What's your culinary background?

[dchang21]

About 25 year ago, I started dishwashing in a hotel in Bar Harbor, Maine. Worked until the skin off my finger tips peeled off but I loved it, I had the best executive chef there who inspired me to cook. A lot of camaraderie in that kitchen. Then I decided to quit college and focused as garde manger at the hotel. After that I decided to to go to London for culinary school. Wanted to go to Paris, but couldn't speak French. Studied cuisine and patisserie for about 2 years. Got a lot of exposure to french cuisine but not a lot of practical experience, so I became an unpaid intern at Le Gavroche (recently closed). Hated it. Did not like Michel Roux but man, the food that came out of that place was amazing.... Burned out of an unpaid internship. Even left my knife box there I was so burned out...Traveled around europe with my school buddy, couldn't find any kitchens to take us so moved back to New York. Took a job at Aureole. Burned out in a month. Left my second knife box there. Quit for good after that and now I just cook for myself.

I will never work a kitchen 14+ hours a day, 6 days a week to cook food for people. I was waking up 4am for a lunch shift and coming back at night. Never, ever again..

 

[NickMinton]

My mom started bringing me into a kitchen to help her at 4-5 years old and let me independently cook starting at 8-9 years old, even unsupervised (not sure how I feel about that now as a parent…)

She always told me it was a helpful skill set to have and I figured everyone knew how to cook at the same level

I’ve worked in catering and a few restaurants to make ends meet before I became a nurse and it solidified that cooking as a profession wasn’t a good idea for me

 

[bermuda_chub]

My grandfather on my dad’s side was a butcher and my grandmother’s family were caviar importers. No surprise, my mom was a great cook and, like Nick, she had me helping her in the kitchen when I was 4-5. Worked in catering and a few restaurants throughout HS and college. Went to law school in NYC and then worked in a large firm for several years and had no time to cook. Rediscovered my passion for cooking as an expat in Hong Kong, where I more or less ran a private kitchen out of our apartment. Back in NYC it’s purely a hobby for me, but it’s where I put most of my free time. I’ve toyed with the idea of opening a restaurant, but thankfully I don’t need to. Now I simply cook for friends and family.

 

[stringer]

Started Culinary School 2005
New American Fine Dining
New England Seafood
Prime Steakhouse
Northern Indian
Southern/Barbecue
Italian Steakhouse
Gastropub
Hotel Banquets
Coffee / Brunch Place
Finished Culinary School 2022
Culinary Instructor

 

[M1k3]

I was working as a PC Tech. My boss was behind on pay. My neighbor and friend is a Head Chef. He was looking for a dishwasher, I was looking for a different job. So he had me talk to the owner and I got the job. This was February 2008. Did dishwasher at his upscale Italian-American place. Started doing dish and prep after a couple of months. Moved to the line when one of the cooks moved to Vegas. Worked all the stations. Made some great food. But the environment from the Executive Chef and his family was toxic. Left there July 2020.

Floated around during the height of the pandemic and hardly anyone hiring.

Ended up at an upscale, high volume place May 2021. Loved it until the Executive Chef decided to designate me as the person at the receiving end of his anger for the drunk Sous Chef, he brought on from a previous restaurant he worked at. Left as a Chef Tournant.

March 2021 I went to work at a country club. Pretty chill job. Some cool catering events. Very nice venue. Wasn't any growth potential to become a Sous Chef, so started looking again.

September 2022, I became a Sous Chef at a large hotel. I'm still here. Trying to improve things, while also keeping an eye out on other, better options.

 

[Ochazuke]

Started off in my dad's Japanese restaurant for about 12 years. Then I decided that I hated the restaurant industry and went to college and did random other jobs (accounting, logistics, music teacher). All the while I did part time kitchen work anyways since I always needed a second (or third) job to pay rent. During that time I worked everything from fast casual American, pan-Asian, sushi, more sushi, and a smattering of other random kitchen jobs.

Right before the pandemic I switched full-time to Japanese grocery since I figured grocery hours are better than restaurant hours. Because of my background I ended up developing our in-house grab-and-go food program (bento, sushi, onigiri). In addition over the past two years I've opened two restaurants with the company group and am adding counter service meals to two of our grocery stores.

