Roseline Troxler – Lucerne Newspaper

04.08.2020, 5 a.m

For Ivan Djordjevic and Joel Marbach, it means a new phase in life. The two 16-year-olds started their apprenticeship these days. In the newly renovated Hotel Hirschen in Oberkirch, Ivan Djordjevic is training as a restaurant operator, while Joel Marbach is training to be a chef. He said he had a lot of fun cooking early on, while Djordjevic attributes the choice of profession to several trial internships. Despite starting an apprenticeship in an industry that is going through difficult times, Marbach says:

“I am very happy to learn new things, and a good atmosphere in the team is important to me.”

For Djordjevic, teaching means growing up and gaining “greater independence from parents”.

Over 4500 young men and women are starting their apprenticeship in the canton of Lucerne, Switzerland these days. The exact numbers will follow in September, as contracts are still being signed. The vocational and further training department is responsible for checking the teaching contracts. You can expect about as many apprenticeship contracts as last year. t that time there were 4,799. As the communications manager Sandra Kilchmann says, as the total number of contracts, there would hardly be any difference between the previous years for each industry. This is particularly gratifying in industries such as the hospitality industry, which particularly feel the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, Sandra Kilchmann continues.

Anyone who has not yet signed an apprenticeship contract should scan advertisements in the hospitality industry more closely. Although the industry is still struggling with failures due to the coronavirus pandemic, “there are still a lot of open apprenticeships”, as Thomas Tellenbach confirms. He is the manager of G’ART, the hospitality training center in the canton of Lucerne. There, young people are trained in three professions. Tellenbach explains on request: “The catering industry has struggled with young talent for years. It is therefore very important to us not to reduce the number of apprenticeships due to the crisis. »

Markus Wicki, owner of the “Hirschen” in Oberkirch, also sees this. He is currently training five apprentices. In conversation, he says: “We need specialists. Corona does not change this fact. But at most, the shortage due to the pandemic is even worse. » For Wicki it is clear that an investment in young people is worthwhile: “Several former apprentices have returned to my company.” And the “Hirschen” restaurateur explains:

“Allowing young people to start their careers is a good feeling.”

According to Tellenbach, there were significantly more apprenticeships a decade ago than in recent years. The chef or restaurant specialist positions are particularly difficult to fill, while the number of apprentices among hotel communication experts has increased significantly. This profession has only existed in this form for three years.

Despite an overall stable apprenticeship situation in the catering and hotel industry compared to the previous year, the pandemic had consequences for some apprentices. In isolated cases, they could not start their apprenticeship in the original teaching company. According to Thomas Tellenbach, a good solution has been found in another company for these young people. The hotel sector was particularly affected, as some hotels geared towards international guests are currently closed. He emphasizes: “As soon as the original training companies reopen, they take back their learners.”

The catering and hotel industry expects a structural adjustment. Tellenbach says: “Unfortunately, there will be some closings in the short term.” The most important thing now is whether there will be another lockdown. Either way, the operations manager at G’ART is convinced:

“The industry stands together and we help each other to promote young talent.”

Because: “Everyone is interested in preventing a shortage of skilled workers.” Cohesion prevents young people from having to drop out of apprenticeships because their apprenticeship company closes its doors. Wicki says: “We would have the opportunity to add more learners. In the past, we have also taken on learners.

The professional association of restaurateurs, the OdA, also became active. According to Tellenbach, the association wanted to train cooks who could not work in the training company with a three to six-month basic course. But he says: «The interest was too little. For me, that’s a positive sign for the industry. »

Confidence that the situation will change again

Despite the crisis and uncertain future: For Thomas Tellenbach, who once worked as a cook in kitchens on four different continents, one thing is clear: «Covid will be vaccinated at some point. We are confident that the tide will turn in two to three years. New restaurants will go into operation again. Then the doors of the apprenticeship in the gastronomy and the hotel industry are open. » He also refers to a longer-term perspective:

 “The work of chefs or restoration experts will never fall victim to automation.”

Ulrich in Cosmopolitan Magazine

Between 1976 and 2017, having reached the summit of culinary glory with 4 and 5-star awards and recognitions, Epicurean Award, Golden Spoon Award, Chaine des Rotisseur 5 Star Award, (The youngest member ever inducted) at Club 41 in Miami Beach, Cafe September’s, Bistro Mezzaluna, Hot Chocolates and Pa D’s in Fort Lauderdale, Truffles and Martini’s Bistro in Miami, Cafe Picasso, Modern Art Cafe in Mexico and the USA, as chef and Director of Food & Beverages in the DR, I experienced an epiphany

I served my last meals at Pa D’s in Lauderdale-by-the Sea, the USA in 2017, and retired from professional kitchens at the age of 66 in Switzerland, my native country.

I was told that not all chefs can reach the heights of my reputation (a reputation derived over many years of dedication, commitment, and sacrifices for this profession) or, indeed, realize such profound influence at a relatively young age, my weariness of critics was endemic in a business that mostly provides way too much credit to the opinions of the obtuse and the unqualified.

