“Experience is the hardest teacher there is- it gives the test first and teaches the lesson after.”

I’m still plugging away at my book at mentorship and training. It’s slow going, partially because of lack of metaphorical spoons on a given day and partially because going back over some parts involves frankly unpleasant memories. What I tell myself about why this particular book has taken so damn long compared to my last two is because I’ve been in a position of Actual Documented and Titled Leadership- first as the kitchen manager of the pie shop and now as the pastry lead of a winery.

Neither title includes the word “chef-“ but it’s the team that makes the leader.

I’ve told myself that these experiences were effectively ongoing research material and proof of concept for the book and that that’s why I effectively put the book on ice for a bit. “This is good advice? Ok, how’d it work when YOU tried it?”

On an interpersonal level, not badly. Plenty of folks left their jobs, a few stayed, those who stayed were happy. Not everything is for everyone, and that’s just how life goes.

On a professional level, though, and especially as a middle manager, there is a lot that went wrong no matter what I said or did. There is only ever so much one person can control, and the role of a leader, in my mind, is to lead, communicate, serve, and protect their team. Eventually people have to look after themselves- as a leader, I can only ever advocate and look out of them as much as I can.

If you’re doing this whole “life” thing right though, you live and you learn. I made a poster of my previous axioms of kitchen wisdom that you might apply to daily life, but there always more to learn… and I can always fix the poster.

Don’t Build An Outfit Around A Tie

You had a GREAT idea. Seriously, this one is AWESOME. You have the materials. It’s quick. It’s affordable. It’s not a whole package by itself, but it So Good and SO COOL. You could blow peoples minds with this.

Okay, awesome, cool cool… but what will it go with? Who is this for?

For this fall’s menu, I really wanted to include a cheddar cheese aspect with a Sea Salt Caramel Apple Pie. Trust me, it’s awesome. It’s precedented. You won’t regret trying it… but would you buy it? My chef and I dithered back and forth about the best way to include cheddar cheese on the dish. Would our customers go for it? Was it too “out there” despite being an old European pairing?

After twenty minutes or so, I threw up my hands. “Screw it. You don’t build an outfit around a tie, I’m not gonna throw this dish out trying to make cheese we already have sell.”

We all have moments like this. An awesome quirky idea that works and that people like- but we just can’t figure out how to make it fit in.

My advice? Quit Trying. Stick it in your back pocket and wait for that idea’s time and place. Building a dish around a garnish or a technique is like trying to style an outfit based on an accessory. Can it be done? Sure, but you shouldn’t need to try so hard to make the best things work.

You Can’t Make Bricks Without Clay

The order didn’t come in. You don’t have the tools you need and there’s no MacGuyering it. Seriously, who ever heard of a pastry department running out of FLOUR?!

These things happen. You did your best, you don’t have the materials you need, and no way to improvise. Mistakes were made, and everyone’s gonna have to have a bite of the Big Shit Sandwich.

You can try and keep trying, but you can’t make something out of nothing. Physics doesn’t work that way. Own it, report it, and stick up for yourself if anyone gives you a hard time. Maybe you made a mistake- maybe someone else did. Regardless, right now, the result is the same and it ain’t good. Eat your share of crow and fix the problem for the future.

Don’t Build A Cake You Can’t Fit Through The Door

You can totally do it. You have the materials, the skills, the tools, the people, the time, you can do it. You can make this happen! Not only can you make this happen, you pull it off! It’s perfect, it’s a masterpiece, one for the portfolio… if you can get it to the client.

When we get wrapped up in big visions and ideas, it’s easy to lose track of the nuts and bolts- the smaller details that make the thing happen. When it comes to giant cakes, bakers will deliver it in pieces and then bring what they need to assemble and finish the cake on location, but even that takes knowledge, forethought, and planning.

This is different from overpromising- you can totally make that giant-ass cake! Don’t commit to building something you can’t ship without the forethought and infrastructure in place. You’ll wind up with a lot of cake, an angry client, and blood pressure medication.

K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid.)

You’ve heard this one. You know this one- it’s not special to the bake shop, or even any particular industry. “Don’t be fancy, get the job done.”

We’ve all been there though. We’ve tried to “build an outfit around a tie” but the “tie” is the new technique we learned, the new equipment we just got, or the new recipe we’ve hit upon. We’ve gotta make the time and investment worth it and it’s so new and cool.

It might be the opposite too. Maybe we’ve been at this for awhile and we have a LOT of experience to pull from. We need to make a new dessert sauce, and we start throwing ideas at the wall. “Sodium Citrate? Fluid Gel?” Compression, Dehydration, Infusion, Spherification…. All these ideas and technique at our disposal, why not consider them all?!

Or, or, OR… maybe we make a classic creme anglaise with that flavor profile, and now we don’t have to spend 48 hours or buy bags of esoteric ingredients to make a sauce happen.

Classics are classics for a reason, and good recipes/formulas are good for a reason. Instead of figuring out how to do the latest, wildest, most technical thing imaginable… see if you can pull it off simply first, and add complexity if necessary.

Your customer isn’t standing next to you making sure you use the coolest stuff from your distributors catalog. They just want a good product that feels like what they paid for. Let your and knowledge talk first- slip in the tricks afterward if you need them.

I’m sure I can add, but that’ll be for future posts. Can you guys think of any others? Drop them in the comments!

Stay Classy,