"BACK OF THE HOUSE" project

[harlanturk]

It's mid-summer, I believe the first in the last six years out of the kitchen, and I miss the heat. Yes, I miss sweating behind a burner. It’s better than any diet or exercise. Why? An old professor, having a show at the MOMA, yes, the MOMA, contacted me for catering services (of which I did often when living in Boston). Yes he was my photo teacher, but he asked me to cook. It's happening again, food over photo, so I remind myself of the niche I've hit. I've amalgamated the two and am happy doing so. Now it's time to radiate such warmth, not unlike the comforting heat of the kitchen, and so I'd like to begin the "BACK OF THE HOUSE" project, www.harlanturk.com, on EGullet, if you'll have me? Photographs and writings on food and restaurants, a kind of "Keorauc in the Kitchen" as donned. Hungry?

...

Michael Harlan Turkell began his award winning "Back of the House" project four years ago as a way of photographically assimilating into lives within the culinary community. Working in kitchens for seven years while also pursuing his BFA in photography, (under the tutelage of Guggenheim Fellowship photographer Frank Gohlke), Michael was moved to show an unseen version of the restaurant world.

Camera in hand, Michael has followed some of the top chefs in the United States, like Barbara Lynch of No. 9 Park, Ken Oringer of Clio, Lydia Shire of Locke-Ober, and Laurent Torondel of BLT Fish in their renowned kitchens. He has been published in numerous magazines including Crave New York, The James Beard Foundation Magazine, and Slammed Magazine, as well as archived on various websites, such as SauteWednesday.com and TheStrongBuzz.com. In 2004, Michael was a Photo District News Photo Annual Winner, and had a solo exhibition of his work at the James Beard House in New York City. He presently resides in New York, further exploring the "Back of the House" while working to publish a book of his photographs and food writings, and is a co-founding collaborator of HungryDesign.net, a design website for food professionals by food professionals.

His collection of black-and-white photographs are a study of restaurants’ often-unrecognized subculture. They present the pressure of consistency, promptness and precision, while portraying the passion required to delight patrons, without the always receiving personal accolades for one’s work. These photos reveal internal issues among staff members, confines of hierarchy, and the candor found in their camaraderie throughout the chaos. There is more presented on a plate than just food.

Edited July 8, 2005 by harlanturk (log)

[butter]

It's mid-summer, I believe the first in the last six years out of the kitchen, and I miss the heat. Yes, I miss sweating behind a burner. It’s better than any diet or exercise.

←

Thank you for sharing your photos with us. Loved them. I'm a new cook and am sitting here typing this 10 lbs. lighter with a painful burn on my arm from last night's shift. I often wonder if I would miss the heat too if I quit.

[harlanturk]

Here's last weeks menu (for 50 people, done out of my apartment),

that brought me back:

PIZZA: (white and whole wheat crust)

yellow tomato, picholine olive, ricotta salada, fresh basil

crimini mushroom, herbed goat cheese, rosemary jus

sage sausage, sweet pepper

prosciutto, black mission fig, wilted beet green

MEAT / FISH: (on potato bun)

lamb burger, herbed goat cheese

scallop cerviche mousse, applewood smoked bacon

SALAD / STARCH:

mirepox orecchiette pasta salad (carrot, celery, red onion, sprouts, bitter orange vinaigrette)

baked polenta, heirloom tomato bruschetta puree

truffle cheese risotto cake

scape roasted potato

VEGETABLE:

red and yellow beet, toasted hazelnut, grapefruit

baked zucchini and squash

corn on the cob, cayenne butter, grated parmesan, lime juice

FRUIT:

melons, grapes

DESSERT:

chipped chocolate molasses cookie

pluot and minted mascarpone puff pastry

vin santo stewed cherry tart, toasted almond crust

orange capri tart

anise chocolate tart

[harlanturk]

There's something to be said on the fever of summer cooking (outside of BBQing). New York's added humidity gives little relief to shift breaks and the first moments in the night air after breakdown.

I had photographed at CRU in New York a couple of weeks ago, and even with top of the line ventilation, the kitchen stayed sweltering. I had to retreat the pastry station near the walk-ins, and constantly re-hydrate like I was back on the line. The contrast of a cuisine’s temperature to climate is conversely proportionate, even though most restaurants are regulated by air conditioning. An influx of spicy foods soothes a summer soul rather than the winter’s hearth of hot soup. Ovens are set “slow and low,” and contemporary equipment like immersion circulators, hold-o-mats, and cold plates, have propagated many restaurants, not only by the advancement of scientific gastronomy, but to sate the seasonal palate through a reflect of technique.

If you can’t stand the heat, eat out(side) of the kitchen.

[tan319]

I really like your work, Harlan, excellent.

Will you be publishing (?) the CRU pix soon?

Good Luck on the BIG book!

[akwa]

would be interested to participate in your project

or just support

wg

pm?

[docsconz]

Very interesting work. I look forward to seeing more of it and reading more about it here on eGullet. Welcome to the site, albeit belatedly.

[Pan]

I really enjoy your photos, too, both in terms of the interesting viewpoints and compositions and in terms of how they represent the human relationships you discuss on your site.

Would you like to talk more about whose photography you enjoy looking at and have been influenced by?

[BigboyDan]

Re: photo #26

I got caught once hanging ducks like that by the health department. After the screaming and the two-hundred dollar fine... well, I still used them.

[docsconz]

I really enjoy your photos, too, both in terms of the interesting viewpoints and compositions and in terms of how they represent the human relationships you discuss on your site.

