As a chef I have learned over the years that being organized is a very necessary skill to possess. Inventory, food cost, recipes, procedures, schedules, and keeping important notes are all part of the day to day operations in the food industry. Having a good notebook has always been essential to me, especially since my memory is not a good as it once was.

For the last few years I have used a Moleskine chef’s notebook to keep recipes and notes in it. It’s a great book and has served me well over the years. Recently a friend of mine introduced me to the Stone notebook. The folks at Stone were nice enough to send me their “classic” chef’s notebook to try out. The timing couldn’t be better since it is now my busy season for catering. I decided to use it for 30 days before reviewing my experience with it. The first thing I noticed upon receiving the book was the weight. It was much heavier than my Moleskine book (12oz vs 16oz) likely due to the paper which is made from limestone. It also comes with a $21 price tag.

The vegan leather cover is cool and the paper has a nice feel and is pleasant to write on, I also love the fact that it is water & grease resistant. The first day I bought it to work with me, my colleagues were astounded after I held the open book under running water for a few seconds without the book being ruined. I just wish it had more pages (144 pages vs Moleskine’s 230 pages) A couple of other great features are perforated pages to easily tear out your notes or recipes, a page to keep a list of suppliers info, the lay flat design is great when you are cooking and reading recipes at the same time, and the food conversion chart is a great addition. The couple of issues that I had with this book; the sharpie holder snapped and broke in the first week with minimal use, the overall weight of the book, after I gave it the water test the pages stuck together when dried, which shouldn’t be a problem since no one purposely dunks a notebook into water (except me).

Overall this is a solid book for home cooks and professional chefs to use for their everyday kitchen tasks and I look forward to using it during this busy season of cooking. To order this chef’s notebook and other cool items visit www.stonejournal.co