The Culinary Cure Press

The Culinary Cure’s Kristen Coffield on Good Morning Washington

Cooking Family Meal For Some of Washington’s Best Restaurants

Family Meal is a worldwide tradition of restaurants feeding their staff before the restaurant opens for dinner. It gives the team a much needed break from their busy prep work and lets them sit together, discuss the evening ahead and enjoy a meal prepared by one of their own. Any staff — line cooks, even dishwashers — take turns preparing a tasty, easy to eat meal. It is typically a creative use of food on hand or a speciality menu representative of the cook’s own ancestry.

The idea is to come together as a family, discuss the evening ahead and have a laugh or two. Restaurant work is a calling. Believe me when I tell you, it is hard work, long hours and you don’t do it for the money. Some of the World’s best restaurants have kitchens that are tight spaces. It is a real dance for the cooks who have to work around each other to do their jobs. Hours of work go into the magic of getting meals to the table quickly and expertly. Family Meal helps build the camaraderie between the front and back of the house that makes for a great restaurant.

My friend Barbara Crocker and I have had the honor of preparing Family Meal for several great restaurants in D.C. We plan the menu, the restaurant orders the ingredients, and we prepare the meal at the restaurant kitchen and serve the team. It is very cool to be working elbow to elbow with these creative, hardworking people in such amazing kitchens.

Kristen Coffield and Barb Crocker at Masseria (1 Michelin Star) with Chef Nicholas Stefanelli

Family Meal for Roses Luxury (1 Michelin Star) and Pineapple & Pearls (2 Michelin Stars)

We cooked one family meal for 2 kitchens – Roses Luxury and Pineapple & Pearls. They are both Aaron Silverman’s restaurants and are right next door to each other.

Kristen Coffield with Chef Patrick O’Connell and Barb Crocker at Inn at Little Washington (3 Michelin Star)

Read our article in RappNews featuring our family meal at Inn at Little Washington (3 Michelin Stars) in December 2018.