Chef-to-Chef

ATTRACTING TALENT

Ways to think outside of the box and zero in on culture to build your labor force // By ACF Chef Ashten Garrett

One of the most common issues in the food industry today is staff retention. Phrases such as “no one wants to work right now,” “the students are unmotivated” and “it’s difficult to hire and recruit right now” have circulated widely and are creating an unfortunate strain in many establishments nationwide. It is no secret — the tremendous turnover rate has plagued the hospitality profession for decades. Keeping staffers engaged or just retaining them at all, especially through busier seasons, has been challenging for kitchen managers. But it’s not all bad news.

On a more positive note, as the past president of ACF’s Young Chefs Club, I’m seeing a new wave of young chefs emerging who are excited to explore new ideas, discover various techniques and network with kindred-minded individuals. With many food trends leaning more toward sustainability, public exclusivity and cultural inclusivity, it is also refreshing to see a dynamic being built that caters to what matters most to younger generations.

Young chefs today perhaps are more engaged than ever before when it comes to learning about entrepreneurship and alternative culinary career paths and the endless possibilities they can provide. The age-old mantra of “putting your head down and grinding it out” for X number of years in a hot kitchen is fading to give way to a new industry mantra that includes hard work but also “smart work” — chiefly in the embrace of entrepreneurship, social media and technological advancements to bring new ideas to fruition.

While I was in culinary school, every hospitality student had to take a capstone class about the restaurant business and cost control. The point of this class was to provide a real-life perspective into restaurant operations while also learning about entrepreneurship. On my first day, the professor asked our class of 29 students, “How many of you wish to own and operate your own restaurant?” Nearly everyone raised their hands in overzealous excitement. Fast-forward to the last day of class, with now only 18 students, he posed the same question. Only three students raised their hands — this time with uncertainty on their faces. I wondered: How could something that these young chefs were so excited

ACF Chef Ashten Garrett preparing dishes at Marriott International in Downtown Cleveland during a photoshoot for his cookbook, “A Few of My Favorites.”

about and wanted to do for the rest of their lives be an uncertainty now after taking one class? It became evident that it wasn’t about the class or the hospitality system, but what that individual wished to do. And in a lot of ways, we now have many high school and college graduates who have decided to break from the traditional approach of grinding it out for hours in restaurants to instead find other ways to get trained, learn new skills and advance their careers.

That said, I believe the best approach to attracting talent and retention is to first discover what kind of job, life and career younger chefs today really want and to leverage some of the skills they may have that older generations may not. A colleague recently sent me a link for a job posting and asked my opinion about it. The job posting was made by a restaurant in Florida that was listing a TikTok content creator cook position. What a peculiar job concept, I thought, until I read the description and saw how many applicants already applied — close to 20 and only on the first day. Imaginative, out-of-the-box ideas that benefit both the operation (think of the marketing potential for that restaurant), as well as the cook (who gets to use social media skills), is what’s really going to propel this industry forward.

Clearly then, being a diverse and inclusive kitchen doesn’t have to be confined to race, gender and ethnicity — there is considerable opportunity to include younger chefs with more diverse backgrounds and skill sets. I truly believe that the hospitality profession has to thrive — not just survive. Providing mentorship and establishing a system where young chefs can see themselves grow and find success is paramount for that.

Food Network's “Guy's Grocery Games” winner Ashten Garrett is an ACF chef, food and sustainability activist and the immediate past president of the ACF’s Young Chef's Club. Born and raised in Akron, Ohio, Chef Garrett received his associate and bachelor's degrees from Johnson & Wales University, graduating summa cum laude. After traveling through Italy, Spain and France to cultivate his palate and refine his culinary skills, Chef Garrett is a former chef de partie at the Ritz-Carlton, Cleveland, and currently serves as a culinary assistant chef for ACF Culinary Team USA and the Bocuse d’Or International Culinary Competition, held this month in France. Learn more at chefashten.com.

THRO 52mm UGH THE LENS

40mm f/2 .8

A photo-heavy profile of two legendary chocolatiers and pastry chefs // By ACF Pastry Chef Robert Wemischner

Of all the ingredients in the sweet kitchen, none compares to chocolate as the ultimate but fickle muse for the pastry chef’s creative side. Pursuing somewhat divergent paths, here are two stories of chocolate’s lure as played out by two masters, ACF Chef Amaury Guichon and Chef Kriss Harvey. It’s arguable that genius in the wider world of the sweet kitchen comes in many different forms, but what geniuses have in common is an unending curiosity about ingredients and their potential.

Amaury Guichon

Born in Cannes, Chef Guichon, founder and CEO of Pastry Academy by Amaury Guichon in Las Vegas, pursued his basic training for two years in Switzerland and then started working at a young age on the savory side of the kitchen. Following a stint at Lenôtre, a legendary pastry shop in Paris, followed by an executive chef position there and appearances on a television show, he was ready to buff up his resume and moved

From the headline: The Engagement Ring by ACF Chef Amaury Guichon: a cheesecake in disguise with a vanilla streusel base and blueberry-almond cream sponge; Above: The Cheeseboard Game by Chef Guichon with a triple chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookie, dark chocolate ganache and decorative elements crafted in dark and white chocolate.

to Las Vegas. Working for three years at the Aria Resort & Casino, his dream was to offer classes internationally. “I knew then that I had to have my own kitchen to take it to the next level,” Chef Guichon says. Finding the right partner three years ago led to the fulfillment of that dream with the founding of the Pastry Academy, a place where he ties together his love for education with his dedication to perfection.

