What to Expect on Your Job Interview With Gordon Ramsay
Starchefs plugs big-name chefs as often as Heinz bottles ketchup, so you’ll find all the top toques in their new guidebook, Chefs to Know. Aimed at aspiring kitchen lackeys, the book is fun for civilian perusal as well, if only for the “offbeat restaurants,” favorite kitchen tools, and, best of all, their go-to job interview question.
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Neroni Leaves Porchetta; City Hates Big Pink CupcakeChef Jason Neroni leaves Porchetta, citing “irreconcilable differences,” and claiming that pastry chef Mandy Brown and “most of the kitchen staff” are leaving with him. We don’t know the details (yet), but this seems pretty harsh: The restaurant gave him absolute creative license, as far as we can tell, for as long as it’s been open. [Eater]
Related: Chef’s Desperate Plea: Nominate Me for an Award! [Grub Street]
New Yorkers aren’t really spooked by health violations: “If you take the subway, you know what’s down there.” [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
The city wants Burgers and Cupcakes to take down its huge, incandescent pink cupcake sign because it’s too close to a hydrant, saying, “This isn’t a campaign against cupcakes.” [NYP]
Back of the House
Michael Romano: Equally Nice the Morning After
Last week the Wall Street Journal conducted an international doggie-bag experiment (subscription required): A waiter in Russia was huffy about providing one, a Japanese server flatly refused, and in China they literally send people home with dog meat in bags decorated with puppies. And yet the article failed to address the quirks of a couple of local restaurants. At Yakiniku Juju, the adorable shabu-shabu joint, scoring leftovers from the copious $25 all-you-can-eat barbecue is out of the question: If you don’t down every last morsel, you’re charged double. Meanwhile, for eight years, Union Square Cafe has obsequiously bagged that untouchable last hunk of “filet mignon of tuna” with a note, machine-printed, but apparently meant to be chef Michael Romano’s handwriting, profusely thanking the diner for bothering to bring leftovers home. Still, pictures of puppies would be nice.
— Daniel Maurer
