Bushido IV - Benevolence

There are seven aspects to the ethical code by which the Samurai composed themselves - Justice, Courage, Benevolence, Politeness, Sincerity, Honor and Loyalty.  I have chosen to spearhead an organization which can help chefs and other service industry professionals to make positive changes in their lives and I believe that those who are looking for change will find it on this path.

  

Each week we will examine one of the aforementioned virtues and see if Bushido may be a good path for the Order of the Chef to use as a guideline in inspiring industry professionals young and old...

BENEVOLENCE - the feeling of distress

"Rectitude carried to excess hardens into stiffness, benevolence indulged beyond measure sinks into weakness...the feeling of distress is the root of benevolence, therefore a benevolent man is ever mindful of those who are suffering and in distress."  

                                                                                     -Inazo Nitobe

Benevolence - Jin

I think Benevolence is the most complex of the seven virtues and somehow a cog in the wheel of Bushido: a central concept supported by and supporting of the others in a synergistic symbiosis.  It is certainly a concept built into the very nature of restaurants as, at our best, we are here to alleviate your distress in every sense.  A well heeled restaurant staff will immediately attend to your every need without your having to make a single request, they are sensitive people, will notice your slightest hesitation and preemptively resolve any potential discomfort.  They also won't take any shit from you.  At all.


Courage and unflinching righteousness are both prerequisite to benevolence...and before you start, I could easily write volumes on this one, weaving in and out of modern socialist banter, rebuttal after witty rebuttal until the ensuing logic blanket grew to cover the sun and signal the end for generations to come.  Please, spare us all the touchy-feely bullshit - benevolence is a balanced blade.  It is like the nature of water, and like water, should it bend too far to its softer side it will puddle and stagnate, filling the room with flies and stench.  Should it bend too far to its harder side it will crush shorelines, changing the shapes of continents, wiping out entire civilizations.

Zen master to the sword masters, Takuan Soho

We in the restaurant business in general are great at being benevolent servants, bending on our knee to cater to the most seemingly ridiculous requests day after day, night after grueling night.  While this description fits more often and more easily into the front of house (FOH) profile rather than the back, chefs have many opportunities to practice benevolent action and I think that it would serve to polish all facets of our industry if we, as chefs, took every possible chance to practice walking the tightrope of the benevolent dictator.  After all, we are always looking to balance things aren't we?


More than just benevolent action in the service of our clients (which may align more with duty or loyalty), this sensitivity to distress in others is vital to the internal functions of a restaurant.  Every position in the company structure has its own set of pressures and every individual employee has certain reactions to these as well as pressures that may exist for them outside the workplace.  The most successful restaurant owners and managers are those who are capable of simultaneously alleviating feelings of distress both in and out of the workplace while keeping the 'pressure to produce' valve cranked full-tilt.  And we all know that some people are just not cut out for this business - on both sides of the equation!

Somewhere between this.... 

These masterfully benevolent people who reign supreme in restaurants around the world are always ready and able to help surmount the insurmountable in every arena.  They are kind, supportive, empathetic, patient and well informed about a great many things.  They are also hard-wired for combat intensity, intolerant, pushy, always busy and they don't take shit from anyone up or down the ladder.  They can be brutally honest because they have a sincere desire to make the best of things whether those things be clients, employees, recipes, standards of cleanliness, and so on and on and on.  Most importantly, they know when to use the front of their swords and when to use the back.

...and this!

There is a certain difference between the ability to discern a feeling of distress in another and the ability to act appropriately in order to effect the dissipation of another's distress.  One chef I worked for used the term 'striking them with a velvet glove', another always prescribes 'a punch with a hug' in order to create effective changes in people's behavior.  


In general, there is a lot of teaching going on in the restaurant industry and benevolence seems to send a universal message which challenges the most cutting edge technology as a transmitter of understanding.  People tend to absorb more information from a benevolent source, whether they want to or not, they reflect and grow from interactions with benevolent teachers more than from the iron fists of tyrants.  The prism of benevolence collects its light from justice and courage and shines in rays of politeness, sincerity, honor and loyalty.  It is the key to the effectiveness of our path.

Bushido - Our Code

Chefs are servants.  

I feel this kinship with Samurai because they were servants who were required to maintain composure and moral grandeur in the midst of high pressure, high speed situations.  In the culinary industry we serve in all directions: We serve our patrons.  We serve our employees.  We serve our employers.  We serve our investors.  We serve each other.

It is our charge and our challenge.  

It is our path to enlightenment through service. 

On this path, we are chefs.

