Taking Stock

Let’s face it: There are certain elements in any business, including our soul food kitchen, that simply make no fucking business sense at all. Like grating bottarga over our holiday blinis. Or boosting our incredibly rich wild mushroom soup with truffle oil. Or the little touches like homemade clotted cream and toffee caramel that we sometimes add with our complimentary thank-you sponge cake.

Most people don’t even notice, so why bother?

At the top of my list however, is the use of our homemade super-rich chicken broth (basic recipe owing to legendary chef Edna Lewis) to cook our rices and pastas in, usually as a complement to some other higher good like mac n cheese. Does anyone really notice how tasty the broth-infused pasta is in the midst of something as decadent as a three-cheese bechamel sauce? I have my doubts. I really do.

But here’s the thing: I know. And I know that maybe one out of every 100 of my guests will know too.

There’s a great story about when Disney was setting up a new ride for its theme park, which “takes place” in a replica of a famous LA hotel out of the 1920s. They did their research. Back in the day, guests in that iconic hotel would gather in the lobby to play pinochle. And so Disney invited 4 of the world’s greatest pinochle players to model the game. Game after game was played, until hours later, once particular dealt hand showed this incredible drama and tension starting to play out on the card table. Disney captured the game at that moment of play, froze it, so to speak, and then replicated it in their new theme ride. As people waited in line to enjoy the ride, they sanked through this replica of a 1920s LA hotel lobby and passed 4 mannequins intent on this frozen game of pinochle. Virtually no one is familiar with this game today. Even fewer would take the trouble to glance at the hands held by the four players. Even fewer would understand the intense drama being played out on that card table.

But someone, somewhere would recognize the love and care in this remarkable detail. And there, but for the love of going bankrupt, is where the artisanry of cooking comes in.