Jonathan Dixon > Quotes

“If you take a shortcut now, you'll be taking them for the rest of your career.”
― Jonathan Dixon, Beaten, Seared, and Sauced: On Becoming a Chef at the Culinary Institute of America

“What I’d just seen was a philosophy of life in action. Two guys—two kids—who one day decided they would be excellent; who disciplined themselves, learned everything they could, practiced aggressively, and moved their thinking onto a whole other plane.”
― Jonathan Dixon, Beaten, Seared, and Sauced: On Becoming a Chef at the Culinary Institute of America

“cantaloupe should have a strong cantaloupe smell. It too should feel heavy, and its “belly button” should be smooth, inverted, and round. The webbing should be raised and distinct, dry, with very little green. A honeydew should feel waxy and tacky, with a little give where it was cut. Tomatoes contain three acids: malic, glutamic, and citric. Dark tomatoes are high in acid; yellow or light tomatoes are lower.”
― Jonathan Dixon, Beaten, Seared, and Sauced: On Becoming a Chef at the Culinary Institute of America

“There is something difficult to describe about how different you feel working under someone who doesn’t have too many other places he’d rather be, who wants you to do well, who is genuinely excited about imparting information, who loves cooking and assumes the same about you, who watches every move you make—not to nail you for an error, but to be sure you’re doing it the best possible way—and who is having a truly good time doing it all. It’s like being given permission to succeed, and you operate fueled by a low, constant ebullience.”
― Jonathan Dixon, Beaten, Seared, and Sauced: On Becoming a Chef at the Culinary Institute of America