Our Mission
This is from my business plan...but I think it sums up what I want...
This is a ramshackle collection of things that we would like...some thoughts are ours, some are from people we admire...
To find that place where there is the shared passion for doing it the best you possibly can, admitting when you screw up, fixing it, being better, creating something glorious and simple, going home, berating yourself, going back again determined to do it with more finesse?
Sarah
How can you find the place that will meet your standards and even raise them? Is it time to walk away and put on the blue apron and be the commis in Napa (finally)? What is it you dream about when you are happy? There is much to put in store in where your mind wanders when you are relaxed enough to let it go for a while. When was the last time you let yourself really relax? Really be Rich instead of the ninja zen chef? Cook something that you feed to other people that really makes you, yes, you Rich , happy and excited to see the reaction of their first taste? Something you would actually sit down to eat yourself instead of cramming meat between bread and calling it sustenance?
Sarah
So maybe there is no one utopia of a kitchen...but that doesn't mean we can't strive to find/create/mutate one. This goes back to some of those missing posts from before, where we were discussing our 'perfect' restaurant. Somewhere you should be able to create/find that restaurant that fulfills all your needs, no matter what they are. I mean if you are a partying rock star, thats easy...clock in at almost any kitchen and you will be able to provide for your habits; I know, I used to. But now that I have grown up, I need more fulfillment in my life, a more stable 'career' and I want to do it somewhere where I LOVE to go spend 8, 10 , 12 hours of my day.
And I believe that it is out there. I have had glimpses of it in Stowe as a line cook working for a dear friend for the 'fun' of it. It didn't pay my bills, but it was fulfilling and I looked forward to it. I have had glimpses of it teaching, where the passion for food and work and this life ran strong in some of the students. I am sure those working for TK feel some of it. And I am sure that there are lots of mom and pops out there where the 'family' feeling is indeed felt.
So don't tell me its an impossible dream...for we should all 'have a dream'. And hopefully we shall all have it fulfilled.
Chef
So what is our focus? It’s a question that has been discussed today at great length. What are we trying to accomplish here? There’s no easy answer. We want that elusive dream of job satisfaction. We want to feel good about going to work every day. We want to come home at night feeling as though we’ve accomplished something, or at least made some progress toward achieving something. We want the thought of cooking in our kitchen to bring a smile and not a frown. We want to be successful, financially and spiritually. We want to be recognized by our peers for the work that we do. We want to share what we learn every day with others. We want to have fun cooking. We want people to leave our tables satisfied, dreamy and content. We want people to walk through our doors anticipating an amazing morning, afternoon, or evening and leave through them feeling that anything is possible. We want to create an amazing dining experience and the memories that live long afterwards. That last statement is our actual focus, the rest is just gravy. That’s actually not true, that’s just what we’ve been telling ourselves. We need all of the things listed above to happen in order to create true job satisfaction, hell, we need it to create life satisfaction. Now we just have to figure out how to make that happen.
Via Ideas in Food...thanks Alex and Aki
-express our trade as chefs
-educate our staff, our guests, and ourselves, while being an educational resource to our community
-create a pleasant, fulfilling, sustainable, and secure workplace
-trust one another and practice respectful relationships with everyone involved in this work
-support, with our voices and our buying power, local, regional and sustainable agriculture, the forces of peace and understanding, the cultural, economic, and environmental needs of peoples world wide, and the ecological needs of the wild fauna and flora
-be a good neighbor
-laugh and be of goodwill.
-to be grateful, respectful, and forgiving and to encourage these experiences in others.
-create long-term financial security, both for our employees and our shareholders.
This is a ramshackle collection of things that we would like...some thoughts are ours, some are from people we admire...
To find that place where there is the shared passion for doing it the best you possibly can, admitting when you screw up, fixing it, being better, creating something glorious and simple, going home, berating yourself, going back again determined to do it with more finesse?
Sarah
How can you find the place that will meet your standards and even raise them? Is it time to walk away and put on the blue apron and be the commis in Napa (finally)? What is it you dream about when you are happy? There is much to put in store in where your mind wanders when you are relaxed enough to let it go for a while. When was the last time you let yourself really relax? Really be Rich instead of the ninja zen chef? Cook something that you feed to other people that really makes you, yes, you Rich , happy and excited to see the reaction of their first taste? Something you would actually sit down to eat yourself instead of cramming meat between bread and calling it sustenance?
Sarah
So maybe there is no one utopia of a kitchen...but that doesn't mean we can't strive to find/create/mutate one. This goes back to some of those missing posts from before, where we were discussing our 'perfect' restaurant. Somewhere you should be able to create/find that restaurant that fulfills all your needs, no matter what they are. I mean if you are a partying rock star, thats easy...clock in at almost any kitchen and you will be able to provide for your habits; I know, I used to. But now that I have grown up, I need more fulfillment in my life, a more stable 'career' and I want to do it somewhere where I LOVE to go spend 8, 10 , 12 hours of my day.
And I believe that it is out there. I have had glimpses of it in Stowe as a line cook working for a dear friend for the 'fun' of it. It didn't pay my bills, but it was fulfilling and I looked forward to it. I have had glimpses of it teaching, where the passion for food and work and this life ran strong in some of the students. I am sure those working for TK feel some of it. And I am sure that there are lots of mom and pops out there where the 'family' feeling is indeed felt.
So don't tell me its an impossible dream...for we should all 'have a dream'. And hopefully we shall all have it fulfilled.
Chef
So what is our focus? It’s a question that has been discussed today at great length. What are we trying to accomplish here? There’s no easy answer. We want that elusive dream of job satisfaction. We want to feel good about going to work every day. We want to come home at night feeling as though we’ve accomplished something, or at least made some progress toward achieving something. We want the thought of cooking in our kitchen to bring a smile and not a frown. We want to be successful, financially and spiritually. We want to be recognized by our peers for the work that we do. We want to share what we learn every day with others. We want to have fun cooking. We want people to leave our tables satisfied, dreamy and content. We want people to walk through our doors anticipating an amazing morning, afternoon, or evening and leave through them feeling that anything is possible. We want to create an amazing dining experience and the memories that live long afterwards. That last statement is our actual focus, the rest is just gravy. That’s actually not true, that’s just what we’ve been telling ourselves. We need all of the things listed above to happen in order to create true job satisfaction, hell, we need it to create life satisfaction. Now we just have to figure out how to make that happen.
Via Ideas in Food...thanks Alex and Aki