Food Priorities:
I care less about the cost per pound and more about the human cost of the equation. I want to know where the food came from, who grew it, what their lives are like—then I look at how it fits into the menu. Guests are more receptive now to what it costs to serve good food. A dollar-value burger is very different than a pasture-raised bison burger, and people are willing to pay for real food.
It Takes a Village:
The small farmers, the growers, and the food artisans keep pushing me forward. I don’t need to make pickles in my kitchen. I’d rather support a local producer whose passion is to make amazing artisanal pickles. I’d rather put his pickles on the menu. Food is a collective experience ... it’s putting together a collaboration of many amazing people.
Hospitality is Humbling:
I love the humility that goes into cooking food for strangers. It’s a life of service—working long hours, in hot kitchens and tight spaces, with conflicting personalities—and finding your Zen in the middle of what a kitchen actually is. It’s the perfect expression of the human condition … and that’s just in the back of the house. It becomes the collective consciousness of everyone who makes up the restaurant experience, and that has to be humble.
Communal Dining:
Feeding people is not just the physical act of giving someone food; it’s about filling people on a spiritual and energetic level. It’s an opportunity to [replenish] someone who is craving some form of connection. The greatest beauty of working in restaurants is that connection, that feeling of community.
