People celebrate the technique and creativity of cooking. Chefs are personalities today, and their daring culinary exploits are what make the television cooking shows so popular. But as I saw at Rialto, it’s discipline—uncelebrated and untelevised—that keeps the kitchen clicking. And sure enough, checklists were at the center of that discipline. First there was the recipe—the most basic checklist of all. Every dish had one. The recipes were typed out, put in clear plastic sleeves, and placed at each station. Adams was religious about her staff’s using them. Even for her, she said, “following
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