What Is It About Sous Vide That Has Chefs Intrigued?

by Emily Gedde and Renée Stewart-Hester | Jun 2025

Photos: Chris Emeott

Minnetonka’s Mike Rakun, co-owner of Northern Hospitality & Co., shares some insight about cooking with the sous vide method.

A cooking method that has created its own popularity steam has been a favored food prep method for a local chef/proprietor for more than a decade. Minnetonka’s Mike Rakun, co-owner of Northern Hospitality & Co., a restaurant group with seven locations across the upper Midwest, including Wayzata’s Benedict’s, has been a fan of sous vide (French for under vacuum) cooking, appreciating it for its convenience and precision.

“The ability to cook meat wall-to-wall is really great,” Rakun says. “You season whatever cut of meat you’re using, and cook it at the exact temperature you want it to be.” As a career chef and restaurant entrepreneur, Rakun knows his stuff when it comes to good food. He described feeling most at home in a busy kitchen, and the convenience of the sous vide method is what first appealed to him and a growing number of home and professional chefs. “It’s basically set it, and forget it,” he says. In basic terms, the cooking method includes preparing food, which is sealed in a plastic pouch, by precision cooking it in a carefully controlled water bath at a consistent temperature.

For first-time sous vide home chefs, Rakun recommends starting with a favorite cut of steak, such as ribeye (see his own family-approved ribeye recipe here), but the versatile cooking method isn’t just for meat. He has used other food, including eggs, chicken, salmon and vegetables. Regardless of what items are used, Rakun notes some things to consider. “It’s important to keep in mind it will change the texture of some [food],” he says. “It’ll come down to your preference.” Rakun also stresses the importance of wearing gloves while working with meat to avoid introducing bacteria into the cooking process.

Sous vide doesn’t need to be complicated. As with any cooking method, make sure all the necessary equipment is on hand, and follow the recipe!

For those looking to explore sous vide, Rakun says it’s a rather easy style of cooking to learn, even for those with little to no kitchen experience. In addition, he recommends Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide by Thomas Keller. (He is the only American chef who has been awarded simultaneous three-star Michelin ratings for two different restaurants. His restaurants have seven Michelin stars: Per Se in New York City [three]; The French Laundry in Yountville, California [three]; and The Surf Club Restaurant in Surfside, Florida [one].) In this cookbook, Keller explains the process and how to determine the precise amount of heat to achieve the best results.

For Rakun, sous vide is just another tool in his culinary arsenal, one that complements his lifelong love of cooking, which began at a young age. He started in the restaurant business at 13, working as a dishwasher and doughboy at Jake’s Pizza in Chicago. He worked his way through high school in various kitchens, developing a love for the chaos surrounding restaurant kitchen lines.

When it came time to make a decision about his future, Rakun saw a commercial on TV for a culinary school. That was it. “I never looked back,” Rakun says about carving out a career in the cooking/restaurant business. “There’s nothing more fun to me than being in the middle of the line and controlling the chaos. Being in the trenches with the guys and gals and watching it all come together is incredibly gratifying.”

In basic terms, sous vide cooking includes preparing food, which is sealed in a plastic pouch, by precision cooking it in a carefully controlled water bath at a consistent temperature. Some cooks brown or sear the meat before plating, enhancing flavor, texture and visual appeal.