Basically despite vowing to stay out of the restaurant industry and attempting to leave the restaurant industry by switching to grocery I have ended up doing an even greater amount of restaurant work.

 

[Just a DK]

Immigrant but went to American college. Thought food in Asian schools were terrible but I have not realized what American school food was like. The food there was just.... the horror.... tried buying food near the college.... also horror and expensive!!!! I remember people were raving about qdoba and to me it looked like legit vomit.

Got a hotplate and figured if I was to survive I gotta cook.

 

[chefmicd]

Started off going to school for finance, and absolutely hated it. I loved cooking but no one would hire me so I was a dishwasher until I could prove myself to be a prep cook. Then went to my first Michelin restaurant as a line cook. After being there for a year, I got a visa and went to London. @dchang21 what year were you at Le Gavroche? I worked there for about a year then came back to the US, got another visa and went to Noma. Worked there until the pandemic hit and was sent home. It was a crazy time. The flight home only has maybe 20 people on it. Through 2020 I volunteered with WCK and headed up the food program on a winery. Then moved to NYC to work at Eleven Madison Park when they reopened. I was there until I got burnt out and took some time off to do private chef work. Also worked on some foraging projects through a grant and learned more from farmers first hand. Now I just accepted a job at another fine dining restaurant in the city!

 

[dchang21]

After being there for a year, I got a visa and went to London. @dchang21 what year were you at Le Gavroche? I worked there for about a year then came back to the US,

oh geez, late 1990’s?

 

[chefmicd]

oh geez, late 1990’s?

Oof, I’ve heard that was peak abuse/ manipulation. Culture there was better in 2016 but still very intense old school French brigade.

 

[Vertigo]

Always liked to help mom cook, at 14/15 I saw an ad in the paper for "best dishwasher job in town" so gave it a try. Family owned breakfast cafe. Prepping by the end of summer break, then coming in on weekends and weekdays before school to help out. Eventually made my way to "the guy who does everything but the ordering."

Stuck my thumb out and wandered, 4-5 years in the PNW cooking short stints in random high end steakhouses, dirty strip clubs, hipster vegetarian salad bars, "gastropubs," a couple food trucks, a casino, a Chinese joint. A few years in the southwest after that working Mexican and TexMex and one greeeaassy bar that taught me how to make better hollandaise than all my years doing breakfast. There was a golf course somewhere in there too, but my memory of those years is kinda fuzzy.

Eventually ended back at the cafe as their kitchen manager, then "retired" after the Covid lockdown ended and being in food service was THE FRICKIN WORST.

Did a lot of random "fun" jobs, traveling, being a bum, then most recently dusted off the chef coats and sold out to corporate catering for the bag.

 

[dchang21]

Oof, I’ve heard that was peak abuse/ manipulation. Culture there was better in 2016 but still very intense old school French brigade.

i was never at any place for too long to experience the toxicity, but i what crossed my line was when a customer kept sending me back a salad because he/she wanted it finely chopped. i kept chopping this salad until it was baby food. it just got so stupid, i was so tired, and in hindsight, i felt like i wasted 5 years of my life pursuing food as a career..

 

[Rangen]

i was never at any place for too long to experience the toxicity, but i what crossed my line was when a customer kept sending me back a salad because he/she wanted it finely chopped. i kept chopping this salad until it was baby food. it just got so stupid, i was so tired, and in hindsight, i felt like i wasted 5 years of my life pursuing food as a career..

Isn't that roughly how potato chips were invented?

 

[dchang21]

Isn't that roughly how potato chips were invented?

someone refused to eat a fried potato until the cook made it thin crispy chips?

 

[Rangen]

someone refused to eat a fried potato until the cook made it thin crispy chips?

So they say.

https://brooksidemuseum.org/2013/10/george-crum-and-the-potato-chip/

 

[Vertigo]

someone refused to eat a fried potato until the cook made it thin crispy chips?

Anecdotally and profoundly unlikely, but yeah that's the story lol.

 

[dchang21]

i hate this disgruntled potato customer already..