what you do, as long as you are productive.
• Never order fish on Monday; it is the least fresh (5 days!).
• Never order in a restaurant with dirty bathrooms - imagine the kitchen.
• Your body is not a temple, but an amusement park. Enjoy the ride. Take risks and taste.
• You will never cook like a pro, and that is fine. On days off, even chefs prefer simple dishes.
• You need a good chef’s knife. He recommends Global.
• You need a heavy sauté pan. It should have serious heft.
• The base is stock; you should always have a huge pot available (matches what I had read in the other book).
• As Bigfoot teaches, character matters more than any resume. You either have it or you don’t.
• Japanese cuisine: an absolutely amazing experience that changed his life. Beautiful chapter.

Decalogue

1. Be fully committed. Don’t be a fence-sitter or a waffler. If you’re going to be a chef some day, be sure about it, single-minded in your determination to achieve victory at all costs. If you think you might find yourself standing in a cellar prep kitchen one day, after tournéeing 200 potatoes, wondering if you made the right move, or some busy night on a grill station, find yourself doubting the wisdom of your chosen path, then you will be a liability to yourself and others. You are, for all intents and purposes, entering the military.

2. Learn Spanish! I can’t stress this enough. Much of the workforce in the industry you are about to enter is Spanish-speaking. The very backbone of the industry, whether you like it or not, is inexpensive Mexican, Dominican, Salvadorian and Ecuadorian labor-most of whom could cook you under the table without breaking a sweat.

3. Don’t steal. In fact, don’t do anything that you couldn’t take a polygraph test over. If you’re a chef who drinks too many freebies at the bar, takes home the occasional steak for the wife, or smokes Hawaiian bud in the off hours, be fully prepared to admit this unapologetically to any and all. Presumably, your idiosyncrasies will-on balance-make you no less a chef to your employers and employees. If you’re a sneak and a liar, however, it will follow you forever.

4. Always be on time.

5. Never make excuses or blame others.

6. Never call in sick. Except in cases of dismemberment, arterial bleeding, sucking chest

7. Lazy, sloppy and slow are bad. Enterprising, crafty and hyperactive are good.

8. Be prepared to witness every variety of human folly and injustice. Without it screwing up your head or poisoning your attitude. You will simply have to endure the contradictions and inequities of this life. ‘Why does that brain-damaged, lazy-assed busboy take home more money than me, the goddamn sous-chef?’ should not be a question that drives you to tears of rage and frustration.

9. Assume the worst. About everybody. But don’t let this poisoned outlook affect your job performance. Let it all roll off your back. Ignore it.

10. Try not to lie. Remember, this is the restaurant business. No matter how bad it is, everybody probably has heard worse.

11. Avoid restaurants where the owner’s name is over the door. Avoid restaurants that smell bad. Avoid restaurants with names that will look funny or pathetic on your résumé.

12. Think about that résumé! How will it look to the chef weeding through a stack of faxes if you’ve never worked in one place longer than six months? If the years ‘95 to ‘97 are unaccounted for? If you worked as sandwich chef at happy Malone’s Cheerful Chicken, maybe you shouldn’t mention that.