My First Pop Up Restaurant

Pop ups, at this point, are beyond just a fad. They are a great way for Chefs, cooks and early restaurants to start testing out ideas. They don't have to buy or rent a kitchen, they don't need to invest the time into a year long marketing plan, or hire a huge staff for more than a few nights. Some chefs and cooks have even started having pop-up restaurants on a regular cadence.

I was lucky enough to be asked to do one pop up restaurant. Some of you might be thinking I must be really talented to have companies reach out to me to do a pop up. Really, I was just lucky enough to have a good friend who believed in me and worked for the company that was scouting young talent.


All that aside. How does one organize a pop up restaurant you might ask? Well, there are a lot of moving pieces. Where are you going to get staff, alcohol, kitchen space, venue space and so on. Again, I was lucky that a start up called Dinner Lab handled all the logistics for the event.They handled alcohol permits, staffing, food, venue and everything else involved with a pop up restaurant. All I had to do was plan a menu (Yup...I was spoiled).

This wasn't the easiest thing. Suddenly, I had to make the call. Up until now, menu development was up to my Chefs. They came up with the recipes, and the food ideas. When I worked a the Herbfarm, we did have some dish collaboration. In the end, it was mostly his choice (thank goodness).

Now I was sitting there trying to figure out what fish would keep the food costs low. I had already put bone marrow, clams, mussels, crab and a few other high ticket items (that were eventually taken off) on the menu. It tends to be a bad habit. I enjoy food and I want everything on a plate. It is why I liked the White Swan so much!

After a month of going back and forth. Putting things on my menu, taking them off, changing dish ideas, I finally got my final menu. All of that work was done. Now, I just had to execute the menu.

Step one to execution was prep. My friend, his team and I started at it. We broke down the tasks and each went at different portions of the menu. We had to do all our work in a commissary kitchen in downtown Seattle. For those of you planning your own pop-ups or even food trucks. You have to prep your product in a commercial kitchen, you can't just sell products that were made in your home kitchen. Too many regulations about sinks, and dishwashers...

I did begin to regret putting pasta on the menu. I realized I had to do somewhere near 400-500 ravioli to make sure there were enough. I was off singing some Italian opera for several hours as I rolled like a madman. It tends to be a habit. If I roll pasta, I am singing something to keep the pace.

Other parts of the kitchen had people searing cauliflower, roasting clams, prepping fish and so on. Everything was getting done at a good rhythm. The only problem I foresaw was freezing the gelato. My friend had the solution, "Dry Ice". I had known you could freeze ice cream and gelato with liquid nitrogen. However, I had never thought about dry ice. Please don't try making this at home. At least not with out consulting people who have  done it before. It required crushing the dry ice, and mixing int he cold CO2 dust into the ice cream. Then you have to let it sit over night. That I see as very important. You don't want to get a chunk of dry ice in your throat. So you have been warned.

In the end, it created a beautiful texture. I was very happy using this method as a make shift answer. Of course, it would be much better to use a real ice cream machine. In the circumstances, it worked amazing! In the end, it got the job done.

Speaking of getting things done. We were getting everything banged out! I did feel awful...I had to leave early on the second day of prep. I left the crew with them packing things up and pretty much ready to rock and roll. The next day was the event. Of course I was nervous, excited, and traumatized all at once. I was questioning my ability....wondering if I could even execute when it came time. My biggest fear that loomed over my head...it was the 400 ravioli. I am not joking, I had a dream of them all falling apart as we fired that course(I tend to have pretty vivid dreams)...Nevertheless, I woke up the next day and was ready to go.

I was a combination of nerves and calm. We had prepared well, and my friend knew exactly what to do. Everything he did, even loading the U-Haul had a method. It made everything just flow. Each piece fell so perfectly in place (he is a king of logistics). By the time I showed up for the event, I felt like I really didn't have much to do. This was my menu, and I had done some of the  the prep. Yet, it felt like I wasn't needed. My friend had his team running like a perfect machine.

To add to it,  the venue we were at was amazing. Next time you have a holiday party and need a decent sized venue, The Vude is great. It has a contemporary feel with character (modern, but it doesn't feel overly glitzy, you still feel like you are at home). The event space was clean, tidy and easy to work with. Personally, I was proud that I could serve my menu there. Working in the culinary industry, I know that the food is an experience. If the venue had seemed dirty, or unorganized, it affects the meal. It plays on some sub conscious level, I know it has played a role on my judgement of certain places. So I was very happy I could serve my menu in a place that created a quaint and contemporary ambiance ( even with the home stove-top, we still served 80 people!).

