Full Contact Cooking- Celebrity Chef VS Grandma

I have some great friends  at Nick’s Pizza and Pub in suburban Chicago who have generously shared their unique business philosophy with me over the past few years.

One of the guiding principles of Nick’s is that all food must pass “the Grandma test”. Before bringing a food item to the table, employees must ask themselves if they would serve the dish to their Grandma. This is a really effective way to maintain quality control and I recently “borrowed” this idea for a staff meeting. The team immediately embraced the concept of the “Grandma test” but then something interesting occurred. One of my young managers reversed the principle. She stated “You know, the best meals I ever had were prepared by my Grandma, Maybe before we serve a dish we should also ask ourselves if our Grandma would serve it to us?” Now there is a powerful question.

The past several years have seen the rise of a new type of celebrity, what I call “The Angry Chef”. You have seen them all over TV. They curse, fling pots and pans, abuse novice employees and bully patrons and staff alike. It makes for dramatic television, but I think it’s starting to do some harm. Cooking is now experienced as some form of extreme sport. My fear is that newcomers to our industry see these “performances” and think that borderline violence is a way to demonstrate commitment and passion. Violence and anger are never a legitimate expression of passion in the kitchen or in any other social relationship.  The average culinary student doesn’t know how much training, discipline and talent are behind what really makes those celebrity chefs successful, all they see is the act.

Now back to Grandma. I bet almost everyone of us has a memory of our Grandma, lovingly standing over a stove for hours preparing a meal that will last in our minds forever. No special equipment, no gourmet ingredients, probably no recipe, and definitely no swearing or pot flinging. The one ingredient that was constant in every “Grandma meal” was love… Love for the food, love for the traditions, love for the people she was cooking for, and love for the very act of cooking itself. 

Without getting too metaphysical, I really believe that our bodies can feel the difference between food that’s  cooked with love and food that’s cooked with anger. In some Buddhist monasteries only the most spiritually advanced monks are allowed to prepare meals. One thing is certain; I don’t want angry or scared people cooking or serving my food. When you visit a place like Nick’s Pizza and Pub you can feel the spirit of “Grandma” everywhere including the way that team members treat each other. In my opinion Grandma’s love knocks out the “Angry Chef” every time.