There are seven aspects to the ethical code by which the Samurai composed themselves - Justice, Courage, Benevolence, Politeness, Sincerity, Honor and Loyalty.  I have chosen to spearhead an organization which can help chefs and other service industry professionals to make positive changes in their lives and I believe that those who are looking for change will find it on this path.  After all, Samurai were servants.  Warrior vassals who made service to their Daimyo an integral part of their existence in both life and death.  We give our lives to this business in no small way, dedicating the vast majority of our waking hours to the care of the restaurant to which we have assigned ourselves.  

The western world at large seems to be in a state of self-gratifying stupor and as a child of that world I've searched extensively for some understanding of what our culture is going through.  I set out to seek my enlightenment several years ago and I chose the culinary arts as my path.  These are my musings along the way and this is no more than a humble attempt to share what I have learned in the hopes that some questions might be answered, some light might be shed and that some peace may come.


We can all use the wisdom of Bushido to enhance our experience of life.  




The current Western mindset would say that we're all different and that we should follow what feels good and that whatever system is in question may not 'work for everyone'.  There is always truth to be found wherever one looks for truth.  I would urge caution when approaching any new or different way of thinking and examine it as thoroughly as possible from as objective an angle as possible.  That said, I would also argue that if one's path holds steady in the torrential information blizzard at hand in this modern world, it is likely to be the best path for you - likely, but you'll have to try it on to see if it fits.  






If it works then use it, if it doesn't then reject it.


Welcome to our study of Bushido (Path of the Gentleman with a Knife)

The City Life

I LOVE NEW YORK.

Sometimes its just pandered about sloaganishly as if the city were somehow coddled by the comfort that its citizens care.  Sometimes its genuine.  Of course, one can live anywhere and find it to be a wonderful or a horrible place depending upon that person's general inward satisfaction with life.  Its easy to find plethoras of issues within such a myriad wonderland as is this little wing of our universal fractal.

Its a hard city.

Sometimes, especially in the winter (which seems to have lost its general temerity this season), I feel a microscopic web like the veins of a dragonfly's wings spreading across and through my bones when I wake up and I have to get back to work after 4 hours sleep and 2 hours commute through cold, wet streets.  Walking, standing, waiting on concrete waiting blocks; and my days off are spent in an apartment lucky enough to have one or two windows which filter what little light trickles down the sides of the snowy cloud banks into a grey courtyard of concrete and air handlers and through a layer of solidified smog stuck to their once tranquil and luminescent surfaces. I love New York.

I love New York because she forces the positive out of people in such a way that only the truly stalwart of spirit are left behind and the city brims with greatness all the way to its industrial shorelines because the only people who actually enjoy living here are natural winners.  Competition is deadly.

I love New York because she leaves you no choice.  "Take me as I am, you miserable bastard," she says, "because I am a city generated from the purest fires of passion.  That is what makes you great."

One day, I'll leave this war zone of a city.  When I become complacent.  When I no longer have a drive to grow.  When I become satisfied with the view from the plateau that has become my life, then I'll quit New York.  Yet, even then I'll want a loft in the Financial District, a one bedroom in Tudor City or a little house in Bay Ridge with tenants who save me the attic apartment with a view of the harbor.  Heck, I'd even settle for a gritty studio in the middle of Brooklyn with a grey winters' concrete view.

I'll always take care of the city that has taken such good care of me because I'm sure that as long as I love New York, New York will love me too.

Reflections on Beauty and Value

I know I promised deets about the upcoming Theatre of Comfort Dinners in my last post...rest assured that they are on the way.  However, I do have a little detour from the fervor of foodiedom as I've had some insights over the past week that I feel it important to share.  I'm not sure how to approach this blog best as I have little experience with these sorts of things so, if this post is somehow wildly inappropriate then let me know.  I'll take it down.  I feel like this medium is a form of expression with a little bit of wiggle room and as a chef blog (I'm a chef) this may give you some of the meat of our real lives and let you know that we're not just food jockeys.  We emote.

One of the best things about having a mind rooted in the fertile soil of positivity is that no matter what happens, you can always see the beauty of it and you can always find something of value.  No matter what.  It is one of my many blessings in this life, for which I am extremely grateful, that I am surrounded by these positive, pro-active people.  When things look glum and I'm facing potential crisis (plural?), these people give me the perspective I need to see through the smog of doom and gloom that minds can so easily create.  The longer I'm alive, the more of these situations I seem to come across and perhaps one day I will find the key to creating that perspective more immediately.  Heaven knows I offer it to all manner of people around me whenever I can.  Sometimes its hard to take your own advice?  Anyhow, it feels great to have gratitude in any form; as long as it lives at the core of your being, you will remain free.