As 7 o' clock got closer and closer, I got more excited. We had plated  up some sample plates for the servers to try and I got my first run at explaining my menu...

Oh goodness, I just realized at that moment. I needed to explain my menu. How I never thought about this over the past few days..I am not sure. Panic started to come over me.

I am a horrible public speaker, I ramble in normal conversation when I feel confident. Now, I had speak in front of 80 people I didn't know and I really didn't have a plan..and dinner started in 1 hour.

There was not time to sit down and write a quick speech, I had to quickly start organizing my thoughts about my menu.

Luckily, everything else was taken care of. We were pretty much ready.

Guests started arriving and hanging out in the lobbyish area of The Vude. I spent some time talking to a few guests and checking on all the food. Nothing was going wrong at all. What a surprise!?

Pots were boiling, pasta was being dropped and cooked and my friend was talking to the cooks on how he wanted service to run. There was a noticable calm as the guests continued to come in and find seats.

The servers mechanically went around and pour wine and helped guests find their seats. So far, everything was going well. Even with my mind still unsure of what to say...



Once all the guests arrived, and the servers were made aware of any allergies (we ask ahead of time, but somehow...people always seem to remember they are deathly ill of everything on the menu the 3 minutes before), the front of house manager gave a little speech about the start up.

During which, we put out the first course. It was a rye caraway bread with asparagus, anchovies, lemon balm and mint. It didn't really go out the way I wanted. I had planned a slightly different plating. It was a clear live and learn moment. Putting plating aside, the flavor was there. It had the bright acidic bite from the white balsamic, the fresh herb from the mint and lemon balm and the salty brine from the anchovies. I couldn't complain there. The bread on the other hand, was causing a problem. I knew the diners would have a problem eating it the way we served it. Some things are just too late to change sadly. 


In the end, it was what it was and now the Front of House manager was finishing her speech. She kept it brief and then I heard my name called...

Oh dear, now it was time to speak, I had to talk about my menu, in clear sentences...

Walking forward I smiled and started to explain the menu. Here is a summarized version.


"When I graduated high school, I did a similar dinner for 8 people. I just graduated college and now I am doing a dinner for 80"

I paused...

"I guess when I get my PhD, I will have to do a dinner for 800"

I believe I got a sympathetic laugh out of the quick "jokish".

"The menu I prepared has a little bit from everywhere I have been, it has memories from school and memories from restaurants. The first course came from an organic chemistry class. I learned about the concept of chirality (I won't go into the details .unless you want me too)".

The second course is because I love pasta and I love soup. They go great on any menu and most people love soup! The brodo comes from Cafe Juanita, where I learned about this funky liquid. It somehow tastes good and smells funky at the same time. Combined with the nutty flavor you get from caramelized cauliflower and the brightness from the fennel salad. It just wakes up the mouth.

For the third course, it is kind of an homage to the first course I was put in charge of at the Herbfarm. It was a celery root tart with seafood on top. I actually kind of hated the course. Not because of the flavors, but because I felt I could never execute it perfectly. The crust was always too soggy, or the filling was too shallow.


So I made it my own. I love panna cotta, and I think it goes great in savory dishes. This allows for a custard to be made without baking and keeps the celery root flavor cleaner (there is no egg, which always muddied the flavor). Then, I placed seafood and crispy potato chips to add texture.

Fourth course is comprised of one of my favorite fish, bone marrow and some seared pickled vegetables(I would have preferred grilled  picked vegetables..try it some time!). Why is Black cod my favorite fish?? Black Cod is great because it has a subtle fishy flavor, and it allows itself to be a canvas to other flavors. Combined with the dill, pickled vegetables and bone marrow it comes alive

Finally, dessert! Well, when it comes down to it, I love gelato as the star of desserts. Not just a side to your cake, or pie. Nope, I like it as the focal point. For tonight it is Black Sesame with some toasted chocolate and Douglas fir granita"

After finishing my quick speech. I ran back into the kitchen. It actually went well. Some how, I was confident, something I rarely am. My sentences stuttered a bit, but not as much as they had in the past. There wasn't much time to reminisce over my speech. When I got to the back, the cooks were already busy plating the second course.

Now, the calm was gone. This course was the pasta course. Some portions were super easy. All we had to do was put pasta down, soup and the salad. It seems simple right? Well it would have been if the pasta would have been able to be cooked to order (as I would have preferred). However, due to range space, we had to cook it at the very last minute but still ahead of time. Thus, the pasta sat in the half pans, and even with the oil, they began to stick to each other. My heart sunk.

