
Always, Never
An Astera Journal

The New YOrk Times Knows Who We ARe And That Makes Us Feel Things
About a week or so ago, a gentleman from the New York Times requested I send some photographs of our food and ambiance for an article that mentioned Astera. I was more than happy to oblige, but wasn’t sure what the article would be about…

Esprit de Corp in the Kitchen - And, How Not To BE A RAT FINK TO THE BOSS
Years ago I worked in an extremely competitive . That happens at jobs, as people are set against each other to demonstrate their value to the bosses, hopeful to ensure a better position, better pay, or for a guy like me who was always seeking approval, a father figure proxy to tell me how proud he was of me (oh papá! tell me you’re proud of me papá!)…

OVERWHELMING AND EXTREME ANXIETY IS YOUR BEST FRIEND SORT OF.
I have a panic disorder. It’s been more or less extreme over the years, with the top of the curve around 2015-2022. Seven years of terribleness. But if I've learned anything, it’s that you need to learn how to use the panic and anxiety rather than try to escape it, which is absolutely futile in my experience…
We’re Writing a Cookbook
After much deliberation, I’ve decided to set my sites on self publishing a lovely cookbook for ASTERA. My last cookbook, Fermenter, was an interesting project for sure, and I learned a lot…

Being a Father FIRST, CHEF SECOND
A terrible man I once knew said to me “It’s us against the future.” This person was clearly not a father, at least not a good one, and one who had no understanding of leaving legacy or taking care of future generations. To me, the future is my daughter and I’m certainly not trying to set up a competition of resources with my own kid…

Right Now: Invite Someone Over For Dinner.
I would love to tell you that we at the restaurant can make a meal as wonderful and meaningful as you, but I don’t think that’s true. Yes, we’re pretty darn good at cooking and service, but the care and intimacy that can be demonstrated by a friend is miles above what any restaurant can offer. If you just don’t have time or the tools to make a nice dinner, though, then by all means take a friend out…

Terrible Story Time II: Take This Job and Shove It!
…But sometimes there’s that one boss who is just so foul, so terrible, and so utterly messed up that there just is no way I could see that he could redeem himself. To me, that was “my chef.” We all have that one we call “my chef.” It’s that one chef at the place you learned the most from in those early years. We’ll call him Nigel O’Callaghan for this story (so I can avoid a civil suit)…

I Never Embraced Veganism
I’ve learned well from doom scrolling on social media that if you want to get someone to look at what you’re doing, you need to either make a total ass of yourself through some sort of ridiculous skit or dance OR make a controversial statement. I’m not limber or adroit enough to convince anyone I’m dancing rather than just having an episode, so I’ll try sounding controversial and see if I get any takers. You’re here, so there’s one…

“You’ll Spoil Your Dinner!”
Forty years ago, when I was a little boy, my Nana would take my brother and I on RV excursions with her second husband, Bob. On more than one occasion, we’d drive up to Port Orford, Oregon from the Bay Area, where we lived. The trip was always great fun, and we’d look forward to collecing agates and Japanese net floats on the beach. One day, my brother Jeremy and I were heading into town with Bob to grab something to repair the RV. “Don’t eat anything when you’re out, you’ll spoil your dinner,” she yelled at us…

Terrible Story Time: Feel the Burn!
I’ve only been a vegan chef for 22-odd years and the first decade or so of cooking was definitley NOT vegan in any way shape or form. Not only did I work primarily as a saucier, but I usually took on all of the charcuterie as well. I was keen to do so, as I loved the challenge of some of the more difficult projects in the kitchen like patés, torchon, gallontines, ballontines, sausages, and terrines. These involved meat, lots of it, and I became adept at making perfect mousselines, adding the right amount of pork fat to a rabbit farce, and anything else involving sel rose (aka nitrates)…

The importance of seemingly outdated service points in the modern restaurant.
Much like the ridiculously verbose title of this entry, some of my colleagues in the service industry find traditional “open hand” service to be cumbersome and unnecessary. “Open hand” refers to the tradition of not showing the back of your hands to guests ever, and requires the server to maneuver around quite a bit in order to achieve this. For some guests, this seems a little confusing as they wonder why the serve just doesn’t leave the darn plates on the table rather than bounce around back and forth serving from either side of the table.

On Being Terrible at Gardening
Some years ago I read a book on self improvement (big mistake!) and decided I needed to make some changes to cultivate myself into a sophisticated, learned gentleperson steeped in history, culture and the finer things. Obviously it didn’t hold, and I found myself years later still the goofy buffoon you all know (and love?).

Always, Never
When I was a young cook, I went to Johnson and Wales University for my culinary education. There my favorite chef, Chef Hensley, used to use the word “Always” as his motto. I adopted it, and used my dremel to carve ALWAYS into the side of my knife to rememer to always follow his tenets of doing things the right way, every time…