3am in Atlanta. Holla back
Here’s my current scenario and I would like some insight from you guys. I am currently trying to decide between two job opportunities. One is working with an ex Sous Chef who is now an Exec in a brand new joint about to open. Personally they are great and I am sure If I was to come on board, I would get to work alongside with them and learn on a more personal level since I don’t think the kitchen would have so many cooks around. The only thing is that I feel even though this person knows more then me, they’re more of a peer then somebody that I can look up to as teacher, if this makes sense.
My second option is to work in a high volume joint where there’s probably about 10 line cooks just pumping out food, but the new Exec who’s about to come in has worked with some stellar chefs and I feel they are more knowledgeable and I could probably learn a lot, but I don’t think the personal level I would get at the other
I will get back to this
Promptly. I will write about my everyday events on the kitchens i work in. The good the bad and the shit that gets 86’d.
Blah
So much to talk about and catch up. right now is not the best of times since I got work in the next 5 hrs and im running on 4 hrs of sleep after a 14 hr shift. its retarded. 2 jobs, off one day a week. money comes and goes. taking care of business, is a business itself. the most important thing to remember is that hard work and ethics speak loudly. show your a had worker dont just talk about it.
2 weeks left
So 3 Summer months went by quicker that expected. Who knew? I guess I better put it down in writing so I don’t forget half the shit I learned. So after a solid month and a half working the fry station Chef asks what else I want to learn and I point to saute like a retard and he says ok then do that. One aspect of working in a kitchen and learning all stations is that no one will ask you what you want to learn. If you want to work fry station and stay there, no one is going to say anything else. The trick is to pay attention to what the other guy at another station is doing and when its slow ask him to show you how to cook what he is making. That way you pick up on other ingredients and recipes and learn the rest of the menu that way you can work all the other stations. Something that was explained to me by my old Sous but I didn’t pick up on it until the end of my tenure here. So week and a half left and I am learning saute and a couple of grilling tips as well. I’ve gained a lot of experience working here which is great, I just don’t know if I’ve gotten enough from the city here, I’ve been kind of introverted when it came to everything else. I guess I just don’t want to be in trouble should I party too much or I don’t know what other kind of crap could happen if I don’ watch out for myself. I guess there was no party just hard work here, I do feel like I made the best of it, work related and I am happy with that. I may take this weekend and go out and see some more of the beach I don’t know. Just kind of eh right now. Moonshine is hitting the spot LOL. I just need to get back to working right away and getting situated with a room or apt or whatever the case may be because I have about 4 months to get on my feet before new baby comes and I move out my sis house and start making my own moves. If I really need to make progress and change with myself and willing to take initiative on my new life then I need to get fit and healthy and see about enlisting. I think a lot of great opportunities are abound and ready to be taken I just need to make the right changes and take the right chances and get to it.
Things to do upon leaving SC are:
write down menu recipes
write what you are better at/ have learned/ what do you want to learn
where do you want to be in 5 years according to your job and life.
Not an easy road but nobody said it was gonna be.
Promises
Saw a great movie tonite called Being Flynn. Stars Robert De Niro and he played a great role about a father and son coming together after 18 yrs and how their relationship grows. Dope stuff.
Kinda makes me think about how far I’ve come and how I miss my father. I guess its one of those learning lessons life teaches you. How one time in your life you’re ready to take on the world and leave your home behind and the parents that have busted their ass trying to give you everything they never had and now that you’ve flown the coop, so to say, you are homesick as a Mfer and just wanna be near your parents again. Its definitely the home cooking I miss the most. Back then I wouldn’t eat what my parents would cook up at the house. Nowadays? I live out of a drive thru window. Pathetic. Anyways in regards to the movie both father and son are aspiring writers. The father never makes it due to addiction and mental reasons but the son struggles on to become a well known writer. And here I am in bumblefuck Myrtle Beach S.C trying to learn a thing or two about cooking hoping to be what my father never quite got a grasp of. Sure, he was able to open his own restaurant, or two, but they never got off the ground. While he is one of the best cooks in regards to Peruvian cuisine, he didn’t expand out of that group to anything else. Why should he? He was great at what he did and many people would tell me that, all the time. I still don’t have an idea as to what I would like to do in the future, in regards to my culinary aspirations. Yes, I want to learn how to cook the old school stuff, French and Italian fancy shmanzy stuff, but what I really wanna do is take that and combine with Peruvian food; one day own my own restaurant, serve food that I came up with, and have people tell me it’s the best food they ever had. I think for all cooks that where the gratitude and accomplishment is in. All these 8, 10, or 12 hour work days is to one day be able to be recognized as a “Chef.” Most of all, I want to do what my father was never able to accomplish: Establish a restaurant, with a heavy accent of Peruvian influences in the menu, and be able to run a profitable business.
I want to come out of these experiences and culinary school and one day cook for my father. Then after he eats, he will tell me, “That was an amazing meal. Thanks. Lighten up on the salt next time.”
We’re all critics, ain’t we?
Tired
But I seem to pass the time web surfing after a hard days work. I just seem to fight the sleep with nonsense. I did try going to sleep early one night but my thoughts kept me awake in bed. I really need to change my habits.
I’ve got about a month left in SC before heading back home to ATL. I have postponed attending culinary school until next year. I still don’t have a concrete idea on what i want to do. I mean as far as next year. I know when I get back to Atlanta I need to get two jobs to support myself. There is literally no other way for me to live on my own and provide for myself unless I get two jobs and have two paychecks to help me get a place and pay for my bills. I just need to get that kind of mentality when I start heading back home. Hopefully I can get back on my old job and get myself situated in another job. Now if I were a responsible person I would be getting into shape so 3 months from now I can go to a recruiter and get started into enlisting. But that’s a responsible person. Somebody committed and strong willed. I lack the aforementioned traits right now.
Well from what Ive heard from my sous chef and exec chef is to speed it up. If i want to make it in the biz i gotta find second gear and get it going. Passion is the key to surviving in this business
