The exhortation to “think outside the box” is such a universal response to creative problems that we often forget how incomplete that advice really is. Without a mastery of craft, even the most original minds have no foundation. Innovation only happens when fresh thinking is connected to deep expertise.
In 2016 Starbucks decided that it needed a new breakfast food for its more than 30,000 locations. Customers were asking for something gluten-free and low-carb to go with their lattes. The challenge was to create a hot, tasty and healthy food that didn’t need on-site preparation and could be eaten with one’s hands. To solve that problem, the culinary team at Starbucks called on Bruno Bertin, president of Egg Gourmet Solutions, and vice-president innovation at Cuisine Solutions.
Bertin, an award-winning and classically trained chef, recalled how many constraints Starbucks imposed on the creative process. “It had to be small, look great and the customer should be able to grab it with one hand. And a zero-step process for baristas to complete the order.”
The development of the new product took almost a year, but what emerged from the collaboration between Cuisine Solutions and Starbucks was a small “crustless quiche,” as Bertin describes what came to be known as the Sous Vide Egg Bite.
The ingredients of a Sous Vide Egg Bite are not complicated — eggs, cheese, meat or vegetables, seasoning, and some starch to hold it together. But what gives an Egg Bite its concentrated flavor and silky smooth consistency is the way it’s prepared.
Sous vide is a method of cooking that has exploded in popularity over the past few years. From the French, meaning “under vacuum,” sous vide foods are sealed in a plastic pouch and slow-cooked in a water bath at precise temperatures. The result is a rich flavor and delicacy that’s almost impossible to achieve by any other method. For commercial establishments like Starbucks sous vide also provides a high level of food safety — the product is protected from contamination in storage and during transportation by its vacuum seal.
Sous Vide Egg Bites have been a huge success. After the pumpkin spice latte, Egg Bites are the most popular item on the Starbucks menu. What customers don’t know, however, is how many thousands of hours and years of experience are behind the creation of that satisfying morsel.
Bruno Bertin, age 18, with his parents and brother at his family's restaurant. (Image courtesy of Bruno Bertin)
Bruno Bertin was born into a family of chefs. Growing up in the mountainous Jura region of France, Bertin cooked in his father’s restaurant from the time he was a boy. He did his compulsory military service as personal chef to a navy admiral, and after restaurant work in Canada and the U.S., he moved to Japan to teach French cuisine at Le Cordon Bleu. It was in Japan that Bertin fell in love with Kyudo, the ancient Japanese art of mindful, or zen, archery.
For Bertin, the concentration and focus of Kyudo mirrored the attention to detail required to cook classic French cuisine. “It’s the same. Focus now. Technique now. If you don’t learn your base properly, you’ll have problems in the future. You have to be disciplined.”
Bruno Bertin, shooting for his 1st Dan, Tokyo, 1996. (Image courtesy of Bruno Bertin)
“At every moment the Japanese concentrate on the art,” said Bertin. “I remember going to the dojo, getting ready to shoot, and my teacher said, ‘Sit down. We’re going to drink tea today.’ That totally destabilized me. But I began to understand that if you don’t focus on what is right in front of you it’s easy to drift away.”
Bruno Bertin in Japan with his Kyudo sensei. (Image courtesy of Bruno Bertin)
Teaching at Le Cordon Bleu gave Bertin a chance to practice that kind of sustained focus in his chosen discipline. “I was an instructor for five years,” said Bertin. “We had to speak to the students in French and teach only the most classic French cuisine. It was the perfect opportunity to review my own base.”
After teaching in Japan, Bertin returned to the U.S. and began cooking at Daniel, the flagship restaurant of chef Daniel Boulud in New York. The work wasn’t difficult, Bertin recalls, but it was stressful. So, after five years, he found himself at a crossroads, having achieved success at the highest levels of fine cuisine but now wanting a different challenge. Boulud was the one who suggested that he not look for another restaurant position, but instead join the team at Cuisine Solutions.
Bruno Bertin, left, as a young chef with Julia Child. (Image courtesy of Bruno Bertin)
Cuisine Solutions, a leader in sous vide research and preparation for restaurants and commercial kitchens around the world, was Bertin’s introduction to mass production. “I remember the first time I suggested that a risotto recipe needed more salt and was told it might take a few weeks to make that change in the production line — that was a big surprise, especially coming from Daniel,” said Bertin. “In a restaurant you have a chef and a waiter. At Cuisine Solutions there are salespeople, production managers, quality engineers and equipment engineers. They guide me to know what is safe and not safe, how to scale a recipe from a single serving made with a hand blender to the equipment and process that will allow us to mass produce that recipe at millions of portions every week.”
David Bouley, Bruno Bertin, Joel Robuchon, Daniel Boulud, Bruno Goussault, and Yosuke Suga, at Cuisine Solutions. (Image courtesy of Bruno Bertin)
For Bertin, the experience of developing the Sous Vide Egg Bite for Starbucks is a perfect example of the two sides of creativity — sustained focus and rapid inspiration. He and his team worked for six months on the recipe for the Bacon & Gruyère Sous Vide Egg Bite — testing, changing, refining — until they were satisfied. Then, one afternoon, a representative from Starbucks visited the plant and said that a single product would not be enough. They needed another flavor and the recipe had to be delivered in a few hours.
“I said, ‘You’re kidding,’” remembered Bertin. “’No,’ he said, ‘I’m not.’ So I went into the kitchen with my team and right there invented a new flavor. I told them put this cheese in, then starch. We added seasoning — ‘ch-ch-ch’ with the container — until I said, ‘STOP.’ And that was it. They weighed what was left of the ingredients. And it was perfect. That became the Egg White & Roasted Red Pepper Sous Vide Egg Bite.”
Like the Japanese archer who betrays none of the thousands of hours of tedious practice when he picks up a bow and effortlessly looses a shot, Bertin understands where his inspiration came from that day. “I spent a lifetime of cooking to get that. It was a magic moment.”
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Published here on Forbes.com
February 21, 2020
