Mise en place, a French culinary phrase meaning "everything in its place”, is one of the biggest steps you can take to set yourself up for a successful night of service. A critical part of the daily Mise en place is the lesser-known “pas sans cela”, which loosely translates to “I can’t live without”. While crucial must-haves vary on an individual basis (albeit for most, coffee tops the list), here are seven “pas sans cela” essentials that keep the daily operations for these industry leaders from grinding to a halt.

1

“I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without my team and my husband. It's that simple. You've got to have people around you who are supporting you, challenging you, and making you think about things in different ways.”

Jen Pelka, Founder, CEO and Owner for Magnum PR and The Riddler in San Francisco, CA and New York, NY
2

"I wouldn’t be able to do my job without Dropbox, we use it to communicate with all of the teams and store every source, from farmers to recipes. It allows us to do our job and is as effective as knives in the kitchen. From an eating standpoint, a spoon is the most important utensil, as we’re always tasting. I tell my cooks that they need to constantly taste – if it doesn’t taste good to you, it’s not going to taste good to anyone else."

Linton Hopkins, Chef & Proprietor at Resurgens Hospitality Group in Atlanta, GA.
3

“I couldn't live or work without my phone! All of my recipes, schedule, pictures, articles, ideas, and everything is on my phone. I would be adrift without it!”

Rhadia Hursey, President of New York Women's Culinary Alliance in New York, NY
4

“I can’t live without Sleep/Gin/Running — not necessarily in that order.”

 Tony Carson, General Manager for The Modern in New York, NY 
5

“The one thing I can’t live without when I'm working the line is my big Kunz spoon. I think my hand is pretty calibrated to it by now. Otherwise, my notebook. Lots of thoughts get recorded in there at all times of the day and night that eventually make their way into dishes!” 

Paige Lombardi, Chef de Cuisine for Oleana Restaurant in Cambridge, MA  
6

“The one thing I absolutely couldn't do my job without is a scale! Everything at Olmsted, from the recipes to portion size, down to the milk that goes into our hot chocolate, is weighed out. We have scales all over the restaurant.”

Greg Baxtrom, Chef and Owner of Olmsted in Brooklyn, NY 
7

“I couldn’t do my job without my laptop and the internet, because prepping and the advance organization is so incredibly vital to planning and thinking through the process. Though I also think that there’s little that can’t be achieved with gaff tape and zip ties. Those things are pretty amazing expendables to have a stash of.”

Sam Pogue, Principal of Paper to Table based in New York, NY