A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A KANSAS CITY CHEF
From feeding and tagging to cooking and serving, we’ve been taking a look at a “typical” Day in the Life of folks all along the beef chain. Today we follow a Kansas City chef through his average weekend routine. Enjoy!
There will come a day when Zac Alft looks back upon this time of his life in astonishment.
The nightly sprint through marathon dinner service after marathon dinner service will have slowed, and he won’t quite comprehend what happened to the last 30 years of his life.
But for now, the 27-year-old chef dynamo doesn’t have time to look that far into the future. His six kitchen concepts in Kansas City’s Live Block of the ultra hip Power & Light District, along with another handful of dining hotspots in Louisville and Baltimore ensure that every day will be an adventure.
The Calm Before the Storm
The date had been circled on his calendar for some time: April 13. Bon Jovi. Sprint Center.
A sell-out crowd at the nearby Sprint Center is nothing Alft and his crews haven’t seen before. But Jon Bon Jovi, and the assumed age demographic he would bring to the district, would surely be a boon for business, particularly at Maker’s Mark Bourbon House & Lounge – a swanky, fine dining anchor that hangs its hat on some of the most incredible cuisine you’ll find in KC.
Alft, and his trusted right hand man at Maker’s, Chef Derek Kieffaber, were more than ready.
“There are things that, if you wait until you need them to prep, forget it,” Alft says. “All these guys know that. This kitchen can handle anything that comes, as long as we’ve done all the prep work ahead of time.”
Adding to the busy night, Alft has been charged with overseeing a 400-person, $250-a-plate seated dinner just up the street at one of his newest spaces, The Gallery, as part of a fundraising gala.
In just eight hours time, Alf will be entertaining some of Kansas City’s elite socialites, but he begins the day behind a blistering pizza oven with a large group of 10-year olds. It’s his son’s end-of-the-season wrestling team get together.
Outside, the KC Live Block played host to a few tourist groups.Across the way, Chef Derek and his staff were busy shucking oysters and making sauces by the gallon in anticipation.
After a quick stop in the kitchen of Maker’s Mark, Alft headed to the Gallery. There, his kitchen team was busy making final preparations ahead of their dinner, which included 360 pepper-crusted Certified Angus Beef ® filet mignon steaks.
Going Gardening
Just after 3:30 p.m., his phone buzzed. At McFadden’s, one of his other restaurants, the sunny, 72-degree weather brought patrons in early.
The kitchen was staffed only to handle a typical casual Saturday afternoon. After running at a feverish pace for nearly an hour, Alft arrived and stepped onto the line to expedite orders.
“My management style is that I need to be able to do everybody’s job that I supervise better than they can,” he said. “I should be able to step in on the line at any kitchen and make things right.”
But on this day, Alft’s expertise could only paper over the cracks. And when he realized that his staff had no more dishes left on which to serve food, briefly suspend food service until his team could recover.
“A lot of times I’m able to step in and relieve some of the pressure. There was no catching up today,” he said.
As the supper rush hits, can the crew keep up? How are things back at that private benefit going? Find out tomorrow as we follow Alft through the pre- and post-concert mania.
To catch up on the entire series check out these posts:
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