Nach Waxman - The Chef Says: Quotes, Quips, and Words of Wisdom

Also available in the

Words of Wisdom series:

The Architect Says

Laura S. Dushkes

The Designer Says

Sara Bader

The Filmmaker Says

Jamie Thompson Stern

W hatever the chef says, the rightthe onlyanswer is, Yes, chef!

Veterans of professional kitchens know just how important it is to execute instructions quickly, exactly, and without question. Cooks who forget this find new jobs. Often.

In the midst of service in a busy restaurant, theres no room for a But! a Why? or a How about. The chef speaks, and the cooks act.

Great chefs are not self-effacing, timid, or indecisive. They run a kitchen full of cooks because they have vision and ideasand the will to direct others in making them concrete. While smart chefs encourage creative input from their brigade, theres no room for discussion at times when the slightest disruption can send an entire restaurant into the weeds.

So it follows that even in quieter moments, what chefs have to say is often crisply opinionated and very illuminatingeven if its not always kind.

Running a bookstore devoted to food and drink means that we deal with chefs and pro cooks all the time. On a daily basis we see just how interested they are in what their colleagues are doing and have done. A rising star on the Lower East Side doesnt necessarily want to make Joel Robuchons signature potato puree, but encountering another chefs ideas fires the burners of her imagination. She may decide that Robuchon is completely off base and take off running in a completely different direction, but his ideas provide her with a spark.

It is our hope that this volume in Princeton Architectural Presss Words of Wisdom series might serve a similar purpose. We want it to be a spur to the creative thinking processes of cooks and chefs. And with that in mind we offer a few extrasan amuse-bouche, as it wereto demonstrate the way it works. You may not agree with Thomas Kellers sunny assertion that If I'm happy, then a great percentage of the customers will be happy, too. You may scorn Jeremiah Tower when he says, Chefs have a reputation for bad behavior, in part because they have to play so hard to counteract the daily pileup of tension and fatigue.

But you might just nod your head at this from legendary New Orleans chef Leah Chase: You have to be yourself when you are creating and cooking. You do what you need to do and you do it to the best of your ability. At least, its a place to start thinking.

Nach Waxman and Matt Sartwell

All I ever wanted was a restaurant.

Cindy Pawlcyn (1955 )

I was lucky to have grown up in a poor family. If I had been rich, I might have become a lawyer. But I was poor, and God made me to be a chef. I smell like a chef, I feel like a chef, I look like a chef. I am chef. I could have been a millionaire. What a disaster.

Michel Richard (1948 )

WORKING IN THE KITCHEN IS MY SOUL AND MY LIFE , AND I LOVE IT. IM NOT THERE BECAUSE PEOPLE EXPECT TO SEE ME; I AM THERE BECAUSE I WANT TO BE.

Heinz Beck (1963 )

There are many people who claim to be good cooks , just as there are many people who, after having repainted the garden gate, take themselves to be painters.

Fernand Point (18971955)

The difference between being a good cook and a good chef is as big as the difference between playing online Texas Hold Em in your pajamas and holding a chair at the World Series of Poker.

Gabrielle Hamilton (1965 )

We dont remember the exact age when I told my mother I wanted to be a cook, but she still keeps a cooking coat she made for me when I was only nine.

Joan Roca (1964 )

MY FATHER CRIED WHEN I SAID I WANTED TO BE A CHEF.

Michael Symon (1969 )

IM NOT SELF-TAUGHT. I WAS TAUGHT BY A NUMBER OF GREAT CHEFS THROUGHOUT THE YEARS WHO TOOK TIME WITH A SMART-ASS KID.

Hugh Acheson (1971 )

I am self-taught , and proud of being so. What I may lack from not having had a master to guide me, I have gained in enjoying the freedom to indulge my curiosity.

Raymond Blanc (1949 )

The person who makes the foodhis physique, his food, his soulis unique. It is like fingerprints or handwriting.