 Skilled critics and writers are one thing, however, these days,  self-proclaimed gourmands with questionable credentials and an online connection have the potential to make or break a restaurant supported by subjective, and on many occasions, inaccurate opinions, the increase of the amateur critic became – for skilled chefs, at least – the bitterest of pills to swallow.

Some, bless their well-meaning and ingenuous hearts, instinctively uphold the gushing exaggeration of gastronomic art that all of them, however, mistily comprehend. While others, with equal measures of evading and bias, harm reputations with libelous keystrokes typically bordering on the ridiculous.

Before we continue, let’s get one issue straight. Eating out is not a right. It’s a privilege.

Fun fact: the bulk of the world’s population, according to capitalists, live in poverty.

And it’s typically the folks cooking, serving, and laundry your dishes that are among the toughest laboring and also the lowest paid in our civilized society.

Sure, you’ll have the posh to treat the family to lunch or an evening out at an eating establishment and expect your plan of perfect preparation, but is it

okay to verbally abuse the trembling sixteen-year-old waiter apprentice as a result of you having to wait for a half-hour on a busy weekend night for your table?

Is it okay to terrorize the busy barman, of a brand new French bistro as a result of the operators, in their unacceptable excuse, neglecting to stock your favorite Bolivian wine?

Immediate and private insults aside, is it okay to then jump online, keyboard somebody’s fists flailing, and condemn a complete business, the living of many low-paid, hardworking staff as a result of you are feeling it your right to vent your petty grievances, one-sided tirades, and your personal, narrow-minded views?

Sorry, folks, however, a lot of these travel and support websites and any other online rating travesty, is a democracy for the reckless.

Gather a bunch of privileged, self-inflated amateur critics in a very international forum and you’re destined to finish up with no more than a bumbling, semi-literate slush pile of hyperbolic accusations, inaccurate representations, and ill-informed opinions.

How may I probably proclaim such a misanthropic, sweeping statement? Because I’m a chef. And chefs, I assure you, read customer reviews.

We scan client reviews and they can typically break our proud, self-loving hearts.

Despite the fervent opinions,

and delusive expectations of the many soi-disant foodies, actually, such terrible restaurants seldom exist.

Restaurant workers, I assure you, usually, DO NOT set out to rip you off, ruin your birthday/anniversary, insult your intelligence, appear rude or unwelcoming, or, indeed, serve up terrible food that will send you racing into the realms of space to vent your disappointments.

With today’s climate of fierce competition and even fiercer amateur criticism, an eating place peeing off a lot more guests than they please can inevitably shut close business quicker than the semi-literate “disgusted” reviewer takes to digest their “uneatable” main course.

Restaurants, after all, are run by human beings.

Mistakes will and always do happen.

Perhaps the front of the house is short-handed thanks to the recent contagious epidemic. Perhaps the sautee cook suffered third-degree burns jolting your stir fry and had to be hurried to the hospital for a patch-up. Perhaps one of the kitchen appliances interrupted the service in the middle of the weekend night rush and Maintenance, luxuriating in their tradie standing status, refused to work nights or weekends unless handsomely compensated for their specialized skills.

Perhaps your waiter’s girlfriend left him last night,

ripped off his Daewoo Lanos, and headed for a Mexican State to disappear with a Cuban circus artist named Lola. Perhaps the restaurant manager has cancer. Perhaps the pastry chef’s father died. Perhaps the sous chef hasn’t consumed any food for 3 days thanks to child support payments he couldn’t afford to pay. Or, rather less dramatically, perhaps the barista is simply tired of belligerent, condescending customers who think verbal abuse is okay because they’ve shelled out $5 for coffee and cake.

To repeat. Restaurant staff are human beings. They are students, singles, mums and dads, grandparents, widowers, divorcees, sons, and daughters. Some may be novices. Some may be seasoned professionals.

All, I assure you, sacrificing time with their worshipped ones to serve yours.

(While assumptions will typically prove baseless, I’ve always believed that a person’s character can be judged by how they treat their waiter.) Like everyone else, they are tackling the complexities of life and attempting to scrape along with a modest living in an unforgiving, often cutthroat industry.

Yes, eating establishment workers might serve for a living – work long and ungregarious hours for ludicrously low pay – however, they positively as shit ain’t servants.

There are, of course, real (and dare I say it, articulate) online reviews. There are, indeed, individuals out there providing thoughtful, courteous, and honest opinions. Kudos, dear friends.  You receive a gold star for not being a vindictive, egotistical asshole. You perceive I assume, that rating your experiences is all concerns realistic expectations. You perceive to know that you just get what you pay for, each in quality and quantity. You perceive to know that menus are established & set for a reason, such as food costs, supported demand, value, and seasonality. You perceive to know that you simply aren’t just paying for the steak or the sauteed scallops – you’re, in fact, conjointly paying for the plate, the linen, the cutlery, the glass, the table, the chair, the lighting, the gas, the electricity, the rent, the entertainment, the maintenance of equipment; not to mention the chef working a 12/14 hour day making and preparing all the menu compositions you didn’t obtain, the waiter taking your order and delivering/clearing your meal, the dishwasher cleaning pots/pans/plates and eliminating your leftovers, the cleaner scouring and brushing and deodorizing the filth you decided to leave behind within the restrooms, and therefore the numberless different wages and daily expenses necessary in running and maintaining a restaurant.

