But a lot can happen in a couple of months. A friend of mine, with whom I have done lots of catering and teaching, was offered a gig at a plush new hotel on the Strip in Las Vegas. I want to get more experience with opening new restaurants, and in a variety of circumstances. After getting over some hesitations, I am officially bound for Las Vegas.

Although I have a few concerns, it's an amazing situation with lots of resources, lots of upside, good people involved, and sky's the limit potential. Beyond our restaurant, Las Vegas has representation from the best chefs in the world, and there is an audience to support the finest of fine dining - all the way down to $4.99 prime rib. I'll have lots of opportunity to eat and work in some excellent restaurants. There's a lively ethnic food scene as well, with ready access to international ingredients. Although I'll miss being near the ocean, there's apparently lots of recreating do in the foothills surrounding Las Vegas, Lake Mead, etc. For me personally, another draw is the very real possibility of buying a home or a condo, which is completely out of reach in the LA area.

It's so ON!! I've been imagining that clap and wave of empty hands that dealers do in Las Vegas, always accompanied by, "Good Luck."

As per usual, I won't speak about specifics, but I'll continue to post about my experience in Sin City and as a cook. I reserve the right to edit or delete any post or comments that may be too identifiable.

[...]

People, people
We got to get over,
Before we go under
People, people
We got to get over,
Before we go under

Hey, country
Didn't say what you meant
Just changed
Brand new funky President

Stock market going up
Jobs going down
And ain't no funking
Jobs to be found

Taxes keep going up
I changed from a glass
Now I drink out of a paper cup
It's getting bad

People, people
We got to get over
Before we go under

Listen to me
Let's get together and raise
Let's get together
And get some land

Raise our food like the man
Save our money like the Mob
Put up a fight down on the job

[...]

Hey, give yourself a
Chance to come through
Tell yourself, I can
Do what you can do

People, people
People, people
Hey, people, people
Don't you see what's going on

People, people
We got to get together
Get on the good foot
Change it, yeah

Got to get together
And get some land
Raise our food just like the man
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey

I got to say it again
We got to get together
And buy some land
Raise our food just like the man
Save our money, do like the Mob
Put up your fight right on the job

We gotta get over
Before we go under
Time's getting short, Lord

Country, do you know
Just what I meant
We just changed, we got
A brand new funky President

I need to be the Mayor
So I could change

Some things around here
I need to be the Governor
I need to be the Governor

Or the President!

"My last chef had a palate where he kinda liked things that tasted like vomit. Really. Kinda acid-ey, and bitter at the same time - like vomit. Sometimes he would make a sauce, and I thought it tasted like vomit. I had to get out of there."

They broke through the psychological $4.00 barrier, and it won't be long before they see if $5.00 will fly. At least it serves as motivation toward alternative energy.

By the way, the best strategy for saving money in this situation is to fill your tank when you think that prices will be rising (hoarding at the lower price), and filling only a partial tank if you think the price will be falling (giving prices time to fall, and buying it as it falls).

For Everyone:

This is the classic American cookbook. There's actually a bit of drama surrounding this book. In the 90's, it was revised and expanded to include all sorts of new cuisines, to mirror what was happening in American food. The family of the original authors apparently didn't like the new expansion, and later took editing control back. But this is the version I have, and I love it. The recipes are structured in a sequential way, which I think is brilliant, since most cooking is process oriented.

Another great all around cookbook, written by David Rosengarten. He was one of the original Food Network hosts, who would do extensive reseach on the particular dish at hand. I also like this book because it discusses the aesthetics behind the recipes and the choices.

Although there is science in it, a very readable and usable reference to help anyone figure out why a recipe isn't working.

This is a helpful book about the creative process - in whatever medium you choose - not just painters and novelists and musicians. I find it so valuable that I've probably given it away to over 25 people over the years. HIghly recommended.

For Professional Cooks:

As Bourdain says, the argument ender. Although rooted in European food, contains at least simple entries to just about any ingredient as well.

For all the lip service that cooks and chefs pay to the importance of sharp knives, a surprisingly large proportion don't REALLY understand their knives or the sharpening process. As far as I'm concerned, this book should be required reading for every culinary student and every professional cook.

For me, this is a timeless book, with elegant ideas taken to the nth degree. I'd say one of the most influential on me, even though his style is so different.

This is the best book I've found so far on Spanish used in kitchens and restaurants. Besides food words, there's phrases for interviewing, giving instructions, and other situations that might come up if you were a chef, manager, or owner of a restaurant.

If nothing else, read the first few chapters, which offer an eloquent rebuttal to vegetarianism, and discusses the politics of meat in general.

Although this is a new book, it's become one of my instant favorites. He has a powerful mix of traditional technique, global perspective, and originality that results in some dynamic and wonderful food.

Although there are a ton of books about French techniques, this is the daddy. Yes, you've probably seen a lot of it on TV already, but this is the source.

Incidentally, the best book I've found for proper kitchen and restaurant Spanish is Stainless Steel Translations...English to Spanish for Restaurants and Commercial Kitchens. The pronouciation guide is pretty gringo, so use a little imagination to sound more authentic. Nevertheless, I highly recommend it.

The original caveat still applies: "A lot of of it is crude and rude, locker room-type language, so if you are offended by that sort of thing, don't read further. If I have any of the definitions or spellings wrong, please feel free to comment and correct me."

An Unabridged Glossary of Mexican Slang for Cooks

As a side benefit to me, I may be able to help out someone else who is peddling their widgets. But far from being completely benevolent, I do have my own interests in mind. I want more books. More gadgets. More stuff.

I think it is unlikely to turn into any significant amount of revenue. But books are books.

