When I spoke with Patrick O’Connell, he was the chef of The Inn at Little Washington in Virginia, which he has run as one of the most influential restaurant with rooms operations in modern American hospitality. The Inn functions as both a Michelin-starred restaurant and a Relais & Châteaux property.
O’Connell speaks to two subjects in the book. The first is the disciplined team, and he gave me a metaphor I have kept. The team at the Inn is united around a common goal of excellence without compromise, and the key word for him is collaboration. Everyone’s contribution matters and everyone has to be on cue. He compared the operation to an orchestra and his own role to a conductor’s, always listening for the flaws and imperfections that need correction.
“It’s very much like an orchestra and my role is parallel to a conductor’s. I’m always looking for any flaws and imperfections that need correction.” Patrick O’Connell, chef, The Inn at Little Washington
What I take from the metaphor is the rehearsal. The musicians are trained separately before they join the orchestra. The rehearsal, daily and repeated, is what aligns their separate trainings into the single performance the audience pays to hear. The new musician rushed past the rehearsal will be audible in the section for months, and the same is true of the new line cook, the new front desk agent and the new banquet captain. The orchestra does not skip the rehearsal.
The second subject is the human touch. O’Connell gave me the most philosophical version of it I heard from anyone in the book. He regards his work, in its highest sense, as a healing art form. The plate, the room, the welcome and the moment of departure are each a chance for the operation to register what the diner needs and respond to it specifically. The diner who arrives exhausted from a difficult week receives a different evening than the diner who arrives celebrating. The phrasing is grand. The discipline beneath it is the same specific noticing the hoteliers in the chapter describe.
“I regard my work as a healing art form.” Patrick O’Connell, chef, The Inn at Little Washington
In the book, Patrick O’Connell appears in Chapter 4, First the Team, on the orchestra, the conductor and the rehearsal; and in Chapter 8, The Human Touch, on the kitchen and the floor calibrating together to give each guest the evening they need.