Exploring the World of Elite Chefs

Creativity should be a protected commodity; only some should be entitled to have it. But those entitled should be self-centered, because it is about their creativity, so they have to do what feels right to them.

THIS ADVICE, shared with me by one of the most prominent chefs in the United States, looks odd and even contradictory at first glance. Creativity should not be for everybody because, the chef explained, some chefs are so enthralled with innovation that they forget about flavor. Yet chefs should concern themselves only with their own creative inclinations when they design dishes.

The chef was not being illogical or even contradictory. A chef of long standing in New York, renowned for his refined food and for running a successful business, he has a thorough knowledge of the intricate world of elite restaurants. The advice he offered, somewhat humorously and offhandedly, conveys some of the basic principles that guide the work of elite chefs. If they want to succeed in a city with exceptionally high costs and fierce competition, they must offer original dishes that stand out in the market but not so original that they will not appeal to customers. That chefs should be self-centered and do what feels right does not mean that they should indulge their foibles, but that, after years of working in restaurants, they can intuitively rely on the knowledge they have accumulated over that time. They have an intuitive sense of the flavors that work well together, the techniques required for a dish, and customers' preferences, and all these skills effectively work as a good corrective for any excessive flight of creativity.

How and why chefs make choices about the dishes they put on their menus is the question I explore in this book. I examine a range of areas to answer this question, including the career paths of chefs, the classification of their culinary styles, their social connections, the ways they exchange information, the work processes behind the creation of dishes, and the ways in which status influences chefs' work and careers. I look closely at how elite chefs in New York and San Francisco go about their work to explain how they shape their culinary styles and develop their careers. All the factors that go into running a restaurant inform the analysis in this book, but discussion in the chapters focuses on the creation of dishes and culinary styles because the goal is to explain the nature of culinary creation, and nothing is more central than the food.

The Elite Restaurant Worlds of New York and San Francisco

For those who enjoy fine dining, few cities equal New York and San Francisco in terms of the quality and number of restaurants showcasing high-end food and the newest trends in cuisine. New York is typically considered the best culinary city in the United States and among the best in the world, and a hothouse for innovation. San Francisco, viewed as the second best in the country, is the birthplace of the so-called California cuisine, a unique style that has spearheaded the seasonal, farm-to-table cuisine now popular across the country. Both cities possess a great range of restaurants, from the most exclusive to casual bistros, from classical French cuisine to gastropubs, from strictly regional cuisines (e.g., Tuscan, Provençal, or Basque) to culinary styles unbound by any region. Beyond fine dining, the two cities are also a rich source of so-called ethnic foods.

The restaurant worlds in New York and San Francisco differ in significant ways. First, the restaurant industry is much larger in New York City than in San Francisco, with about 8,500 restaurants in 2012 (the latest data available at the time of this writing), compared to about 1,800 in San Francisco (Berkeley and Oakland, two cities in Alameda County included in the study, have a combined 600 restaurants). Along with its greater size and number of restaurants, New York also has higher real estate costs than San Francisco, and all these factors heighten the pressures on chefs trying to survive in the New York market. San Francisco has a sunny and temperate climate, with great access to local fresh ingredients year-round. New York has more limited access to local ingredients, so chefs in this city must sometimes ship in ingredients and find ways to deal with the loss of flavor in these less fresh or ripe ingredients.

Cooks rely on technique to compensate for ingredients that are less flavorful than desired. This principle is typically used to explain the difference between French and Italian cuisines. As the explanation goes, French cuisine has developed a large set of techniques and complex combinations of flavors that minimize the impact of a comparatively limited availability of fresh ingredients. By contrast, with regular access to a wide variety of fresh ingredients, Italian cuisine highlights the flavor of foodstuffs through a relatively simpler technical grammar. Something similar applies in New York compared to San Francisco. There is a predominance of complex culinary styles in New York, with chefs always looking for the latest techniques and intricate combinations to make innovative food, and a focus on simpler styles that showcase fresh ingredients in San Francisco. What is more, the restaurant world of New York is profoundly influenced by French cuisine, whereas that of San Francisco has a stronger Italian influence.

Chefs and Culinary Styles

Chefs at elite restaurants in New York and San Francisco are a varied bunch. Some have the renown of Hollywood stars, and others are unknown outside the local community. Some serve intricate tasting menus at a cost of $400 per person, and others offer simple meals in casual environments for no more than $40. Some are employed by restaurant owners to cook in the styles of those already established restaurants, and others open their own business, selecting the culinary style and whole design of the establishment. Even chefs who own their restaurants are a varied bunch. Some own only one restaurant, and others own an army of them. Some open restaurants in only one city, whereas others open restaurants across the country, and still others extend their business across the globe. Some chefs have television shows, a plethora of best-selling cookbooks, a line of cookware or brand of grocery products, and spend their time shuffling between restaurants or among their various lines of business, while others are fully devoted to one restaurant.

Most elite chefs fall between the two extremes. For one thing, even chefs who are in the kitchen every night rarely cook. Save for those who serve simple food at small establishments with minimal kitchen staff, chefs expedite during service; as orders come from the dining room they call them out to the kitchen staff, and they check dishes to make sure they look right, sometimes adding finishing...