I’ve always had

difficulty explaining to
friends and family the
way in which a smooth,
well run kitchen
actually operates —
there’s a lot of moving
parts, and it’s a thing of
beauty to watch your
team power through a
weekend night in such
organized chaos. From
a distance, I suppose
the average restaurant
kitchen looks like a
bunch of folks doing the
same exact thing,
almost like an assembly
line, but if you actually
pay attention, you see
that everything is pieced
together a certain way
for a reason.
You have to be able to
cook your ass off to be a
chef, but just because
you can doesn’t mean
that you are one. Like
most starting out, I was
pretty average when I
started working in the
kitchen, and over time I
got better to the point
where I got to be pretty
good, and now I’d call
myself a great cook…
and a chef. Notice, how
becoming a chef doesn’t
graduate you from
being a cook, instead, it
compliments it and is
part of the repertoire.

So, the real

question is —
how does a
great cook
become a
chef?
I think a chef is
someone who can cook
their face off, while at
the same time, having
the ability to manage,
lead and create a
successful kitchen
operation — restaurant
or otherwise. One of the
main problems is that
the hands-on, technical
part of the job, which
most of us enjoy most,
requires a drastically
different skill set than
the other essential
components of the job.
So, yes, there are
obvious hands-on skills
and techniques
required, but a whole
host of others, as well.

Chefs are different than

just about every other
creative professional,
because of the fact that
to express our creative
vision, we have to
manage and put so
many other entities in
place. We are unlike
other artists whose
work directly links back
to the work they create
— a writer, writes — a
painter — paints, and
an actor — acts. We
have a slew of variables
that are ever changing
that effect what we put
out that are essential to
properly manage. With
that being said, these
are the talents and skills
I think you need if you
want to be a chef:
1. Cooking — You
should be the best
cook in the building
at any given time. If
your line cooks or
sous chefs have
questions or are
unsure about a
technique, you need
to be there to help
them along. This
doesn’t mean you
have all the answers,
but you’ll certainly
 uncover more the
longer you spend in
the kitchen, honing
your craft. Until you
master the technical
craft of cooking in
heated, tense and
stressful situations,
no one, not even
your staff will take
you seriously.
2. Vision — One of
the most important
things an artist does
is see things that
don’t yet exist, and
finds ways to bring
them to life — that’s
what we do through
our food, our menus,
and our restaurants.
Having a vision can
be scary though
because we must
then put ourselves
out there, and act on
that vision. It’s scary
because we don’t
know how our
customers, bosses,
and employees will
respond. Regardless,
this is what makes us
artists, and part of
what gives people a
reason to believe in
us, but to do so takes
clearly articulating
that vision so one’s
team has a clear view
 of where they are
going.
3. Knowing The
Numbers — If you
can’t cost a dish out
in your head within
fifteen to twenty
seconds — you aren’t
a chef. I truly believe
that. This indicates
that you clearly
haven’t spent
enough time costing
out menus,
mastering recipes
and plating dishes.
You need to know
how much each plate
of food costs, so that
you can then price
out a menu. But,
that’s only part of
the numbers — you
need to be able to
standardize recipes,
cost out labor,
manage inventory,
 try to cut back on
inventory when
times are tight, and
the list goes on and
on.
4. Systematic —
Most cooks are I
think, by nature,
disorganized and
cluttered as hell,
allowing for our
ADD side to often
get the best of us.
Over time though,
we realize that to
become a better
cook, we have to
organize our time
and stations better.
We have to create
recipes and
processes that put
our teams in the best
position to succeed.
You need to always
be looking to make
things more efficient
 and more productive
without sacrificing
quality.
5. Able To Develop
Emotional
Intelligence
— We’ve all talked
about the notion that
chefs are straight
assholes in the
kitchen, and there
are certainly some of
those still around,
but the more our
industry and
profession become a
sought after form of
expressing one’s self,
the more this
personae seems to
fade away. I think
this is a really good
thing. As chefs and
managers, we need
to be able to manage
people, make them
feel appreciated and
valued for the job
they do, and most
importantly prove
through our actions,
that we have their
back and support
them. To be a
successful chef, you
need to be able to
relate to the people
around you, the ones
you depend, because
if you can’t they
won’t ever truly
relate to or feel like
they are a part of
what you’re building
— that’s critical.
Lead your team,
recognize your staff
when appropriate,
discipline when
necessary, give them
a chance to make
mistakes, and when
they do make
mistakes, handle it
in a way that allows
for them to learn and
grow as a cook and a
person, versus the
exact opposite
(which happens a
lot). A chef can have
everything else in
place, but if he or
she doesn’t have a
solid, dependable
group of people
rallying behind their
mission every day,
they have nothing.
6. Disciplined —
(Standard for
Excellence) —
Everything starts at
the top. Most cooks
aren’t ready to
become chefs
because they don’t
know how to set the
standard. From
company culture to
cleanliness, to
customer service, to
plate presentation, it
all starts with the
chef. Why do some
restaurants have
such poor standards
for the product that
leaves the kitchen?
Maybe it started that
way, or perhaps it’s
evolved over time,
regardless, every
single day, multiple
people allow for an
unappetizing plate of
food to leave the
 kitchen. As coach
John Wooden used
to say, “if you don’t
have time to do it
right, when will you
have time to do it
over?”
7. Hardest
Working Person
in the Building —
Of all the ways to
prove