The most important thing is to be somewhere that teaches you and pushes you to be better. I am not saying to be in an abusive kitchen (I’ll touch on that in a future article), but pressure is good to grow. I started in very fast-paced burn and turn restaurants. Did they teach me proper cleaning standards? FUCK no! I learned how to move my ass and a real sense of urgency, not just a blue sign on a white tiled wall. I really felt it. I always recommend young cooks spend time in kitchens that pump food out. It teaches you to move with purpose and intention.

I did not go to culinary school, so as I said earlier, I worked anywhere that would hire me and teach me. I am not here to say school is good or bad. I am proof that it isn’t necessary. An argument for the pro is that it can help get you into kitchen doors off of connections and inter and externships. The early years, though, I recommend being a sponge. Cook in all different styles and cuisines of restaurants. This is where you truly start finding what you like. You might get into cooking thinking you love Italian cuisine, but find that the spices and heat of Mexican cuisine are what you want to really pursue, or you thought you wanted to chase Michelin and you work for a badass that just cooks fun food and a fun environment that isn’t pretentious. Always be outside of your comfort zone because that is when you know you are learning something rather than what is comfortable to you.

After this stage, you should absolutely know where you want to go. Sure, it can change constantly. It definitely did for me. At this stage, I knew who I wanted to work for, and I actively pursued working for them no matter where the restaurant was located. I really wanted to be in high-end fine dining restaurants, but the places with smaller teams. I wanted to do all of the prep, not have multiple people to a station or stagiers doing mie en place for me, or me doing it for a CDP. The places that force you to learn everything top to bottom and make the mistakes so you learn from them.

At the end of the day, this was an article about me and my career path. That’s the point, though, I went down a path that I wanted to go down and didn’t let anyone say, “you should work at this restaurant because it’s dope.” Always ask for opinions and advice, but you at the bottom of your gut or the back of your head know what you want. Trust your instincts, you will more often than not be right about it.

This is just a very approachable and delicious dish. I wanted to start showing more approachable and larger format dishes and this is a must try. I saw some short ribs at my local HEB and instantly wanted to do a post roast type of dish because it’s always a banger. You don’t need to do the tourned vegetables, I just felt like seeing if I could still do them.

I wanted to do a green peppercorn sauce and thought I had some in my pantry, but forgot I used them for another dinner I did at home recently so I substituted fermented products and a lot of cracked pepper and got a very similar and equally delicious effect. Always know that there are no rules in cooking, just guidelines.

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Then, when it came to taking time off, forget about it. Asking for days off past my two normal days a week felt like I was asking for a million dollars. You were constantly made to feel that you were letting the team down and the restaurant would fall apart. I can’t put all of the blame on the chefs I worked for because I fed into this as well. Anytime someone would ask me to take some time off, I would immediately shoot it down without even asking for the time because I had the same feelings that I couldn’t do that to the team. I missed plenty of events during my career that I should have absolutely made the time for.

Luckily, we are shifting into a new age of kitchen and restaurant culture. I feel everyone usually looks at the younger generation and wants to call them “lazy” or “disrespectful,” but I look at it as them having more self worth. I was always loyal to a fault and put the company before myself, but I think you are seeing people put themselves before the company, which is great. It’s like they tell you on a plane, put your mask on before you help anyone else. How are you supposed to be your best at work if you are helping yourself first and are balanced? You should know your worth and ask for the dollar amount you think you are worth. You should have money in your pocket to go out with friends or grab a nice meal on your days off. You should be able to ask for time off without feeling like you are a burden for doing so. Burnout is real, and you need to get away to decompress and come back rejuvenated and ready to go. I have had way too many times when I have completely burned myself out, and I’ve needed my boss to tell me to take time off.

Balance is everything. I will always say be passionate about what you do, and I love intensity in the kitchen, but you need things in life to let it go when you aren’t at work. Take the vacation, spend time with the family, and do the things that YOU want to do. The kitchen will always be there, but some of those moments and times in life won’t be. If you work at a restaurant where your taking time off is catastrophic to the operations, then that’s just a bad business model and culture. Don’t ever apologize for making yourself and your life outside of the kitchen important.

I worked for a chef who used to say this to the team, and it stuck with me.

That was a kitchen where they told us straight up they wanted us to run and sweat during prep. I know cooking isn’t war. It’s not life or death. But some days carry an intensity that feels close. The lesson wasn’t about being dramatic, it was about preparation.

Be locked in. Push as hard as you can when it’s quiet so that when it’s time to perform, you’ve already done everything in your power to set yourself up for success.

For me, it always started the night before. Fill the squeeze bottles. Top off the salts. Dial in the prep list down to the smallest tasks. I would even sketch my station, mapping out where everything should go for maximum efficiency. I’d set time frames for when I started a project and how long it should take.

There was a rule of thumb in that kitchen. If you didn’t have something in the oven, something on the stove, and something on your cutting board all at the same time, there was no way you’d be ready for service.

Maybe your mise doesn’t require all three. That’s not the point. The point is you need to be able to multitask and move with urgency.

It’s something I still teach today.

I don’t want to run a kitchen where everyone is frantic all day. But there are definitely moments where people aren’t moving as fast as they could, and they’re not ready when service hits.

If you go into service chasing your tail, it’s a terrible feeling. It follows you the entire time. You don’t get out of it until the end of the night, or until someone bails you out.

To me, it goes beyond just being physically in the restaurant.

It’s about being mentally and physically prepared. Making sure you have the right tools. Making sure your knives are sharp. Studying and honing your craft. All the reps you put in when nobody is watching are where real growth happens. Every small detail compounds. That’s the difference between good and great.

