Finding Your Voice; How to Create Your Style and Lead the Way you Want
Most cooks graduate college and think they have a style defined, or have worked under one chef and consider themselves and expert in their style of cuisine. However, once we get in a room with someone who really knows their stuff the difference is apparent, and one can come quickly embarrassed. How do we find our style? Your style is influenced by everywhere you’ve been and every creative thought you muster. On hikes i’ll find interesting shapes found in nature, maybe this will inspire a new plate, or sauce color or anything to differentiate my style as my own. Long walk’s don’t speak to everyone, so here are some of my favorite suggestions on getting to know yourself and your cuisine.
Find Chemistry in Like Minded Chefs
If there are any chefs you admire in your city, let them know! Networking is a great way to find new communities and a new train of thought
It’s easy to get a conversation going about meat vendors, producers, hard to find ingredients in the city. With the right luck, and a good attitude most chefs have no problem giving you some secrets
The chemistry you find among other chefs can be electric. This is where some of my best ideas have come from. From time to time I have on what are called my “horse blinders”. I know my solutions, and sometimes its hard to see outside of that. All it takes is one person with an idea to change your perspective on how to creatively think
Be Transparent with Your Own Skills
Too many young chefs get caught up with putting themselves in a bubble, and I did the same thing. I used to have a very avant garde/playful style and the entire time I was so focused on things at the molecular level, that I stopped practicing all of the larger items (like roasts, charcuterie, curing etc.)
If there is something you want to do thats wonderful! But if you aren’t excellent at it yet, don’t call it your style. This will lead you down a path of confusion and false promises to your customers
Is your style more Tom Colicchio or Ferran Adria?
Do you want to cook relatively simple food at the top of your game?
Or do you want showpieces, theater, and small bites that change the way people think?
There is an intersection in both, but they don’t crossover all of the time. Is your style as refined as you would like it?
At the end of every 6 months I like to take a look back at all of my work and go through it in detail to better for next time (there is always another level to perfection). At the end of the 6 months, you’ll notice you’ve changed a ton in your plating and food ideology.
With where your food currently sits, where do you want to move the needle? Creatively? Or like a skilled tradesman with perfect pasta, roasts and broths?
If you are struggling to create a system, find someone else’s to start
I love to use Chef Sean Brock’s PIE system as a starting point. What is his system?
P: Products
I: Ideas
E: Execution
Chef Sean Brock starts with what is in season, and what is growing beautifully in the region. Finding your favorite farmers, produce and meat commodities take a while, but once you build your catalog this starting point goes faster. It’s all about the ingredient first, then manipulation/processing later
With these gorgeous vegetables in mind, this is when the ideas start floating around. In my ideation sessions I like to use a large white board. Anyone in the room can yell out any vegetable. From there we decide is this certain vegetable better raw/pickled/roasted/shaved etc… and test from there to find the best way to get it to our customers. Soon you have a massive tree of ideas and information
Then it comes down to execution. Chef Brock said “If you can’t do it for 100 guests perfect every time, it isn’t a complete well thought out concept”. I wholeheartedly agree. Make your own goals and specifications so tight that you cannot fail!
Finding your voice in the kitchen as a leader, and developing your style is an ever-evolving cycle. You will continue to go through the process, and as you do I would like you to reflect on everything. Did a sauce come out too scorched? Were you not paying attention? Perhaps you need to work on focus and not just sauce making. There are nuances to our craft everywhere, and my goal is to help everyone find their voice in an effort to raise culinary quality across the world.
Have a great week ahead!
Chef Stephen
Website: chefstephenhanyzewski.com
Instagram: @chefstephenhanyzewski