You perceive to know,

my friends, that the customer is NOT always right; that you – as a dentist, a tow-truck driver, a ventriloquist, a carpenter, or an accountant – may have fewer data and sensible expertise than the career cook, the wine waiter, the barista or the maître d’.

You perceive to know that an eating place could be an advanced system of incalculable moving elements, and if, say, you throw a proverbial wrench into the works by turning up late for a booking, ordering off the menu, making unreasonable requests based on real/imaginary dietary requirements, verbally abusing staff for minor discrepancies, or sending well-executed dishes back to the kitchen simply because you misread or didn’t take the time to read the menu, there’ll be service delays – for you, and as well everybody else within the whole place.

You perceive to know,

my friends, that the client should feel welcome. You understand that the customer must feel comfortable. You perceive to know that the client is paying for a product/service and expects a value.  You perceive to know, also, that if mistakes occur – and that they can – the client should be appeased with logical solutions. You perceive to know that an eating establishment, notwithstanding name, exclusivity, or quality of products, can never please everybody.

You perceive to know that within the event of a blunder – be it a minor temporal issue or a serious mood-killer, say, of an undercooked duck breast or a dry Swordfish steak – no employee has designedly started out to ruin your life.

No one has kicked your dog, abducted your grandparent, or, summoned a  plague on you and your kin.

You perceive to know, my friends, that hospitality may be a charade – a living theatre where the FHO are paid actors gritting their teeth behind practiced smiles; and also the cooks, precariously clinging by a pinky-nail to the deep cliffs of gourmet passion,  typically the antithesis of the clean-cut, effervescent and charming image most frequently depicted by primetime TV and also the unashamedly photo-shopped covers of the latest celebrity chef’s cookbook.

In reality, a lot of chefs in several kitchens are a pirate nation of foul-spoken illiterates; drug addicts, drunks, swindlers, liars, cheats, gamblers, sociopaths, and transients living the rock and roll lifestyle on a working-class budget.

Despite the reason, despite any recognizable law of nature, despite a prepared arsenal of blunt, heavy, and sharp objects, cooks somehow manage to deliver service over and over again, service in a very blisteringly hot and nerve-wracking atmosphere while not killing each other – or, most importantly, striding out to the restaurant floor and beating the inconsiderate diner over the top with a meat mallet for ordering a well-done cut of meat a couple of minutes before the end of the shift.

Like any inventive art, food preparation perfection is an unrealizable goal.

Sorry, again, to be the bearer of negative news, however, the golden age of gastronomy has long passed. And haute cuisine – all that pretentious shit regarding white tablecloths, silver service, amuse-bouche, and, like – is dead for the overwhelming majority of diners. Current economic science and the very fact that a nationwide shortage of chefs has hit crucial levels can merely not permit it. What remains nowadays is that of the involuntary reflexes of past glories, the last spasmodic jerks of a classical gourmet entity.

Let’s face it

Every establishment can’t be a Le Gavroche, Chez Vendome, a Le Bernadine. Nor is it possible or feasible for them to be elBulli,  Eleven Madison Park, a Fat Duck, a Noma, a Daniel, or an El Celler de Can Rocca. (Imagine tweezer food. Dots on plates. Think foams, washes, gels, and every other manner of molecular manipulation. Think unconscionable price tags afforded by those with expense accounts and/or meaty piles of disposable funds.)  The world’s prime restaurants will afford – for a minimum amount of time, at least – to source the perfect native and international ingredients for their seasonal menus.

They can demand perfection from their suppliers; purchase state-of-the-art equipment; engage an army of adept and professional employees to cater to the Michelin standards; afford off-season closures to experiment with exotic products and leading-edge techniques; set precise and non-negotiable menus; absorb the establishment’s losses with the celebrity chef’s TV series and/or book deal; and, consequently, charge their fawning, cashed-up patrons for the privilege.

Sadly, most kitchens don’t have that luxury.

Most chefs in most kitchens deal with typically inferior and sometimes frozen or pre-prepared products to piece along with some straightforward menus that will appease the common, pennywise patron. Food percentages are tight. Wages are a continuous juggling act. Equipment is poor or non-functional.

Skilled and reliable employees are nearly impossible to seek out, let alone, retain. And, as an added insult, the industry is rife with dodgy owners underpaying staff, abusing liberties, and enforcing agendas with little or no practical hospitality experience beyond a profit/loss spreadsheet. Without question, the overwhelming majority of today’s diners merely are looking for good food and value at reasonable costs.

People need to eat,

sure, however, they don’t need to pay a great deal of cash. That is why pubs/clubs and casual feeding institutions (despite constant and typically unwarranted criticism for serving mediocre food) serve thousands of meals every week whereas the hard-working, privately-owned venue producing ingenious trendy food typically struggles to fill sixty seats on the weekend and beyond peak-season periods.