I’ve seen people say, “It’s just cooking. It’s not that serious.”

That’s fair. Not everyone has to approach it this way.

But I do. Every single day.

And when people work with me, that’s the expectation. It’s a lot to ask.

But that’s what greatness takes.

They were chaotic, dirty, and unpredictable. Someone might show up drunk or high, and every now and then a shift would spiral into a full-on argument or fight. Pans were flying, tickets were stacking, and nobody was thinking too hard about what had just hit the floor. As a young cook, it was exciting. It felt alive. For a while, I thought that was simply how kitchens operated.

You cooked, you survived service, and you went home.

As I moved into better kitchens, I started to see glimpses of a different standard. There was more attention to cleanliness and organization, but it still wasn’t absolute. It wasn’t until I walked into Michael Voltaggio’s restaurant, ink., that everything shifted for me.

That was the first time I had ever been called out for something as small as leaving a few grains of salt on my station or peeling vegetables in the wrong place. At first, it felt excessive. It was hard to understand why something so minor mattered.

Then it started to make sense.

“Your station is an extension of your brain.”

Our chef de cuisine said it constantly, and over time it became something I couldn’t ignore. If your station is cluttered, your thinking is cluttered. If it’s disorganized, your process follows. I still notice it in myself today. When I’m deep in service with too many projects happening at once and my station starts to slip, my thoughts stop flowing clearly. Everything blends together, and I lose the ability to think a step ahead.

For me, it always starts with a clean prep list. Not something rushed or scattered, but something intentional and easy to follow. From there, it carries into the station setup. Everything in its place, aligned, consistent. We used to say “90 degrees” in the kitchen, a small detail that keeps your workspace from drifting into disorder.

There’s also the constant reset. A clean towel on your station at all times. Wiping down your board after each task. Not layering one product on top of another or working through remnants of the last thing you touched. Beyond being sloppy, that’s how cross-contamination happens, and in the worst cases, that’s how people get sick.

One idea that always stuck with me was what our chef called the “Starbucks rule.” If you walk into a well-run, high-volume Starbucks, everything has a designated place. When it gets busy, no one is stopping to think about where something is. It’s already there. The system removes the need to search, so all that’s left is execution.

That’s the goal in a kitchen.

It took me a long time to build that level of discipline into my own habits, and I still have to check myself. When things start to slip, I stop and reset before moving forward.

You can tell a lot about a cook just by looking at their station. If it’s clean and organized, they’re prepared. If they’re making frantic movements, constantly searching for tools or ingredients, they’re already behind.

It’s easy to think that none of this directly affects how food tastes. But in practice, it changes everything. When your environment is clean, your movements are efficient, and you know exactly where everything is, you remove the distractions. You eliminate the risk of contamination and the friction of disorganization.

What remains is the ability to focus entirely on the cooking itself.

And that’s where the real work begins.

This dish is built around using the whole ingredient and pushing it as far as possible. The carrot is the focus, expressed through multiple textures and applications to build depth and reduce waste.

The butter crust on the fish is a technique I learned from a very talented chef, Justin Bogle. It mimics the texture of crispy fish skin while allowing more control over flavor.

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Michelin has started to feel like a clout buzzword.

People either demonize it, or they flaunt it like working in Michelin kitchens is the end all be all. One of my least favorite things is seeing chefs go around calling themselves “Michelin starred chefs” when they’re not even in those kitchens anymore. And just as a side note, chefs don’t get the stars, restaurants do. That’s how the Michelin Guide works.

I do think there’s a fine line when it comes to criticizing Michelin kitchens. There are absolutely some that are toxic, with terrible cultures, and I’m never going to support that. But what really got me was seeing someone post on Instagram saying, “I worked in a two Michelin star restaurant so you don’t have to,” and then listing things like insanely long hours, constant pressure and scrutiny, cleaning until 1 or 2 in the morning, and getting yelled at.

I hate to say it, but that comes with the territory.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a Michelin starred restaurant or a mom and pop spot, long hours are understood. That’s part of being a cook. A lot of those long hours come from the cleaning alone. Cleanliness is non negotiable in any good kitchen, and once you get into higher level kitchens, it’s just expected that every night is basically a deep clean. You’re working with expensive equipment, plateware, ingredients, all of it needs to be immaculate every single day.

The pressure and scrutiny, even getting chewed out occasionally, are also part of the job. Restaurants operate on razor thin margins, and it only gets tighter at the fine dining level. You’re spending more on everything, equipment, labor, product, the whole experience. Chefs running kitchens at that level are trying to execute a very specific vision, and everything needs to be perfect. On top of that, the pressure of awards is always there in the background. I’m not saying Michelin is the end all be all, but it absolutely puts people in seats.

There’s also a big difference between a kitchen that is constantly toxic, yelling, screaming, chaos, and a moment where frustration boils over and someone gets yelled at. I don’t think those are the same thing. Every profession where people are trying to achieve something at a high level has moments where mistakes are called out in ways that aren’t fun. It’s not pretty, and it’s definitely not for everyone.

I have plenty of friends who worked in those kitchens, left, and never looked back. I respect that. What I don’t really understand is turning around and making content about it just for clicks and views.

That said, I can understand it in some cases. Maybe that’s how someone processes what they went through. Maybe it’s how they deal with it.

What really bothers me is the other side of it, the “look at me” angle.

The “Michelin trained.”

The “Michelin starred chef” in the bio.

Nobody really gives a fuck, to be honest.

Just because you worked in a Michelin starred restaurant and now make content doesn’t automatically make you a better cook than everyone else. I’ve worked with plenty of people who tried to make me feel lesser than because they went to a big name culinary school or worked in one of the best restaurants in the world. Then service starts, and they fall apart. I’ve also seen plenty of people with zero pedigree absolutely crush it.