“I believe in the primacy of flavor,” says Chef Guichon, who uses Cacao Barry chocolate exclusively. “People tend to overcomplicate taste nowadays. Instead, in my pastry work, I like simple tastes, the purity of a fruit’s flavor enhanced through interesting textures. It’s all about the flavor. I design my molded renditions of everyday objects around flavor. And in those, the thickness of the chocolate has to be just right since what’s inside is as, if not more, important as the thrilling accuracy of my renditions, whether a designer handbag, a grandfather’s clock, a wooden soldier, a dragon or a dinosaur.”

Using a large variety of molds, both silicone and polycarbonate, and creating his own, Chef Guichon is only limited by his imagination, reproducing these objects and more (see his weekly videos on Instagram that showcase in breathtaking detail every available skill and technique). “Combining blown sugar and tempered chocolate to create artistic showpieces is the ultimate challenge,” he says. “Every creation has its own difficulty, but in my versions, the dimension of taste is never shortchanged. I used to be trapped in a creative cage but now getting better at what I do, I can edit the videos and through them, open the possibility for others to do part of what I am doing. I always have a project in the works, a new thing every week which leads to sharing my passion with others.”

ACF Chef Amaury Guichon’s Instagram-worthy creations in 2D and 3D format (from top): “Bamboo” made out of a passion fruit and coconut rice pudding, coconut mousse, vanilla mango compote mango and 100% white chocolate; “The Beets by Amaury” with raspberry mousse, yuzu compote, crunchy red sable and beet sponges; and “The Teapot” with a crunchy hazelnut streusel, hazelnut sponge, praline and Earl Grey cremeaux and mousse.

Although he cautions against looking too closely and too often at others’ work, he points to a hero and now a friend, Chef Christophe Michalak, the well-known Parisian pastry chef, formerly head of the sweets kitchen at the Hotel Plaza Athénée, about whom Chef Guichon says: “I owe him a lot. He opened my eyes to so much and championed me to further my career in many ways.”

Kriss Harvey

Based in Los Angeles, Chef Harvey began his career in top hotels and restaurants (Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago, for one) after taking classes at the Cacao Barry Chocolate Academy. Europe beckoned, and Chef Harvey got to fine-tune his knowledge of French pastry working with many of the key practitioners of the art. “I am now working with Puratos, who sells Belgium chocolate, and wish to put a stamp of true quality on affordable signature products like malt balls and chocolate-coated pretzels that are slated to sell at Costco.”

Going that route, Chef Harvey is committed to supporting cacao growers at origin to help raise their standard of living, no matter the venue or venture. With this commitment, he is moving confidently toward opening his own artisan store in early to mid-2023 with a well-focused product line using a range of distinctive chocolates. In his view, the use of one brand does not exclude enjoying using another since each has its own signature flavor profiles that lend themselves to different applications. “I love the fact that Felchlin, for one, traces every ingredient they use from milk powder in their milk chocolate to the growing of cane sugar back to the fields where it originates,” he says. “Keeping the new generation of cacao farmers engaged, it is incumbent on us

“I AM CONVINCED THAT THE EVER MORE DISCERNING PUBLIC WILL EMBRACE THE FLAVORS OF PURE CHOCOLATE NOT MERELY BEING BEGUILED BY EYECATCHING COLOR IN THE VISUALS.”

- Chef Kriss Harvey

as chocolatiers and end users that we ensure that they are being paid fairly for a product in high demand with a limited amount of cultivation worldwide.”

With great prime ingredients as a starting point, Chef Harvey stresses the importance of self-confidence in all who have collaborated with him or now take his popular immersion classes around the country. “I used to tell my staff at the hotels, ‘Be better than the other pastry people working around you, and you will go far,’” he says. “You don’t have to be innovative for innovation’s sake; just be good.”

When speaking about his overall style, he says, “I am a little oldfashioned, and in my bonbons, I veer from the trend of embellishing molded candies with bright colors. I am convinced that the ever more discerning public will embrace the flavors of pure chocolate not merely being beguiled by eye-catching color in the visuals. I contend that a well-made praline based on the proper roast of the nut — either almond or hazelnut — can’t be beat, and there is an audience for that kind of product.”

Clockwise: Chef Kriss Harvey’s caramelized honeycomb ganache; Swiss Rocher made with whipped almond and hazelnut praline coated in 39% milk chocolate; and a salted butter and redhued vanilla caramel ganache (credit: Jill Paider).

“I BELIEVE IN THE PRIMACY OF FLAVOR. PEOPLE TEND TO OVERCOMPLICATE TASTE NOWADAYS.”