What could we do? We had to plate now. So I spent most of my time gently peeling each ravioli apart and placing them in the dish. There was nothing wrong with the ravioli, but I wanted everything to go just right. Right now was not the time for life lessons. So we pushed on. Each plate moved, and I quickly moved to separate the pasta. Oddly enough, I don't think anyone outside of the kitchen could feel my stress.


Third course was cold. I had planned this. It gave our guy working saute a chance to start cooking fish on a small electric stove (yup...). We just had to put the different ingredients on top and serve.

Like I said in my speech. This third course was a celery root panna cotta based on an Herbfarm dish. I loved the flavors, hated my execution. This panna cotta on the other hand, had amazing texture. The one thing I would have changed...as you might be able to tell in the picture....is the size. I wanted to have it smaller. It looked way too bulky to be a refined course and it really over took the plate(live and learn.

Quick Chef Lesson

Typically, chefs try to plan menus in such a way to balance timing. You can't have everything off the saute line, the grill station, or pantry. Now in this case, we weren't serving a la carte. Nonetheless, it is important to think about how long it takes to plate each course, and how much equipment you have.

When I planned this menu. I had chosen a cold first course, a hot second...continue the pattern. This allowed no area of the kitchen to be bogged down at once.

End Lesson

Now as the third course finished going out. We started to get ready for the main course. The fish all, somehow, got cooked in time. Thank goodness for that saute cook! He made it happen. Now it was just a matter of plating.

This course went smoothly. It was pretty straight forward. Sauce, fish, veg, garnish, serve. That was our assembly line. We were able to push out 80 plates in no time.

The dish was a simple fish and vegetable combination. When you pickle vegetables first, it adds sugar, this allows for a nice caramelization to occur and you have the bonus of brightness that can help cut fattier dishes.

Whew!

Time for dessert. My favorite course. It was a great combination of flavors and simple techniques. Black sesame ice cream, douglas fir granita, toasted chocolate and a simple coco nib sable. If you ever have time, throw some chocolate on some parchment paper and a sheet pan. Let it toast until it caramelizes. It makes a great flavor for ice cream, or goes great as a crumble on top of desserts. Overall, this was my favorite course!

Now things got weird. My friend told me to demo one dessert and then I had to go out and talk to people....

Wait, interact with people, I don't do that....

Of course, I knew I had too...so I plated a demo, checked my chef whites for stains and walked out.

I was actually pleasantly surprised. Talking to people was a blast. They were all so positive. Even though I know 1000 things I would have changed that night. Everyone had good things to say. I know some of it was them being nice. It was still great. Every chef just wants to make people happy. When we see smiling faces and satisfied people. Our worlds are complete.

Getting out and talking was a great experience.

Everything didn't go perfect that night, I know that. I didn't think it would. Even the first night of a new menu at the Herbfarm never goes perfectly. It is always awkward, we never knew what to plate where, who is plating what and it just makes it difficult. Then you add the stress of limited cooking space, and tools..and all the other restrictions. I think the team did great. Personally, I don't know if I did much to help! I was just happy to work with such great people!

Now the scores..yup...there were scores






You might be asking, why scores? Who gathered all the information?

 The company I partnered with was attempting to analyze food trends and peoples preferences. In turn, after each dinner, the dinners scored the dishes. I wasn't surprised by my results. I knew the gaps in the 1st and third course. However, I also knew my flavors were solid.

Overall, my first pop up restaurant was a great experience. I learned a lot, had lots of fun and can't wait to do my next one. Maybe it really will have to be for 800 people?? Who knows. I still love cooking, and I still love creating menus.

How about you? Do you throw dinner parties? I would love to hear about them. Maybe share some pictures?


<< White Swan Public House                                                                    Top 5 Books For Bakers>>


Tags: How do I plan a Pop up restaurant; Pop up restaurant; what can go wrong in a Restaurant; pop up; food; menu planning

Top 10 Kitchen Power Tools

 Shout out to anyone who grew up with Tim the Tool Man Taylor. He had a love for power tools that knew no bounds. He would stick a V6 engine on your garbage disposer so you could both get rid of unwanted food and drive yourself to work. Power tools are the big guns, the large mama jamas...ok I will stop.

Power tools aren't just for carpenters and flannel wearing men though. Nope, in the kitchen we have a list of power tools we love using!  Some Chefs can be a little over reliant on their tools...but they are just so much fun! Some we just wish we had, for the sake of having and telling other people we own them. Although, we may never use them...

