Mise. En. Place.

Today’s inspiration from a busy lifestyle:  Mise en place.  In French it means “put in place.”  In the professional kitchen it refers to all the product a cook needs to wash, cut, chop, portion or cook ahead of time to be able to prepare your meal in a half hour or less.  At home itContinue reading “Mise. En. Place.”

Staying in for Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is both one of the best and worst days of the year for restaurants.  It’s a great day for business, but is probably one of the most difficult days of the year.  The dining room and the kitchen gets deuced to death.  A 100 seat dining room filled with parties of two isContinue reading “Staying in for Valentine’s Day”

Beyond Kitchen Doors: To Complain or Not?

The clams were sandy.  The more I ate the more grit I chomped.  The spaghetti was a little salty, but edible.  Wait.  Nope.  The more I ate, the saltier it got and the thirstier I got.  Spaghetti with clams seems simple, but clams are very sandy and very briny. So they need to be scrubbedContinue reading “Beyond Kitchen Doors: To Complain or Not?”