It’s no secret that food culture is now practically synonymous with entertainment, as cooking channels with their celebrity chefs are becoming a part of pop culture. People love the drama and energy of a kitchen and the personalities working within them. Entertainment aside, though, working in the restaurant industry requires passion, focus, creativity, and stamina. So what does it take to become an award-winning chef, someone who innovates, who has an advanced palate, and nothing to compare his food to, since he’s making it up as he goes?
Scott Haas spent eighteen months in the kitchen at Boston’s Craigie on Main with James Beard Award-winning chef Tony Maws to figure out what makes a chef and kitchen work in BACK OF THE HOUSE: The Secret Life of a Restaurant (Berkley Trade Paperback – $16).
By shadowing the restaurant’s head, sous chefs, cooks, and other kitchen staff as well as helping out in the different stations, Haas was able to observe the tight-knit camaraderie and complicated relationships that emerge in a restaurant kitchen’s close quarters. Delving deep into the drama and psychology of food service, BACK OF THE HOUSE exposes the inner life of a chef along with others in the kitchen.
Haas explores the psychology of being “in the weeds,” the period of time in the kitchen when everything has fallen behind schedule which often creates a domino effect on the rest of the staff. He gives us insight into the turnaround that is rampant in any restaurant. Kitchens are filled with young people who can handle the brutal hours and who are often looking to establish relationships as well as trying to find themselves. For some, the kitchen is the place where discipline meets learning. Haas writes of the strange liberation of the kitchen: “If you don’t know who you are or what you can do, there are few better places to find out than in a restaurant kitchen which is almost akin to the military. You wear a uniform, you follow orders, and how you feel doesn’t matter to the person in charge. Being in the weeds while in the restaurant is nothing compared to being in the weeds in real life.”
Haas also visits New York with Mr. Maws to meet with renowned chefs Daniel Humm, Dave Pasternak, Daniel Boulud, Andrew Carmellini, Thomas Keller, and restaurateur Drew Nieporent, all veterans in the industry, whose insight and management style throughout the years have placed them at the top of the industry.
Maws is a non-traditional chef who focuses on using local, seasonal, and sustainable ingredients. He has a unique ability to meld distinctive flavors with innovative culinary techniques, which has made his restaurant popular. By the end of his year at Craigie, Haas’ concluded that his desire to shadow Tony was because he considered Maws to be a contender – a chef eventually headed for the top.
Ultimately, BACK OF THE HOUSE explores what it takes to make great food, what it takes to be successful at an award-winning restaurant and what it takes to stay sane in a world full of constant pressure.
About the Author:
Scott Haas, the recipient of a James Beard Award for radio work in 2005, is a clinical psychologist, food writer and regular contributor to TravelSquire.com. He is also the chief psychologist at a private psychiatric hospital in Brookline, Massachusetts.