Focus: How Mise-en-Place Works       

The sequence from American Bounty at the Culinary Institute of America was culled from class observations made on January 23, 2015. General information on the CIA came from dozens of interviews with administration, faculty, and students over the course of several visits to the CIA in 2014 and 2015, as well as text and video releases from the school. Facts on Japanese culinary practices came primarily from interviews with chefs Shuichi Kotani, Yukihiro Sato, and Masa Takayama. Large-scale mise-en-place observations came from visits to TAO New York and the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2014 and 2015. The sequence at restaurant Esca came from observations made on March 20, 2014.

Additional interview:

Trubeck, Amy. Telephone interview by author. January 16, 2016.

Additional resources:

Dogen, Thomas Wright, and Kosho Uchiyama. Refining Your Life: From the Zen Kitchen to Enlightenment. New York: Weatherhill, 1983.

Escoffier, A., and Julia Child. Auguste Escoffier: Memories of My Life. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1997.

Ruhlman, Michael. The Soul of a Chef: The Journey toward Perfection. New York: Viking, 2000.

Trubek, Amy B. Haute Cuisine: How the French Invented the Culinary Profession. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000.

Warner, Jisho Cary. Nothing Is Hidden: Essays on Zen Master Dogen’s Instructions for the Cook. New York: Weatherhill, 2001.

 

Chaos: How We Work without Mise-en-Place

The character “Jeremy” is an amalgam of anecdotes and personal experiences taken from interviews with nonculinary executives and managers in the spring and summer of 2015. A phone interview with author Michael Ruhlman about his journey through and after the CIA was supplemented by information from his books listed below.

Additional interviews:

Keller, Thomas. Telephone interview by author. August 28, 2015.

Samuel, Scott. Telephone interview by author. January 9, 2015.

Additional resources:

Allen, David. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. New York: Viking, 2001.

Covey, Stephen R., A. Roger Merrill, and Rebecca R. Merrill. First Things First: To Live, to Love, to Learn, to Leave a Legacy. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994.

Covey, Stephen R. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989.

Eisenhower, Dwight D. Address at the Second Assembly of the World Council of Churches, Evanston, Illinois. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=9991.

“Overview & Status of the U.S. Self-Improvement Market: Market Size, Segments, Emerging Trends & Forecasts.” Marketdata Enterprises. November 2013. http://www.slideshare.net/jonlar/the-us-self-improvement-market.

Ruhlman, Michael. The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute of America. New York: H. Holt, 1997.

———. The Soul of a Chef: The Journey toward Perfection. New York: Viking, 2000.

“What People Are Still Willing to Pay For.” Forbes. January 15, 2009. http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/15/self-help-industry-ent-sales-cx_ml_0115selfhelp.html.

 

Planning Is Prime  

In-person and phone interviews with Chef Dwayne LiPuma over the course of 2014–2015 yielded the chef’s story for this chapter. Visits to CIA classrooms and kitchens and interviews with chef-instructors and students in culinary fundamentals classes in 2014–2015 provided information about student timelines.

Additional interviews:

Cerrone, Dominick. Interview by author. March 14, 2014.

Dufresne, Wylie. Interview by author. April 2, 2014.

Lopez, Arbil. Interview by author. October 7, 2014.

Portale, Alfred. Interview by author. July 7, 2015.

Additional resource:

Bregman, Peter. 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done. New York: Business Plus, 2011.

 

Arranging Spaces, Perfecting Movements

In-person and phone interviews with Chef Jarobi White over the course of 2015 yielded the chef’s story for this chapter, supplemented by interviews with Chef Josh Eden. The section on kitchen design came from a phone interview with Jimi Yui on July 31, 2015.

Additional interviews:

Dufresne, Wylie. Interview by author. April 2, 2014.

Gibney, Michael. Interview by author. August 6, 2015.

LeDoux, Joseph. Telephone interview by author. August 13, 2015.

LiPuma, Dwayne. Interview by author. March 14, 2014.

Lopez, Arbil. Interview by author. December 10, 2014.

Moulton, Sara. Interview by author. December 29, 2013.

Portale, Alfred. Interview by author. July 7, 2015.

Sonnenschmidt, Fritz. Telephone interview by author. December 11, 2014.  

Additional resources:

Gawande, Atul. The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2010.

Gibney, Michael. Sous Chef: 24 Hours on the Line. New York: Ballantine Books, 2014.

 

Cleaning As You Go

In-person and phone interviews with Chef Samantha Henderson over the course of 2014–2015 yielded the chef’s story for this chapter, supplemented by interviews with chefs Wylie Dufresne and Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

Additional interviews:

LiPuma, Dwayne. Interview by author. March 14, 2014.

Kotani, Shuichi.  Interview by author. August 2, 2015.

Additional resources:

Ruhlman, Michael. The Soul of a Chef: The Journey toward Perfection. New York: Viking, 2000.

