Be “One” with the Chef Coat: the Zen of an Image
By Chef Terry Riesterer
Paragon Chef, Hoffman Estates, Ill.
When I started my business six years ago, I worried that potential clients would pick my brain about cooking techniques, demand which culinary school I went to, and test me somehow on the different sizes of a small dice, julienne or batonnet. Well, they didin’t. No one asked me about the mother sauces (often called the grand sauces) or even the many bacteria I had to learn about. No, they took one look at me and were reassured that I knew my stuff. This perplexed me for some time, and then it hit me. It’s the uniform. It’s the chef coat.
Wearing the chef coat is one of the things I suggest for your personal-chef business. I wear mine to the grocery store, on deliveries and every time I meet with a potential or existing client. People are surprisingly drawn to the thing. Everyday I’m asked, “What restaurant do you work at?”, which is an open door for my elevator speech. (Right, Candy?)
The chef coat instills confidence in the client and pride in yourself while wearing it. I just feel great while wearing one! I feel like a professional. My walk isn’t a walk; it’s a stride. I seem to stand taller and throw my shoulders back! I just feel like a chef.
I have a ton of chef coats in different colors and styles. I also have the classic white with blue piping for those special occasions. Do you know that in France, you never see a chef in anything but white? Here in America, we explore that fashion side of the profession, and have so many great women’s-cut coats available, too.
Ever wonder about the origin of the chef coat? It wasn't until the middle 1800s that Chef Marie-Antoine Carême redesigned the uniforms worn in his kitchen. Carême thought the color white was more appropriate because it denoted cleanliness in the kitchen. It was also at this time that he and his staff began to wear double-breasted jackets so they could be flipped to hide stains.
Carême also thought that the hats should be different sizes, to distinguish the cooks from the chefs. The chefs wore the tall hats, and the younger cooks wore shorter hats, more like a cap. Carême, himself, supposedly wore a hat that was 18 inches tall! Wonder about those folded pleats of a toque? Well, it later became an established characteristic of the chef’s hat, and is said to have been added to indicate the more than 100 ways in which a chef can cook an egg.
So, my fellow personal and private chefs: Wear those clean, pressed chef coats with pride. Stand tall and confident and know that it sends a message to all who see you. It broadcasts to all that you are a chef, you know what you are doing, and your client is in good hands. Know, also, that it will give you poise and cast an air of confidence. Wear it proud!
Editor’s note: On Dec. 4, Riesterer, who is APPCA’s 2006 Chef of the Year and chef/owner of Paragon Chef in Hoffman Estates, Ill., and APPCA member Rhonda Cady of Cady’s Creations in Machesny Park, Ill., return from France, where they have been representing the United States in the Gastronomodes 2006 Culinary Competition.