On my first visit to Hong Kong in 1991, I toured the expansive kitchens of the Grand Hyatt. There, a striking window overlooked a well-appointed dining table within the executive chef’s office, where our guide invited the Olympic Team to join him for breakfast.
In the early years, many hotels’ executive chef offices featured chefs’ tables. To the casual observer, this may have seemed like an outdated indulgence.
What has largely disappeared in the modern culinary landscape is the practice of tasting and evaluating dishes directly from the kitchen. The ritual of sitting down, sampling each element, and appraising the presentation from the guest’s perspective has diminished. These tables once provided chefs with a dedicated space to assess flavors, portion sizes, and the overall balance of their creations as they would appear on fine china. For years, I have encouraged restaurant managers to experience their venues from the guest’s viewpoint to gain valuable insights.
Today, the new style of working chefs often lose their appetite during shifts due to constant exposure to flavors—only to feel hungry about thirty minutes after work. In the past, hotel executive chefs were mostly administrative and remained somewhat removed from the kitchen aromas, enabling them to eat with a customer’s mindset in their offices. As a young chef, being asked to cook lunch for the head chef was considered an honor.
During my tenure as general manager, I maintained a professional approach toward dining at the club. While I recognized the importance of evaluating service and food quality, I found that direct observation during regular club hours could be influenced by member perceptions. To address this, I frequently invited members to breakfast or lunch to discuss club operations and policies. This allowed me both to assess the culinary offerings and to engage with the membership. Each meeting provided valuable insights into the guest experience and equipped me with constructive feedback to enhance our standards.
Consistency in food remains the cornerstone of member satisfaction. Many chefs emphasize standard recipe files, host staff food shows, use station tasting spoons, and reference photos of finished dishes. It is common for service staff to taste menu items to enhance their knowledge. Yet what is often missing is the executive chef taking the time to sit down—either in the restaurant or office—and consume an entire dish as a guest would. Personally, I rarely ate complete dishes as an executive chef; instead, I sampled individual elements to ensure they were balanced.
Reflecting on this, I recall watching a video of Marco Pierre White, who remarked that the last bite of a dish should be as visually appealing as the first. His comments underscored not only the importance of presentation but also the need for harmony in flavors and ingredient ratios. Often, sauces added for visual effect fail to adequately complement the amount of protein on the plate. In classical restaurants, the maître d would serve sauce tableside—both for precise placement and to ensure the guest received a suitable amount.
Many of us, as culinary professionals, honed our craft during the era of tasting menus, when fine dining establishments offered multi-course chef’s menus. These unique dishes, often distinct from the main menu, were carefully composed of one or two bites, requiring an intentional balance of salt, sweetness, acidity, and fat. The late Chef Joël Robuchon once told me that after the initial bite, it is difficult to recapture the diner’s emotional response—a sentiment reminiscent of the memorable first sip of a Coke.
Over the past 15 years since leaving the kitchen, I have routinely cooked at home for myself and my family. This was the first period in which I consumed my dishes in their entirety, presented and portioned as intended. I now take the time to thoughtfully experience each flavor throughout a meal, typically spanning eight to ten bites—the norm for an average restaurant portion. This practice has revealed nuances previously unnoticed: Certain flavors or seasonings can become overwhelming or monotonous over the course of a dish, detracting from the dining experience.
Had I embraced this approach during my professional career, it might have significantly enhanced my menus.
Today, executive chefs who step away from high-pressure kitchens, operate their own businesses, and have more time to cook often report that their taste profiles have improved. While expertise evolves with experience, genuine tasting ability represents a new development for some. This stands in contrast to the common belief that sensory perception declines with age.
While I am not suggesting that the executive chef should reinstall the chef’s table of yesteryear, I am advocating for the historical benefits of fully eating the menu items. I now reflect on my own uneducated perception—that those chefs’ tables were merely a privilege, and not a vital center for research and development.