That is why, in ever-increasing numbers, classically-trained chefs with fine feeding expertise are abandoning their lofty posts as high-end slaves to open food vans, burger joints, Yankee BBQ shacks, and a google-map-chicken-pox of franchised Asian street food temples complete with low-cost mismatched pieces of furniture, jam jars for drinking vessels, and gloriously apathetic waiters.

But there is, of course, a downside.

How many low-cost burger joints will one community sustain?

How many BBQ shacks are needed to accomplish a perfect beef brisket?

How many Döners can survive in a small community?

The fact is, there are way too many restaurants and not enough experienced and knowledgeable chefs to man their kitchens.

As it stands, consumers are spoiled for choice.

Work in any establishment long enough (I’m talking years) and you’ll inevitably hear the old-dog lamentations of this place “used to rock and pump”.

Every eating place, guaranteed, can expertise the ebb and flow of patrons.

There will be times of boom and there’ll be times of bust. The trendy new restaurants booming these days can bust tomorrow. That isn’t to mention that chefs aren’t longer presenting quality food. It’s far more complicated than that. A restaurant’s success or failure is set by factors typically not in the control of the chef and his kitchen staff.  (Food trends. Rent hikes. Wage costs. Staff shortages. A scarcity of produce. Economic downturns. Increased competition.

The list goes on.) Even sufficiently staffed, well-run restaurants serving good food at reasonable prices will suffer at the hand’s culinary trends, geographical location, and economic climate.

In terms of online ratings and rankings, a seafood-eating place with an oceanfront location will always beat the one adjacent to a car park. An intimate, inner-city, forty-seat eating joint destination can trump the suburban 300+ seat food barn any day of the week. The chic, paddock-to-plate, organically sourced, celebrity-chef-certified farm kitchen can outpoint the genuinely rustic tavern-eating Bistro by unanimous votes time after time.

But again, what does all that really mean?

Doesn’t the residential area food court doner kabob serve a purpose, an occasion? As will the mid-town pate de foie gras on brioche with truffles?

Surely, it’s all about realistic expectations.

And surely, diners & reviewers should be accountable for their, attitudes and actions toward employees, and, ultimately, the internet criticisms they feel are their compulsive right to share with similarly minded souls the world over. Back in the late ’80s, well before the modern epidemic of amateur online criticism, a young Ulrich Koepf and his wife Nazarine conceived a direct and immediate method for dealing with rude or belligerent customers at Martini’s Bistro.

Called the Whoosh, it convoluted a troop of waiters swarming in on the offensive table mid-service and clearing away everything, together with half-filled wine glasses, during a seamlessly synchronized counterattack. The final bit was a theatrical whooshing of the table linen. The mortified guests weren’t asked to pay, however, their evening was over.

While Ulrich’s and Naz’s technique of jettisoning rude and objectionable customers is also the dream of perhaps anyone who has ever worked in the gastronomy/hospitality industry, the Whoosh technique has its limitations in today’s culinary climate. Times, indeed, have changed.

Due to a contemporary, modern saturation of the market, restaurants are no longer able, nor can they afford to choose their patrons.

Well, they can, however chastising guests – be it at the table, or later, once responding to significantly harsh and unjust online reviews – is walking in dangerous waters. Competition is thus fierce, and therefore the custom of social media is so widespread and frenzied, that restaurants are probably more tempted to kiss the ass of the belligerent diner than they are of telling them to fuck off and don’t return. There was a time, not too far back, that the typical punter felt it a privilege to be able to dine out. They worked, saved their cash, and enjoyed a rare occasion with family, friends, and/or colleagues. Today, however, the typical punter expects and/or demands a personalized champagne experience on a larger beer budget on any given day of the week. Perhaps they’ve seen too many episodes of Master Chef, the faux-culinary apex of reality TV that continues to carry on contrived, fantasy fiction and glamour. Or, perhaps, they merely result in a misanthropic and egotistic contemporary world that thinks everyone seems to be out there to defraud them or challenge their position as a rare and unique gift to humanity.

Don’t get me wrong.

In no manner do I profess to be a culinary wizard or expert – a classical master, a leading-edge or revolutionary superstar.

And I’m not Thomas Keller, Heston Blumenthal, Ferran Adria, Massimo Bottura, Alain Ducasse, Jiro Ono, or Fredy Girardet.  Nor do I want to restrict the opinions of the general dining population. They are, after all, the explanation for the chef’s being.

But, as mentioned in earlier posts, I have had the privilege of operating, living, and traveling throughout much of the world throughout a 50+ year career.

Think Roesti in  Switzerland; Duck confit in France; Turtle steak in Bermuda; Truffle risotto in Milan; steamed mussels in Antibes; cassoulet in Paris; conch chowder in the Bahamas; steamed grouper in Cayman Island;  chicken mole in Guadalajara; great steaks in Edmonton, Canada; sancocho & mangu in the Dominican Republic; paella Valenciana in Spain; rabbit stew in Malta and Ensaimada in Mallorca; Florida snapper in South Florida. I’ve worked in some pretty decent kitchens with some inventive and capable international chefs and, of course, I’ve been a diner. Not every meal was always perfect. certainly, not every experience was outstanding. But I’m proud to mention that, as a guest, I’ve NEVER once sent a meal back to the kitchen, abused a waiter, refused to pay a bill, or, most significantly, manipulated social media to rip apart an establishment and its employees with fury and condemnation. I just never returned to the place!

