Hone

Chapter 1The Chef

 

 

“Honing is simultaneously a maintenance and a meditation.”

—Flannery Klette‐Kolton, Chef

Being a chef in a high‐end restaurant is no easy task. Every night, you are expected to conjure up innovative and mouthwatering dishes that not only tantalize the taste buds but also dazzle the eyes and satisfy the soul. Along with being original, you must also be consistent, replicating each culinary masterpiece with unwavering precision, night after night, so that returning guests can relive their extraordinary dining experiences. Your relentless pursuit of perfection unfolds in a crowded, often overheated kitchen, where tempers can easily rise, and serious injury is only one small miscalculation away. Your busiest days are when the rest of the world is unwinding – weekends and holidays. Amid this chaos, you must balance razor‐thin margins and the competing demands of staff, investors, customers, and even friends and family. Your artistic vision must shine through, but you must also turn a profit. No wonder there is a high failure rate in the restaurant business.

Working as a private chef cranks up the heat to an entirely new level. We don't mean caterers who manage the logistics of serving hundreds of dishes at weddings or large parties – that's a different kind of “hard.” We're talking about private chefs who craft exquisite dinner parties in the intimate settings ...