What people don’t understand about a lot of three star kitchens is that you’re one of thirty people. There might be five people working a single section. Sometimes you’re not even cooking, you’re picking herbs, doing prep, supporting the system. That’s not a knock, that’s just how those kitchens function. But then people go online and act like they were running the show.

You hear, “I’ve worked in three star restaurants all over the world,” and sure, that teaches you standards. It teaches you discipline. It teaches you that if something isn’t right, you start over and fix it. Those are valuable lessons.

What I can’t stand is when people use that experience as a way to talk down on others. When they dissect how other kitchens operate and then default to, “Well, I know better because I worked in a three star restaurant.” No, you don’t automatically know better. You might be 22 years old and a commis who makes mistakes every day. I know that because I’ve been there.

I appreciate that social media has opened the door for people to share their experiences, good and bad. People can talk about abuse, trauma, culture, all of it. That matters. But there needs to be a line.

Michelin isn’t meaningless, but it’s also not authority. And working in those kitchens doesn’t make you better than everyone else, it just means you were there.

There’s a version of this dish that probably should exist: simple, traditional, restrained.

This isn’t that.

This comes from my love of congee, an ancient Chinese dish that helped rice farmers And peasants stretch what little they had. I wouldn’t call this congee though. It doesn’t follow the traditional flavor profiles or accompaniments.

This one leans hard into umami. Rice cooked in a mushroom stock. Shrimp worked into something that eats like grains. Pork belly in multiple forms. An egg yolk poached in chicken fat.

It’s rich, a little chaotic, and completely unapologetic.

The shrimp technique is something I picked up from the WD-50 cookbook and used years ago when I ran a shrimp and grits dish at Volt.

A good friend of mine once told me: not everything needs to be beautiful, sometimes it just needs to be fucking delicious.

This is that.

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This dessert started as a yogurt “sorbet” for my first pop-up. Not technically a sorbet there’s dairy but that’s never been the point. I’ve always gravitated toward frozen yogurt, and being just outside Austin means access to excellent local Greek yogurt, which became the foundation.

The first version paired it with a hoja santa granita. It worked, but it leaned too far into palate cleanser territory something I’ve never been particularly interested in. I wanted a dessert that felt composed, not transitional.

From there, the dish evolved around a simple idea: cucumber and yogurt. It’s a classic savory pairing, but it translates surprisingly well into dessert. The granita became cucumber juice and basil water, pushed with lime to hit a bright, almost nostalgic citrus note. A cucumber shrub brings acidity and texture, while meringue adds lift.

The result sits in a space I like herbal, vegetal, lightly sweet, and balanced by texture. It’s still evolving, but this is where it stands right now.

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It is an absolute unwritten rule that you don’t touch another chef’s knives without asking, and you always keep them sharp.

So maybe you’re an avid home cook, just getting into the profession, or you want to add to your collection. My collection is by no means top tier knives that cost a whole paycheck per piece. Every knife I have is reliable and more than gets the job done.

I personally prefer Japanese blades—the lighter weight, the ability to get razor sharp. They’re not quite as durable as some other steels, but if you take care of them, it doesn’t matter.

By no means am I telling you what knife you should buy. That comes down to your own research—weight, handle ergonomics, and honestly, sometimes aesthetic. This is just a breakdown of what knives are crucial, what they’re good for, and the specific ones I own.

Chef’s Knife — Tsunehisa Gyuto (240mm)

Use: Daily driver / all-purpose

Price: ~$200

This is my Tsunehisa gyuto, 240mm (roughly 9.5 inches), and easily the longest non-slicer blade I’ve used. It was one of two knives gifted to me by my team at Roses at Home in D.C. when I moved to Austin.

This knife handles the bulk of everything—vegetable work (slicing, chopping, hacher), and with the length, I’ve even used it to slice fish. It took some getting used to because of the size, but once you dial it in, it’s a workhorse.

Having a quality chef’s knife is non-negotiable. You will use it every single day.

If you’re not trying to spend $200, there are solid alternatives. Nothing wrong with starting with a Shun—that was one of my first knives. Misono is another great option, and Messermeister (which I’ll get into later) also makes solid knives.

Petty Knife — Tsunehisa

Use: Butchery / precision work

Price: ~$140–150

The second knife from that same gift—my petty.

This gets used daily. It’s more precise than a chef’s knife and I mainly use it for breaking down smaller proteins—chicken, duck, squab, small fish—but it also handles smaller vegetable work.

For the price, the quality is there. And again, no issue going with brands like Shun or Henckels here. I’d also recommend Misono—I actually owned one after I sharpened my Shun petty into a prison shank.

Paring Knife — Messermeister

Use: Fine vegetable work / detail

Price: ~$100

This might actually be my most used knife.

I do a lot of small vegetable work with this—turning vegetables like asparagus and artichokes (chefs tend to hate Spring in my kitchens), and anything that requires finesse and precision cuts.

This is my first Messermeister mention. Full transparency—they sent me knives to try and promote. But I don’t sugarcoat things, and I genuinely stand by their quality. They’ve leveled up big time.

$100 is on the higher end for a paring knife, but the quality is there. That said, this isn’t where I’d tell people to spend big—save that for your primary knives.

Slicer — Messermeister (9”)

Use: Protein slicing / service

Price: ~$190

Probably the next most-used knife in my kit.

This is a 9” slicer—not super long for this category, but more than enough to get the job done (insert dirty joke here). It’s built for clean, fluid slicing—especially proteins during service. One motion, even cuts.

Also great for slicing fish.

