Chef's PSA

Episode Overview In this solo episode, André Natera compiles the 50 most important lessons, principles, and professional standards from the Chef’s PSA archive into a single episode. He describes it as a cheat code for any cook or chef who wants the most concentrated, experience-backed guidance the show has to offer in one place. Each […]

Episode Overview In this solo episode, André Natera walks through the modern cooking equipment that has fundamentally changed what is possible in a professional kitchen. This is not a gear review. It is a practical breakdown of the technology that serious kitchens are using, what each piece of equipment actually enables beyond its basic function,

Episode Overview In this solo episode, André Natera gets into salary negotiation for chefs and cooks, a topic that the culinary industry historically handled poorly and that most culinary professionals are not trained to approach with any strategic awareness. The result is that too many talented cooks and chefs are underpaid not because of the

Episode Overview In this solo episode, André Natera makes the case that the food on your plate needs a story to reach its full potential. A dish can be technically perfect and still fail to connect with a guest if there is nothing behind it that the guest can understand, feel, or remember. The best

Episode Overview In this solo episode, André Natera addresses the gap between what chefs say about using local products and what actually shows up on their plates. The word “local” has become a marketing fixture in the restaurant industry, appearing on menus and in chef interviews with a frequency that has outpaced the actual practice

Episode Overview In this Q&A episode, André Natera answers listener questions covering a range of topics from his own hiring standards to his perspective on the future of the culinary industry and the role of music in a professional kitchen environment. These are the kinds of questions that reveal how an experienced executive chef actually

Episode Overview In this Q&A episode, André Natera answers listener questions in the third installment of the Chef’s PSA Q&A series, tackling questions about getting promoted, developing speed on the line, and pushing through the obstacles that slow most culinary careers down. These are among the most practically useful questions in the series, because every

Episode Overview In this solo episode, André Natera covers one of the most overlooked decisions in restaurant design: selecting the right plates. Most operators treat plateware as a purchasing decision rather than a culinary one, and the result is food that fights its vessel instead of being elevated by it. The right plate for your

Episode Overview In this solo episode, André Natera walks through how to survive and navigate your first days and weeks in a new kitchen. Every new kitchen is a different ecosystem with its own culture, hierarchy, unwritten rules, and personalities, and walking in blind is one of the most reliable ways to undermine yourself before

Episode Overview In this solo episode, André Natera explores the world of chef and cooking competitions, from the most prestigious international stages to the television formats that have brought competitive cooking to mainstream audiences. Competitions occupy a complicated place in culinary culture: they can accelerate careers, build skills under extreme pressure, and create visibility that