Maybe I’ve been lucky.

Maybe I’ve tried not to be a jerk.

Or maybe, it’s just because I have a lengthy and affectionate understanding of the way food is made, cooked, and served in restaurant and hotel kitchens. I understand that mistakes will always occur. I perceive to know that my tastes are precisely that, my tastes. I perceive knowing that, in view that all of my adult life has been spent with food and hospitality, I still have plenty to grasp, learn, and appreciate even at my age. I also perceive to know that the folks preparing my meal – and sometimes those who serve it – are laboring physically much harder, longer, and for less pay than the typical 8-hour desk jockey enjoying their nights, weekends, public holidays, and month-long vacations. I know that some kitchens are the sanctuary or shelter of the desperate and some of the insane!

Quote by a famous chef and writer:

“If the snapper is good, they say nothing.

If it isn’t excellent, they complain like stuck guinea pigs.

It’s quite reassuring really.”

For a chef, those may be the truest words ever spoken.

Get used to it, I’m afraid. Or get out of the kitchen.                    

is considered the Oscar of fine dining. 20 minutes (a Swiss online newspaper) attended together with star chef Nenad Mlinarevic the Award Night in Bilbao.

Rating systems such as Michelin stars or Gault Millau points have been deciding for decades whether or not to be gourmet restaurants. Since 2002, “The World’s 50 Best Restaurants” has also been a part of the game and presents a yearly list of the 50 best restaurants around the world.

Despite criticizing the non-transparent rating methodology, the rating of “50 Best” has become one of the most respected gourmet food rankings, as shown last week at this year’s “50 Best” Awards Night in Bilbao. Not one of the 50 listed top chefs missed being part of the award ceremony.

A high rating means little freedom and being in a pressure cooker!

Also part of the party: the Swiss star chef Nenad Mlinarevic (37), who earned two Michelin stars and 18 Gault Millau points for the restaurant Focus in the Parkhotel Vitznau. He said goodbye to the Star Kitchen last year, set up his own business, first opened a pop-up restaurant in Zurich (Stadthalle), and now, with two partners, opened the Bauernschänke in Zurich’s Niederdorf.

“Without awards, I am free of pressure and can use my knowledge in many ways”, Mlinarevic explains his decision.

Das Rating von «The World’s 50 Best Restaurants»

gilt als der Oscar des Fine Dining. 20 Minuten war mit Starkoch Nenad Mlinarevic a der Award Night in Bilbao.

Bewertungssysteme wie Michelin-Sterne oder Gault-Millau-Punkte entscheiden seit Jahrzehnten über Sein oder Nichtsein von Gourmet-Restaurants. Seit 2002 mischt auch «The World’s 50 Best Restaurant» in diesem Spiel mit und präsentiert jährlich eine Liste mit den 50 besten Restaurants rund um den Globus

Das Rating von «50 Best» hat sich trotz Kritik an der intransparenten Bewertungsmethodik zu einer der meistbeachteten Ranglisten für Feinschmecker gemausert, wie sich letzte Woche an der diesjährigen «50 Best»-Award Night im baskischen Bilbao zeigte. Kein einziger der 50 gelisteten Topköche liess es sich nehmen, an der Verleihung präsent zu sein.

Eine hohe Bewertung bedeutet wenig Freiheiten und viel stress!

Ebenfalls mit von der Partie: der Schweizer Starkoch Nenad Mlinarevic (37), der für das Restaurant Focus im Parkhotel Vitznau zwei Michelin-Sterne und 18 Gault-Millau-Punkte erkochte. Von der Sterneküche hat er sich letztes Jahr verabschiedet, sich selbständig gemacht, erst ein Pop-up-Restaurant in Zürich (Stadthalle) und jetzt mit zwei Partnern die Bauernschänke im Zürcher Niederdorf eröffnet.

«Ohne Auszeichnungen bin ich frei von Druck und kann mein Wissen vielfältig einsetzen», erklärt Mlinarevic seinen Entscheid. 

The post Ratings, treat them with Caution! first appeared on Food, Travel, and Stories from a Swiss Chef Who Cooked Around the World .]]> https://www.ulrichkoepf.website/ratings-should-be-treated-with-caution/feed/ 0 https://www.ulrichkoepf.website/burgers-im-clovers-pub-in-schwyz/ https://www.ulrichkoepf.website/burgers-im-clovers-pub-in-schwyz/#respond Wed, 12 Sep 2018 07:52:58 +0000 https://ulrichkoepf.website/?p=2215 Have you eaten at this place? Leave me a message at the end of this page↓ Best Burger in der Stadt! Sie machen keine Witze! Bei einem Besuch in der Stadt Schwyz  hielten wir in einem irischen Pub in der … Read More

Being a Chef is not always as glamorous as it seems to most people!

