ChefJohnny

I just put a new dessert on my menu inspired by guacamole. lime confit, cilantro syrup, avocado ice cream, crystallized shallot, toasted jalapeno seeds, and masa sablé. its called "chips n guac." - Chef Johnny

Yikes ! What do you use for picking up soft-yolked fried eggs ? haha. a spoon of course. you'd be surprised how versatile the palette knife is. - Chef Johnny

I, and most of my chef friends, use these. Not technically a fish spat, but its the best. And you pay for it. Its all about finesse. - Chef Johnny

I was reading the book and came across a reference for "electronic ancillary materials" and was wondering if anyone has ever seen these? or if they are CIA only? Id looooove to have the spreadsheets and what not. - Chef Johnny

My mentor used to burn me for shits n giggles. Nothing major. Just a little tap with a hot pan or palette knife. I think it made me stronger, physically and mentally. I think the kids being shot out of school these days are pansies. The minute I raise my voice I see tears forming and fists clinching. What happened to the days of "Yes Chef!" and loyalty? We're a dying breed.... sorry for getting a little off topic. Just had to rant a little. - Chef Johnny

Im definitely guilty of most of these... saying "behind" and "corner" in stores, "oven", "open", "below", or "hot" at home. I say "oui" A LOT. I also never use other peoples equipment when I cook for/with them. People laugh when I pull out my own spoons from my knife roll. I just give them a blank stare saying "I have no idea why you're laughing?" "In the shits" and "86" are also in my daily vocab. - Chef Johnny

"We don't have customers here. We have guests. Wal-Mart has customers." "We don't have scrap. We have trim. Junkyards have scrap."

Mine are mostly because Im a product of a Thomas Keller kitchen, but when cooks say they have "scrap" of something, I get angry. Thomas would always say "We dont have scrap here, we have trim." So from then on, when someone says scrap, I give them that quote. Even when going through the walk in and seeing a lexan labeled "beef scrap" , for example, I make a new label that says "beef trim." Another Keller quote was "We dont have customers here. Walmart has customers. We have guests." I love that one. TK had the best quotes. -Chef Johnny

Dry it out and grind it. Carrot powder. We do it the in restaurant. Probably not the route youre looking for, but the question was posed.

Not to be a party pooper or anything, but, IMHO, all of this would detract from the food. Maybe its just me, but I dont want to read text messages or browse Flickr while im eating. And since you said this will be with a tasting menu, it doesnt sound like the TGI McFunster's food, which is what I think of when you have all kinds of crazy stuff going on around the food. I do applaud the thought and imagination, but for me, the only one that piques my interest is the Google Maps idea. Just my $.02 Oh, but good luck finding what you're looking for!

something strange to add... jamie oliver's twitter has been suspended due to "strange activity." hmmm......

Grant Achatz has a great twitter! Poses lots of super interesting questions. His is @gachatz. And of course there's mine, @chefjohnny. lol. i also follow "French Laundry at Home" Carol Blymire. Shes @carolblymire.

The question isn't what can be done ... it's what's the most efficient and effective way to do it? I like spoons and fish spatulas and palette knives for delicate things. But they're slower, they sometimes require two hands instead of one, and they force you to get your hands a lot closer to some things (a pan full of splattering grease, the edge of a burning hot roasting pan full of bones, etc.) than you might want. I can be as delicate with tongs as I can be with chopsticks. And when that's not delicate enough (sometimes it isn't) there are other tools better for the job. You have me intrigued by the straight spatula, though. Is there a reason to buy the $30 one you linked to? I see much cheaper ones in the pastry dept. and the restaurant stores. ← i was first introduced to the palette knife at TFL. It was given to me by my sous chef. I guess I can try to justify it like this: its incredibly durable, its been burned, put through the dish machine, dropped in a fryer, etc. Im a firm believer in spending good money for a better product, instead of buying cheap and keep replacing. Now, I can agree with some of the points you make above. And I guess I should have clarified my position. My views are coming from the restaurants I worked in, i.e. Michelin 2 and 3 star. So, there is literally nothing that is not delicate. - Chef Johnny

Exactly! I always have my palette knife. like i said, theres nothing a set of tongs can do that a spoon, palette knife and your fingers cant. and plus, tongs get disgustingly dirty, especially in a restaurant. These are my everyday tools. The only thing not pictured are my spoons.

The spat is always in my bain marie with my spoons on my station. Its perfect for turning fish, as it is flexible and thin. I use it for turning and flipping things in the pan as well as delicate stuff such as making chips on silpats, etc. Its a little expensive, given what it is, but its well worth the money and durable as all hell. Ive had mine for about 3 or 4 years. When I took over at Dry Creek Kitchen, I got all my cooks one. - Chef Johnny

"but guys like keller don't hire guys like me, who have been known to use tongs to scratch our butts, open beers, change light bulbs, and dispose of spent mousetraps ... " that is just hysterical! I happen to be a product of the Keller kitchen, so I agree with Chang's comment. I have a hatred of tongs. there is nothing a spoon, one of these flat spatulas, and a finger cant do. BTW, those flat spats are one of my favorite kitchen tools ever. And, every TFL alum Ive seen, i.e. Grant Achatz, Ryan Fancher, Eric Zeibold (and me use them in their kitchens. - Chef Johnny

Apparently Thomas Keller requires his cooks to weigh everything for this reason, right down to the mirepoix. ← This is partly true. Yes, we had to measure more than most places, but as far as things like mirepoix are concerned, it was usually done by volume rather than weight (in large combros). But the cuts for the mirepoix were as specific and as the brunoise. EVERYTHING had its own precision knife cut. On the topic of recipes, outside of the "official" TFL recipe book, most recipes in the chef de parties notepads are simply ingredients and their measurements, neglecting the method of preparation. Its simply inherent and understood what to do with the ingredients. Now, Im not sure how protective others are of their recipe books, but someone would lose a hand going for mine. So this method of only having what is basically an ingredients list is kind of a safe guard. - Chef Johnny

Are these wings that you order from Hooters, or make from a Hooters recipe? I had wings at a Hooters a few weeks back, and -- I was more than impressed, happily, surprisingly. And the brea-- sorry, sorry. ← We order them from Hooters and pick them up around noon-ish and reheat as needed. For what they are, I love Hooters wings.

