Camaraderie (file under Kitchen Love)

At least two or three times I have written about the camaraderie that develops in a kitchen. It is a bond of brothers and sisters that come together to complete a task together in the most beautiful and wonderful ways. But that camaraderie is not limited to just the kitchen in which you work.

Currently, at Without Reservation, when I go out for a smoke, I am facing the smoking area of another kitchen. A couple of times a day I will see their Pastry Chef, or Sous Chef or just some of the line cooks doing the same thing that I am, having a cigarette and working through whatever needs to be worked through that day.

There is the normal small chitchat but then there are also conversations which reveal the true camaraderie of the kitchen. I have been speaking with the Sous Chef and Pastry Chef there since I started at Without Reservation. They constantly give me good advice and are interested in my progress in the kitchen. This also filters down to the line cooks as well. I am struck by the camaraderie that develops.

It is a nice feeling to escape the constantly balmy thirty five degrees of the kitchen and to have a conversation with someone for a minute or two, or five as the case may be.

This experience has led me to believe that there is an unspoken bond between kitchens the world over. Anthony Bourdain has spoken about this many times too. Perhaps it is because we are all in the joyous suffering of burns, cuts, scrapes and failed experiments. Perhaps it is the cigarette or perhaps, maybe, just maybe, it is something deeper. Something more human. Something spiritual which transcends our humanity and instead highlights our shared experience and makes us reach for one another. I’m not sure what it is. But I can tell you this, it makes me feel extremely happy to know that this exists outside of the military or a hockey team.

Moreover, in going back to Reservation this week, I felt as if that camaraderie still exists even when people move on. I don’t think it is true in every case, but certainly, it would appear, in mine.

Just something that I’ve been meaning to write about for a while.

Todd English once said; “I liked the energy of cooking, the action, the camaraderie. I often compare the kitchen to sports and compare the chef to a coach. There are a lot of similarities to it.”

Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM