A kitchen without consistency is going nowhere fast.
Having dined in literally thousands of restaurants, many on multiple occasions, I’ve always had my eye on whether the chef producing the dish(es) is in tune with the scientific constraints of his ingredients and the recipe, or whether the artisan in the chef imprints his/her personality on the dish, as after all, what a chef cooks is often an extension of their personality.
So you can imagine my disappointment when on multiple visits to stand alone restaurants and hotel restaurants to see dishes I’d already enjoyed come out looking completely different, with variable seasoning and textures.
Some time ago I came to recognise that some (many) kitchens simply don’t have a central recipe book nor a visual dish assembly guide. It was literally chefs just having a go without an undisciplined approach.
The free cooking approach is fine to a certain level but anything award winning needs super levels of consistency. It doesn’t matter who’s cooking, the dishes should be exactly as imagined and tested by the head chef.
Connected to setting off in the right direction is the menu tasting when the menu is launched. Get the food service team involved, take loads of photos, and make sure everyone knows what things should look and taste like from day 1.
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