Chef’s Life: Harvest in Wine Country (Part 1)

Change is definitely in the air.  

Here in Napa Valley, the fertile green valley begins to turn with yellows & orange-ish tans, almost sparkling from the sunshine of a later morning rise. The tannic aromas of red, red (& white) wine start to fill the valley.  It can be so intense at times that you can almost taste the intoxicating scent of crushed grapes. Or wished you had.  All of a sudden, the change seems to come out of nowhere, gradually… and then very quickly.  Here we are.

“Each year from August through October, the Napa Valley comes alive with the excitement and rush of harvest.”  (Read more about Napa Valley harvest)  The word harvest is defined as a period or process of gathering crops, the fruit of your labor.  In Napa Valley, the prized fruit is the grape.  And Napans and tourists alike love to celebrate the harvest with vintage releases, large parties, and wine club events.  You can even celebrate by participating in the gathering of the grapes (learn more)! 

However, for the Chef, the farmer, the artisan: this celebratory season is THE busy season of our laboring craft, the work of “harvesting” our creative fruits for others to enjoy. When most people are still in bed, the normally dark vineyards come to life with unnatural, brightly lit patches of harvest workers gathering grapes. Wineries bustle with the transportation, processing & fermentation of grapes.

In the kitchen, this abundance of labor transcends to longer hours of service ironically as the days grow shorter. We are called on more frequently during this time to serve numerous scheduled events as well as many last minute requests.  

The outside world might simply see culinary labor as just feeding guests beautiful plated works of aromatic art. To the chef, however, the labor extends to high volume preparation of multiple events, each with a unique menu, dietary requests, and specific details that need to be translated to team prep lists, ingredient inventory, vendor orders, formatted menus, client emails, sometimes a second menu for dietary requests, delivery schedules, google calendar invites etc etc.    

One might even think that the physical energy needed to create culinary experiences could be exhausting, but resilience has been built with experience. Surprisingly, the physical discomforts become barely noticeable because your focus is drawn toward the labor, the process of creating food & serving others. 

However, as an Assistant Kitchen Manager/Chef at a small business catering company, the necessary mental & sometimes emotional energy can be the most laborious and hardest to explain, especially during Harvest.  Our passion is to feed others, an act of service. And to do so requires an anticipation of client desires - while co-managing the personal needs of our team & myself as our days flow inconsistently and are ever-changing.  

And with constant pivots in the kitchen, continuous communication is vital amongst our team, clients and vendors.  At times, you must jump from kitchen to computer &/or phone, which definitely feels rather chaotic as you mentally shift from right brain to left brain & back.  You focus on absorbing incoming information, executing the necessary prep, and almost get lost in the tasks at hand.  This “labor” feels natural as a Chef, though, and you even enjoy it, as it allows you to block out the outside world while you create.  

But, during the busy season, the daily over-stimulation along with the anticipation of the unexpected can cause mental exhaustion & even anxiety. Personally, I have to create time to decompress and nourish my soul. Of course, it isn’t as simple as just deciding to “rest.” Sleepless nights & feelings of burnout can be pretty frequent. Thus, sometimes recharging can become an act of work in itself, even though it is crucial for me to refuel with less time away from the kitchen. 

And the mental toil of a chef quietly continues...

(To be continued).