More from Chef Talk with Truffles' Exec Chef John Griffiths

In this month’s Chef Talk column, Leading An Evolution, Truffles’ executive chef John Griffiths shared details about the new Italian focus at the restaurant, changes being made to the space and his opinion on whether Truffles is still fine dining. Now, in the second part of this interview, Griffiths reveals his long-term plans, the new programs he is instituting at Truffles and what it takes to run a great restaurant. Are you consulting for Truffles or will you be sticking around as exec chef? This is long term. The conversation was kind of consulting-based. They were looking for a chef. As the conversation evolved, I sent them a menu of what I wanted to cook. I’ve been wanting to do Italian for a long time. They saw that menu and said, “We love it. We want you to do it and change the restaurant for us.” Truffles has launched numerous programs – bread, salumi, cheese, beef.What foods from these categories can we expect to see on the menu? The burrata has gotten really good reviews. We make fresh mozzarella cheese and stuff it with some of the scrap from the mozzarella-making process: It’s enriched with cream and you make a little pouch out of that, seal it up tight. A lot of people make mozzarella from the curd; this is something we make entirely from milk. The salumi is always evolving. In early spring and summer, we’ll focus more on the spicier styles of salami that are traditional in Calabria, really large sopressata di Calabria that take two months to mature. We bake all the breads every day and we’re making pastas constantly. We’re buying breed-specific beef from local ranchers. We’re exploring beef the way that people have been exploring pork for a while. You have said that cooking seasonally, having a menu that changes daily, is how you run a great restaurant. But it takes more than that, don’t you think? Oh, sure. Training your staff is a big element. People underestimate the value of really great service. The biggest thing is that the restaurant, the food, the atmosphere – all of that has to be in balance. As a chef, you’ve got to be as willing to train your cook how to cook a piece of beef as you are willing to explain those steps to a service staff to make sure they understand, because they are realistically your biggest asset in a restaurant. There are so many other things … financially speaking; every time you make a purchase, you have to count your pennies.