Beauty is reality.

Those freckles.  God's contribution to her subtle perfection, slightly twisted lips and the muddled scent of our blessed morning.  Beauty is the shape to which my hand conforms and its tender confirmations.  Beauty defies comparison.  It is boundless and timeless wherever and whenever it may be found.  Beauty is a gracefully opened hand of familiar form, a nurturing palm and a steady gaze.  Least of all does beauty expect or proclaim neither provision nor action.  She arises like the thoughtlessly shining sun.  Reaction-less she reflects all she receives, like the moon without effort or desire.  Like a prism she absorbs the harshest beam and diffuses it into a sparkling floral array.  She is this way on her innermost shore.

Value is clarity.

There is no common value but value through virtue, which is the least common on the shore.  Value is not a glistening steel reflection or a gemstone's turn and polish.  It is not the flickering ticker of the world's economic straw man.  Value is the shape of her hand and its subtle channels intended on their targets.  By its nature it defies expectation because it is boundless and timeless, giving itself wherever and whenever it may go forth into the world.  It is formed and passed by an opened hand, by and honest and gazing eye.  Value has shed its proclamations.  It only acts silently, thoughtlessly, pursuing without competition or comparison, seeing its own innate perfection reflected in the mirror of Creation.  Inside and out.  Bones to skin.  On the shore.

I can see the vast universe of beauty and value scratching at her surface, like so many of us.  What a struggle to deny ourselves such a gift as realizing our own beauty and value.  I express boundless and timeless appreciation for this amazing experience of love and life.  I have a newfound admiration and respect for the Malaysian and Australian cultures.  I have some of the best memories of my entire life thus far and a way to reference New York as maybe not such a hard city after all.  With someone like that to share it with, even the harshest environs can become a paradise.  But sometimes the timing just ain't right and ain't nothing you can do about it except keep moving and be grateful for the gorgeous gift that God lent you for the day.

These are the lessons that give me real perspective and allow my eyes the freedom to perceive her real beauty and her clearest, deepest value.  She will always be an incredible being and I will always honor the place within her where she and I exist eternally, at peace with our source.  Thank you, Doris.  Namaste.

The Kitchen of Comfort

Believe it...  Sometimes its difficult to find a creative outlet as a professional chef.

sometimes its nice to just kick back and collapse on the floor

Don't get me wrong, I love what I do and I do it all the time, but sometimes the restaurant life gets a bit repetitive.  As chefs, most of our day is spent keeping up day to day operations and producing the same dishes, the same way, in the same kitchen and with (hopefully) the same staff.  We spend our time attending to the details that allow you and your spouse to go have an anniversary dinner where you can reminisce about how you fed this same chocolate cake to each other on your first date...how sweet.  Most of the crowd is after what we might call 'spaghetti and meatballs' cuisine, and they pay the bills so we feed them exactly what they want:

...awww

...and we get bored.

The 'Reality Dinner' series in Houston came from this idea that I get from the Japanese term omakase, which is like a customized tasting menu available in many quality Japanese restaurants.  My personal interpretation of omakase is as follows: "A series of dishes intended to establish a dialogue between chef and client in order to determine the 'perfect fit' for the palette and perhaps the health of the individual consuming the meal."

The first Reality Dinner was a menu based on a list of ingredients and was revealed to the diners course by course, chalked up on a blackboard by my GM as they came out.  Some were planned, some were surprises even to me and some were riffs on pre-decided themes.  To be sure, even the team of chefs helping to put this thing together had only a rough notion of what was happening...huddled around for weeks deciphering one of my sporadic ingredient lists riddled with cryptic notes, slashes and arrows.

It was an experiment at the time intended to figure out what drives people together, I wanted to see the reality of a dining experience up close, from all angles.  Why are we here eating this weird stuff that I  couldn't have identified had someone not told me what it was?  "I'm not sure why it tastes so good to everyone else, its just plain odd to me."  I wanted to reexamine the dining experience as something of a theatrical venue because I believe it has gone down that road a bit.  'Molecular Gastronomy' and 'micro-local' trends and people's newfound knowledge and temperaments that they come to the table with.  How do we reconcile the subjective experience of dining and the objective running of a restaurant whilst keeping everyone happy?

These dinners were a fantastic outlet for our more adventurous clients and for all of the staff as well, from bartenders to managers to kitchen staff, a place where everyone could both learn from and contribute to something greater than all of us.  Anyone who has participated in these types of events knows exactly the type of synergy I'm referring to.  Food has been very special to most of us in one way or another since the beginning of our collective history.  Wars have been fought over the stuff, families are bound together by food-centric traditions.