Being a Swiss-trained Chef,  I have been in restaurant and hotel kitchens since the age of 16, so when I hear about famous chefs committing suicide such as Anthony Bourdain just a few days ago, Benoit Violier in 2016, Homaro Cantu in 2015, Bernard Loiseau in 2003 and a few years ago a Swiss Chef Alfred Luescher who worked for me as a Sous-Chef in Santo Domingo, I know very well what they went through to bring themselves to an end their own lives. I had my taste of the stress and pressure this profession can cause, however, I was lucky enough not to get into too many depression modes over the years, my wife told me, coming home after a stressful day, “It’s only a job it’s not worth killing yourself over it”, well that was always easier said than done!

To Be The Best

I always tried and pushed myself to be the best at what I was doing, I kept telling myself if I was going to pursue this profession I might as well be the best I could be. I wasn’t interested in working in a mass production facility, a large hotel, or a food service company, I tried all of that and to me, it was just a job with not too much pride in pumping out meals, I always preferred to work in a smaller establishment where I could create and offer the type of food that I would enjoy eating myself when I take my wife out for dinner.

Creating, Cooking, and observing the Customers

I loved going into the walk-in refrigerator with a notepad and creating my specials right inside the walk-in ref. for that same evening with products that were just delivered! At Cafe Septembers in Fort Lauderdale, a 40-seat restaurant, the menu was created on daily specials, that is also where I introduced Nouvelle Cuisine to South Florida after a two-month journey to Europe. I came back to South Florida with my head full of ideas and innovations, ready to go!

Cafe September – Fort Lauderdale

Steve, the owner, came to me in the beginning, before we opened, and handed me the cookbook from the International Culinary Competition during which the American Team won, and said he wanted that to be the menu for this restaurant! I looked at him with my mouth open in disbelieve that he would even consider that to be a possibility; it takes months to establish which dishes to consider to enter into a competition and then hours to prepare those dishes, just as I had to do in the Dominican Republic, were together with my crew, won the first prize of the culinary competition three consecutive years; not feasible for this restaurant with one assistant in that small Kitchen, actually smaller than the household kitchen! it didn’t take me long to talk him out of it! Besides the specials and the a la carte menu, the waiters always came up with their menus, and special requests from the customers, there was absolutely nothing I refused to cook upon request by the waiter or the customer in that restaurant if the product was on hand of course, which added to the pressure and self-inflicted stress.😀

That was the beginning of the pressure!

After a few weeks we started to receive accolades and recognition in local publications, I was on local cooking shows, featured in the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, etc., and rated as one of the best restaurants in the USA, according to the Chaine des Rotisseurs.  What added to the pressure at Cafe September (and Hot Chocolates) was the fact that the kitchen was open to the dining room and customers sat only a few feet away from the open kitchen, therefore there was a lot of personal interaction with the dining customers and pressure to do your very best since you are looking at the paying customer eating your food in front of you; folks like Ringo Starr, Barbara Bach, George Benson, and  Robert Vaughn just to mention a few. During the 5 1/2 years at Cafe September, I was admitted once to Holy Cross Hospital for what seemed like a nervous breakdown, the doctors didn’t find anything wrong with me, but I remember my stomach felt like there were a thousand snakes inside of me fighting with each other! I still feel the pain today! It was a busy nite and the waiters drove me crazy with special requests one after the other, and since I am not a screaming, yelling maniac in the kitchen (especially in an open kitchen) I kept the rage and anger inside of me which caused the snakes in my stomach to go crazy. Another possible cause for my admittance to the hospital was the lack of proper nutrition; starting the working shift at 1 pm, leaving my house to drive to Fort Lauderdale, arriving at the restaurant at around 1:45 pm, then diving right into the prepping, getting ready for 17:30 service, there was little time to have a proper dinner before service, it was always a snack, or a fast bite to eat standing up!

Hot Chocolates – Fort Lauderdale

Hot Chocolates also had a wide-open, long cooking line exposed to the dining room creating interaction with the customers. I was always a hands-on Executive Chef, working on the line with my guys controlling the orders, and cooking at the same time, here it happened on a busy Saturday nite, stressed out to serve the food properly and on time to a full dining room with my crew of 6, I was hot, sweating and exhausted and I felt like I was going to faint, my partners, Richard and Steve, called the ambulance to get me to a hospital, but after checking me out again, they couldn’t find anything wrong! I guess it was another stress attack!

The conclusion is if you are thinking of getting into this Profession always remember these 5 points:

1. Take care of your body by eating the right food
2. Stay away from alcohol and smoking as much as possible
3. Spend as much time as possible outdoors ie. jogging, walking, going to the beach, etc.
4. Exercise a lot!
5. If you spent as much time in the walk-ins as I did, always wear the proper clothes, and protect your neck & shoulder by wearing a chef scarf – otherwise, when you reach a certain age you will feel the pain!

If you are experiencing mental health issues or suicidal feelings contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or BeyondBlue 1300 224 636. If it is an emergency please call 000. 