Musa Dadeviren (1960 )

THE FOOD ON THE PLATE ESTABLISHES A DIALOGUE WITH ME. ALMOST IMMEDIATELY I KNOW THE COOKS AGE, HIS LEVEL OF CULINARY TRAINING, HIS EXPOSURE TO CURRENT REFERENCE POINTS, THE LEVEL OF PALATE DEVELOPMENT, SINCERITY, SENSE OF HUMOR, AND SIZE OF EGO.

Patrick OConnell (1945 )

If there is a career which has a lifelong apprenticeship , it is certainly ours.

Georges Blanc (1953 )

You need an entire life just to know about tomatoes.

Ferran Adri (1962 )

THE ART OF COOKING IS PERHAPS ONE OF THE MOST USEFUL FORMS OF DIPLOMACY.

Auguste Escoffier (18461935)

I BAKED BREAD FOR THE FIRST TIME TO IMPRESS A GIRL.

Jim Lahey (1966 )

MY MOTHER LIKED TO BAKE. I DONT. I DONT DO IT WELL, BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO BE RIGHT ON TARGET. I THINK THAT IS WHERE BAKING AND I FALL APART.

Leah Chase (1923 )

My whole approach is to look in cupboards and throw a bunch of stuff together. It cant really be bad if its coated in chocolate and butter. Just enjoy yourself.

Christina Tosi (1982 )

There are at least as many different renditions of the authentic as there are cooks to provide them.

Paul Bertolli (1953 )

I DONT DO IT LIKE MAMMA DID IT , BECAUSE MAMMAJUST BECAUSE SHE DID ITDIDNT NECESSARILY DO IT RIGHT.

Michael White (1972 )

TODAYS INNOVATION IS TOMORROWS TRADITION.

Lidia Bastianich (1947 )

Im sometimes portrayed as taking a stick to gastronomic tradition, but I believe that what Im really doing is taking up a baton and running with it.

Heston Blumenthal (1966 )

THE KITCHEN IS AN AWESOME PLAYGROUND. ITS A PLACE FOR YOU TO EXPERIMENT, TO LOVE, TO TAKE THOSE RISKS, TO PUSH THE BUTTON, TO PUSH THE ENVELOPE. WHATS GONNA HAPPEN? IF IT SUCKS, YOURE GONNA EAT IT , YOURE STILL GONNA EAT IT.

Barbara Lynch (1964 )

You must think like a child with the eyes of a chef, open and naive. Never say something doesnt work or is impossible to do.

Juan Mari Arzak (1942 )

WHEN I LOOK AT A DISH, I THINK, WHAT CAN BE REMOVED WITHOUT COMPROMISING THE DISH OR SACRIFICING FLAVOR? ONLY WHEN ITS PARED DOWN TO ITS ESSENCE IS IT FINISHED.

David Kinch (1974 )

A salad with too many walnuts or a sauce with too many capers is like a Sunday with too many free hours you stop appreciating the pleasure they provide. I think about that when I cook. Put just enough sweet cubes of carrots in a soup, and you wont have to search too hard to find one, but when you do, itll still give you a little thrill.

April Bloomfield (1974 )

I dont believe in putting a nuance of ginger in a dish such that you can barely taste it. If you say there is ginger in the sauce, you should really be able to taste it.

Ming Tsai (1964 )

WE TRY TO SMASH YOUR FACE IN WITH FLAVOR. ITS AS SIMPLE AS THAT.

Sat Bains (1971 )

One of the main points about the enjoyment of food and wine seems to me to lie in having what you want when you want it and in the particular combination you fancy.

Elizabeth David (191392)

I cook the food that I want to eat, and it just so happens that other people want to eat it too.

Nancy Silverton (1954 )

When I visualize a dessert on the plate, its an inside-out experience. I envision taking a bite of the desserthow does it taste? How does it feel in the mouth? The plating comes last , after I have figured out the flavor elements.