Chefs don't eat at normal hours, so the only time you feel like you really need a meal is after service, when you're exhausted and just crave something to help you wind down.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
When you're a chef, you graze. You never get a chance to sit down and eat. They don't actually sit down and eat before you cook. So when I finish work, the first thing I'll do, and especially when I'm in New York, I'll go for a run. And I'll run 10 or 15k on my - and I run to gain my appetite.
A good meal is very important to me. When I have a bad meal, especially out, it's like I'm sitting in an airport during a flight delay. It's a part of my life I can't get back.
The hardest thing about being a full time chef is leaving my work behind when I go home at night. I'll toss and turn about a menu item or forget to order produce and wake up at 4 A.M. in a cold sweat over some artichokes.
Eating when you're not hungry and taking in that amount of food is exhausting.
Feeling tired should almost never be an excuse, because your body has huge reserves of energy. But if you eat badly, stay out late, drink too much, and so on, you'll pay a price on the course.
Another suggestion is to cook a meal, maybe not every night, but a couple more times a week than you usually do. That way you have leftovers, and you take your lunch to work.
I really love good food occasionally, but I need time to enjoy it, and I need to be hungry.
For me, I don't expect to have a really amazing meal each time I dine out. Having a good meal with your loved ones - that's what makes the experience.
I think, as a chef and restaurateur, that you have to take care of your business. Otherwise, you're only as good as your last meal. You have to watch if your food costs are too high, or you could be out of business in no time.
I don't like to sit still for long at all, which has probably helped me along the way, and partly why I was drawn to the heat of a restaurant kitchen. The rush of service means that you're always on your toes and keeps a chef pretty active.