Imagine a chef at work, and you might picture someone in starched whites slaving away in front of a hot stove all day. But the notion that chefs’ only task is to cook is about as realistic as thinking they only eat fancy fare at home (they don’t). After factoring in the roles of personnel manager, businessman, inventory accountant, supply chain manager and more, there’s just about enough time in the day to get the creative cogs churning for menu creation and leading service. In this new series, we ask our chefs to let us in on a day in their life, from first thing in the morning when they hit the snooze button until it is lights out.

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As our newly minted Head Chef of Carbone, Jack Carson has a lot on his plate: on top of running a restaurant, he’s a father of three, with the youngest just three months old. As a 20-year veteran of the industry, he relies on muscle memory (and a whole lot of caffeine) to power through service. “I always talk about a restaurant as a race car, and I think this car [Carbone] has been running fast and hot for a long time,” says Jack. “My job is to make sure the parts—the people and other ‘hardware’—haven’t been worn down. People expect a great experience 110% of the time.” Here’s how he ensures he runs a well-oiled machine.

7am: Wake up to the kids moving around the house and making noise. They are 2 and 4 years old with the 12-week-old starting to wake up as well. Feed the kids and get them ready for school.

8am: Kids are out of the house by 8am with the helper or rarely, when there’s time, I am able to walk them to school.

8:20am: Get on the tram to Central while catching up on e-mails and some reading (currently a cookbook on fermentation and vinegar production).

9am: Check on kitchen attendance, have my first coffee of the day, check in with the state of the team, and go over today’s agenda including reservations, daily specials, and menu items. Here is where the problem-solving starts. Look at invoices and start checking deliveries, chop invoices, etc.

10:30am: More admin work. This includes checking emails, menus, costing, scheduling… anything and everything that needs taking care of.

11am: Greet the front-of-house staff as they arrive and get a gage on who’s in what sort of mood, start prepping for service and check stations for immediate corrections. Usually, our Operations Director comes in looking for something to grab and eat. Throw something cheap at him and keep moving.

11:30am: Sous chefs arrive, hand them tasks. Talk with the front-of-house staff about what the daily items on the menu are: daily crudo, pasta of the day, any specials we may be offering. Place truffles in display after weighing and recording.

12pm: Start of service, which usually kicks off with people waiting to sit down exactly at noon when we open our doors.

2-2:30pm: Wind down lunch, weigh in truffles and record, put them away. Start assessing the midday delivery for vegetables and fruit. Make the call on additional orders. Check on staff meals. Greet PM shift and talk with sous chefs about what needs to be done for the next service (bread production according to today’s reservations).

3pm: Head to Causeway Bay to find out where the kids are and spend an hour with them if I can. (This is very seldom, but on Wednesdays they have rugby tots in the park and I try really hard to go to this.) On most other days, it’s banging out prep for dinner service. Usually Events or Blacklist or Jack has something come up. Write the menu they need or attend the meeting with the department in charge. While grill and pasta play music at their own stations, I take five minutes to sit down and have a coffee.

4:45pm: Head back to work, check status of prep and communicate with the team on final numbers for dinner service.

5:15pm: Check on chefs and ask what needs selling and what we may be out of. Possible bathroom break.

5:30pm: Briefing with front-of-house team. Weigh and record truffles and place in display boxes.

5:45pm: Coffee again (strength will depend on the night before).

6pm: First table sat. If we are set and ready, this is when I can take a mental break until the first order comes in. At this point, it’s muscle memory and service runs like clockwork. Chits come in for orders and guest identifiers on the pass. React accordingly .

10pm: Service starts to wind down a little, start to talk with Chef Chris about the plan of attack for the next few days: how much of what to order and from who, scheduling, special events, anything else on our radar. He usually kicks me out around this time. Head to the back storeroom to change out of whites, meet guests on the way who want to have a chat or a drink.

10:45pm: Chat and drink at bar with a Blacklister or manager on duty about the service in our relaxed end-of-day briefing kind of way.

11:15pm: Head to kitchen to check status of closing. Talk with chefs about what is needed first thing in the morning.

11:30pm: Head to the tram. Buy a beer, check emails on the ride and plan the next day.

11:43pm: Swing through the 24-hour Wellcome for something to eat, get disappointed, go home.

11:50pm: Get home to a quiet house, look in fridge hopefully to find some leftovers, eat it cold.

12am: Do my pushups and get in the shower!

12:15am: Turn on TV and pass out.

2:30am: Go to bed.

Rinse and repeat every day, except Sundays are off and they are way more exhausting!

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