For many of us, food is comfort.

In continuing to study what it is that drives people to put certain things in their mouths other than sheer necessity, we're putting together a series of dinners to investigate the history and motivation behind "comfort food"...the 'Theatre of Comfort' dinner series.  We want to understand what makes the intimate experience of dining so special and where some of the crazy traditions and foods were born, what kept them alive through the years.  I posit that we will find a close connection to necessity and to the abundance of specific foods within specific localities that have laid a path for tradition's journey to the modern day.  We will put together a series of regional menus and study the history and lore surrounding food traditions from the area, pair appropriate music and engage a theatrical theme for each dinner.

Theme ideas include: The American South, Italy, Latin America, The Northeastern US, Eastern Europe and Russia, The Japanese, India, The Pacific Rim, and of course China.  Some of the menus will be up on my next post and we will keep updates coming revealing time and place, thematic notions, and sundry entertainments.  Comment for us on any suggestions, special requests, if you're interested in hosting one of the dinners or if you'd like to lend a hand in any way, let us know!

Angels Behind the Stainless Curtain

Just to pay tribute to some of the most important people around me these days.  Let us remember well these pillars of support from old mentors who led us the way to the ones who mop the floors and put away deliveries for us, to the ones taking the real heat on the line, to the joyous ones who bring light to the end of sometimes dreary days.  I thank you all, humbly for all manner of support.  Without any of you, this world would be...well...a whole hell of a lot tougher to take.  I love and appreciate all of you.

Some are always there, you just know.

Some run their asses off for you, even when they're tired to the bone.

Some contribute mountains of time.

Some have a big enough heart to contribute everything they can, even in adversity.

Some make you laugh.

Some will be there in the blink of an eye.

Some are your hands.

Some are your heart.

Some bring us all together.

Some make us proud.

Some feed our inspiration.

Some are foundations.

And some just know these things all too well.

Thanks, y'all!

The Order of the Chef

Chefs tend to work incessant hours for some reason.  Could it be a habit built from our early days earning our lumps in stumpy basement kitchens?  A constant search for perfection that is never sated as there is always someone making 'douchebag' behavior somewhere in our restaurant?  Are we simply bullied by hoards of hungry mouths chomp chomping away with fervor during their time off?  Whatever the reason, when it comes to having a productive life outside of work, many of us just need help.

How many cliches are out there regarding irate, bar-hopping, cigarette smoking, hysterically ranting, drug-induced panting, mouth foaming, front of house eating, battered t-shirt wearing, not shaving, office sleeping, molten steel bleeding, angry blogging chefs?  Is this some new American standard of the culinary world?  Are chefs like this everywhere?  Is something amiss with our associated lifestyle?

My theory is this:  we get into the industry and eagerly work our fingers to the bone doing the 'bitch' schedules and skullduggery required of most culinary know-nothings and the rhythm begins to set in.  After work we go for a couple drinks to blow off some steam, maybe someone brings along other unmentionables and now we have friends...and strings.  We can't really fathom having other friends because normal people...go hang out in restaurants during the hours we toil.  Once we climb the ranks not much changes, we still stick around after our shift and bs with the guys, or we go out to the bars but now they are different bars, the ones where the chefs and sous chefs hang out.  This is not a schedule conducive to a healthy, happy life.  This is not a schedule we are required to keep.  This is a trap of this very challenging industry that can easily be avoided.  With help.

This is where the Order of the Chef comes into play.  The Order of the Chef is an association for all of the chefs out there who feel stuck in the mire of a day to day 'vicious cycle' lifestyle.  You know who you are.  If you are still jammin out to the beat of that 2pm alarm clock, then the Order of the Chef is not for you.  If you are desperate to make a change and can't figure out how, if you get those 'bursts of enthusiasm' that die out in two weeks or two months and find yourself back in the muck, if you find yourself treading water and questioning your culinary resolve, then we may have something for you.

Many may want to revel in the 'industry lifestyle'...will that edge out my resolve to create a metaphorical walk-in for us all to hide out in when service gets hairy?  No.  I'm calling on my fellow culinary professionals to sound the battle cry!  We don't need to be the red headed step children of  our global workplace, we can find balance in the helping hands of our brigade.  We understand each other because we've been through the same fire in myriad localities.  We are all chefs.

Our mission as the Order of the Chef will be to promote and facilitate healthy, pro-active lifestyles for our members, to lead by example and to build a network of like-minded industry professionals as a support structure for those seeking change.  Make no mistake, we are here to eradicate drug and alcohol problems from this industry.

Please let us know what you think and contact us if you want  to get involved.