That made me laugh out loud. ← Ditto!! and sooooo true! For me, the orchestra of a professional kitchen. No talking, pans hitting the flat-top, spoons clinking on plates, the "poof" when a gas flame starts. I LOVE it all. Makes my life in a kitchen so great even on the worst days.

Hooters wings. Lots of Coronas. Good friends. And a big ass TV.

its not bad. small. pricey. Saturdays behind Hotel Healdsburg in the public parking lot on Matheson Street, 9am-noon. Tuesdays in the square, i think it starts at 4 or 5pm.

This are my everyday knives and such. I don't keep my entire knife roll at work. I usually don't have a need for every knife in it, so I just keep the "essentials." Left to right: 9 1/2" Chefs/Gyutou, Masahiro 9 1/2" Slicer/Sujibiki, Masahiro 6" Boning, F. Dick (My last knife from school in the process of being phased out for the 6" Masahiro Honesuki/Boning) 5" Utility, MAC Tourné 8" Palette Knife, Williams Sonoma (this is the palette knife of choice for TFL and alumni) 4" Offset Palette Knife Smooth Steel Also included: Drag peeler Set of ring molds Sharpies/Pens Bottle Opener/Wine Key (Essential for the after work beer! Paint Brush (Currently in use for my foie dish at the moment) Not pictured: Plating/Saucing Spoons -Chef Johnny

Oh, ChefJohnny, honey, baby, sugarpie, love.... I need you to teach me how to do those chips. I failed miserably at them. I've now done 82 out of the 100 dishes in the book, and I'm still pissed at myself that I can't get those chips done right. I'm doing trotters and the rabbit dish on Sunday, and am gearing up for the pig's head, which I'm actually looking forward to. ← Well, I gotta say, 82 out of 100 is pretty freakin awesome! Congrats! I would totally teach you how to make the chive chips. As a matter of fact, I still have my plastic guide for the shape taped to the inside of my recipe book. I noticed you're in MD, Im just over the border in VA. Cooking class? lol The trotters are awesome. One of my favs. And the tête de couchon.... holy crap. Its heaven wrapped in cheesecloth. Just make sure you make the sauce gribiche. -Chef Johnny

Certainly many famous chefs (Keller included) have a history of violence and profanity in the kitchen. But over the last decade or two we have seen chefs elevated from "misfits hiding in the kitchen" to being very visible public figures. This appears from the outside (where I am) to be influencing the culture inside the kitchen, but I have no personal experiences to back that up. Hence this topic, where I am hoping to hear from chefs/line cooks/dishwashers who have been in the business for a while. It sounds like there is probably no correlation between cursing in the kitchen and the number of Michelin stars. Nevertheless, I wonder if there has been an across-the-board decrease over the last decade as the public image of the chef changes, and places like the CIA put more emphasis on (their idea of) "professionalism," including a reduction in profanity. ← I've been in kitchens going on 9 years now. I've worked in a broad range of places, from local chains all the way to The French Laundry. In all my time in the wonderful world of this industry, profanity is always present. What differs is when it's used. It seems as thought most people want to know what its like in the top echelon of kitchens, TFL in particular, so I will gladly elaborate. Chef de parties arrive around 10am. From 10am until the start of service, life is just like it is at Bobs Taco Shack. Its just cooks prepping their stations. Theres talk of last nights sexual conquests, or who is supposed to be getting canned, or who is the biggest f*ckbag commis or extern we currently have. It doesn't matter that we're cooking Michelin 3 star food... a chef is always a cook, first and foremost. Thats what makes us all family. That never changes. But, as soon as service starts, everything changes. We are now TFL chefs. TK's (Thomas Keller) brigade. There is no talking... much less profanity. The only sounds in the kitchen are the Chef de Cuisine/Sous Chef calling the orders, the chef de partie's calling it back, and the orchestra of the kitchen. If you screw up, you b*tch and moan in your head and take your scalding with a "yes chef". If you cut yourself, you wrap it up in the obligatory green painters tape, say nothing, and keep going. If you burn yourself, you ASK for a 6 pan of ice water from the commis. Again, you don't mutter a word. I could go on for days about that kitchen, but to sum it up, IMO, cooks are cooks. No matter where you are. This is just "one of those things." I've had the privilege of working in some of the top kitchens here and in Europe and its all the same. Only the language changes. -Chef Johnny

I very rarely was cultivated mushrooms. If there happens to be a big chunk of dirt, I will obviously wipe it off. The only mushrooms I ever literally wash, are wild ones, since they are usually full of sticks and leaves and bugs, i.e. black trumpets, yellowfoots, etc. Generally, washing consists of putting the prepped mushrooms into a tall cambro (or similar tall container) and filling with warm water and thoroughly agitating the mushrooms in the water. I do this a couple of times with fresh water as the dirt and what not sinks. Lift the mushrooms out and drain on towels. - Chef Johnny