Culinary Director at Four Twenty Five

Attitude trumps experience: when hiring, what I look for the most is attitude, humility, and the desire to learn. Aspiring professionals also need to understand and accept that there is a lot of hard work that goes into working in this industry. It will require patience, discipline, and the willingness to make sacrifices.

Traveling and discovering other cultures is unquestionably one of the greatest sources of inspiration. I was fortunate enough to visit Japan a couple of years ago. It was a very significant trip that I still think about sometimes. The culture of respect and pride that the Japanese people have for their work, towards one another, for the ingredients, it was all deeply inspiring. As a New Yorker, I also feel lucky to be surrounded by an incredible food culture.

Leading by example is key. You have to come up with creative ways to educate and challenge your team. For example, putting up a great family meal or coming up with ideas for new dishes and trying them out together. After doing this for 30 years, I know that we can learn something from every member of the team and that we need to let the staff have a voice. There’s always going to be someone who looks at something differently and shows you how to do something better.