If you haven’t seen David Craig in the kitchen of his eponymous Bethesda restaurant in recent days, it’s for good reason. The chef went under the knife last week to clean up a knee that has taken a pounding after more than two decades at the stoves, including stints at Pesce, Tabard Inn, and Black’s Bar and Kitchen.

“In this business especially, if you have bad knees, you’re really in trouble because there’s not a lot you can do,” says John Fielding, Craig’s business partner. Fielding says Craig will see his orthopedist this week to determine when exactly the chef will be back in the kitchen.

“He’s Scottish,” Fielding adds about the chef. “He’ll be fine.”

Of course, when Craig does return to the kitchen, he likely won’t be flitting from station to station, obsessing over the details of each cook’s work. Trust me, I know. I recently had my knee “scoped,” too; it takes weeks of physical therapy just to prevent you from limping around like Frankenstein’s monster. But Fielding says not to sweat Craig’s return.

“He’s got great sous chefs,” he says, “so he’ll be doing a lot of mentoring and writing specials and stuff like that.”