What Makes A Great Chef?

Part 1 of 2.

This was a question I was recently asked at a dinner table, by someone who I was meeting for the first time. “Ooof… where to even begin with this answer,” I stalled to buy time and pull up something recycled, maybe some cool thing I’ve said out loud on more than one occasion or perhaps in passing as advice to a young cook. The more I ran that question through my brain, the more I saw myself giving completely different responses.

A simple question like that all of a sudden became a mental and emotional exercise I was not ready for, so much so that it led me down a path where I began to question how I would have answered it before I got into this industry (10 years ago), after the initial success of República (3 years ago), and now.

I was in my 30s when I fell in love with this industry and the people in it, more specifically the superstar chefs of this city. I looked in admiration at their beautiful work. I’d visit their restaurants, read their stories, follow their blogs or instagram accounts (though there weren't very many), show up at any of their events, even the occasional pop-ups. I had so much admiration for what they were doing. If anyone back then would have asked me the question “What makes a great chef?

”  I would have said something like: Obviously, their food. The way they can manipulate the components that to us mortals are simply just that: components. To them they are colors to be used on a canvas. And like an artist, a great chef that is in his prime will make a collection of dishes – one brilliant memorable dish after another, after another… after another.Eventually, through scattered periods of genius they create a number of collections that reflect a time period and place; some good, some great, and if they’re lucky,  two or three masterpieces. And just like the masters, great chefs inspire culinary movements: surrealism, Impressionism, Expressionism, Pop Art, Abstract, Contemporaries…  blah, blah, blah.

Please forgive me if I ever sounded like that. I was not qualified to answer that question.

When I think of the way that I would have answered this question three years ago, more specifically, after a lifetime of accolades condensed into a 16-month span, coupled with the pains of growing too fast, and not prioritizing (emotional) self care, my answer would have likely reflected all of those things.

Great Chefs are more than just people who make great food. A great Chef behaves like a professional, inside and outside of their kitchen. They keep clear boundaries at all times, even if it means sacrificing friendships and relationships within the organization or the community. A great chef listens and knows how to process feedback. Great chefs have the competitive drive of an athlete who goes out there daily to win. They have foresight for where they see the industry going, and continue to innovate and, if necessary, reinvent themselves. A great chef challenges the way you think about food and has the confidence to ignore the noise coming from those who do not understand their greater vision.

They are process-oriented and results-driven, and those results come in the form of accolades. A great chef knows that without the accolades always in sight you cannot inspire others to go beyond their own self-imposed limits. If the chef doesn’t own the restaurant, a great chef always aligns with what is best for the organization and will make sacrifices for the greater good of it all when necessary, be it through a united voice or through a shared vision. A great chef has the mentality that you “rest in the end, and not in the middle”.

I’ll be honest, when I think back to that time, I only recall the pain I was feeling at the moment, both physically and emotionally. And yet, even as I read it back I can’t help but to think, would our company  have survived if we didn’t have that mentality during our toughest of times? Even if much of our pain was self-imposed?

Truth is, I’ll never know. At the time, having the mentality of what can only be described as a wartime CEO was the only way we were able to stay in the game.

So what would I say now if you ask me the question: what makes a chef great? I’d say something like:

Outside of what is on the surface, I wouldn’t have enough time to tell you what makes a great chef, but I could tell you that when you see that greatness you simply sit back and applaud it for all of the work that led up to that moment. You see, I can tell you what it takes to build the environment around the individual: the people, the space, the ideas, the vision, the love and support, the trust in their skill and their passion. And I can also tell you what characteristics to look for when you are developing that individual: drive, passion, energy, curiosity, humility, the way they take their feedback and direction… down to the friendships and lifestyle they keep. 

But at the end of the day, what makes a great chef truly great depends on the individual. 

Greatness comes in different personalities at different stages of life. Those personalities change drastically depending on the environment. Common sense would indicate that the better the environment around the chef the better the end product… that is until you think back to every tortured genius in history and all of their amazing work, but those are far and few between.

Nonetheless, in my opinion, what truly makes a great chef is not so much the end result or what the public gets to see, but rather the work, determination, and sacrifice they had to make so that that same public could appreciate their greatness. 

I’ll admit, this is not the sexiest or most awe-inspiring answer that you were probably hoping for. And I’m okay with that. At the end of the day, there is only so much you can explain about this industry that makes sense to anyone outside of it. When I read that answer back I see the way in which I’ve removed so much of my own bullshit out of it all. I’ve learned to accept that greatness comes in stages, and sometimes the greatness of having your chefs be considered some of the best in the country is as important and as beautiful as the greatness of having the people that started with you move up through the ranks of your organization.

This is who I am now. Things are good. Things are different, not because I’ve changed so much, but because I’ve finally reached the stage of maturity where I’ve learned to accept there are certain things I can’t change about who I am. About my own drive, my own character, my own thoughts… I am still very much the person above. I still think of chefs as artists and the rest of us as mere mortals. I am also that person who has a Kobe quote on the pass, the person who sees everything as competition; friendly or otherwise. I am the person who grows frustrated when I see the hours of work and sacrifices that it takes to do what we do be overseen or worse yet, not understood by those in this industry. Sometimes I am able to hide that energy or turn off those feelings, other times I feed into it and let it drive me. Most of the time is good, other times it can be unhealthy. But, I want to believe that we wouldn’t be where we are if it wasn’t for a combination of it all.

As always, where am I going with all of this?

Ooooof. This one isn’t easy. Then again it never is. 

June 7th will be Chef Jose “Lalo” Camarena’s last day as the Executive Chef of República and with this organization.

Before I can truly wrap my head around how official and how real that last statement is, I am going to wait a few days, in hopes that we can all take the time to properly process the last 2 years of his tenure.

Believe me, I have a lot of thoughts and a lot of feelings about it all, but you’re going to have to wait a few days before I share all of it.

See you in a few days.

Angel