Experience
2018 - 2019
Chef De Cuisine
EMP Summer House & Winter House (Make It Nice)East Hamptons, NY & Aspen, CO
2012 - 2012
Chef de Partie
Gilt RestaurantNew York, NY
Education
Advice from Richard Lee
Quotes about career path, skills, and teamwork from an industry leader.
I find hobbies and things I enjoy outside of work.
I workout, I love football, I spend time with friends that are not in the industry. It's important to me to turn off my mind to work so that when I am there, I can be completely present. I think if you pay attention to most chefs who have been doing it for a long time, you notice they all have healthy hobbies that keep them focused.
I mostly listen to sports podcasts.
I take a lot of parallels of teamwork and motivation from sports and try to apply it work when I can. I usually use podcasts and music as a way to turn off.
It's important to take care of your body.
Restaurants can be extremely taxing on your physical health and that can in turn affect your mental health and motivation. The gym is not so much about getting bigger and stronger for me but more so trying to bulletproof my body so I can keep going.
I think it's important to set lines of where your work life stops and where your personal life begins, it's even hard as the executive chef.
You owe it to yourself and your team to be the best version of yourself when you are at the restaurant so when you are away from it, you need to make sure you are getting proper rest and giving your mind a break from work. I think many people feel guilty not giving it your all, all of the time but it's important to recharge properly.
I rely heavily on Excel Spreadsheets -- I am a big prep list nerd.
Reaching #1 in The World's 50 Best Restaurants with Eleven Madison Park was one of the greatest team accomplishments.
It took everyone giving it their all, from the kitchen to the dining room to the porters and reservation team. I was fortunate enough to be sous chef on that team. I don't think the scale of what we accomplished had quite sunk in but it's great to look back at.
I recommend reading Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential." I often remind people that it's important to know the hardships of a job.
If you want to do something you love you have to love the good and the bad of it.
I can't live without caffeine to do my job.
Chef collaborations have been a fantastic way to keep learning even while running a restaurant.
It's a great way to see cooking from a different perspective. And as far as leadership, I try to take inspiration from leaders from every industry, Fortune 500 CEOs, sports and coaches, military, anything that involves trying to get the most out of a group of individuals.
The restaurant and my team inspire me.
Saison's history keeps the bar high for me, it's an iconic restaurant and I take the responsibility of leading it very seriously. My team also keeps me going, there are times it gets hard and I remind myself that everyone who dedicates themselves to this restaurant is my responsibility and the choices I make affect more than just myself.
The ability to take criticism is one of the most valuable traits in any industry.
You can grow faster than your peers if you seek criticism and receive it in an unemotional way so that you can work on the areas where you need to improve.
It's important to set goals every day.
We are constantly coaching, at the end of the night we look at where we can improve the next day. We set goals so everyone hits the ground running the next day. Professional growth is the goal for everyone who walks through the doors to work at Saison, you dedicate your hard work and time to us and I make sure to give you a set of skills to take the next step in your career.
Candidates need to have teamwork and a hunger to prove themselves.
The ability to stay calm and be a good leader through stressful and chaotic situations are important for a chef to possess.
When hiring, I look for candidates who have a balance of humility, to know that they have a lot to learn in this profession, and confidence, to know that they can step up to any challenge as long as they prepare.
One of my favorite things about working in a restaurant, especially the ones I have, is that it attracts all types of people from all over.
And all these people bond together over their love for cuisine. Because of cooking I have friends all over the world and without restaurants, I don't think that would have ever been a possibility for me.
Always train with your next role in mind.
I have had a mentality of constantly wanting to earn my next position in a kitchen. I also always wanted to be ready when I did get promoted, so the combination of the two kept me pretty sharp as a young cook.
From my first hotline service as a 17 year old line cook at a busy Italian restaurant, I knew that working in a restaurant was what I wanted to do.
It caught my attention like nothing else did at that point in my life.
I think every job I have worked has been crucial to my growth, but I think working at One Market under Chef Mark Dommen was the most impactful.
It was a restaurant that sparked my curiosity for a higher level of dining. I used every day, almost like practicing for a two or three star restaurant. Chef Mark also pushed me to go to New York and work at the toughest restaurant I could find to challenge myself. Without that, I would not be where I am today.
I worked with a cook who told me "cooking is simple, if a chef tells you not to do something, don't do it." A lot can be interpreted from that but it felt like a load off my shoulders, I stopped trying to be perfect and it took away my fear of making mistakes.
It allowed me to attack tasks without hesitation, I would give something my best try, and if it wasn't right, I would learn from it and not repeat the mistake.
Roles in Culinary
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