#26 - 07 February 2009 - "The Dance"

They come from across the American landscape, from Korea and Ireland, far-away New Zealand, Germany, and Sweden and from our border friends of Canada and Mexico. These are the men and women who have come to The French Laundry to "dance". The dance is a symbiotic relationship between cooks and the front of the house staff. An intimate and personal Maginot Line between cooks and other kitchen personnel. A twisted battle between cooks and their own personal space of mise en place, organizational habits (or not...) and the always-moving and never-stopping tick-tock of the clock on the wall... The dance is mobile poetry. The dance is a "pas de deux" of all that exists in the kitchen that moves or is rooted in place. How well you maneuver through the timeless space of the kitchen and amidst the modern cacophony of orders, call backs and cries for needed product determines your level of expertise and success. Most hot food kitchen pros relish the dance. The bakery and patisserie is a different mind-set and the dance is more solo - a self-driven Zen of inert flour brought alive by yeast or a love for chocolate, almond paste and vanilla bean.

Part of what we do as chefs is please people, especially our clients and guests, in a visceral, spiritual and restorative manner. We cook to please ourselves, as well. We imitate the techniques of the thousands who have come before us - our way of "returning to the past" as Chef Keller has been quoted. We strive to impress the chef under whose guise the kitchen either flows seamlessly along the continuum of tasting menus and a la carte services, or perhaps flounders upon the rocky shores of unrest and disarray. Are there moments of stress and angst in all kitchens? Without a doubt. It’s never personal, nor should it be construed that way. Its business. It’s the guest who is our ultimate consideration. Check your ego at the door...

The quest is often towards "the perfect service". Those days can sometimes only be counted on the digits left on our scarred and wounded hands... The perfect service is sometimes like the "perfect storm" of silver-screen fame some years back. The kitchen could be considered the outer arms of a hurricane-like frenzy of action while the dining room exists within the "eye" where everything is always calm and quiet. What the guest experiences is the result of that syncopated effort. It requires dozens of people providing a live theatre and dancing in the maelstrom community of the kitchen. You gotta love it if you are a fan of "the dance".

The funny thing about the dance is that is it the same every day - yet, its completely different every day, as well...the players are the same and the time frame is the same but the events as they play out are those days moments that belong to no other. Like the "break a leg" platitude behind a rising theatre curtain, the kitchen lore requires a "have a good service" and handshake-greeting before the six or seven hours of service begin... Staying focused and having your mise en place in order allow a cook to stand and man the stoves for hours at a time. The dance is a multitude of efforts that allow our guests to feel that something special is happening around them, and most importantly - for them. Enjoy your dance. Peace.

~R