My day at Toki Underground was typical of pretty much any shoot in that it presented a pretty major change in plans. The original framework for the day was to start with the staff around 10:00am as they prepped the restaurant for the day’s lunch service, followed by a portrait of founder & head chef Erik Yang with additional photos of a few menu favorites during the slow hours between lunch and dinner rushes. Then came the last minute email: “Erik won’t be available tomorrow afternoon so can you be ready to take his portrait right at 10am?”
Sure, no problem. Working with Erik was a breeze. I had some time to set up a couple looks and dialed in my lights while he paced around making phone calls, checking lists, and helping the Toki staff smooth out the small problems that inevitably surface before a shift.
He apologized for the change in schedule once we started working on his portraits and explained that it was to accommodate a trip to Baltimore later that night to check in on the pop-up kitchen his crew was running at Shoo-fly restaurant. After a few more exchanges he mentioned that the pop-up operation might be interesting for my story and asked if I wanted to tag along. A quick analysis of my blank schedule for the rest of the afternoon lead to an immediate yes, essentially leaving me in the hands of his schedule for the rest of the night with almost unlimited access to a typical day in the life of an entrepreneurial chef.
He apologized for the change in schedule once we started working on his portraits and explained that it was to accommodate a trip to Baltimore later that night to check in on the pop-up kitchen his crew was running at Shoo-fly restaurant. After a few more exchanges he mentioned that the pop-up operation might be interesting for my story and asked if I wanted to tag along. A quick analysis of my blank schedule for the rest of the afternoon lead to an immediate yes, essentially leaving me in the hands of his schedule for the rest of the night with almost unlimited access to a typical day in the life of an entrepreneurial chef.
The pop-up at Shoo-fly was a two week test of potential dishes and staffers for his new restaurant, Maketto. Erik ex-po'd the Shoo-fly kitchen throughout the night and meticulously studied the new dishes for consistency, possible alterations and tweaks, flavor and overall presentation. A real life testing ground for the much anticipated follow up to Toki Underground.
I was amazed at the precision found in the two Erik controlled kitchens I photographed. Workers moved with a focused efficiency that marks the talent of true professionals, keeping spotless workstations no matter what they were working on with. The cooking area of Toki Underground is crammed into about a 15’x5’ area, so the entire operation has been engineered for hyper-efficiency and organization. The chefs cannot spare an inch and absolutely pack the prep/production/expo area with everything at arms reach. There isn’t much space for clumsy movement either, so I was nearly mesmerized by the rhythm the team fell into once the lunch shift started to accelerate.
There isn't much room throughout the rest of the Toki restaurant either so efficient use of space is a reoccurring theme.
Here's an introduction to this series of blogposts about my participation in the RAMMYs InFocus photo project and check Part 1 for a look into my day at Right Proper Brewing.
There isn't much room throughout the rest of the Toki restaurant either so efficient use of space is a reoccurring theme.
 |
| This cheat sheet by the host stand indicates some epically long expected wait times |
 |
| But it's still possible to have a quiet visit if you stop in during the day. |