Why we cook over wood

Wood is difficult. It's inconsistent, it needs feeding, and it takes years to read well. But it gives food something a dial never will — smoke, char, and a kind of depth you taste before you can name it.

Every morning we light the fire and let it settle into coals before service. By the time the first table sits down, the grill has a range of heat across it, from fierce to gentle, and the whole night is spent moving food through those zones by hand.

It's slower and it's harder. It's also the entire point of the room.