Chef's PSA

Episode Overview In this solo episode, André Natera covers the unwritten rules of professional kitchen etiquette, the behaviors, habits, and codes of conduct that every serious cook needs to know but that almost no one explicitly teaches. Culinary school covers technique. Working in a kitchen teaches you the real curriculum: how to move, communicate, respect

Episode Overview This is a solo episode. Andre Natera breaks down exactly what separates a good sous chef from a great one — the unspoken rules, the psychological approach, and the daily behaviors that make a head chef trust you completely. If you are in a sous chef role, working toward one, or managing someone

Episode Overview In this solo episode, André Natera talks about the mental strategies and professional decisions behind building a restaurant that actually makes a mark in a competitive culinary market. The ambition to open something great is common. The resilience required to actually get there, and to stay there once you do, is significantly rarer.

Episode Overview In this solo episode, André Natera breaks down how to approach a culinary job interview in a way that actually sets you apart from the other candidates. The culinary industry has its own hiring culture, and most cooks treat job interviews the same way they would in any other field, which is a

Episode Overview In this solo episode, André Natera walks through the creative process behind building a menu, from the first idea to a dish that earns its place on the final list and actually gets ordered. He covers the tension at the center of every serious menu decision: the balance between culinary creativity and profitability.

Episode Overview In this solo episode, André Natera concludes his three-part series on food cost with the practical systems that keep a kitchen financially healthy over time. The first two parts covered the fundamentals and the formula. This episode is about the ongoing discipline: the habits, routines, and decision-making processes that prevent food cost from

Episode Overview In this solo episode, André Natera digs into the actual mechanics of food cost: the formula, how to calculate it, and how to use it as a working management tool rather than just a number you track after the fact. Understanding food cost as a concept is one thing. Being able to calculate

Episode Overview In this solo episode, André Natera kicks off a three-part series on food cost by starting at the foundation: the relationship between money and cooking, and why most chefs who struggle with food cost do so because they never developed a working understanding of what money actually means inside a restaurant operation. The

Episode Overview In this solo episode, André Natera breaks down the three technical skills he considers most essential for any serious cook or chef to master. Not the obvious fundamentals everyone lists. The ones that actually separate cooks who can execute a recipe from chefs who can do anything with any ingredient that comes across

Episode Overview In this solo episode, André Natera looks back at the hardest kitchen job he ever had and what made it that way. The answer is banqueting and catering, a side of the culinary industry that most cooking school graduates are not prepared for and that tests a different set of skills than any