“The Blue Apron”.
In America, like the Red Sox "B" on a ball cap or the Nike "Swoosh" or now the omnipotent “Terrible Towel” of Steeler-Nation, “The Blue Apron” of The French Laundry is a symbol. The symbol is a study in humility. An underlying river of opportunity for those who are good enough and humble enough to don it and to continually exercise the teachings and perfection of Thomas Keller. All cooks and chefs wear “The Blue Apron” during their work day while prepping and doing the detail work necessary for the tasting menu service. Chef and Sous Chef will, during service, wear traditional white chef bistro aprons – leaving behind their status as learners and becoming the teachers and driving forces of the cuisine.
Cooks at TFL are students first and students always. “Raimundo”, a contributing blogger to this cook’s diary wrote that, “in Zen, the secret of the arts is to always be a beginner”. This was fully evident over the course of the past few days in the kitchen of TFL. Executive Sous Chef Devin Knell made continual forays into what “the standards of TFL are and how important that is to the fabric of what TFL is and what TFL represents”. To me, it was literally spine-tingling narrative (of course I wrote it down, only after looking to the extern, “Neils”, standing next to me who immediately said – “blog it”).
“The Blue Apron” is about standards.
From a letter from Thomas A. Keller to the stagier program participants - "We are a group of individuals committed to the common goal of creating fond memories for our guests and ourselves, elevatings the standards and expectations of the restaurant industry and developing a secure and ideal work environment. To acheive those goals we must all work at them tirelessly, fearlessly and with TFL values deeply imbued in our core". Maintaining the parameters of the standards that have been set by those who have come before you and teaching those standards to those that come after you is what I see at every turn in this kitchen. One must be patient enough to teach and humble enough to learn. Work clean. Work efficiently. Work smart. Concentrate. Own the moment. Stay attentive. At TFL, the staff polices the staff in all elements of food storage, production, personal appearance and culinary theology. One must continually be a student of the culinary arts and at the same time produce incredibly good cuisine while passing those techniques and methods along to other cooks. Now, just saying that an establishment, or any business for that matter, has standards does not proclaim the depth of practicing it’s mantra as I see at 6640 Washington Street in Yountville. The kitchen, dining, wine and office staffs - from its inception by the Chef/Patron (as homage to time-honored practices in Europe) - have bought into the concept of what TFL standards are, and what they will eventually mean to the guest.
“The Blue Apron” is all about the guest.
This is all for the guests of TFL. The effort, the passion, the physical aches and pains (o.k., that one was about me…six Ibuprofen a day, still) and the quest towards “the pursuit of perfection” is all meant to give the guest an experience. Look beyond the silver service ware, the beautiful plates and the small food portions within an extended tasting menu and one could see the effort put forth by as many as 24 cooks and chefs in the kitchen during a work day. Details matter. The Blue Apron is indeed a symbol to be earned, appreciated and worn with pride – only if its wearer buys in to the standards.
For students and professionals alike, the mythical “Blue Apron” could be manifested in your own standards. The toque. The bistro apron. The necktie. The Red Sox “B”. Whatever it may be that is your identifying feature as a practitioner of your art – respect it, maintain HIGH standards and hire the best employees who will buy in to the expectations of your vision. May “The Blue Apron” be with you, always... Peace.
~R
