JON KRAUSE pleasure and life affirmation. Every table is a stage that must be transformed. Running a restaurant is like running an army, with motivation and human behavior as tools of <strong>the</strong> trade. My battalions come in brigades called sous chefs, chefs de cuisine, garde margers, sauciers, poissioniers, rotisseurs, patissiers and stewards. Deployment decisions are made according to troop strengths and skill levels. Being a sociologist and historian is imperative, as numerous creeds, cultures, nationalities and religions impose <strong>the</strong>ir traditions on my actions. The culinary arts also provide a good home for a chemist, with understandings of organic and inorganic reactions; for a biologist, with respect for anatomy and diversity; and for a physicist, experienced in <strong>the</strong> practical applications of mechanics and <strong>the</strong>rmodynamics. Certification in nutrition—normal, childhood, geriatric—and disease is required. Familiarity with emergency medical procedures associated with burns, lacerations, fractures, strains, and a whole host of maladies is a necessity. Rigorous sanitation knowledge and discipline must be acquired and followed. The health and well being of hundreds of people are at stake every day. Forget <strong>the</strong> hundreds of people; it is your health and welfare that are at stake. So will <strong>the</strong> surgery fix a fat guy’s biggest problem? My surgeon is not an obtuse academic; he really had a profound insight. He says <strong>the</strong> surgeon’s blade can help fix only one thing,“<strong>the</strong> results” of my metabolism. It can adjust, to within normal limits, a part that genetics has played in my life of obesity. It can prevent my body from holding and storing excess amounts of consumable energy. That’s all. Oh, would that were enough … but it isn’t. The rest of <strong>the</strong> problem—<strong>the</strong> behavioral, environmental, educational and emotional part—still remains. It has taken years to learn that <strong>the</strong> love, concern and skill I have with food is also an overwhelming obsession to use food as a mood-altering substance. The pleasant phrases I used to describe my passion for The concern for serving people and enhancing welfare help me avoid getting close to anyone. If making and serving food is <strong>the</strong> point, I don’t have to make conversation, be polite, navigate a social scene, or be open with anyone. food can be an attractive mask for an addict who hoards and guards his obsession. The concern for serving people and enhancing welfare help me avoid getting close to anyone, by shifting <strong>the</strong> focus to food. If making and serving food is <strong>the</strong> point, I don’t have to make conversation, be polite, navigate a social scene, or be open with anyone. All my chef’s knowledge was pursued in <strong>the</strong> service of an underlying feeling of inadequacy. If I could just know more and be a better chef, <strong>the</strong>n I wouldn’t feel quite so insufficient. My knowledge conspires to place me in <strong>the</strong> center of <strong>the</strong> universe, above <strong>the</strong> rest. The reality is that every thought that crosses <strong>the</strong> mind is not worthy of note. Most thoughts that cross <strong>the</strong> mind need to cross and just keep moving out. It has taken years to understand what is a normal portion of food, and <strong>the</strong> part food plays in a food-adjusted person’s life. The phrase “this dessert is too rich for me” has never been comprehensible, and to this day continued on page 86 V a n d e r b i l t M a g a z i n e 69
70 TheClasses “ Allan Hubbard, BA’69, has been chosen by President Please Note: Class Notes only appear in <strong>the</strong> print version of this publication. S u m m e r 2 0 0 5