“The Kitchen Is Now Closed”
Since it’s been a while, this section is all about the random thoughts or experiences from the last week
Had a couple of conversations with some random folks on the importance of community and connection
Had a thought: so much of what we’d like to see or bring to the world is the “hard” many don’t want to commit.
Cooking game is getting stronger. Last week was pulao - close to my nani’s.
Let’s get into it
I may have mentioned this in the past, I wanted to be a chef growing up. When I started high school, my mom said “get a degree before you go to culinary school”. I didn’t resist and switched my track to eventually graduate with an Econ & Finance degree and from thereon into consultancy or investment banking. In my last year of A Levels, when applying to uni, my mom said “if you want to still be a chef, why not apply to a few culinary schools?”. My answer came out almost reflexively: Why be the chef of one restaurant when I can be the face of ten?
That one naive reply flipped a switch for me. It expanded how I saw careers, ambition, and decision-making altogether. I love my mom for that conversation. And while I'm not a restaurateur (yet), the ambition to build a chain of restaurants is still very much alive.
Since moving to the UK, I’ve been doing all the cooking at home. I love it. I love food and I love the idea of bringing people together with food. But I also love the idea of building businesses. I have this constant itch in me to start something new. And while cooking one night, something clicked: there's so much about the kitchen that mirrors business and life in general.
Truth be told, my wife planted this seed when we were brainstorming ideas for Unfiltered. But she was right.
When you’re cooking planning, prep, timing, ratios and preferences matter so much. In business and even life, resource allocation, expectation management, multitasking, timing, and even preferences come into play in the exact same way. Here are a few reminders from the kitchen we could all use:
Wash AND soak your lentils - I’ve seen way too many recipes which say “wash the lentils under cold water for a few minutes and soak for 1 hour”. Bullshit. Lentils have a waxy layer coating. When you wash them in a bowl and try to scrub the grain, the water turns murky. That’s the impurities you’re washing off. Some soak lentils over night, I soak mine for atleast 6 hours. Why? They absorb the moisture and soften up, making them easier to cook. They’ll hold their shape and texture, while being soft to eat. This, my friends, is the result of patience and routine. There are things you cannot rush and you always have to follow the process. Skip a step, and you’re possibly fucked. You can redeem yourself, but the daal just won’t be the same…
It only takes 60 seconds for the rice to overcook - I’ve got a method to cooking rice which my mom would not agree with. Once washed (and soaked - yes patience here too) and ready to cook, I’ll pour cold water into the pot of rice. Enough to drown the rice completely, eliminating any risk of evaporation before it's fully cooked. I add salt, bring it to a boil, let it continue for exactly 90 seconds, then immediately strain the rice. I fluff it up to release the steam and separate the grains. What’s the point here? Not just timing, but also to not sit on ideas. I’m not saying all ideas are as wonderful as perfectly cooked rice. But those that are shouldn’t be left on the stove for too long. They'll get mushy. They'll lose structure. They'll go to waste.
Clean as you go - I cook 4-5 times a week for no longer than 2 hours per session. We’re not into the whole ready-made oven bake meal stuff, so there’s always some carb, some protein and some veg on the table. Lots of unwrapping, lots of chopping and lots of mess. I keep a waste bowl next to me every time I’m cooking. I’m not opening up the bin each time I need to throw some wrapper or peels out. I just dump it all in the bowl and at the end, boom. Straight in the bin. I’m on the clock and I need to be efficient. I can’t be wasting time. The same applies to my work too. I can’t get caught up with all the white noise that comes along the way. Slack, emails, random texts can all wait and get sorted once I’m done focusing on getting the main task sorted. I believe prioritisation is essential to do your best work and an efficient workflow will only make that better.
Empty the dishwasher in the morning - I hate a dishwasher thats only half unloaded. I am guilty for unloading it in batches, but the aim is to empty it within 2 hours of waking up. From the minute we’re awake, plates and cups are getting dirty. But instead of piling it up till the evening on the counter, they go straight into the dishwasher. It just nice to not see a mess, right? The Japanese call this Kaji, where you treat small chores as mindful acts of love and approach them in small bursts to prevent overwhelm. Personally, I’ve always felt clutter around me would cripple me and my creativity. And that clutter is not just with things in my space but in my calendar too. Each weekend when I sit to write these, I block out a chunk of time where there are no distractions. I make sure, everything is in the dishwasher before I even start.
“The kitchen is now closed” - I love saying this once we’re done eating and the kitchen’s been wrapped up. To me, it signals the day is over and I can now rest. It also signals to me that I can now move onto the next thing. One of my goals for 2026 is to get back into personal development be it through reading, doing a course or exploring new ideas. The time for that is at night, after dinner and after I've completely wrapped up work and chores. There's always something on my list. I know I can't get through it without closing one thing off at a time.
And with that, The Kitchen Is Now Closed. I’m moving onto the next one.
See you in the next one
TL;DR
Patience and process matter - Just like soaking lentils for hours, some things in business and life can't be rushed. Skip steps, and you compromise quality.
Timing is everything - Ideas, like rice, need precise timing. Act too late and they become mushy; act too early and they're undercooked. Don't let good ideas sit too long.
Clean as you go for efficiency - Managing clutter (physical or digital) in real-time prevents overwhelm and keeps you focused on what matters most.
Small acts prevent chaos - The Japanese concept of Kaji teaches us that handling small tasks mindfully throughout the day stops them from becoming overwhelming burdens.
Close chapters to move forward - Just like closing the kitchen signals the end of one phase, finishing tasks completely allows you to shift focus and tackle what's next without mental baggage.
One last note
If you have any suggestions for upcoming letters, reply back to me.
Know someone who may enjoy this? Pass it along.
Goodbye
