Growing Through Imperfection with Our January/February Issue

“I’m a fail-up kind of guy,” is a phrase that stuck with me since I heard Patrick Amice say it last spring while speaking on a James Beard panel on sustainability. Amice, general manager of hospitality for Barr Hill, talked about the mistakes that have helped him build a stronger, more sustainable business at his Beard-nominated Vermont bar and distillery, and I couldn’t help but think about how the philosophy applies to the wider restaurant industry. 

We live and work in the age of the highlight reel, when perfectly styled dishes, envy-inducing collaborations, and chef awards get all the love on social media. But for our first issue of the year, we wanted to focus on something that felt more honest: imperfection. It’s something centerfold Sam Fore knows well. Fore has spent seven years trying to perfect her fried chicken (“It’s almost there,” she says). More than 30 different trials with brines, dredges, oils, and fry times have led to the delicious dish on our cover (which looks pretty perfect to us).  

Like fried chicken, not-so-colorful classics such as meatloaf, pork belly pasta, and gumbo get their time to shine in Caroline Hatchett’s feature on the prettiest plating for the humblest of dishes (take that, algorithm!). John Kessler talks about how fine-dining chefs find beauty in byproducts like zucchini trim, carrot peels, and eggshells, and if you’re a lowly fruit scrap at L.A.’s Pasta | Bar, you get a second life as a flavored ‘cello as Chadner Navarro finds. At San Antonio’s Clementine, John Russ discovers new ways to use off-season produce (think arugula in the dead of winter), and sometimes Key lime pie tastes better when burnt. And even the swankiest of steakhouses didn’t start out that way, as the owners of Sunny’s in Miami reveal in our Build-Out feature. 

We also looked at imperfections within the food system. Isaac and Amanda Toups are working to solve childood hunger one family meal at a time, and operators discuss how they’re working with and around tipped-wage models. Laura Tillman reports on the realities and challenges of trying to open a restaurant in Mexico City, and Allison Salerno talks to chefs who are giving formerly incarcerated workers a second chance. 

There will be burnt dishes, broken systems, brown food, ugly scraps, and recipe missteps in your kitchen, but it’s all worth it for you and your guests if you come out just a little better than before. Because, as Fore tells her team at Tuk Tuk Snack Shop, “Getting it perfect is not going to be your job. Our job is to make sure everybody in our space is having a better day when they leave. If you’re pursuing perfection, you’re going to get really upset by a brunoise that isn’t quite right, but if you’re pursuing guest satisfaction, you’re going to put the best effort you can into what you do.”

Liz Grossman is editor-in-chief of Plate.