All of the ones below I have used and enjoy. Especially the Melanger and the dehydrator. They worked great for multiple things! That is what is really important when you buy new tools! My kitchen is too small to house all the kitchen gadgets Sur La Table has to offer... so make sure you buy tools with multiple uses.

Let's get started!



Anova Circulator 

For home cooking. There are currently two immersion circulators I think of(I am sure there are more...I have only been exposed to these two). For those who aren't aware. An immersion circulator is used to keep water at a controlled temperature. This allows you to not worry about the product inside. You can vacuum seal a steak with herbs and oil, cook it to 125, cut it out and sear. Then you get a perfectly cooked steak. You can also cook eggs, fish, vegetables etc. Some of the benefits of this method include reduced flavor loss, even cooking, and better flavor infusion.

The first option I recommend is the Anova Circulator. It has an actual interface that you case on the machine itself and can handle about 3-4 gallons. It also has some cool notifications that can be sent to your phone so you know where your product is at.

Now the other option besides the Anova version is the new Joule. Chefsteps has several videos and tutorials on how to use it. It is much more compact and stylish. However, it only works with your phone. There is no outer interface. Thus, you are reliant on buying a phone, having the app and so on. That is the biggest thing I dislike. Now, if you like compact, and style. Then it is a solid product.

P.S. Anova is pretty good about making sure your product works, even when it breaks. They have sent  one of my friends a new one.

Melanger
This might seem like a foreign tool to many. What is a melanger? Well the word melange is french for "blend or mixture". The tool works great to make chocolate, nut butters super smooth. Most of these make the particles so fine, that the human tongue can not perceive the micro particles. We would use this tool for the coffocolate that I came up with, the nut butters, chocolate and I am sure now much more. Really, this is only useful if you know what to use the tool with.

We would take ground hazelnut butter and make hazelnut gelato just by adding simple syrup(there is too much fat, so no need to make base). You can make chocolate, cake sugar and anything else that needs to be ground fine.




Meat Slicer

A good meat slicer in a kitchen can save boat loads of time. Also, if you want to make sure your product is consistent, it does wonders. I have sliced pancetta, lardo, Jamon and other cured meat products(duck, beef, etc) on this slicer. You want to make sure you don't skimp here. The more metal the better. You don't need the fancy automatic ones. Just get a simple manual one. **Make sure to read the safety instructions**


Technically, when I first started using one, I was underage!


Also, make sure to keep this clean, they are basically bacteria pits...they get super messy every time you have to slice 4 pork bellies. Fat, and meat get everywhere, so really make sure to scrub this tool.


Now if you really want a good one, and the one I used then look at the Beswood Meat Slicer












Meat Grinder

Most chefs love making cured meat products (Charcuterie). Sausage is no exception. In order to do it properly, you need a grinder. There are recipes that say you can do it in the robocoup or other tools. But nothing does it like a meat grinder. Make sure you get a solid product. Like the one below. More metal is better. You want to make sure it can handle grinding meat and not crack. Always keep your pieces cold! Sausage making is a true art! It requires an understanding of seasoning, curing, emulsifying, and sometimes aging.

You could also grind meat for your famous burgers, or meatloaf! If you are an avid hunter, it is great when you have a lot of odds and ends. I have had my fair share of venison and wild deer sausage..
 













Dehydrator 

Working at the Herbfarm, and for Dana and Brian of Spur, Tavern Law, etc. A dehydrator was necessary. When I worked at the Coterie Room we made pork cracklins with a very complex process. It involved a lot of steps that I won't go into here. The end step was using the dehydrator before we fried the perfect little crisps. Also, if you want to make beef jerky, dehydrated cranberries (different than dried!) , meringues in formed shapes on heat sensitive acetate, it works great. They are really just cheap ovens with a crappy door, as one of my Chefs once said. They will keep a low temperature and dry air constantly circulating. If you are just into raw food, it is also a great tool to never really "cook" your food. Not that I would understand that...

Again, this can be used for multiple things, which is why I support this tool. You can make jerky, desserts, dry herbs, gels, fruits etc.




Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer

A funny side note. We always call these things "Kitchen aids" when really they are stand mixers. Now, this is a  tool every cook loves! It allows you to make dough, whip creams and aerate eggs. It can be used to emulsify, knead and even roll out pasta (with the right attachment). Kitchen Aids save so much time in the industrial kitchen. I would often be chopping shallots with the Kitchen Aid running right next to me. It is about getting things done!

