How To Use A Cake Tester

There's No Recipe for Mayonnaise: Mastering Aioli in the Professional Kitchen

Making an aïoli is something every cook should be able to do without a recipe. I’d even go so far as to argue that aïoli is a mother sauce of the modern restaurant kitchen.

Mastering Salad Dressings: A Former Line Cook's Guide to Family Meal Success

Some tips for garde manger cooks out there tasked with making family meal salad every day. Learn to think outside of recipes for vinaigrettes and creamy salad dressings.

Should I go to Culinary School?

Culinary school can teach you so much about cooking, but it's a mighty questionable value proposition. Is it worth it?

The Next Big Industry Read Has Arrived

Michael Cecchi-Azzolina’s Your Table Is Ready, Tales of a New York City Maître D’ is here.

Stock is a necessary touchpoint on the road to culinary enlightenment

The very essence of cooking lies in learning to make use of the mealy bits - the bones, the vegetable trim, the parsley stems. The good news is that making stock is way less complicated than the culinary Gods want you to believe.

Why I Built Use First

The story behind the genesis of usefirst.com. How a New York City line cook used his down time during Covid to try and change the industry for the better.

What tools should you take on a restaurant trail?

Tips on how to show up for that big first restaurant job interview. First appearances are everything. Make sure you’re not ice-capading around the kitchen in a hairnet in front of your future comrades and other lifesaving tips.