Stein, Joel. “The Joy of Cooking.” Time. June 18, 2000.  http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,47706,00.html.

“The History of Knolling—The LongLyst.” The LongLyst. 2015. http://www.lyst.com/longlyst/art-knolling/.

Druckman, Charlotte. “WD-50’s Final Days on Clinton Street.” T Magazine (blog). October 30, 2014. http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/30/wd-50-wylie-dufresne.

“The Last Days of WD-50.” Time. June 23, 2015. http://time.com/wd-50/.

Gordinier, Jeff. “Wylie Dufresne Says He Is Forced to Close WD-50.” New York Times. June 10, 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/11/dining/chef-says-hell-close-wd-50.html.

 

Making First Moves

In-person and phone interviews with Chef Josh Eden in 2015 yielded the chef’s story for this chapter, supplemented by interviews with chefs Jarobi White and Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

 

Finishing Actions   

In-person and phone interviews with Chef Charlene Johnson-Hadley over the course of 2014–2015 yielded the chef’s story for this chapter, supplemented by interviews with Chef Marcus Samuelsson.

Additional interviews:

Eden, Josh. Interview by author. March 26, 2015.

Gibney, Michael. Interview by author. August 6, 2015.

White, Jarobi. Interview by author. January 24, 2015.

Additional resources:

Kenji Lopez-Alt, J. “American Table Cafe and Bar: Marcus Samuelsson Comes to Lincoln Center.” Serious Eats (blog). November 2012. http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2012/11/marcus-samuelsson-american-table-cafe-bar-lincoln-center-restaurant-review.html.

Hemingway, Ernest. “Monologue to the Maestro: A High Seas Letter,” Esquire (October 1935): 213–20.

“Live from New York, It’s Lorne Michaels.” NPR. October 2, 2015.  http://www.npr.org/2015/10/02/444996383/live-from-new-york-its-lorne-michaels.

 

Slowing Down to Speed Up

In-person and phone interviews with Chef Angelo Sosa in the summer of 2015 yielded the chef’s story for this chapter, supplemented by interviews with chefs Josh Eden and Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

Additional interviews:

McCue, David. Telephone interview by author. November 10, 2015.

Gray, Melissa. Telephone interview by author. December 5, 2014.

Henderson, Samantha. Telephone interview by author. March 1, 2015.

LeDoux, Joseph. Telephone interview by author. August 13, 2015.

Peretz, Jeff. Interview by author. August 4, 2015.

Speckamp, Rudy. Interview by author. March 14, 2014.

Additional resource:

Gawande, Atul. The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2010.

 

Open Eyes and Ears          

In-person and phone interviews with Chef Elizabeth Briggs over the course of 2014–2015 yielded the chef’s story for this chapter, along with in-class observations on October 7, 2014.

Additional interviews:

LeDoux, Joseph. Telephone interview by author. August 13, 2015.

O’Connor, Kelly. Interview by author. November 7, 2014.

Additional resources:

Charron, Sylvain, and Etienne Koechlin. “Divided Representation of Concurrent Goals in the Human Frontal Lobes.” Science 328, no. 5976 (April 16, 2010): 360–63.

Davidson, Cathy N. Now You See It: How Technology and Brain Science Will Transform Schools and Business for the 21st Century. New York: Penguin, 2012.

Feinzeig, Rachel. “Study: Open Offices Are Making Us All Sick.” Wall Street Journal. February 25, 2014. http://blogs.wsj.com/atwork/2014/02/25/study-open-offices-are-making-us-all-sick/.

Hamilton, Katherine. “Motivated Multitasking: How the Brain Keeps Tabs on Two Tasks at Once.” Scientific American. April 15, 2010. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/multitasking-two-tasks/.

Kim, Jungsoo, and Richard De Dear. “Workspace Satisfaction: The Privacy-Communication Trade-off in Open-Plan Offices.” Journal of Environmental Psychology 36 (December 2013): 18–26.

Konnikova, Maria. “The Open-Office Trap.” The New Yorker. January 7, 2014. http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-open-office-trap.

Richtel, Matt. “Multitasking Takes Toll on Memory, Study Finds.” New York

Times. April 11, 2011. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/11/multitasking-takes-toll-on-memory-study-finds/.

 

Call and Callback

In-person and phone interviews with chefs Robert Halpern, Andrew Kochan, Tim Lanza, and Keith Krajewski over the course of 2014–2015 yielded the chef’s story for this chapter, including kitchen observations and staff interviews on March 22, 2014, and March 6, 2015, at Marigold Kitchen in Philadelphia, and on November 14, 2014, and January 23, 2015, at American Bounty in Hyde Park, New York.

Additional interviews:

Bromberg, Eric. Interview by author. April 1, 2015.

Gibney, Michael. Interview by author. August 6, 2015.

