What makes a great chef?
It's probably not what you think. The inside scoop from someone who can barely boil a potato and who is in awe of Pedro Mosqueda, the Executive Chef at Blue Apple, Townhouse and The Pink Mango.
Not all talented cooks are great chefs.
If you’re in the business, this is obvious. Until I worked in hospitality, I had no idea. A successful restaurant relied on a talented cook. Does the food taste good? Does the menu have things I like on it? Simple.
The reality is more complicated than rocket science. This is probably why restaurants have a famously high fail rate. People think its a piece of cake. I reckon it’s actually easier to get cake on the moon.
Let’s start with the basics: creating a menu of delicious dishes that can be quickly executed from scratch, using fresh ingredients, without relying on UPFs for flavour or longevity. Fresh isn’t just a buzz word. We know that ultra-processed foods kill us, and it is only common sense to attempt to avoid killing the customer.
Now imagine you also want to cater to the carnivore, the vegan and the celiac. To showcase ingredients that typify your home town, stick to your values and present a unique concept. If you’re in a hotel (on a remote island), you’ll need to keep your guests engaged and excited three times a day, for several days (and also have pasta and a club sandwich on the menu).
It’s getting trickier…
Then there’s the maths. Are you ready to serve 100 covers at a moments notice, but throw nothing away if only 10 show up? Do you know what percentage of a kilo of pineapple is edible? How much it costs in fuel to bring that pineapple in from the mainland? Did I mention there’s no running water, patchy electricity, a chaotic supply chain of hundreds of small, independent producers, and no roads? Is that someone’s arm on fire over there?
Add to that fermentation experiments with koji, a kitchen garden, and the need to stay at the top of your game, trialling new techniques and new menu items.
This might be the only job I’ve had where a decade of observation has left me with the certainty that I could never do this. I’d sooner go back to school to read astrophysics.
A great chef - our great chef, Pedro Mosqueda - is a genius. A talented cook, yes. And also a manager, an Excel whizz, a problem solver, a perfectionist. Spinning dozens of plates and balancing books all day, every day.
This year, Pedro is hosting several guest genii at Blue Apple, including: Lana Lagomarsini (wow, can that lady BBQ), Woldy Reyes (11 Apr) and the Rousseau sisters (27 Jun) for our Secret Garden Supper Club, an event we hold every few months to expose our young island cooks to international talent and raise awareness for the Green Apple Foundation.
Even if you can’t make it to one of our places or Pedro’s tables, next time you go out to eat, and it’s fresh, creative, tasty, UPF-free, caters to your allergy* and arrives at the same time as your friend’s food - take a moment to salute the genius behind the scenes.
Bon appetit,
Portia
*And if it’s not… RESTAURANT RED FLAGS:
Not because we’re snobby, but because what you put in your body matters.
The menu feels longer than the Bible - either it’s not fresh or it’s not being made onsite.
You see 100+ ingredients across the menu - They’re coming out of a jar or the freezer.
There is no mention of provenance - good sourcing is hard, those of us who do it, talk about it.
The sauces aren’t home made - UPF alert! Ketchup, mayonnaise, BBQ sauce can all be made in house.
You can order sushi AND tacos - No one can be a specialist in every world cuisine.
Not everything is made from scratch - you can buy sauce in a jar and add it to your home cooking. A restaurant should be serving you something unique.
All well said and true. There's still more, but this covers a good percentage of the responsibility required to be successful!!!