$190 is a solid price. I know plenty of chefs spending $500+ on slicers—especially in sushi. For me, that’s tough to justify. This one gets sharp, performs well, and isn’t awkward on the station.

Bread Knife — Messermeister

Use: Bread / serrated tasks

Price: ~$164–200

Honestly, my least-used knife.

As a savory cook, I’m rarely dealing with bread. I usually tell people to just buy a cheap, generic bread knife.

That said, serrated knives are underrated for certain vegetable work—especially tough root vegetables and artichokes.

This one is definitely more than I’d normally spend, but it was gifted, and sometimes aesthetic plays a role. This knife is just fucking cool.

Deba — Nenox

Use: Breaking down large fish

Price: ~$575 (current market)

This is where we get more niche.

A deba is strictly for breaking down large fish. I only got this once I started working fish stations regularly.

Mine is from Nenox. I don’t love their knives overall—the handle doesn’t fit how I naturally grip—but for a deba, I actually prefer it because I want a firm, controlled grip when I’m cracking through bones.

It sharpens easily and gets razor sharp.

That said—this is not a knife most people need. And at current prices (~$575), I’d honestly recommend finding a more affordable option.

Takeda Gyuto (180mm) — “One of My Babies”

Use: Herbs / precision slicing / flex knife

Price: ~$450 (if you can find one)

I LOVE this knife.

Takeda knives are handmade in small batches by Shosui Takeda, and they’re hard to find. High demand, limited supply.

I use this for perfect herb work—chives, chiffonade—but I’ll also swap it in during service for slicing proteins because it gets razor fucking sharp.

It’s made from Aogami Blue Super steel—high carbon, super sharp, great edge retention. It is reactive, though—you’ll get patina, and it can transfer slightly to product.

Do you need one? No.

Do I want more? Absolutely. These are fucking badass.

Yoshihiro Usuba — “My Other Baby”

Use: Precision vegetable work (single bevel)

Price: ~$450

This knife took time.

An usuba is single beveled (unlike a nakiri), which allows for extremely thin, precise cuts—similar to sushi knives.

This one originally belonged to a CDC at Michael Voltaggio’s restaurant ink. It got passed around and eventually landed with me.

At first, I hated it. I wasn’t comfortable with single bevels and hadn’t mastered proper chopping technique. A lot of knuckle cuts later, I figured it out.

Now? I love it.

I learned to use a draw-back motion, and once you understand what this knife is meant to do—fast, precise slicing—it becomes an everyday tool.

It gets insanely sharp. I’ve shaved my fingernail more times than I’d like to admit (don’t recommend unless you really know what you’re doing).

Another luxury knife you don’t need—but I’m very glad I have it.

Final Thoughts

Don’t go out and blow a paycheck on knives right away.

Get a good chef’s knife, something you’re comfortable with, and build your kit over time. You’ll figure out what you actually need once you start using them every day.

At the end of the day, a $500 knife doesn’t mean shit if you don’t know how to use it.

This dish started with the idea of pairing beef and mole. Initially, I planned to present the mole as a purée on the plate, but after a conversation with a friend at Scratch Restaurant Group, I shifted direction and incorporated the mole into the beef jus to build flavor more cohesively.

As the dish developed, I wanted to focus on seasonality and structure. Moving into fall/winter, squash became the anchor. Inspired by a dish from Andy Doubrava, I leaned into a more Mexican direction and committed to using the entire squash with zero waste—pushing its flavor to stand up to, and even compete with, the beef.

The squash is broken down into multiple components: poached, glazed, pickled, fermented, dried, and fried. Each part builds intensity and texture. The final addition of masa pasta with Mexican cheeses ties the dish together.

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At the end of February, I got laid off—and two weeks later, I was cooking four dinners with nowhere to prep but my home.

So at the end of February, when I was laid off due to the restaurant closing, I looked at it as an opportunity to start being my own boss and dictating my own schedule. I took the first week to relax and rest, as the ending of the restaurant had me working doubles every day, and it was taxing emotionally as well.

Week two is when concern started to settle in. Where the hell do I even start? How do I get business? With a child on the way, it quickly turned from “I will figure it out” into “I need to start looking for a consistent job.”

I started looking into the private sector, but that produces its own challenges, as families usually want someone with previous experience in private homes. I was very fortunate to have connected with a friend of mine who has a business, “Midnight in the Garden.” That was a guaranteed three-night dinner series doing almost 120 covers over a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I knew that would bring in some money, but not quite enough.

Call it luck or fate, but I was very fortunate that a former colleague reached out to me to see if I could do a private dinner for her employer’s birthday. The issue with that—it landed on the same week as my dinner series. So it quickly went from two weeks of doing nothing and having concerns about finances into a week full of four dinners, with nowhere to prep other than my home.

I can tend to get crippling anxiety when things stack up high and slow my progress. That being said, the kitchen is the one place where I am great at compartmentalizing and knocking tasks out. I posted a quote on my Instagram: “You can’t complain about having a full plate when the goal was to eat.” I repeated it in my head to remind myself this is the point. I wanted business and the stress of delivering a high-end product to paying customers.

So to start with the prep space, I knew ghost kitchens were an option, but I don’t have the consistent income stream to pay for it without cutting into my initial profits. So again, I went to social media to see if anyone had spaces they knew of and was very fortunate to have friends offer me their restaurant space. This is why community is so important and not to isolate yourself in the world of “me against everyone.” I think, as chefs, we can easily get into the competition mindset, but I feel that mentality needs to shift in helping each other out and collaborating more. Rising tides raise all ships.