I actually used to have a french chef that made me hand whip all my creams! It sucked. Save your arm, look into a new mixer. Unless you are looking for a work out!.





Vitamix

I watched my parents buy 5-6 blenders in my lifetime. Each costing anywhere from $30-$100. Each of them either breaking, or not being able to truly blend to the consistency they wanted. They might have been able to buy 2 home vita-mixes for that cost. As a cook, this tool is amazing. I have never seen one break, and that is after making thousands of purees, dressings, even chocolate(from coco nibs to smoothish chocolate!, you will need a Melanger to go all the way).

Quick Side note
I don't recommend making chocolate in your vitamix, my Chef was always worried I would break it. I am just letting you know, that I made it happen...

Now, I have never seen one burn out. I have worked at a restaurant that shared kitchens. Supposedly, the other kitchen broke theirs because they were making a fluid gel and burned out the motor(I can see that happening). However, most of these have near lifetime warranties!






Fry Daddy

You might be laughing at me right now. A Fry Daddy...really?? However, I remember using this puppy at Cafe Juanita to fry hundreds of little blue cheese doughnuts. We didn't have a real fryer, so this was our only choice. It does good work. It is small, so if you need a bigger fryer. Then take a look around a restaurant supply store for the classic two tank fryers. I can't actually recommend anything else (that is this size), because I haven't used anything besides a fry daddy and big giant industrial deep fryers. I could mention some large $8+k fryers...









Hand Electric Mixer

Do you need to froth a foam on the fly, maybe make a 2 gallon batch of mayonnaise, emulsify, break down, puree, or just want a tool to pull out when you don't want to use your vitamix? I think that is the best way to describe this tool. It is very useful for foaming and what not. I do believe most people just use it when they don't feel like plugging in and cleaning a vita mix. It does great work, but it won't make your soup as smooth as a vita mix. You also don't have to go quart by quart (like a vita mix) when pureeing a soup. You can just stick this into your pot and puree away. 














Cotton Candy Machine

Finally, this tool was more for fun. We used it at the Herbfarm...I am not sure if it would be useful for anybody. We did a dish with wood oven roasted pumpkin, oak cream and maple cotton candy. There were a few other places we put the cotton candy. It stayed on for several menus. My chef personally loved the dish, and I would agree. It was a great combinations of flavors and textures(especially the oak cream!). However, I think it was a tool that was bought for one menu and beyond that, it was rarely used. If however, you own a candy or pastry shop. It would be pretty cool to have. I have seen people sell a few ounces for $8-$9 as "artisanal cotton candy". Knowing how much sugar costs, if that is selling...they are making a mint.


Well that was my list of top power tools for chefs. Do you have cooking gadgets you love? Let me know. I am sure I have forgotten the smoke gun or the similar one use tools (I never liked the smoke gun, I always used a bee smoker).


All of the links to products are Amazon Affiliate links. I would like to be candid that I do receive a percentage of the purchase price. That being said, all the products I reference I have either used or own. I want to help people looking for products anyway! I don’t want people buying things that won’t benefit them.
<< Read About the New Restaurant In SLU: White Swan).                       Top 5 Books For Bakers>>



Tags: Best Power Tools, Chefs Favorite Tools, Power tools, Vita mix, Blender, Chocolate, Fryer, Best Kitchen Gadgets, Cooks, Chef Life, Favorite List

The White Swan Public House, Seafood and Pork

Get two ex-cooks together for a meal, and you are bound to end up with at $200+ food bill and an unhealthy amount of pork, fat and just plain good food. We know what we like and we always over indulge in it... My Chef friend flew in from San Fransisco over Thanksgiving weekend. We had worked together at LUC. A local turn and burn french Bistro. The owner also known as the Chef in the Hat Thierry Rautureau was a 5' 6" french chef with a lot of classical training. He would often come in and work the room. Talk to the guests, and eventually come back to the kitchen to check on the CDC and the cooks. We both really cut our teeth here. One day, I will have to write about the chaos that went on in that kitchen. There are some stories there.

However, this posting is focused on the food, Specifically, the food at the White Swan Public House. I had never actually even heard of the White Swan Public House. Apparently, it is owned by the same people that have Radiator Whisky. This small restaurant is tucked away in the far corner of SLU by the Fred Hutch Cancer Institute. Sometimes, places like this are so easy to pass by if you are not aware, which is quite sad. The White Swan is a great place! You should check out their menu.




