Preparation & Momentum | We’re Back!

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We’re Back

“To invite people to dine with us is to make ourselves responsible for their well-being for as long as they are under our roofs.”

-Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste

by Vincent Nattress

In our ten years operating Orchard Kitchen we have never closed for more than a couple of weeks at a time, so having had the past two months to write and reflect has been a great opportunity. It has clarified and focused my mind on what is special about this place we have created. (cont. below)

Even though having a farm as part of a restaurant borders on crazy, we know that our farming sets us apart. We can only have the crops we want – the hundreds of different, distinctive, cultivars of produce that are not produced by large-scale farming – by growing them ourselves. Only by farming can we get our hands on impossibly fresh produce.

Still, at their core, restaurants are about a connection; connection with one another and with our food.  While as a chef I am loath to admit it, the way we serve our guests is much more than half of what any restaurant has to offer. Skilled chefs can prepare food to an exceptionally high level, but the things that differentiate one very good restaurant from another isn’t about the food alone; it’s about how they make their guests feel. With all the effort we go through at Orchard Kitchen to grow and prepare food, we must be as skilled at explaining the story behind that food. Story telling is key, or the ingredients, the preparations, the place itself is less enjoyable to the guest.

How the story is told is critical as well. The guest should never feel like they are being lectured or talked down to.  I have been to great restaurants where the staff made me feel like they thought I was lucky to be there. I want my all of you to know how I feel: that we are lucky I have the chance to share these treasures with you.

Service is where context is provided, and context is critical. If we go out of their way to do all these things - grow best ingredients, innovative how we prepare them, we present the food in custom-made dishware – but don’t tell these stories to our guests, then all was for naught. I have been very much enjoying delving deeper into our stories and our history, and I look forward to sharing it with you all in the year ahead.