From there is the “easy” part—just cooking. I attacked this the same way I would in a restaurant: write menus, create order guides, and then prep sheets. Always attack the big projects first that will take the most time and go from there. I also know I could have never done all of this alone, and realizing asking for help is more a sign of strength, knowing it won’t be as good of a product if you try it alone. I am very fortunate to have people that will ride with me to make my dreams and goals happen.

I have worked in an operation before where we did dinner parties in guests’ homes and needed to transport everything—from food, plates, glassware, flatware, and everything else you would usually use in a restaurant. It is taxing and takes a lot of work, but with that operation, we always had a home base. This is a whole new venture for me where home base isn’t a thing, and I was moving from one commercial kitchen to another, to bringing mise en place home and prepping out of my kitchen.

People had told me once you start on your own, it is incredibly rewarding but a ton of work—they did not lie about that. If you are looking to do events, especially in guests’ homes, one of the biggest investments I would say is non-negotiable are coolers. Obviously, filled with ice packs will help keep the food cold, but you can also put a lot of equipment, plates, and other dry goods necessities in one place rather than creating a lot of smaller containers. Always make sure when you are creating order guides and prep sheets that you have packing lists, and go over it multiple times the day of the event to minimize forgetting anything necessary.

The first event I did was on a Wednesday and, luckily, a family-style event with a pasta station where I was actively making the pasta. This was fun and not too heavy of a lift since I was doing a 9-course tasting menu over the three-day weekend. This event, like I said, fell into my lap by chance, and I was very nervous as I wanted to exceed expectations and have a potential return client. As it turned out, I did just that, because that night after I left the property, the client’s assistant asked if I could do a crawfish boil for her son’s birthday party on Tuesday, which was right after my dinner series.

I knew I was going to be fried, but I am in no place to turn away business. So the workload increased again, but I was feeling great that the client had a great experience. Now the Midnight series was upon us, and I had three of my guys from the restaurant helping me execute. Friday was set at 24 guests, Saturday at two seatings of 25, and Sunday had 25 in the first and 21 in the second seating.

Friday was good because we were able to get a feel for the space, which was a home kitchen, so we needed the reps. It also let everyone get used to the dishes we were executing and the pace. It was not a fast service, which I could tell made the host a touch nervous to hit the turn we needed in 2.5 hours. I turned to the boys and told them we are pushing the rest of the weekend. It was fun to get back to the intensity of the restaurant, and we crushed turn times without making the guest feel rushed.

The entire weekend was a giant success, with potential future clients coming out of the dinners. I was exhausted, but very pleased. Then the next hurdle came with bringing all of the excess food and equipment back to my home. It took me several hours just to unload from my truck and organize everything, but then took even more investment in shelves to make sure our home wasn’t a mess.

Monday I took as a day to fully organize and shop for the crawfish boil the following day. Fortunately, that type of event doesn’t require a full day of prep, so I was able to get a little bit of rest. Then the following morning, it was go time with some sauce prep, but mostly the large equipment needed and packing coolers.

This event went very well, and I was happy that the family was excited to see I was back again in a matter of days and had a great time.

So what’s next?

I took the next couple of days to do absolutely nothing—I’m talking sleeping in and playing video games all day. It was a very long week with 12–16 hour days for 8 days straight. It felt great to have that much work to do again and finally realize my value.

That is the next step: putting together a website and packages to send to potential clients and reaching out to those clients for business. If there is a piece of advice I can give, it is don’t undersell your value, but also be cognizant that you are living up to the price you are selling with your experience.

So that will be the next step for me—to price myself into a range that doesn’t isolate me but also still offer exclusive, high-end experiences for those who desire it.

I have learned a lot from just this one week and will continue to learn as I go. I will continue to document it along the way so you can learn from my wins and my losses.

French meringue is very simple and straight forward. Italian and Swiss can be a little intimidating and more technical. All you need for the French version is a whisk and bowl (I wouldn’t recommend doing by hand, your arm will feel like its going to fall off).

French meringue is the classic vehicle of drying and making crisp. Think of the pavlova, Eton Mess and the very classic iles flottantes. You can also use it to lighten angel food cakes, make dacuoise or vacherin. This is a very versatile meringue, but very strong when it comes to drying.

I used the meringue in this preparation to spread thin and make “crisps.” I added some coconut powder to this recipe to elevate the flavor and you can add a lot of different flavors to transform the meringue. This preparation I was able to garnish in a very fun whimsical way which I tend to like to do.

This is something that everyone should learn to make and the recipe I will share is pretty straight forward with room to change and make it your own.

Meringue Ingredients

• 100 grams Egg Whites (room temperature)

• 160 grams Granulated Sugar

• 90 grams Confectioners Sugar

• 20 grams Coconut Milk Powder (optional)

• 1 gram Cream of Tartar

• 1 gram Salt

Procedure

1. Make sure egg whites are room temperature. This will help them whip faster, achieve more volume and be more stable.

2. Place the egg whites, salt and cream of tartar in a mixing bowl and whip on medium speed until foamy, but not whipped. Around 1 minutes.

3. Turn the speed down and slowly add 1/3 of the granulated sugar and turn the speed back up and whip for about 2 minutes.

4. Repeat this process until all the sugar is added.

5. Whip until you have achieved stiff peaks and the meringue is glossy. You know you whip it too long if its split or appears dry.

6. Sift the confectioners sugar and coconut milk powder into the meringue. Sift will help from clumps forming in the meringue.

7. Gently fold the sugar and powder into the meringue making sure to take your time until fully incorporated.

8. This stage you are finished and can do whatever you want to at this point!

Berlingot is a pasta shape made popular by world famous chef Anne Sophie Pic. The shape derives from a traditional French candy of the same name.

