Every serious foodie should experience a kitchen tour. You’ll learn so much about your food: where it comes from, who’s cooking it, how it’s made. There’s a big difference between peeking into a restaurant’s kitchen and being an observer from the other side of the window – though both situations offer their own set of perks. Peering through a kitchen window (like in the above picture, at Bouchon Bakery) is a cheap thrill. You feel like you’re stealing a moment – snatching a behind-the-scenes look at something that’s normally left behind the thick wall separating the dining room and the beating heart of the restaurant.

Actually being in a kitchen and watching cuisine unfold is entirely different. You’ll feel like a fly on the wall, just watching the world pass by; standing still as activity works its way around your body at a feverish pace. And if it’s a well-run kitchen, you’ll also feel a little out of place – a good kitchen will run like clockwork, and will work seamlessly without paying notice to a new face.

For the most part, you can tell a lot about a chef just by walking through the kitchen. Chez Panisse’s open kitchen speaks of Alice Waters’ nature: open, honest; welcoming you into the world of slow food (though, the opposite can be said about this pissed off cook, above). You meander through and watch a pork loin roasting on a spit, or observe as pastry cooks work dough on a bench. You can touch bottles of wine in Waters’ cellar. It’s all very romantic. (Click on “Read the rest of this entry” for more)

You may also learn some surprising things. Before Gordon Ramsay at the London (West Hollywood) was sold, we toured the massive kitchen and learned that it had 13 walk-ins – the 13th left empty for “obvious reasons.” Chef Ramsay never struck me as the superstitious type, but I guess you never know. Little details like these really do add to the overall dining experience.

Thomas Keller employs a flat-screen television and a camera in his French Laundry and Per Se kitchens that broadcast real-time happenings to each other. It’s a way for Keller to keep an eye on his restaurants – and a way for cooks to trade techniques and ideas.

If ever you have the chance to tour a restaurant kitchen, take it. The menu, while descriptive with its list of farms and purveyors, can only offer so much. For a closer look at the farm to table journey, take a peek inside the kitchen.

– Cynthia Furey

Side note: March Madness is a month-long challenge in which I will post Monday through Friday for the entire month. Thank you for reading!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 at 11:49 am and is filed under At the table, Restaurants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.