Would you like to talk more about whose photography you enjoy looking at and have been influenced by?

←

I don't know if this is the case, but your work reminded me a little bit of that of Diane Arbus - in the way that you capture the underside of your subject. Obviously, the subjects themselves are somewhat different.

[tan319]

Re: photo #26

I got caught once hanging ducks like that by the health department. After the screaming and the two-hundred dollar fine... well,  I still used them.

←

Is that a variation on a Peking Duck type of thing?

Or just to dry them out to crisp better?

Damned cool idea in any event.

The sepia tone-ish effect does give the photos a slight Arbus effect, eh?

Also reminds me of those boss photos of Chet Baker, some pretty famous shots of him, no?

Great stuff!

[harlanturk]

I am inspired by photographers like:

Garry Winogrand (for his undying devotion)

Martin Parr (for his kitschy vision)

James Natchwey (for his ability to culturally assimilate)

and Josef Koudelka (for his nomadic ways).

There are many more, but I think that's an attributed short list.

The ducks are from Excelsior in Boston, when Lydia Shire was running the kitchen. Yes, hung and dried for a crispy skin when roasted.

Here is a recent photo from CRU (New York), of their stock labels.

Last night I attended the James Beard House for a dinner with Patrick Feury of Nectar (Berwyn, PA). Highly recommended. NECTAR

[harlanturk]

one of Feury's many impressive dishes.

chilled thinly sliced squab, roasted foie gras, panade grape and branch creek farms red mustard greens with cross creek farms fall honey and white grape caramel glaze.

[harlanturk]

did i mention the foie?

[docsconz]

Keep 'em coming!

[harlanturk]

if anyone is interested in assisting

the "BACK OF THE HOUSE" project,

feel free to contact me via my website.

HARLANTURK.COM

i am looking to organize a floating show

that will premier new and old images alike

in the "front of the house" of restaurants,

in aims of publishing the work as a whole.

i am also selling prints to fund such photographic (ad)venture.

[harlanturk]

from a "behind the scenes" shoot for the opening of Laurent Tourondel's BLT FISH in New York, for CRAVE New York Magazine.

BLT FISH

CRAVE NY

[harlanturk]

thank you to whomever posted the project on CURBED.COM.

"press" it like a panini.

in other words, post the "BACK OF THE HOUSE" around internet,

for all foodies to feed on.

[harlanturk]

BLUE HILL @ STONE BARNS

I must say I do enjoy brunch, possibly the best pseudo-combo-meal since, well, I don't know if there is anything quite like brunch. What a way to revel in the weekend (the greatest part of the week, of which I've only found out since leaving the restaurant schedule and becoming a freelance photographer).

There is sausage and eggs at a diner, but then there are farm fresh eggs and house-made sausage at Blue Hill and Stone Barns. Having met Michael Anthony (the executive chef at Stone Barns) at "The Gathering of the Chefs" at Time Warner, a cookbook signing for Alan "Battman" Batt, may have been more than providence. Stone Barns is a prosperous event in it of itself, but then to have what I might, nay, "will" call the best total culinary experience of my life, has canonized a restaurant that can be sustainable and absolute in it's endeavors. Michael met us outside prior to our reservation, emanating not just congenial warmth, but carried the sincerity of true food. My mother later commented that he also “smelled great,” of all the fresh herbs and pleasantries of the kitchen. After the meal, he invited us into kitchen (during service), of where I met Dan Barber, proudly displaying a bowl of fresh picked greens. Either of us knew each other, but his joy of cooking was counterpart to his cordiality as well.

Rather than go into detail of the meal (which included a bread basket of which surpassed many primary bakeries, a garden fresh green gazpacho with yogurt sorbet that tasted like waking up to the cool morning sun, and an attention to detail and decorum in service that made us feel like our last name was Rockefeller, or Martha Stewart, who was actually eating outside on the patio).

Please, make it an effort to go. Not just to eat, but to see the earth of which is toiled. It’s obvious care and presentation gives eat plate a sense of time. You can walk around the grounds for a humbling sense of place, experiencing again the unmitigated raw ingredients.

I hope to spend a week there photographing and in some way project their efforts in most honest and earnest imagery.

Edited July 11, 2005 by harlanturk (log)

[harlanturk]

it's hot out.

frozen custard sounds about right.

SHAKE SHACK

from another "behind the scenes" article i shot for craveny.com.

[harlanturk]

what restaurants would you like to see next?

and does anyone have connections to such requests?

[kellytree]

ummmmmmmmm - would you happen to have any photos where the range hood vent situation is central??

We are doing a new catalog and going nuts trying to find photos where something is happening in the kitchen but you can see the hood ....... the only thing is that I have something like a day and a half to come up with pics.

(the company I work for sells the filters that go inside the range hood)

[harlanturk]

i've been picked up.

World Picture News (WpN)

[harlanturk]

UPDATED WEBSITE:

WWW.HARLANTURK.COM

extended portfolio.

all prints for sale.

hot diggity dog.

Edited October 3, 2005 by harlanturk (log)

[shelora]

Harlan,

I've had a wonderful time perusing your website of photos. The duck photo with the rigged up fan, etc and the cooks outside resting in front of the BFI dumpster is classic.

I am curious how you managed to stay out of the way during photographing a busy night in the kitchen. Were you subject to a few glares or swear words?

In terms of the resulting photos, did your subjects especially chefs or restaurant owners request that they have a say in what would get published or printed about their establishments?