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For most of my career, I’ve worked in professional kitchens where everything moves fast and the margin for error is tiny. You learn quickly that cooking at a high level isn’t just about recipes — it’s about technique, discipline, and understanding how flavors actually work.

I started this newsletter a while ago as a place to share ideas, but I’m relaunching it as The Chef’s Notebook.

This will be a place where I share the things I’ve learned cooking in restaurants and building menus.

What you’ll find here:

• Recipes I actually cook

• Techniques used in professional kitchens

• Simple formulas chefs rely on

• Stories from life in restaurants

• A behind-the-scenes look at building restaurants and menus

Some posts will be free, and some will be for paid subscribers who want deeper recipes and breakdowns.

My goal is simple: to share the kind of cooking knowledge that usually only gets passed around inside kitchens.

If you’ve ever wanted to cook more like a chef, you’re in the right place.

— Dan

Components

• Pâte Brisée

• Caramel

• Apples (Gold Delicious and Granny Smith)

• Vanilla Apple Glaze

• Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients

Pâte Brisée

250 grams Flour

85 grams Cubed Cold Butter

2 grams Salt

90 grams Ice Water

Vanilla Ice Cream

500 grams Milk

160 grams Heavy Cream

2 each Vanilla Beans (split, scraped and separated)

50 grams Nonfat Milk Powder

20 grams Trimoline

5 each Egg Yolks

115 grams Sugar

5 grams Salt

Caramel

200 grams Sugar

70 grams Unsalted Butter

100 grams Heavy Cream

2 grams Maldon Salt

Apple/Vanilla Glaze

5 each Apple Skins and Cores

1 each Vanilla Bean (split, scraped and separated)

Procedure

Vanilla Ice Cream

1. Place the milk, heavy cream and the vanilla pods (after scraping the inside out) in a sauce pot and place on medium heat.

2. Once the dairy has warmed, add the milk powder and trimoline and continue to bring to a simmer. Stir occasionally to keep the dairy from scorching.

3. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, salt and vanilla until smooth.

4. Once the dairy has come to a light simmer remove from the heat and temper into the egg yolk mixture.

5. Once you have tempered the yolks, add back to the pot and place back on medium heat.

6. At this stage you want to gently scrape the bottom with a spatula to avoid the eggs from curdling but not incorporate air bubbles.

7. Let the anglaise reach a temperature of 183F and strain through a fine mesh sieve over an ice bath.

8. For best results, let the anglaise sit in the fridge overnight to cure.

9. The next day churn the ice cream according to the machine's directions and place it in the freezer after and reserve.

Pâte Brisée

1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a mixing bowl and start incorporating the butter into the flour with your hands. Be careful not to soften the butter so you want to work quickly.

2. Add the ice water and mix with your hands until the dough comes together.

3. Wrap the dough and place in the fridge for at least one hour.

4. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out on a lightly floured surface to about ¼ inch thick. 

5. Trace the pan you are using to cut the dough.

6. Using a fork, dock the dough to make sure it doesn't rise too much while it is baking.

7. Reserve crust in the fridge while you assemble the rest of the ingredients.

Caramel

1. Place the sugar in a pot and place on a medium heat.

2. Let the sugar melt and become very dark amber in color.

3. Do not stir the sugar, this will create crystallization of the sugar just simply move the pot to stir the sugars.

4. Once the sugar is dark brown, add the cubes of butter to stop the sugar from cooking.

5. Move the pot around to incorporate the butter.

6. I like to lightly warm the cream so you are not adding cold cream to a hot sugar. It is easier to emulsify and avoid using a whisk like i did in the video.

7. If the cream seizes up, do not panic. Simply place it back on the heat to melt and emulsify fully.

8. Once emulsified, add the salt and reserve.

Apples

1. Start by peeling all of the apples and cut the top and bottoms off.

2. Slice the apples on the vegetable slicer on the number 2 setting.

3. Once you have all of the apples sliced, place the peels and cores in a pot with the vanilla pod and cover with water.

4. Bring that to a simmer and let it go for about 30 minutes.

5. Strain that mixture and slowly reduce the liquid. The natural pectin will begin to thicken into a syrup.

6. Mix the syrup with the scraped vanilla and reserve.

7. Take all of the sliced apples and begin rolling on top of each other.

8. Slice the top and bottom to create flat surfaces.

Assembling and Baking

1. Place the caramel in the pan you are cooking in and place the apples on top of that.

2. Place your crust on top of the apples and tuck into the pan.

3. Bake in an oven set to 375 F for about 45 minutes or until the crust becomes golden brown.

4. Remove from the oven and let cool for a couple minutes.

5. Very carefully, flip the tarte over onto a plate.

6. At this stage you can cut the tart however you desire and brush with the apple/vanilla glaze

7.  Serve with vanilla ice cream and any leftover caramel.

Ingredients

Green Peppercorn Sauce

80 grams Sliced Shallot

80 grams Sliced Garlic

15 grams Thyme

1 each Bay Leaf

125 grams Brandy

100 grams Madeira

160 grams Heavy Cream

1 pints Beef Jus (recipe below)

1 cans Brined Peppercorns

Pommes Paillason

5 each Russet Potatoes

10 grams Thyme Leaves

to taste Salt

to cover Grapeseed Oil

Beef Jus

2 pounds Beef Bones (I prefer knuckles)

100 grams Onion

50 grams Carrot

50 grams Celery

20 grams Garlic

15 grams thyme

1 each Bay Leaf

25 grams Tomato Paste

100 grams Red Wine

to cover High Quality Chicken Stock (you can use store bought or water, you      will get a far superior end result with a chicken stock made with chicken feet)

Procedures

Beef Stock

1. Place the beef bones on a sheet tray and place in the oven between 350-400F. Roast until dark brown and very caramelized.

