Line up for the Lineup
how Elena Besser is shining a spotlight on New York's next generation of culinary talent
Whether you loved or hated the hit TV drama series The Bear, most will agree that it’s an accurate portrayal of the often grueling life of restaurant workers. The high-stress environment, the long hours for not enough pay, the intense love for their craft that drives cooks to perpetually seek perfection. In reality, the back of house scenes depicted in the show unfold every night at some of your favorite restaurants. However, while every team member plays a crucial part, few are recognized for their efforts.
One woman is on a mission to change that.
Meet Elena Besser, a Brooklyn-based chef, TV host, and founder of The Lineup, a dinner series highlighting the best up-and-coming culinary talent in New York City. Elena grew up in Chicago, home to one of the country’s best food scenes, but she didn’t set out to be a chef. She initially studied theater and film in college and planned to be an actor. However, there were signs foretelling her eventual transition to the food world: “As a kid, the one thing I was into was eating. My mom always says that I loved to eat.”
In college, Elena worked at a food publication called Spoon University where she produced up to 60 video recipes a month. Over time, she realized that she had ideas for hit recipes, but she didn’t know how to execute on them. “I knew if I wanted to do this seriously, I needed to get an education.” Elena enrolled at the International Culinary Center (formerly the French Culinary Institute) and paid her due diligence on the line.
The budding chef looked up to the legendary restauranteur and fellow Chicago native Missy Robbins, and cut her teeth as part of the opening team at Robbins’ Williamsburg pasta joint, Lilia Ristorante. It was there that she discovered how every single person had a hand in the success of the restaurant, from the chef de cuisine to the sous chef, the line cooks to the prep cooks, the porters, and the dishwashers.
At the same time, she felt frustrated that despite the crucial role they played, most people on the restaurant’s roster never got a chance to be in the spotlight. She watched as many of them burnt out from the intense lifestyle, eventually leaving the industry with their dreams unfulfilled. She wanted to give these talented cooks an opportunity to express themselves creatively outside of the confines of the traditional restaurant hierarchy.
Elena launched The Lineup in February 2020 along with creative director Jackson Cook and director of production Graham Burns. The goal of the Lineup is to give talented back of house restaurant workers the chance to try out their own full-blown restaurant concept for an evening.
As the culinary director, Elena works with the chefs on everything from brainstorming the menu to testing their ideas, sourcing, building a prep list, and calculating costs for the event. Chefs are empowered to create a unique ambiance, considering everything from floral arrangements and tabletops to custom menus, from lighting to playlists. According to Elena, “We’re all very extra over at the Lineup and we don’t leave any stone unturned.”
A seat at the dinner costs $195 and includes a five-course tasting menu with a beverage pairing. When it comes to menu ideation, most cooks immediately draw upon their childhood and their culture, conveying what food meant to them growing up and sharing how they enjoyed it. For example in season two, Drew Johnson (sous chef at the wildly popular Don Angie) married his culture with his tenure at an Italian-American joint by creating a “rasta pasta”: pyramid-shaped pasta filled with jerk chicken.
Meanwhile, Joe Mardaus, a line cook at 63 Clinton and participant in the current season of the Lineup, combined his Asian American heritage with his Midwest upbringing. He made a dish consisting of homemade burrata over ribbons of zucchini marinated in a savory elixir of fish sauce, Thai chilis, and shallots. To that he aded sun gold tomatoes seasoned with sesame oil, all served alongside a boule of fresh sourdough made with wheat grown in his home state of Minnesota.
Elena marvels at this process of taking something as universally loved as burrata and renewing it with a deeply personal touch, likening it to putting one’s heart on the plate. For her, this is what it’s all about. “These cooks are the future. They’re the tastemakers of what our restaurants are going to end up being. And you can come experience that at the Lineup.”
On the night of, executive chefs are guests at the event. It’s not uncommon for a dish presented at the Lineup to end up on the menu where the chef works. For example, season three participant Philipp Kharabarin combined his Russian background with his experience as CDC at popular Brooklyn restaurant Ensenada at his Lineup dinner. The resulting fusion menu included a pork carnitas dish with fermented cabbage that is now on the menu at Ensenada.
So how does one get the chance to shine on the Lineup? Elena is extremely specific about the recruitment process: candidates must have cooked professionally for at least two years, with at least six months under their belt at their current restaurant. Often, she will reach out to restaurants to have them nominate a deserving team member. Executive chefs have largely been supportive, pointing out how amazing it would’ve been to have had an opportunity like this early in their own careers.
Towards the end of our chat, Elena and I take a step back to wax poetic about food as an art form. While discussing Elena’s background in film and acting, she notes the overlap between aspiring performers who end up in the food world. Sometimes they work hospitality gigs out of necessity, but other times it’s because “they are both really beautiful creative mediums that people pursue because they're addicted to making people feel something, to feel good in some capacity.”
With film, you make people feel things by drawing them in to a narrative and engaging their senses, primarily sight and sound. Food is such a powerful medium for storytelling because you can engage all of the other senses too, enabling the highest level of immersion while simultaneously nourishing the eater. Few artists can have their audience chew on their work so literally; few connections are so personal. Elena has witnessed cooking become its own language, giving introverted chefs the means through which to express themselves where words may fail.
Food is also an important conduit for connection for Elena. Her younger sister is on the autism spectrum and is nonverbal. The two of them have always connected through food. “The most focused time I get with her is when we’re eating together, because it brings her this sense of calm that nothing else can bring her. It’s the only time she can make eye contact with me.”
Elena has taken those precious moments of connection around a dining table and scaled it up with the communal dining at the Lineup. She is intentional to seat people together that might get along, and has had so much fun watching people connect through eating. To her, few things are as effective at building community as sitting down together, pausing, experiencing something beautiful at the same time, and collectively basking in the pleasure.
Above all, the most rewarding part of hosting the Lineup is helping a chef successfully execute on their vision and playing a part in such a special moment in their career. “I know how hard it is to work in the kitchen… It was the hardest work I’ve done in my life and that’s part of the reason I wanted to do the Lineup.” Elena’s personal dream is for attendees to be able to go to that chef’s restaurant down the road, to walk up to them at the pass, and proudly declare “I was at your Lineup dinner.”
Thank you so much to Elena for taking the time to chat with me about the Lineup and to wax poetic about storytelling and building community through food. Make sure to follow along on her journey @elenabesser as well as @thelineupdinner for your chance to experience New York’s next generation of tastemakers for yourself!
Thank you for creating such a beautiful piece about what we’re up to 🫶
Such a brilliant concept!