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Die besten Bars der Welt

Die besten Bars der Welt wurden von «50 Best Bars» gekürt. Auf Platz zehn: Der Eingang zur Bar versteckt sich hinter dem Bücherregal eines Ladens.  Mitten in Soho werden italienische Drink-Klassiker wie Negroni oder Aperol Spritz aufgetischt. Eine Cocktailkarte gibt es hier nicht, aber man kann darauf vertrauen, dass der Bartender einen der besten Drinks der Welt mixt. In der Bar des Regent Hotels sind die Drinks genauso klassisch wie das Interieur. Hier wird je nach Gusto gechillt, getanzt oder Billiard gespielt. Die Cocktailkarte ändert jährlich und wartet mit Überraschungen – wie etwa fermentierten Zutaten – auf. Pub-Feeling im Finanzdistrikt verströmt diese Bar. Natürlich gibt es hier auch eine separate Karte nur für irische Whiskeys. Obwohl sie noch keine zehn Jahre alt ist, gilt die Bar bereits als Institution. In traditionellem Ambiente werden aussergewöhnliche Cocktailkreationen aufgetischt. Hier können sich bis zu zehn Personen an einem der riesigen Mega-Cocktails laben. Mallorca-Feeling? Nein, nur lockere Unterhaltung in edlem Ambiente. Die dazu gereichten Snacks werden vom (Schweizer) Spitzenkoch Daniel Humm kreiert. In der Bar des Mondrian Hotels wird alles etwas anders gemacht. Die Cocktails werden zum Beispiel thematisch in vier Kategorien unterteilt: Glaube, Lust, Geld und Rock ‘n’ Roll. Was darfs denn sein? Seit über 125 Jahren im Business und nun erstmals zur Nummer eins der Welt gewählt. In der Bar des Savoy kann man entweder einen Klassiker aus dem Cocktail-Kanon der Hotel-Institution bestellen oder sich auf ein Experiment einlassen.

Die Jury von «50 Best Bars»

hat ihre Favoriten für 2017 gewählt. Auf Platz eins hat es erstmals die American Bar des Savoy in London geschafft. Die Metropole an der Themse ist gleich viermal in den Top Ten vertreten, New York schafft es immerhin mit drei Nennungen unter die besten Zehn. Als asiatische Cocktail-Metropole konnte sich derweil Singapur etablieren, das insgesamt fünf der 50 besten Bars der Welt beherbergt.

Mit insgesamt 19 Bars

ist kein Kontinent so oft in der Gesamtliste vertreten wie Europa. In London finden sich neben dem Gewinner sieben weitere Top-Bars, in Paris kommen Cocktail-Aficionados in drei Etablissements auf ihre Kosten, die griechische Hauptstadt Athen kann sich mit zwei Vertretern in den Top 50 behaupten. Je einmal vertreten sind die Niederlande, Deutschland, Zypern, Italien, Schweden und Norwegen.

Sehen Sie in der Bildstrecke die Top Ten der besten Bars der Welt.

Und hier sind die weiteren Plätze:

11. Little Red Door, Paris (Frankreich)
12. Happiness Forgets, London (Grossbritannien)
13. High Five, Tokio (Japan)
14. Licorería Limantour, Mexiko Stadt (Mexiko)
15. Atlas, Singapur
16. Dante, New York (USA)
17. Oriole, London (Grossbritannien)
18. Broken Shaker, Miami (USA)
19. Candelaria, Paris (Frankreich)
20. Himkok, Oslo (Norwegen)
21. The Gibson, London (Grossbritannien)
22. Black Pearl, Melbourne (Australien)
23. Floreria Atlántico, Buenos Aires (Argentinien)
24. Operation Dagger, Singapur
25. 28 HongKong Street, Singapur
26. Trick Dog, San Francisco (USA)
27. Sweet Liberty, Miami (USA)
28. Indulge Experimental Bistro, Taipeh (Taiwan)
29. Lost & Found, Nicosia (Zypern)
30. Baba Au Rum, Athen (Griechenland)
31. Tippling Club, Singapur
32. BlackTail, New York (USA)
33. Jerry Thomas Speakeasy, Rom (Italien)
34. Le Syndicat, Paris (Frankreich)
35. Tales & Spirits, Amsterdam (Niederlanden)
36. Bar Benfiddich, Tokio (Japan)
37. Employees Only, New York (USA)
38. Schumann’s, München (Deutschland)
39. La Factoría, Old San Juan (Puerto Rico)
40. Quinary, Hongkong (China)
41. Aviary, Chicago (USA)
42. Mace, New York (USA)
43. Nightjar, London (Grossbritannien)
44. Linje Tio, Stockholm (Schweden)
45. The Baxter Inn, Sydney (Australien)
46. ABV, San Francisco (USA)
47. Native, Singapur
48. Tommy’s, San Francisco (USA)
49. Lobster Bar, Hongkong (China)
50. Imperial Craft, Tel Aviv (Israel)

Entzogen von 20 Min. Schweiz

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Where it All Started

I was born in the Canton of Argovia in the Nord of Switzerland, one of the food items I grew up with is a dish called Schnitz und Drunder, a rough translation would be Sections and Stuff, it is a one-pot dish consisting of potatoes, bacon, dehydrated pear, and apple sections.
During my childhood when times were rough and we couldn’t afford to buy meat my mother came up with a shortcut to this dish by using leftover bread slices toasted in butter and then she added steamed apple sections to it and mixed it all up. It always did the job by filling our bellies!
For dessert there was Carrot Cake Argovia style, this carrot cake derives from the name “Rüebliland” ( carrot land) since in the 19th century the people living in the region around the capital of Aarau, where I was born, mainly cultivated turnips.