2. While the bones are roasting, chop all of the veg, you want them to be large dice as they will be simmering for several hours.

3. In a large enough stock pot, sweat the veg in oil and very lightly season.

4. Once the veggies are tender, add the thyme, bay leaf and tomato paste and cook until caramelized.

5. Add the red wine and reduce until almost dry.

6. Add the beef bones and cover with stock.

7. Bring the stock to a simmer and skim any impurities and fat that come to the top.

8. Let this stock simmer for at least 4 hours.

9. Strain the stock through a fine mesh sieve and slowly reduce.

10. As you are reducing, skim fat and impurities and use a pastry brush to clean the sides of the pot to avoid scorched flavors.

11. Reduce the stock until it has good viscosity and coats the back of a spoon.

12. Reserve for sauce.

Green Peppercorn Sauce

1. Sweat shallot and garlic in a pan until translucent.

2. Deglaze the pan with alcohol and reduce to almost dry.

3. Add thyme, bay leaf, cream and beef jus.

4. Slowly reduce by a quarter or until desired thickness is reached.

5. Strain through a fine mesh sieve and fold in chopped green peppercorns and reserve.

Pommes Paillason

1. Start by peeling your potatoes and shred. You can do this in multiple different ways, you can use a cheese grater, teeth attachment with a mandolin, grater attachment on a food processor or by hand.

2. Place the potatoes in a pot and cover with oil.

3. Very lightly poach the potatoes until they are cooked and tender. You will notice the starches will become tacky.

4. Strain the potatoes through a sieve and place in a mixing bowl.

5. Season with salt to taste and thyme leaves.

6. Place the potatoes on a tray and level them out. Place an identical pan over top and place something on top with some weight to press the potatoes.

7. Place in the fridge for at least 5 hours.

8. Remove from the fridge and portion to desired size. 

9. Fry the potatoes in the same oil you poached them in at 350F until golden brown.

10. Remove from the oil and season.

Steak and Scallions

1. Get your grill lit and hot.

2. Season steak and scallions with olive oil and salt. 

3. Grill the steak to desired temperature and let it rest for at least 5 minutes.

4. While the steak is resting, place the scallion on the grill. Make sure you are keeping an eye on these, they will burn very quickly.

5. Once they are tender and have good char, remove and slice to desired size.

6. Slice your steak and place scallions over top and sauce with the peppercorn sauce and fried potatoes.

Ingredients

Tuna

1 each Tuna

1 sheet Kombu

1 each Blood Orange Zest

Furikake

50 grams Toasted Sesame Seeds

25 grams Sliced Nori

20 grams Blended Bonito

2 each Dehydrated Blood Orange Zest

10 grams Aleppo Pepper

Soy Dressing

100 grams Soy Sauce

25 grams Sweet Mirin

15 grams Green Onion

15 grams Ginger

10 grams Garlic

5 grams Serrano Chili

2 each Blood Orange Juice

Pickling Liquid for Turnips

100 grams Rice Wine Vinegar

50 grams Water

10 grams Sugar

5 grams Salt

5 grams Garlic

5 grams Ginger

5 grams Serrano

Procedures

Curing Tuna

1. Soak the kombu in cold water to hydrate.

2. Zest three blood oranges. Use the zest from one for the tuna and the zest of the other two placed in an oven set to 180F to dry.

3. Place the zest on top and bottom on the piece of tuna and wrap the tuna in the rehydrated piece of kombu.

4. Place the tuna in the fridge to cure for one hour.

5. After that time, rinse the tuna in ice water and pat completely dry.

6. If you have a blowtorch, torch all sides of the fish. If you don’t have a blowtorch you can sear all sides in a hot pan with oil. Be careful not to cook the fish further than just the outside.

7. Chill in the fridge until you have made the furikake.

Soy Dressing

1. Slice all the vegetables thin and add to a bowl with the rest of the ingredients.

2. Place in the fridge to marinate for at least 30 minutes, but ideally an hour.

3. After an hour, strain the liquids out.

4. Add 20 grams of olive oil and 15 grams of rice wine vinegar. I happen to have pickled kombu in my pantry and added pieces of that with the pickling liquid but I realize that isn’t something you can just grab at your local grocery store.

5. Reserve the dressing.

Pickled Turnips

1. Cut the turnips into quarters and place in a bowl.

2. Slice all of the veggies thin and add to a pot with the rest of the pickling liquids and bring to a boil.

3. Once the liquid comes to a boil and the sugar dissolves, pour over the turnips.

4. Place the bowl in the fridge and let the turnips get cold.

Furikake

1. Toasted the sesame seeds in a pan until toasted brown.

2. Slice the nori thin with a very sharp knife. You can find shredded nori at some local Asian markets if need be.

3. Place the bonito flakes in a blender and pulse. You don't want a powder, but crushed up.

4. Remove the orange zest from the oven after about an hour. They should be completely dry.

5. Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix well.

Finishing

1. Brush all sides of the tuna with olive oil. I realized after the fact I should have mixed olive oil with miso to help the furikake stick better.

2. Roll the tuna in the furikake, make sure to really get it to stick.

3. Slice the tuna to desired thickness. I cut mine about ½ inch thick.

4. Season with olive oil and finishing salt.

5. With the remaining blood orange, cut it into segments,

6. Place the tuna in a bowl and garnish with blood orange segments, pickled turnips, sliced serrano chili and reserved turnip greens.

