Life’s Work: An Interview with Ruth Reichl
Meals inspire comparisons, not just of the food, but of the overall experience. What makes a restaurant memorable? What makes you want to go back to it, to recommend it? How does it achieve those coveted stars? As we drove down through the Cevennes we came to the conclusion that we would never qualify as Michelin inspectors; we’d fail the furniture
... See morePeter Mayle • Encore Provence: New Adventures in the South of France (Vintage Departures)
highlights from Danny Meyer’s autobiography via David Senra:
1. I had an uncontainable drive to win.
2. The inception of Shake Shack actually began with a humble hot dog cart. Small as the project was, I took this cart quite seriously. I was asking myself, "Who ever wrote that rule that you can't push the envelopes of excellence and hospitality for
... See moreJohn Carlin, “If the World’s Greatest Chef Cooked for a Living, He’d Starve,” Guardian, December 11, 2006, http://observer.theguardian.com/foodmonthly/futureoffood/story/0,,1969713,00.html
Greg Mckeown • Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
“I had a period after I left a restaurant I was working at,” Redzepi said, “where everyone treated me as if I was a stranger to them. *Leave. Stay away. Now we’re competitors.*That kind of thing. And it was a terrible experience. It was just a terrible experience. And I promised myself never to be that. Never to create that experience for anyone el
... See moreBilly Oppenheimer • SIX at 6: Assembling Firewood, Periods of Frustration, a Failure and a Loser, Shadow Careers, René Redzepi, and What All Persons Must Think
Taste is the bone-deep feeling that you’ve made something good. It is a sense, inexplicable and ephemeral. But it’s also a tangible skill that’s increasingly essential. Taste is how a business differentiates itself when attention is scarce and choice is abundant. Knowing what to make is just as important as the ability to make it.