I have to start with the disclaimer that I have no experience of what it’s like to deal with fame or losing the normalcy that you and I take for granted. But as you enjoy the numerous opportunities and recognition that will come your way, I want to share two concepts that might be useful to you.
PRAISE AND CRITICISM
In her book Playing Big, Tara Sophia Mohr offers advice that is invaluable to anyone whose work gets a lot of attention: “to unhook yourself from praise or criticism”. You’ve probably held sharply critical views of a celebrity at one time or another. So it’s easy to imagine what it’s like to receive that kind of energy on a daily basis, but scaled up by hundreds or thousands. It can be really hard to detach yourself from it, but you’ve got to. Or at least work on what gets triggered in you by those responses - for your own peace of mind, if nothing else.
Even more powerful is her guidance to review your relationship with the praise you receive. Isn’t that the best part, though, when all your years of endless effort bear fruit? But she warns that positive feedback can limit you from really taking risks when you attach yourself to approval. You see that with the chefs who find that a Michelin star restrains their creative freedom, fearing a backlash from either the Guide or their customers. Or the authors who feel called to eventually kill off their best characters.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
The second truth I want to remind you of is that you’ve been gifted talents and opportunities to take the industry forward in some way. That awareness is usually accompanied by a sense of responsibility in choosing how to leverage the attention you receive. Some people use it purely to further their own sense of self, but you can use it in service - as a platform to drive the conversations that we need to have.
Even if you can’t lend your voice to every industry issue, you can start at home. We can all learn so much from how you meet those challenges in your own microcosm. Talk about how your restaurant supports the chefs who are single parents or newly-arrived immigrants. Tell us about how your team patiently helped the former lawyer find his feet in your kitchen. Share how you get your chefs to bond with their FOH colleagues. Introduce us to your Sous Chef who’s inspiring everyone on the team to meditate.
WE’RE ALL CONNECTED
Because shedding even a little light on those issues might be the key to a fairer industry for all chefs.You know what it’s like - you post a new plating technique on Instagram, and that trend will instantly appear on plates from Madrid to Manila. Because it’s not only your customers who pay close attention to your food. Countless chefs hang onto your every word for insights on how you play the game. And one post from you could be the game-changer for an apprentice who’s being bullied in a kitchen somewhere.
We won’t move forward only because of the trail you blaze. As Martin Luther King, Jr. pointed out, “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be.” At some point you have to turn to check-in on those of us who are following your lead, chef.
(Ishwariya Rajamohan founded Love Letters to Chefs, which is a platform devoted to helping chefs navigate the challenges of the profession. It's about really seeing the human being who shows up to work in a chef's jacket. The project is currently exploring how chefs can enjoy a better work-life balance.)
