Five Easy Pieces: October 6, 2023

Five must have kitchen essentials

I’ve worked in restaurants for the last 20 years, and for the last decade I’ve owned my own. Along the way I picked up a few tricks.

In the early days I pestered the kitchen teams about what they were doing, what tools they used, and why. I worked in the front of house, but I knew I needed to understand the way a kitchen worked: the little decisions they made, how they stayed organized. This has not only helped me strategize with the kitchen teams in my own projects, but it’s paid immense dividends in my own cooking.

What I learned is that success in the kitchen starts with having the right tools. For my Friday note, free to all subscribers, I’m sharing my five essentials for the kitchen, plus a very exciting preview of a new project I’m working on.

Happy cooking, all.

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Painter’s tape and a sharpie

Any serious kitchen will have painter’s tape and a Sharpie in constant supply. The color of the tape might change (I prefer the classic blue), but this simple little kit is paramount to labeling the food in your fridge. All the food in my fridge gets labeled with the date, and what’s inside. Even if I open a jar of mustard, or a container of yogurt, I write the date I opened it on the top.

It’s a tremendous practice for your own kitchen. It allows you to track freshness (instead of the spotty sniff test), and when we have guests or babysitters at the house, it clarifies what lurks in each container. (And in our house, some of the stuff I cook might look very suspect if you didn’t know what it was.)

Stackable, resealable food containers

Those tape labels are being affixed to these containers.

Growing up, my mom saved every plastic or glass food jar to repurpose for food storage. While I appreciate the thriftiness of this solution, it was architectural havoc when it came to organizing and stacking leftovers in the fridge. I like a system of clear, easy to use, stackable containers from Cambro. You can find them online or at any restaurant supply store in your neck of the woods.

A salt cellar

Listen: you need a salt cellar. The first thing I do at any home where I’m cooking is pour salt into a container large enough to fit my fingers. Salt is the ne plus ultra of seasoning in the kitchen. If your salt isn’t out and available on your countertop, then you’re probably under-seasoning your food. And while it isn’t criminal, it’s certainly keeping you from cooking food that tastes delicious.

At our house I use this salt cellar for our cooking salt, and this hilarious ashtray as a salt cellar for chunkier finishing salt, which is kept on the dining room table.

A chef’s spoon

I’ve preached about these spoons in the past and I’ll continue to do so. These make really awesome host gifts, but you’ll want them in your own kitchen first.

These were designed by the late Chef Gray Kunz, and in any serious kitchen I’ve ever entered, these were the spoon of choice. They are brilliantly designed, super comfortable, and the bowl of the spoon is just perfect. I use them for tossing grain salads, stirring up dressing, sautéing food, and I’ll use the slotted version to test pasta or beans.

They even come in a petite version I love for all the same uses. (And for slaying a pint of ice cream.)

a sharp knife

If you’re going to be cooking at home you need a sharp knife. There are countless brands I love. My go-to is Global, a storied Japanese manufacturer. My favorite knife, however, was a special purchase from Middleton Made, here in Charleston. Quintin, the founder, has been on the same entrepreneurial circuit as me over the last 15 years, so I’ve seen him at trade shows and local markets. He’s as good as they come and his knives are exceptional. They’re also getting harder and harder to find as his star rises; he makes each one by hand.

Getting the knife is half the battle - the next step is keeping it sharp. I have a sharpening stone but I’ll admit, I’m too lazy to use it. I typically Google “mobile sharpening near me,” which will work in your neck of the woods, too. There are loads of mobile knife sharpeners in lots of cities. If you don’t have one, you can always send them off to Knife Aid.

A bonus preview: A great apron

My wife and I have been working on our own project, Teamwork, since last April. We are sourcing incredible fabrics and making our aprons in the New York Garment District. Our aim is to create chic aprons that read more minimal and elegant while performing beautifully and improving with age.

Just as I take great care in the tools and ingredients I bring into my kitchen, I wanted to find an apron that I’d love to wear and feel good in. Often on Sunday we will put these on to cook in the morning and wear them around the house for hours. We love them, and the fabric is a peachy twill that seems to get better with every wear and wash.

What you see below are two of our core offerings we will be launching in the coming weeks. They are our standard apron in Navy and Petrichor.

Stay tuned for more.