After thinking about this blogpost for a minute I realized the blogpost actually literally argues for doing things the hard and stupid way. Not as a metaphor for integrity or quality.
Integrity isn't the point:
> It had nothing to do with integrity. I didn’t care about fooling the diners. What concerned me was the precedent we were setting.
The quality of the food isn't the point either:
> The dish was meant to be a difficult pickup that required constant coordination between the front and back of house.
The inefficiency is the point.
Doing it the long, hard and stupid way is the point.
This is a sermon against process improvements. Without seeming to realize that restaurants are a modern miracle of process improvements! How does this David think the kitchen gets fresh ingredients every morning? Where does David think fruit in the winter comes from? How did herbs and spices get so cheap? Because we decided for the past 200 years to relentlessly pursue efficiency. Because we decided not to do things the slow and stupid way any more. That's how!
Integrity isn't the point:
> It had nothing to do with integrity. I didn’t care about fooling the diners. What concerned me was the precedent we were setting.
The quality of the food isn't the point either:
> The dish was meant to be a difficult pickup that required constant coordination between the front and back of house.
The inefficiency is the point.
Doing it the long, hard and stupid way is the point.
This is a sermon against process improvements. Without seeming to realize that restaurants are a modern miracle of process improvements! How does this David think the kitchen gets fresh ingredients every morning? Where does David think fruit in the winter comes from? How did herbs and spices get so cheap? Because we decided for the past 200 years to relentlessly pursue efficiency. Because we decided not to do things the slow and stupid way any more. That's how!