I finally saw how a real prep kitchen runs in Portland

Visited Le Pigeon's prep kitchen last weekend and watched them break down 30 ducks in under an hour. The guy on the station had his knife out twice as often as he put it down. Has anyone else toured a busy prep kitchen and picked up a trick you still use?

2 comments

2 Comments

claire_butler11mo ago

Honestly, watching someone break down 30 ducks in under an hour sounds wild. My buddy Dave went to a similar tour in Chicago and said the guy on the station never stopped moving his knife. He picked up this trick where you keep the blade on the bone the whole time instead of lifting it off. Dave swears it cuts his chicken prep time in half now. Said it changed how he handles any bird with bones.

karen_hart1mo ago

That part about keeping the blade on the bone the whole time @claire_butler1 mentioned is something I saw in a video from a butcher in Japan, and I tried it myself after visiting a diner prep kitchen here in Austin. It's honestly way harder than it sounds because your wrist has to stay loose while still pushing steady pressure, but once you get it, you feel like a pro. What nobody talks about is how much cleaner your cutting board stays too, since you aren't lifting the knife and flinging bits around. Did you notice if that guy at Le Pigeon used the same knife for everything or switched blades between tasks?