"Research methods" in your study of Daniel

[yvonne johnson]

I was wondering, Leslie, (and sorry if this is already covered in your book) how you went about preparing for your behind the scenes stay at Daniel--not so much getting the approval, but the nuts and bolts in collecting the information you needed for your book. I imagine it was a bit like a research project.

How did you collect and formulate your observations? Note-taking on the spot or later, tape-recording? Video?

Did you plan in detail how you were going to observe? Did you hope to remain a fly on the wall, or did you partcipate in things as you observed?

Did you formally interview staff, or just glean information as it happened.

Lastly, what was the most awkward moment in your role as an observer that you didn't antcipate?

[Leslie Brenner]

I love this question, Yvonne--thanks. It was very much like a huge research project. I gleaned the largest volume of information by standing around, "fly on the wall"-style, and taking notes in shorthand in notebooks. I couldn't use a tape recorder, because usually there were many people talking (or shouting) at once, and there would be no way to distinguish who they were or what they were doing. Shorthand allowed me to get down the dialogue exactly as it was spoken, which was very important to me, but also to jot notes about the food they were preparing, who was speaking, where they were in the kitchen, etc. It was a bit hard to plan out because I had to guess whether the most interesting stuff would be happening in the main kitchen, the prep kitchen, the dining room, reservations room, etc. Often I'd start in the prep kitchen and then move up to the service (main) kitchen as the cooks and chefs went up there before service. Usually I didn't act as a participant, although a number of times I did--pitting 50 pounds of cherries, prepping mushrooms, etc. in order to casually chat with a chef or listen in on kitchen chatter. Usually it was Brad Thompson who wanted to put me to work.

I also sat down and formally interviewed many staff members. For more description of this, please see Andy Lynes's "Interviews" question.

As for the most awkward moment, I can think of two. The first was when I was observing at the podium, where the host or hostess greet the guests. I've never worked in the front of the house at a restaurant, and when the hostess had stepped away to seat someone, a couple came to the podium. For a horrible moment I thought I'd actually have to help them! Sounds silly, but it's very much like being on stage, and I was much more comfortable blending into the woodwork. In fact I was always more comfortable in the kitchen than in the front of the house. I said "Good evening" in my most soothing voice, petrified, and then the hostess came back just in the nick of time and took over.

The other was during a gala dinner celebrating Boulud's twenty years in America. I was helping plate dishes, assembly-line style (which they have to do for banquets), doing easy stuff like placing herb garnishes on the plates, unstacking bowls, etc., when suddenly sous-chef Frederic Cote shoved a squeeze bottle in my hand, and asked me to squeeze an arc of sauce on each plate. Sounds simple, but I didn't have the touch, and Fred showed me four or five times how he wanted it, and each time I'd either squeeze out too big a blob, make too long a line, or some other disastrous thing. He took back the bottle and said, "Never mind."