Gray, Melissa. Telephone interview by author. December 5, 2014.

Henderson, Samantha. Telephone interview by author. March 1, 2015.

Keller, Thomas. Telephone interview by author. August 28, 2015.

Sheehan, Jason. Telephone interview by author. February 23, 2014.

Additional resources:

Enemark, Daniel. “It’s All about Me: Why E-mails Are So Easily Misunderstood.” The Christian Science Monitor. May 15, 2006. http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0515/p13s01-stct.html.

Kruger, Justin, Nicholas Epley, Jason Parker, and Zhi-Wen Ng. “Egocentrism over E-mail: Can We Communicate as Well as We Think?” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 89, no. 6 (2005): 925–36.

Pidgeon, Emily. “The Economic Impact of Bad Meetings.” TED. November 17, 2014. http://ideas.ted.com/the-economic-impact-of-bad-meetings/.

 

Inspect and Correct

In-person and phone interviews with Chef Bill Telepan over the course of 2014–2015 yielded the chef’s story for this chapter, including kitchen observations and staff interviews at Telepan Local in New York on February 7, 2014, and Telepan in New York on August 12, 2015, and supplemented by interviews with Alfred Portale and Joel Javier.

Additional interviews:

Yui, Jimi. Telephone interview by author. July 31, 2015.

Keller, Thomas. Telephone interview by author. August 28, 2015.

Additional resources:

Bell, Susan. The Artful Edit: On the Practice of Editing Yourself. New York: W.W. Norton, 2007.

Bruni, Frank. “A Chef Returns, Inspired by Ingredients.” New York Times, February 15, 2006. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/15/dining/reviews/15rest.html.

Miller, Kerry. “The Restaurant-Failure Myth.” BusinessWeek. April 16, 2007. http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories/2007-04-16/the-restaurant-failure-mythbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice.

Platt, Adam. “The New West.” New York Times. http://nymag.com/restaurants/reviews/15627/.

Wells, Pete. “One Plate, Two Plates, Small Plates All.” New York Times. April 22, 2014. Accessed January 19, 2016. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/23/dining/restaurant-review-telepan-local-in-tribeca.html.

 

Total Utilization

In-person and phone interviews with Chef Chris Cosentino in 2015 yielded the chef’s stories for this chapter. Additional chef’s stories came from in-person interviews with Eric Ripert, Chris Muller, Marcus Samuelsson, and Marc Djozlija in 2014 and 2015.

Additional resources:

Barber, Dan. The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food. New York: Penguin Press, 2014.

———. “How I Turn Wasted Food into Michelin-Starred Meals.” MUNCHIES: Vice. March 18, 2015. http://munchies.vice.com/articles/how-i-turned-wasted-food-into-michelin-starred-meals.

Berolzheimer, Ruth. Victory Binding of the American Woman’s Cook Book. Chicago: Published for the Culinary Arts Institute by Consolidated Book Publishers, 1943.

Black, Jane. “Let Them Eat Duck Fat.” Boston Magazine. December 2006. Accessed January 19, 2016. http://www.bostonmagazine.com/2006/12/let-them-eat-duck-fat/.

Cosentino, Chris. “Be Careful What You Wish For.” The MAD Feed. http://www.madfeed.co/video/be-careful-what-you-wish-for-3/.

“Cooking for Victory.” American Historical Society. http://www.ameshistory.org/exhibits/events/victory_cooking.htm.

Heilpern, John. “Out to Lunch with Fergus Henderson.” Vanity Fair. September 30, 2010. Accessed January 19, 2016. http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2013/10/fergus-henderson-interview.

Henderson, Fergus. Nose to Tail Eating: A Kind of British Cooking. London: Bloomsbury, 1999.

Pastore, Mark. “Why We Serve Offal.” Incanto. January 1, 2004. http://incanto.biz/2004/01/01/why-we-serve-offal/.

Sula, Mike. “Omnivorous: The Cookbook Queen.” Chicago Reader. September 11, 2008. http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-cookbook-queen/Content?oid=1106100.

Wells, Pete. “At the Chef Dan Barber’s Pop-Up, WastED, Bruised and Misshapen Bits Are Dinner.” New York Times. March 27, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/01/dining/at-the-chef-dan-barbers-pop-up-wasted-bruised-and-misshapen-bits-are-dinner.html.

 

Working Clean as a Way of Life

Interview:

Portale, Alfred. Interview by author. July 7, 2015.

Resource:

Lally, Phillippa, Cornelia H. M. Van Jaarsveld, Henry W. W. Potts, and Jane Wardle. “How Are Habits Formed: Modeling Habit Formation in the Real World.” European Journal of Social Psychology 40, no. 6 (July 16, 2009): 998–1009.

 

Epilogue

A phone interview with Chef Thomas Keller in 2015 yielded the chef’s story for the Epilogue.