Practical finals are here, with students bent over their tables frantically working away on knife cuts, sauce work, and plate designs. This is when culinary school gets “real” for most of the kids, their first taste of trial under fire when they must make decisions that affect their grades.
And believe me, grades are important to some because they determine ranking, scholarships and a point of pride. They also, unfortunately, stymie creativity as some will play it safe this week and cook within their comfort zone. It’s not always the case, but there have been some high-flying students taken down a notch because they chose not to stretch too far and settled for safe. It’s a trait that most great chefs don’t possess. Sometimes it gets them into worlds of trouble, especially with no filter. But properly managed, and tempered by a voice or two of reason, you want the creative head of your kitchen to take some chances, make an educated guess or two, do a little more thinking on a trend, or a trend in the making so that your food and your restaurant stays a step ahead.
It’s difficult to teach risk-taking, even harder to accept it, as most of us are risk-averse. We want stability, normalcy, even complacency if it isn’t too much of a hassle.
Our risk-taking is on our off time, in our free time when the stakes aren’t as high, and failure doesn’t lose us money or a job.
Part of the allure of owning your own business is the idea that you can do what you want, boldly strike out against the norm and carve your own path. It usually ends up being a side road or two for a lot of us as we need a rest stop close by when things get too much. So much about taking the chance is the unknown that is ever present, the sense that things could go drastically wrong if not handled expertly. The fallacy in that notion is the thought that you can become an expert in something immediately, without effort, and perseverance.
We teach cooking here, but we also expand horizons so that the emphasis is on continued learning not short-term goals. While you are required to learn thing step by step, you’re also taught the value of continuing ed. and research techniques, they are the road maps of risk-taking that move you out of the center and onto the fringes.
So the methods of risk-taking are taught, and the value, even in culinary school is apparent in the way we grade, but the question still remains; why don’t we do more of it? The answer lies professionally in supply and demand.
While some chefs are noted for their avant-garde experiences, and we travel miles out of our way to sample their magic, you still have to feed people on a regular basis to make money. In most of those cases, the risk is involved in actually opening and operating the business. It takes years sometimes to find the pulse of your customer base, and I suppose there is risk-taking in that as well. You never truly relax, but there is a point where you might actually exhale, stand up straight, and assess where you want to go in addition to where you must go to survive.
The value of research at that point is priceless as you have to be able to seamlessly mesh consumer and artist alike into a successful business plan. For me its farm to table, local food with solid technique to produce it. For others, it may be molecular gastronomy, a ramen place, or a wood-fired grill. The chefs who run places like that have done their homework to extract the most pleasure and excitement from their work, while still keeping the financial ball rolling along.
Personally, my risk-taking occurs on multiple levels and requires that I pay attention to the trends, both on the local and national level, stay current with techniques for restaurant and culinary school alike, and yet still keep my focus on using local ingredients which carry with them expense and irregular supply issues.
I find satisfaction in sourcing local, tasting the first asparagus, using tomatoes grown in the spring and deciding how best they should be served. These are lessons in controlled risks, after almost 30 years in Kentucky, I’m not surprised by much (such is the value of experience and continued research). But times do change and consumers forget quickly what they liked in last year’s cycle.
My reliance on technique is a great buffer here, and one that every chef or cook should develop fully. Learning the newest methods and serving the food that sells now is more effectively done from a wide base, and within that concept is found the thrill of the career. To be able to attack a challenge from a secure base of research, repetition, and experience, and to be successful in the classroom and business alike is where the juice that keeps me coming back is found. It makes all those hours bent over a work table more than worth the effort.
John Foster is an executive chef who heads the culinary program at Sullivan University’s Lexington campus. A New York native, Foster has been active in the Lexington culinary scene and a promoter of local and seasonal foods for more than 20 years. The French Culinary Institute-trained chef has been the executive chef of his former restaurant, Harvest, and now his Chevy Chase eatery, The Sage Rabbit.
To read more from Chef John Foster, including his recipes, click here.
