Welcome to the Mis En Place podcast. Hosted by chef, restaurateur and Chefs Table Society president Robert Belcham, the podcast covers a variety of topics related to the complicated lives of the people who cook your food.

We’re looking at Escoffier’s Big Idea: the brigade system, or the restaurant kitchen’s military-style hierarchy that serves to organize work into distinct stations and sets up a leadership chain responsible for making it all function efficiently. For a lot of reasons, which we’ll talk about with our guests today, the ongoing need for this foundational piece of modern restaurant culture is being questioned, mostly as to its value and relevance to the state of our industry in 2021. But can we overhaul it, or should it simply be replaced? Are there any viable alternatives? Just a few of the questions host Robert Belcham puts to to author Michael Ruhlman, chef/educator Julian Bond, industry activist Hassel Aviles and chef/operator Dave Gunawan. Grab your toque, take your station, and tune in!