The Diversity of Foods

Should you be traveling through the French-speaking regions of Switzerland you will note the influence of neighboring France, especially the Alsace region.
My friend Patrick Calvetti and his family own  Restaurant de la Croix d’Or in the village of Orbe, situated between the Lake of Neuchatel and Lac Leman (Lausanne); his weekly specialties feature such items as; Ramequin which consists of slices of Whitebread overbaked with regional cheeses, the taste and flavor is derived from a tasty seasoned egg & milk mixture poured over the whole dish before baking. The Saucisson en Croûte is a well-seasoned pork sausage, poached in a broth with seasoning, leeks, and white wine, it’s then wrapped in a pizza or pastry dough and baked for about 30 minutes, mustard is then added to the broth and thickened with egg yolks to be served as a sauce with the sausage.
From the Canton of Neuchatel comes Jacquerie Neuchateloise this is a one-pot dish consisting of Sauerkraut (choucroute) bacon, seasonings, and white wine from the Neuchatel vineyards served with chicken breast. The slowly cooked sauerkraut with the bacon and white wine, thickened by adding a grated fresh potato is then served with chicken breast braised in white wine, a sauce is made by adding garlic, butter, anchovies cream, and parsley, and then served together with the sauerkraut and bacon.

Federal Council’s Favorite Dessert

Personally one of my favorite foods in Switzerland is local fish from the lakes all across Switzerland such as Egli filet (Perch), sautéed in butter with toasted almonds, lemon, and parsley served with steamed potatoes and wilted garlicky spinach. Yum yum!
My favorite dessert in the world originated in my home Canton of Argovia, it’s called “Bundesrat Schaffner Torte” It was created for a Federal Council by the name of Schaffner back in 1961 when the small community of Graenichen organized a reception for the newly elected Federal Council Schaffner from Graenichen.
For this special occasion, the baker/confectioner Ernst Wolleb created this special dessert.
The cake consists of multiple layers of Merengue, cream, and sponge.
When I tasted this cake the first time it almost blew my mind, the texture was absolutely amazing, light, fluffy, and not too sweet, it was like having angels dancing on your tongue!
The cake is still today a popular dessert in most parts of Switzerland but is sold under a different name and in my opinion not quite like the original.
Of course let’s not forget the prime cuts of Swiss beef, veal, lamb, and chicken all bred in Switzerland! and the famous Vermicelles dessert!

Should you be interested in any of the recipes from this article please send me an email and I will be happy to provide them for you.

Bon Appetite, Buen Provecho, Guten Appetite, Buon Appetito

Ulrich Koepf your Blogging Friend
uliandnaz@gmail.com
Ulrich’s Food and Travel Blogs

Somewhere between the excitement of the Broadway Stage and a December football scrimmage,

one finds an extraordinary phenomenon called the Restaurant. Restaurants come in assorted sizes, prices, and themes, yet all have a common creed to serve people every minute of every hour of the day. Restaurants are composites:

🎉They are places to fill up, flake out, celebrate, remember, or even forget.

To your competitor, your restaurant is always filled, and you steal his help. You have the greatest chef, the cleanest kitchen, and real-personality bartenders. To your guest, you are a swinger, Party Boy, living the life of Riley. And you think to yourself, as so many do, that someday “When I retire, I am going to open up a little place of my own.” Restaurants live with phrases: “We are two dishwashers short.” “The chef picked up his knives.” and “Do you call this Stroganoff?”

🥩Your steady guest of ten years just told you that his steak was cold and tough 😡

and that you shall never see him again. It’s the only business that is only as good as your last meal. A restaurant is a smile on your face when you are two waiters short. It’s a new grey suit with cherry stains on the sleeve. It’s shaking hands with the mayor while wielding the plunger. It’s smiling, after two hours of sleep, at a stranger; while your kids ask, “When is Daddy coming home.” Restaurants are Saturday nights, with low food costs, Mother’s Day, New Year’s Eve, and Brunch on a rainy summer Sunday.

🛠Restaurants suffer from freezing rain, weather warnings, and most holidays and plagues.

They hurt at the sight of a competitor’s full parking lot, rising prices, and the new place being built across the street. A Restaurant demands an attempt to be Cecil B. DeMille and Rogers & Hart, while the script is controlled by your friendly banker. It requires the fitness of an art collector along with the fortitude and skills of a plumber, carpenter, and electrician.

And yet……a restaurant is the World Series, Super Bowl, and Oscar night all rolled into one when you hear those heartwarming words, “It’s the best meal we have ever had, and we’ll be back.”👍