Walking inside the White Swan, I can see a cramped open kitchen. It maybe takes up 15% of the actual restaurant. Yet, the cooks are making things happen. My friend was already sitting at the bar chatting up the bartender, he waved me down and I took a seat.

Just as a quick background, the Chef, Josh Nebe was recently named Zagat's 30 under 30. At 29, he has been and is and has been putting out amazing food. I have only met him twice. The first time was very late at Cafe Presse after helping with a pop up restaurant. He has a great knowledge of food, and both from his discussion and his menu, I believe he enjoys pork (Maybe...I could be wrong). If you look at the menu at the Public House, you see Sausage and Pork Belly and there are other little tid bits here and there  of other pork dishes. Besides the pork there is also a good amount of delicious sounding seafood! This fits the decorum, which very much feels like an upscale wharf type restaurant.


The menu contained a slew of dishes that sounded delicious. Honestly, I wanted to order everything on the menu. There were a few dishes that stood out to my friend and I. Pork belly, Curry wurst, Seafood Poutine and several other sinfully scrumptious dishes. I knew this meal was going to do some damage. There was no way I would let myself leave this place without eating beyond content. When there are so many good options...it is hard to say no.

After a few minutes of catching up and talking about "old times", my friend and I devised our plan of attack. We scoured the menu for our favorites I think I stated a few above. Most chefs, cooks and food lovers always have a soft spot in their bellies for pork belly, and sausage. It is like a cheap man's foie gras. It is often crispy on the outside, and creamy on the inside. Sometimes steamed and served with plum sauce, other times grilled, fried or seared. Every way produces a delicious flavor a contrast of textures that can't often be beat.

Along with that we ordered the tuna, brussels sprouts(another personal favorite), a few oysters and the whole roasted crab(I regret that choice, we had no room when that came around).

Our first course came out after the oysters (which tasted exactly like expected). So I won't bore you with the details about how a shigoku taste saltier and a kushi meatier...blah blah. They are always fun to compare. Overall, for myself, an oyster is an oyster. They are great to shot, but as long as they are good, I am happy. Now if they are bad...you are going to have a bad time.

The first actual course to come out was the Tuna. It was a tuna salad with black eyed peas, celery and pickled raisins. The best part of this dish was how bright it was. It had just the right amount of acidity. However, I found the giant lumps of hand torn tuna. I thought I would be ok with cooked tuna, but it just wasn't For me, the only way to eat tuna is raw, or just kissed on a grill.

Ok I lied, there was one more "best part" of this dish. The pickled raisins. I just wanted a bowl of pickled raisins. They were perfect bursts of sweet and sour lively morsels. I can see them going great on a lamb or pork dish!

Tuna and Black Eyed Pea Salad

In midst this course the chef sent out a course of his own. Tempura fried Miatake Mushrooms with Chervil and Tarragon Aioli. The flavors and textures were amazing. The chef used vodka, and ice cold carbonated water, as a chef should for the better.

The combination of licorice flavors, near aromatic mushrooms and beet pickled eggs. Thank you and please sir may I have another. This was a great treat! It was bright and heavy, crispy and creamy a contrast of flavor and texture that breaks a few rules and follows the rest.

Deep Fried Miatake Mushrooms and Pickled Eggs

Next was the pork belly, mustard sauce and cabbage slaw.

Putting pork belly on a menu guarantees an order. Especially when you have two cooks who can eat. This dish did not disappoint. The pork belly was creamy inside, and perfectly crispy on the outside. It was like having perfectly cooked sweet breads(no not pumpkin bread). I haven't had pork belly like this in ages. When I went to Kedai Makan, the pork belly was more stir fried. It was still crispy, but you didn't get the contrast of texture that this pork belly had.

Pork Belly, Slaw and Mustard Sauce

 Then topped with crunchy, bright, and most importantly, dilly slaw. That almost was better than the pork belly itself.  Maybe, it was our fault, maybe we just ordered a lot of fatty food, so the contrast of fat and vinegar just went so well that I wanted more of the salad.

From there we had house made Curry wurst. I can't complain about anything I was served. It was a great sausage. It probably went great with my friends lager. Can't say much from personal experience.
The curry sauce can only be related to your favorite Indian places curry. Sadly, I haven't had too much curry wurst in my day. So I can only say that the sausage tasted great! it was cooked well and it paired well with the cauliflower and curry sauce.

Curry Wurst

The final course. Neither of us had enough room to get much more than a few bites in. There before us stood two plates. Filled with crab, potatoes, bread, fennel, and just too much food. It killed us. We sat there grabbing our bellies, feeling satisfied. The dead crab staring at us upside down with its innards tossed in vinegar and oil. A good meal, now, time for a nap.

