inventolux

I worked with GM's chefs, I know the reason why they tolerate deplorable conditions.........Gordons name. On a resume its gold. Do they like their jobs, no way. Its tough to understand why Dempsey didnt leave but ill take my best stab at it........... Its too difficult in London to match the quality of product, equipment, staff and service if most of what you know is GM. To solicit investors and start anew is very difficult. For an artist like Dempsey, its a tough spot to be in. When and where does he begin a restaurant while putting in 70 to 80 hours a week? If he looks for a new job, where does he go? No place in London can match GM for an artist as hungry as Dempsey. I have worked with Dempsey and seen how Gordon treats him, very brainwashy management at best and sad to see. Dempsey was a tool. A very talented man. A disappointing outcome and a hard lesson to watch. Right now im going to play some rage against the machine if you dont mind.

Al's, there can be no other.

There can be no peace in gastroniomic discussion forums, sorry, thats just way it has to be.

Nice, spoken from a colleague who has obviously witnessed the horror of political kitchen managers "floating to the top". I love it. Now im ready for war.

Netscape and Linux, fight the power, thats all I have to say about that. As far as the CHT website goes it follows HIS style, subtle and effective and besides, youre not dining near the computer screen and to please everyones website palletes would be an excercise in impossibility.

"I wonder, in some ways, whether it is absolutely necessary that a chef needs to be a good cook, so long as he/she understands the workings of the professional kitchen, understands cooking, is a capable manager, can recognize well-cooked food, has good taste and has a good creative mind. Does one have to be a good dancer in order to be a good choreographer?" - slkinsey I think im about to have a cardiac arrest.

Well stated

Try this technique, it uses less butter, its more flavorful and your heart will thank you. In a cryovac bag put the following ingredients: Butter Herbs Aromatic vegetables(garlic, shallot, etc..) Raw Lobster Tail Salt & Pepper Cryovac and poach in water at 120f for 9 minutes Open and serve with juices, uses a lot less butter than non cryo techniques, if you are looking for a cheap, reliable cryo machine, look here

If there were any "good" restaurant PR firms then I would be curious to know what the success/failure rates are for the restaurants they represent are? After all the overall statistics are horrible.

I was agreeing with you, from my post above - just mentioning how CT uses different avenues, other than paid advertising, to create further awareness and exposure. Sorry about the confusion.

You dont get into Relais & Chateaux by just having a huge PR budget. It takes alot more than that. As far as PBS goes, a cooking show was offered to him from numerous companies. He chose the best option and it didnt cost him anything except his time. And no doubt, he is big on charitable contributions, he does it out of genuine kindness I can assure it. Example: On a few occassions he has hired and trained homeless people in the kitchen to get them back on their feet. I know because I have personally trained them. He didnt do this for PR and few people outside the restaurant even know about these CHT "projects". This costs a lot of money to train someone with little or no skills at all and then to give them medical and dental benefits with a competitive salary is more generous than any freestanding restaurant I know of.

CT has never spent one cent on advertising in his restaurant's history. Just good ole fashion gastronomy. We have no budget for advertising in my new project. Ultimately, the guest will wind up paying for it and im not into making the guest pay for something they cant experience at the restaurant. I believe in word of mouth. If I cant achieve that based on the restaurant alone, then its time for me to rethink hospitality and generosity.

Here is one of the many resons why unions are popping up all over the place. If some parameters were in place for testing before the death, its likely Dempsey would still be with us. Now I believe unions breed a lot of lazy people in the restaurant business, but its better than having a slave labor trade.

Youre good

Its too easy to blame the victim. Ignoring the problem never solves anything. Look at sars. "A tiny voilin playing"too loudly, perhaps. One cannot ignore the facts: The three professions with the highest drug abuse rate: Chefs Doctors Lawyers Are there any professionals in these areas reading this post that would care to comment from experience and not baseless commentary?

Sorry for the confusion, 1947 Santenay Gravieres 1er cru . The Vougeot producer is Domaine Meo Camuzet. (the label is really worn out so thats all I can tell you) To give you anther extreme example, Un-burgundian, I drank a 1907 piper heidseck monopole "shipwreck" over 18 hours after being opened and it lost all of its carbonation of couse but was like drinking an ancient white burgundy with incredible finesse. The nose in the beginning was like carmelized popcorn (ask Joseph Spellman, he was there) and the next day, it turned into a hugely complex bourgogne blancish character with tons of oilyness, dark rum, a little chocolatey and the color went from light to lemon to almost fried potato chip like. The cave owner in Savigny Les Beaune is good friends with RPjr. , is fully aware of even which rows of grapes will yeild a highly concentrated nose after 10 years of aging with extended decanting. He also takes pride in decanting old Madieras from the early 1800's and late 1700's for 48 hours or more. I have also opened a 1957 Bienvenues-Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru from Leroy, it was opened in '99 and it began to die 4 hours out of the bottle. Pretty impressive for a wine that has relied mostly on acidity to survive.

Restaurant professionals turn to drugs primarily because they lead stressful lives. Chef Dempsey is a perfect example of that. I have done numerous events with Gordon and can tell you first hand, he is one of the most ruthless idividuals I have ever met is this profession. Im not saying he isnt talented, he also has tons of drive. I dont like posting anything negative about chefs, but one must ask the question.......what were Dempsey's his working conditions like? Deplorable at best. There is a reason why Gordon's entire staff has walked out on him once already. It seems that problem still has not been resolved.

Having grown up in Portland, Or, I always loved taking trips out to wine country and frequent trips to Domaine Drouhin. Its nice to know the man who is mostly responsible for bringing the wine boom to Oregon is now in control again. There is nothing worse than watching an artist unable to create because of lack of finances.

NY is kinda funny, a restaurant really doesnt need to advertise aor assemble a huge PR team to get the word out. This is because of the high concentration of loyal 2 to 4 night a week diners. Chicago works in a similar manner. In fact its almost riskier to do huge PR blitz before opening because the restaurant almost always never lives up to initial expectations and in NY and Chitown diners are very unforgiving.

"And believe it or not, I would not turn my nose up at working for a chain; the food may be horrible, but business-wise most of them ARE doing it right. Cooking, one can learn on the job; but for the technical tools of good management, I think school is absolutely necessary." - suzanne F This point of view may come off as a bit religious. However it must be made. My advice, never sellout, never put anything on a plate that you are conciously aware can be made better. Life spent in mediocrity is no life at all. Do it your way, make it the best you can. Work hard and do what you love, the money will come later if you think you have what it takes. My old boss always use to say "at this level, you have to be crazy, you have to risk it all on every plate, you must believe your next chance could be your last, and most of all you have to belong to a cult of excellence that will respect you as their leader." CHT

Nage

Ok, I want to know which chef would put this on his menu. Anyone have any ideas?

It boils down to two simple elements............ drive and desire You either have it or you dont. It cant be taught be even by the greatest of chefs.

Making rice is for the farmer and not the chef:)

Chicken stock using roasted chicken feet cooked on low heat in a pressure cooker for 4 to 6 hours. Thats my current method, works well.