Imagine walking into work, checking your schedule of clients for the day and seeing a list including Warren Buffett, George Bush and Kareem Abdul–Jabbar.

This star-studded experience is daily life for those who work at culinary landmark The Palm in downtown Washington, D.C.

“It’s a known place to be seen,” sous chef Gordon Forester said.

The Black & White got a chance to get a behind the scenes look at the kitchen of one of Washington’s most famous venues with Forester.

“We’re known for two things: prime steaks and lobsters,” he said.

Forester works with an executive chef and his co-sous chef daily to perfect meals and maintain the meticulous quality that the chain prides itself on.

“Primarily, our responsibility is to make sure the food is perfect,” Forester said.

The atmosphere of the restaurant is a cool mixture of classy sophistication and modest, traditional hospitality, with walls graced from top to bottom by caricatures of famous guests and loyal customers.

While one might expect a kitchen with such esteem to act entitled and cold, the humble attitudes of the staff and the environment they create are far from it.

“I’ve been going there since it’s been open,” Forester said. “My parents are on the wall as a part of the family, they’re one of the caricatures.”

In the eyes of the sous chef, the staff aren’t just co-workers—they are a family.

During the visit, tickets with orders spurted rapidly from a tiny black machine. Forester gave commands for steak, crab cakes, burgers and lobsters in a combination of English, Spanish and Thai.

Much of the kitchen is Spanish-speaking and a few are from Thailand, where Forester studied culinary arts and started his family years ago. He said that this level of personal communication is one of the things that keep work spirits high and efficiency up.

“People who have a positive working experience, it translates to the food,” he said.

The kitchen moved as one, in constant dialogue, and efficiently managed to prepare every dish in no more than fifteen minutes, despite the fact that each meal is made to order.

It takes recognized skill to work in such a fast-paced, intense environment. The grill cook has been there over 17 years and the dishwasher for over 25. Even a waiter that recently retired had served Forester, now a father to a college sophomore, at his high school senior prom.

The charming communication and family-like manner translates from the kitchen into the dining room. Waiters even begin to take note of the likes and dislikes of returning customers, documenting them on the restaurant’s computers as “meat lovers” or “wine lovers” in order to create an intimate dining experience.

The Palm’s success over the past 43 years has been attributed to its welcoming environment, personal experience and historically “perfect” food. And how does it achieve such perfection?

“The secret to The Palm food is simplicity,” Forester said. “It’s really good, simple food that is prepared perfectly and if it’s not perfect, we don’t serve it.”