Posts by Mikeb

I usually just get them to peel and cook some vegetables, sort through salad greens, and cook staff meal. Can usually get a pretty good idea of how they work/cook from watching them do these simple tasks. Unfortunately, it's also...

Ditch the gelatin. White choc mousse doesn't need it, between the milk solids and lecithin in the white chocolate there should be enough stabilisers. For white choc mousse usually I melt white chocolate, add some crème anglaise,...

Chains are a good starting point. In my own career, I started out in a chain restaurant at 18, then moved to a golf course, and at 19 I got a job at the top fine dining restaurant in my city. After 3 months (still 19 years old) I was...

Dunno, this seems strange to me as molecular gastronomy actually started in part with Chefs who adopted pastry techniques to the savoury kitchen...

Odds are she'd screw up the puff pastry as well... You really can't expect anything out of a culinary school grad. Last pastry job I had I had to supervise several pastry school grads - they were so clueless I'd give them busywork...

I used to wear an all-black chef uniform. Nowadays though, I spend a ton of time in the pastry shop, so for that I wear white. I'm not sure which I prefer really, I think my favourite look would be a white jacket with black pants and a...

At a gastro restaurant what I look for is for the plate to communicate to the diner how to eat it. If the food is meant to be eaten in the same bite it's stacked, if it's meant to be eaten separately but with the same sauce you line...

When I was working in fine dining we did spend a great deal of time on plating. I find that when I'm a guest at a restaurant, the plating really doesn't matter much to me. Taste (and texture) is much more important. The food could...

I enjoy making customers happy. Cooking good quality food for people to enjoy. And that's it. Nothing better than when a customer tells me I made the best risotto they've ever had (and then request it over and over despite it not...

After a certain point, if you want to make any money in this business, you need to transition from cook to businessman. Learning is great and all, but what about family and your personal life? I don't know about you, but the thought of...