Omnivore - Knife’s Edge: Multiples

Running more than one restaurant in different cities presents its own set of challenges.

You can judge a chef on how well his team performs when he’s not in the kitchen.

That’s something I heard a long time ago. I don’t remember who said it, but for some reason I think it may have been Alain Ducasse, or certainly someone of his stature — a great chef who has multiple concepts in far-reaching cities. And as I’m now officially operating more than one restaurant in different cities, I understand the sentiment a bit more personally.

First, let me squash the idea that I think I’ve become some international jet-setting culinary rock star god. Far from it. My virgin dive into this world of multiple operations doesn’t have me flying first class in a Concord from New York to London to Shangai. Not yet.

It has me riding bitch in Aisle 38 from Baltimore yesterday, kissing my kid goodnight in Atlanta and waking up to my newfound pastime: cruising I-20. En route to spend a day and a half in Birmingham. And then it’s off to New York to deliver a graduation speech at the Culinary Institute of America, which entails a few small plane flights and a rental car.

I heard Ferran Adria came onto that campus, with entourage in tow, on a helicopter. I’ll be pushing my Ford Fusion rental into the Poughkeepsie Marriott, solo.