6.2023 Edition

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Editor: Justin Khanna​

Hey Reader,

We had a great question come through in the Repertoire Pro Community this week about mentorship.

It was an incredibly self-aware inquiry into what he wants out of his career. Here are some dot-points on mentorship that I shared:

• Notice what you DON’T want - there’s this concept (timestamped) that was covered with Goggins about the “reverse role model” that I really resonate with. I learned a ton working with tyrannical, not-financially-savvy, or disorganized chefs in my career that absolutely dictated the path I wanted to take for myself. And looking back, it’s just as valuable as seeking out what you DO want for your career.
• Don’t be picky - you’re not the only one to share that you get excited about the idea of being mentored. Who wouldn’t? But the reality is, we often don’t get to choose our in-person mentors. The ones that everyone wants (TK, Dominique Crenn, Massimo, etc.) immediately hit a supply & demand issue (there are only so many stations in their kitchens and only so many hours in a day), or they’re no longer in the place in their careers that they were when their mentees got the greatest benefit from them (ie: Grant’s time at TFL when TK was behind the stove). It’s also a bit of a paradox, because back then, no one saw TK as a “great mentor” - he was just the chef of TFL, and doing as best he could to make a name for himself and the restaurant. So if you truly want that type of relationship, you need to broaden your criteria for who can potentially be a great mentor, because chances are, you wouldn’t have heard of them yet. My key mentors are Chefs Daniel Calvert and Christopher Haatuft, but I worked with them before Danny had Belon and before Chris had a Michelin star at Lysverket. I didn’t have to “fight” for their knowledge or even “apply” to get mentored by them - I was just in the right place at the right time.

What are some of your learnings from mentorship?

Believe it or not, I wrote out 2 more points as a response to this question, you can check those out anytime inside the Repertoire Pro Community, a mix of sub-Reddit meets Discord that’s full of ambitious, thoughtful and positive hospitality professionals (this post inside the 🙋‍♂️Q&A Space) - Get your first month for $1 using code JUSTADOLLAR at sign up!​

Top Hits 💥

​Deleted Scene from The Menu​

Did you know this existed?!

If you would like to listen to a more in-depth breakdown of the movie, listen to the last podcast episode.

Our Take: Adding OR removing this scene increases the complexity but also the comprehensibility of the plot.

This nugget of information that Julian Slowik “worked at a small Korean Taco Truck when he was discovered” tells the viewers more about his true love and passion for food. It takes us back to the time of when Slowik was truly and intrinsically happy.

What do you all think? Should they have added this scene to let the viewers know early on that he is in it for good food and good food only, no false pretense? Or do you folks prefer this scene as deleted because it gives away “the game” (what Slowik has been missing all along) too early?

Advice for folks under 21

So I follow this creator on TikTok who does great NYC daily vlogs. He glossed over a screenshot in one of them, and I wanted to type it out here and share it with you to see if anything resonates 👇:

1. Respect, humility, and appreciation and will take you everywhere because good people just want to be around good people

2. Don’t get love and lust twisted, they are two totally separate things

3. If you work at a chain store of any kind you’re sitting on a gold mine of information, the boring stuff like training, products they’re pushing, daily inventory; that’s all business at scale, soak as much of that in as you can and it will pay off big time in the long run

4. Be perceptive of others, literally just observe, take mental notes of what you like/dislike, this will help with self-awareness and if you have a good sense of self-awareness and an understanding of others, it can unlock just about any door when applied the right way

5. When it comes to love, one of the most important things you need to make sure its real is encouragement; encouragement to be the best version of you, not who they want you to be but what they see in you that can become greater even if it means less time with them to best most well-rounded version of you

6. Once you become 21 (obviously) be careful with booze; everything in moderation but don’t forget moderation can more of a flex than being blasted

7. Use eye cream or just take care of your face as best you can, starting now

8. Keep you volume/temper at like a 4/5 as often as you can, only show 6/7 when you need to, if you can keep 8, 9 &10 for extreme circumstances I think it sends a powerful message without having to say anything; calmness = greatness

9. Happiness above all else

10. Do not worry about what you cannot control; but own the F out of what you can control

ICYMI 🙌

So many of you folks enjoyed last week's monologue, that I turned it into a bonus podcast episode! Check it out to hear my thoughts on a trend I'm hoping catches on of folks NOT making things "in-house" when there are more valuable trade-offs.

​This Place Called Kato in LA - I went to Chef Jon Yao's Los Angeles 1-Michelin starred restaurant and was not disappointed. Tight on time? There's a shorter version on Instagram!

This Week, We Learned… 🧠

​Mexican Chain Tacombi set for major expansion in 2023 🌮

​Specialty Coffee, But Make It Fun ☕️

​How to Sell, without being "salesy"

​Why it’s so hard to run a sustainable innovation-focused restaurant (we know, noma news for 3 newsletters in a row 😱...but this onion has layers)

Comment from you folks:

To Peep 👀

​Tilit's custom embroidery - Add a personal touch to your Chef gear with Tilit's embroidery option (available in-cart). You can customize the font, color, and even placement of the embroidery. PS: there's a 15% off your first order right now on the site with code HEARTTILIT

​Who’s Hiring? - Planning to make a career-pivot or floor-the-pedal with trying out jobs in the F&B industry? Kickoff your new year by crossing off this career-related goal!

​Stone Notebook's "Little Book Of" - A new stationary collection from the popular notebook manufacturer, with this edition focused on mushrooms.

​Steelport's Saya Engraving - The Portland-based knife company is now offering laser engraving on their best-selling knives! Available under "Accessories" 🔪

Quote I'm Pondering 💭

Thanks for reading, as always,

👊Justin​

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