Whole Roasted Crab

 Two cooks walked into the White Swan Public House hungry and left full and satisfied. We had talked, reminisced, and enjoyed a great meal. I enjoyed my meal, even though I felt heavy after. This place is a great place to explore solid food and solid technique. Are you meeting friends, catching up with a long lost buddy? Why not grab some pork belly and seafood poutine at the White Swan Public House? It is delicious.

This place was my friends recommendation. Please feel free to leave your favorite restaurants in the comments, or feel free to ask for a recommendation. I am always looking for the next best restaurant, the next best dish.





Thank you, and have a great week!.

<< Where Have the Cooks Gone                                                          Top Ice Cream Machines>>

Tag: White Swan; Public House, SLU, South Lake Union Restaurant, SLU Best Restaurant, New Restaurant, Josh Nebe, Chef, Chef Life; White Swan Public House; restaurant review

 

Where Have all The Chefs Gone

I read this article about a year ago in the New York Times that pointed out a growing problem. There are not enough Cooks for all the kitchens. There are similar articles in most major newspapers. They discuss the dire hiring environment Chefs are currently facing as they are looking to fill positions. Where have all the good cooks gone? What has happened to the industry?

 

Being a refugee of the food industry myself I can give some insight into this strange phenomenon. The culinary field is one that requires long hours, passion, and dedication. Some kitchens still act very much like the classic brigade. Some kitchens are like the ones you see on TV, with flying frying pans and angry chefs. The cooks that work in these places, and really any fine dining establishment love food. They wouldn't deal with the long hours, belittling and lack of compensation otherwise.  However, this has been status quo for a while now. That is not what has changed.

 

What has changed is cost of living in most big cities, due to rising incomes for those in specific fields. An increase in restaurant saturation as the glitz and glamour of being a chef continues to grow and an increase in options outside the typical cook to chef route.

 

The Income

Major cities around the US have been seeing a drastic increase in the cost of living. You know what I mean if you live in Seattle or San Fransisco. This seems to correlate heavily with the increase in tech jobs in these large cities. Of course, this is great for people with technical backgrounds. Suddenly a 25 year old with 2 years experience is being offered a 6 figure salary with full benefits. (Good for them, seriously!). In contrast, this weighs heavily on those who don't have the tech background. When a studio is going 1700$-2000$ in some neighborhoods, where do you expect someone who barely makes above minimum wage to live? 

 

I recall one of my friends telling me how they finally got a raise at one of their jobs. The only reason they got that raise is because minimum wage went up...they worked at one of the top 5 restaurants in Seattle for over a year and didn't get a raise until then. Sure, they weren't working on the line, but they were getting paid just as much as someone at a fast food restaurant even with their 3 years of experience.

 

When bosses are only paying minimum wage to experienced cooks. It is silently stating that "they would pay you less if it were legal". I quoted this from a pretty good thread from the chefit reddit. Yes, Chefs are being forced to use reddit as a form of searching for new cooks. Check out this thread, and it goes even deeper! Where are you finding cooks from?

 

 

I have also seen twitter be used as a medium to find cooks. Check out this ad for the highly praised New Bay Area Restaurant The Morris. These places use to be able to use Craigslist and get a solid list of candidates. Now, Chefs have to work their networks, create databases of possible candidates, hire culinary agents or just hire less skilled workers in general.

 

This goes beyond just passion. Cooks have always had to deal with making ends meet. If you haven't read Kitchen Confidential, take a peek. Anthony Bourdain discusses how he went the money route. For cooks who decide to work at top notch places, it means low pay, long hours and slow but great pay offs(Trust me, you as a consumer want that!). You want your Chefs and cooks yearning to push the envelope and learn at places where money isn't the goal.

 

 

I was lucky, I worked as a cook in Seattle (not New York) when it was much cheaper. Even then, I couldn't spend more than 450$ on rent and had to pray I would have no catastrophic events. Nevertheless, it was much better than other cities.

Now, if you look at places like San Fransisco, it is near impossible to get away with even 15$/hr. I have a friend working at a fine dining establishment (which I won't name). He is only making 12$/hr. He does work 70 hours a week...of which only gets paid for 40 of them. Another concept that is normalized in kitchens. That is not even the nail in the coffin. He gets off so late, that all forms of public transportation are not running. Instead, he has to take a 12$+ Uber ride home. He spends more than 2+ hours of his labor, just so he can afford to drive home!