Just so everything is on the table and I can cling to a bit of street cred, I am letting y'all know that, where possible, I will be linking things to Amazon, where I have become an associate, and I get a small vig for directing traffic there. After that, I will try to link to a retailer or source that I have used myself. After that, I may or may not link to a source that I have not used.

Where I recommend things, I will try to give an idea of how strong of an endorsement it is, and some sort of context for the recommendation.

I certainly hope that these sources will prove to be reliable and satisfactory for you as well, but let the buyer beware. Your mileage may vary.

I got burned out.

So much so that I rarely take pictures of food anymore, and if I do, it's with my cellphone camera. I rarely even carry a camera. In fact, most of the entries since returning have no pictures, and no food that I've cooked. A bit silly, really, since the subject of the blog is food.

Recently my buddy Adam suggested that he and Lorraine would host a few people over to their place, I would cook, and he would choose the wines. I was excited by the prospect of cooking something different than I would at work, and jumped on board with the idea.

Some of the courses, photos by Amy:

Green Pea and Green Garlic Soup, with Creme Fraiche

Cassoulet of Tarbais Beans, Duck Confit, Sausages, with Seared Foie Gras

Pan-roasted Cote de Boeuf (ribeye) with Pommes Aligot (mashed potatoes with Salers cheese), Braised Leeks, Roasted Carrots, Red Wine/Winter Savory Sauce

For alternate pictures and coverage of the wine pairings, please check out Josh's site, wine-tastings-guide.com

There were a few things I would have liked to change, but overall, I'd call it a success. I hope it's the first of many to come.

Sharp knives are a good starting point. Most restaurants have "house knives," but they're usually cheap to begin with, no one takes care of them, they're beat up, dull and used for opening cans and all kinds of unintended purposes. Beyond just getting it done, sharp knives in the right hands mean clean, professional looking cuts, rather than a hacked up, raggedy looking mess. Also, the food cut with sharp knives tends to last a bit longer because it's cut instead of mashed.

Of course, what cooks carry can change quite a bit depending on what is needed for the menu, but I usually carry all of this all the time. When I work a particular station at the restaurant, I pull out different things. But I take the same kit to catering gigs, where you never know what the client will or won't have. And being a gadget guy, I'd rather have the right tool than not.

Follow the link for the complete list-

You Would Be A Bad Ass Line Cook If You…

(list follows after the link)

Some may recall that there are four factions in a restaurant. When a party comes in near the end of the day, they are already there, they are hungry or thirsty, and they definitely want to be served. Being at least partially biologically based, people aren’t too interested in the logical or rational reasons why you won’t serve them food and drink. To say, “Sorry, we’re closed” is usually not enough for these customers. Therefore, plausible deniability must be established. Steps have to be taken so that it seems believable that the restaurant couldn't possibly serve them food.

Generally, the owners and management will want to take the table, because it’s a little more income, and a restaurant relies to a large degree on goodwill from customers. To deny someone service doesn’t come off as hospitable.

The chef, in his role as manager, would probably want to take the table, too. This is because all his food is prepared, and to sell more of it would make his numbers look better. Waste and food cost are directly related, so to sell more food while it is saleable makes sense. The only time the management or the chef may not want to take a late table is when labor costs are already high, and taking the table would mean overtime in the kitchen.

The server definitely wants to take the table, because they stand to make 18-20% or more of the bill as a tip.

But the cooks… the cooks usually just want to go home. Or go have a beer. It’s not that we’re lazy. The hourly wage for staying another 15 minutes or half an hour won’t even pay for that beer. So we’d rather leave. It’s not really worth it. No, it’s not only about the money. Yes, we do get some satisfaction from our work. Yes, this is the employment we have chosen. But by that time of the evening, the cooks have been hustling and sweating already for several hours, and there’s still the hour or so of cleaning up to do.

An analogy might be if someone is at their office job that ends at 5pm, and their boss comes in with “one last thing that needs to be done tonight,” the first time it happens, maybe it’s not a problem. But the third or fourth time, it’s a minor annoyance. If it happens often, it gets to be quite seriously annoying.

When it comes right down to it, the cooks may complain and be grumpy about it, but most times we’ll just make the food so we can leave. But I have seen cooks put up a big fuss, like they’re putting their foot down and they won’t make it. I understand the frustration of it, but ultimately, it’s a part of the job. It’s just a part of the job that I don’t like.

In my case, I often work as a cook, but in the front of the house, in full view of the customers. So at closing time, it has to look like I’m ready to close up shop for the night while in actuality, still be able to make everything in case they do accept the table. If it looks like I haven’t even started breaking everything down, it won’t seem like any kind of imposition to ask for food.

A little further afield, I just found out that Chef Grant Achatz from Alinea Restaurant in the Chicago area, has been diagnosed with cancer. I haven't been there yet, but it's fascinating food, with a non-traditional and technological emphasis. I wish him a quick and complete recovery.

WIth the popularity of tasting menus, a new usage of "to taste" is making the rounds. In this case, instead of saying, "I included duck on the tasting menu for Bob" or "I gave Bob a taste of the duck," the new phrasing might be, "I tasted Bob on the duck". I have also heard it in the context of wine flights or wine parings, as in, "Bob wanted to try the cabernet, but I tasted him on the grenache first." From the cook or sommelier's perspective, I'm giving that person a taste of ______. Personally, I feel that it's awkward, peculiar, and confusing. First off, the person who is active is not the person who is doing the eating. More importantly, if taken likerally, the speaker could be using his or her tongue on another person and commenting on that. Of course, there's a lot of comedy potential there, like, "I tasted Giada and Rachel on my tongue, but only Giada liked it."

I would bet there aren't. There's something wrong with the way Americans relate to food. Beyond that, there's something disturbing about the way it's made into "entertainment." There's nothing novel about either of those statements, but to really think about all the implications is unsettling.