I love chefs! …and other musings
Lonnie July 2nd, 2008
Some of my favorite people in the world are chefs. Like others in dangerous professions, they’re often energetic, passionate, highly focused people who swear like sailors and work odd, grueling hours. I personally don’t know one who isn’t addicted to some substance - caffeine, nicotine, alcohol or beyond. You just about have to be, to survive life in a restaurant kitchen. In what other job do you find people regularly working 18-hour days in 120-degree heat in an environment where you can cut yourself to the bone and be expected to finish your shift? What kind of person is attracted to such a workplace?
I think I know. It’s the boys and girls who just couldn’t sit still in class, who were suspended from school repeatedly for getting involve in high-stimulus activity like schoolyard brawls and midnight vandalism. Or it’s the boy who pores over cake design books in the privacy of his own room and the girl who builds bonfires and throws knives just for fun. The ones who end up making a living as a chef have to sacrifice the kinds of regular hours with family that most of us take for granted. While we’re playing, they’re working their tails off.
Most chefs are not on TV. They’re working anonymously, usually behind closed kitchen doors. They rarely hear how good the food is - servers usually don’t deliver the news unless it’s bad or the customer actually said, “please tell the chef this was delicious.” They get satisfaction from a job well done, from completing 180 covers in a night without any serious meltdowns, from getting the kitchen sparkling again by 1:00 in the morning instead of 2:00. In most cases, it’s not coming from the paycheck, which is pretty modest for most people cooking the food you eat. For many, cooking is the only job where they can be physically active, create works of art, work on a team in a nearly military environment, and satisfy some of the most basic needs of their customers: to eat good food.
Some chefs are teachers. Some are working in schools, some are teaching newcomers on the job. Most chefs are also constantly learning. They have to, to keep up with the demands of a rapidly changing industry. In our family, we owe a debt of gratitude to the many chefs in the Syracuse area who taught our son, kicked his butt when he needed it, put up with his cocky attitude, and let him try new techniques on real customers. Having an exciting, demanding job to go to, even when he was just a dishwasher, kept him out of the most serious kinds of trouble his friends were dabbling in. He worked under men, and a few women, who, one way or another, taught him the ways of the work world. I wish more kids could get this kind of hands-on experience in the company of working adults.
When we first moved to Eastwood four years ago, Mike Capozzi was working at Friends Diner on James St. I remember sitting at the counter, watching him cook up dozens of eggs for hungry customers. He had a particular rhythm to his movements, almost a dance, that just didn’t stop. In this day of virtual everything, it was a delight to watch someone crafting something physical, at top speed and literally for hours.
We saw Mike the other day, over at the New York Style Diner (535 E. Brighton Ave., Syracuse, 315-214-3303). Alas, he was cooking where we could barely see him. But he came out to chat. We’d seen him the night before at the Palace where he was serving the sliced roasts at Kate Clark’s wedding. He invited us to check out the diner, and I’m glad we did. They have some super breakfast offerings on a very extensive menu. I sure do wish there was a place on James Street where we could watch Mike cook again. I know, we have Steak & Sundae just outside of Eastwood, but it’s not all that easy to walk there. It’s not in the heart of Eastwood any more.
One addition to my dream Eastwood diner: superior coffee to go along with a superior breakfast. (Diner owners, take note! People will pay extra for a really good cup of coffee, but your staff has to know how to prepare it.) There are two places in town, that I know of, where you can get really fine coffee with a full breakfast: Sugar Pearl on Burnet and L’Adour on Washington. But neither is in Eastwood. At Sugar Pearl, you will pay reasonably higher prices for vegetarian/vegan breakfasts (no bacon here!) but you will get a fabulous French press pot of the outstanding “Gimme Coffee” coffee. At L’Adour you will also pay more for the breakfast itself - again, reasonably, because this is truly fine dining, and the coffee from Freedom of Espresso is quite good.
Maybe until we have a diner on James St. we can talk the folks at Steak & Sundae into carrying Eastwood-roasted Cafe Kubal coffee. What do you think?