 

What if a programmer suddenly had to spend 100$+ just to get to home? You would have a lot of people up in arms. Rightfully so!

 

Saturation and Poaching

 

Let's talk about the next problem, the pure saturation of restaurants. With all the glamour and fame that have been shown on TV for Chef lives, suddenly more and more people are trying there luck. Even those that don't have the restaurant experience required. Causing a large influx in new restaurants. Below is the Saturation count from the Eater article located here.

This is per 10,000 households

1: San Francisco, CA, 39.3

4: New York, NY-NJ, 25.3

5: Seattle, WA, 24.9

 

Forbes, Paula. "Here Are the Most Restaurant- and Bar-Dense US Cities." N.p., 1 Aug. 2012. Web. 

I have only picked Seattle, New York and San Fransisco for comparison. As you can see, San Fransisco is actually more restaurant heavy than both Seattle and New York. This density of restaurants in all these cities is creating a new demand for chefs and cooks. New York compensates by having a higher density of people. However, places like Seattle and San Fransisco just don't have the same size pool to pick from.

 

See this article

1.28,053 New York City

2.18,187 San Fransico

3. 7,962 Seattle

 

@genebalk. "Seattle among Top 10 Most Densely Populated Big Cities in the U.S. for First Time Ever." The Seattle Times. N.p., 09 Feb. 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016. 

Every one of the new restaurants require a new Chef, Sous Chef and an army of cooks to operate the BOH(Back of the House).Where will these cooks come from? If all the good ones are being hired, then it poses a challenge.

It is not uncommon for restaurants to poach the entire staff of another well-to-do establishment. If you read Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" or watch Boiling Point. Both Anthony and Gordon were able to bring entire restaurant crews where ever they went. All it requires is a few words of grandeur and a family like bond. There is a certain loyalty for cooks to chefs. Where there isn't loyalty, there is money. Take a kid with only 2 -4 years of real life experience and offer him a sous chef, or CDC(Chef De Cuisine) position at 70k a year. He will more than likely take it. A lot of these places just need all hands on deck. Any hands...so they are constantly stealing cooks and trying to retain them. This is just increasing the problem.

 

 

Where Have All the Cooks Gone

 

With some groups of talented cooks already leaving to get jobs as Uber drivers, Culinary Innovation Specialist, or maybe just take a job working as a cook for Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. All of which, pay way more than a 14-15$/hr gig at the hottest new restaurant.

 

One of my friends started working for a startup that does some pretty cool meal delivery(they actually analyze your biological markers and design a diet around you!). He not only works in culinary innovation. He also does SQL and dashboard design. Options are opening up for the most talented chefs and cooks. Hard working chefs and cooks make great employees. Sure, we can be a little fidgety, but we are used to a faster pace. We are also used to learning on the fly, and picking up skills fast without being asked.  In addition, we are practically grateful for the 9-6 hours of a start-up. We are allowed to have lives. 

 

There are still other options. Like development chefs, research chefs etc. That open up in companies like ChefSteps or Modernist. If you have a curious mind, and a decent pedigree, these places would love you! 

 

Overall, the restaurant industry is going through growing pains. They are quiet to the consumer. You may not even be able to tell. That has always been the goal of the BOH. No matter what kind of crazy stuff is going on in the back, the front must never know. So even though the BOH is constantly struggling to find new cooks due to financial and staffing problems, we the customer are barely noticing the result.

 

I will mention, that is not 100% true. I have begun to notice slow price hikes of dishes. General Porpoise charges 4$ for a doughnut. If that is not going for the staff, then Renee is not doing it right...Prices will begin to equalize. It is part of economics. Eventually, either incomes for techies will drop as will the cost of living or the price of going out will continue to increase and fairly so! Yes, how can you expect to make a 6 figure salary at 25 and not have to pay the inflation rate for going out? Do you expect the cooks to continue to work for scraps? Nope, you want good talent in kitchens, then pay your bills or don't go out.

 

Thanks for reading. Let me know your thoughts. Where do you think all the cooks have gone? Are you a cook who changed jobs? What are you doing now?

 

<< Who gets James Beard Awards                                                         Top 5 Books For Bakers>>

I haven't really done anything where I had actual sources. My previous posts were based on my own knowledge. However, this one relied on a lot of other articles, and sources. Here are some!

 

Sources

NY Times

Washington Post

Chicago Tribune

Tags: Why should I become a cook, Kitchen Confidential, After Hours, A cooks mind, Tech bros, Economics, 15$/hr