7. Dress the tune with the soy dressing and enjoy.

Ingredients

Apple Puree

2 each Granny Smith Apples

5 grams Salt

2 grams Sugar

2 grams Espelette Powder (or any dried chili you have)

Slaw Dressing

50 grams Mayo (I always use Duke’s mayo)

20 grams Whole Grain Mustard

5 grams Celery Seed

5 grams Salt

2 grams Sugar

2 grams Espelette Powder (or any dried chili you have)

1 gram Black Pepper (about 10 turns if using a pepper mill)

Slaw

100 grams Sliced Cabbage

25 grams Granny Smith Apple Julienne

25 grams Celery Brunoise

Procedures

Pork Chop

1. I like to tie the chop to make it thicker, that helps it cook more even in the end.

2. Season the chop with salt and leave in the fridge for 1 hour to dry brine.

3. Remove from the fridge 15-20 minutes from cooking to temper.

Apple Puree

1. Start by peeling the apples and cutting them into large dice.

2. Place the apples in a microwave safe bowl and wrap several times, very tightly, with plastic wrap.

3. Cook in the microwave until soft. The plastic wrap will expand, keep an eye on it so it doesnt pop. Nothing bad will happen, you will just need to wrap the bowl again.

4. Once the apples are soft, carefully remove the plastic wrap and place them in a blender.

5. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend on high until smooth, pass through a fine mesh sieve and reserve.

Cabbage Chips

1. Remove the outer leaves from the cabbage and blanch in season water for 2 minutes.

2. Shock immediately in ice water.

3. Dry off the leaves completely and place on an oven safe mat.

4. Brush the leaves with olive oil and season lightly with salt.

5. Place the leaves in an oven set to 325F for 10 minutes, or until crispy.

6. Remove the chips, cool and reserve.

Cabbage Wedge

1. Peel down the cabbage until you get to the “heart.”

2. Season with salt and let sit in the fridge for an hour.

3. This allows the cabbage to be season all the way through and helps break it down so it is easier to cook it all the way through.

Slaw

1. Sliced the cabbage scraps very thin and season with salt.

2. Let the cabbage sit in the salt at room temperature for about 30 minutes. This will pull the water out of the cabbage to avoid wet and soupy slaw when you add the dressing.

3. Peel and brunoise the celery. Peeling isn’t necessary just force of habit for me.

4. Slice the apples on a mandoline or by hand and julienne. No need to peel the apples, I dont mind the skin on for this application.

5. Once the cabbage has sat for 30 minutes gently squeeze excess water from it and add to a botl with the celery and apple.

6. Add a touch more salt and fresh black pepper to the slaw and then add your dressing.

7. You want to add enough of the dressing to coat everything but shouldn;t be swimming, about 30 grams of the dressing.

Finishing the Dish

1. By this time your chop should be tempered.

2. Pat dry any of the water that has come out from the dry brine and add to a hot pan with a nuetral oil.

3. Sear on all sides evenly and then baste with butter, garlic and thyme.

4. Ideally you want to finish the chop in the pan, but if needed you can finish in the oven.

5. Once you remove the chop from the pan, add the cabbage wedge and cook it in the residual fat.

6. Once the chop is cooked to your desired doneness plate everything up and enjoy

   .

Ingredients

Graham Cracker Crust

150 grams Graham Cracker Cumb

85 grams Melted Butter

28 grams Powdered Sugar

3 grams Salt

Lime Custard

3 each Egg Yolks

397 grams Sweet Condensed Milk

152 grams Key Lime Juice (or just lime juice if you cannot get key limes)

25 grams Greek Yogurt

3 grams Salt

Brown Sugar Meringue

200 grams Egg Whites (room temperature)

325 grams Brown Sugar

85 grams Water

Procedures

Graham Cracker Crust

1. Preheat your oven to 325F.

2. You can buy crushed graham crackers, if not just buy whole crackers and crush them in a bag with a rolling pin.

3. Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl and mix until all are very well combined.

4. Spray a pie tin with baking spray and begin to add the crust and shape it to the pan.

5. You want about ½ inch of crumb thick all around the tin and make sure to pack it tight.

6. Bake the crust for 15 minutes.

7. Once baked, remove and let cool.

Lime Custard

1. While the crust is baking, add all the custard ingredients to a mixing bowl and whisk until well combined.

2. Once the crust has cooled slightly after it is baked, add the custard to the crust and return to the oven.

3. Bake the pie for 15 minutes. You want the edges to be set but the middle to appear a little under.

4. Remove the pie from the oven and let cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

5. After 30 minutes place the pie in the fridge to fully set.

Brown Sugar Meringue

1. This is an Italian meringue, a touch difficult due to timing and being precise with each step.

2. Place the sugar and water in a pot and turn on medium/high heat. Let the sugar boil and make sure the pot is big enough so it does not boil over.

3. Place the room temperature egg whites in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment and start whisking at medium speed.

4. You want to time it so that the egg whites whip to stiff peaks right when the sugar reaches 240 degrees.

5. Turn the speed down on the stand mixer so that sugar does not splatter everywhere and pour the sugar right into the whipped egg whites.

6. Treat this just like making a mayonnaise and slowly emulsify the sugar with the egg whites.

7. Once all the sugar has been added, turn the mixer to high speed and whisk until the bowl becomes cool to the touch, about 3-5 minutes.

8. Immediately turn the mixer off and place the meringue in a piping bag

Finishing

1. Remove the pie from the fridge and pipe the meringue over top however you desire.

2. If you have a blow torch, toast the meringue. If you don't have a blow torch you can toast the meringue in your oven set to broil.

3. If using your oven DO NOT close the door and leave it. It will only take about 15 seconds under the broiler, so keep an eye on it.

4. Cut it up as desired and enjoy!