an intermezzo

For anyone who has read this blog - yes, all 6 of you - you know that I went to culinary school this year. It was an amazing learning experience and I can hardly believe I actually went through with it. I spent about 7 months is practical classes at the Le Cordon Bleu in Hollywood and then had an internship at a restaurant for almost 2 months. It was fast, it was dirty and it was delicious. I think I cooked more than some people have in their entire lives.

I started culinary school because I had a vision - a vision that included a restaurant, a menu that I created and a social scene to rival the hottest spots in town. (Fluffy dreams like this are usually the reason anybody starts on any kind of journey). It wasn't until I started staging (pronounced stahj-ing - culinary lingo for FREE LABOR) and then working at an actual restaurant that my dreams and future came into focus.

I will not mention names because this is written word and it is up for everyone to see. (I've seen "The Social Network," ok?) The restaurant I worked at was in Hollywood and was the first job I was ever fired from. I basically got let go because some stupid salad dressings I made were...

"HORRIBLE." (direct quote from head chef)

What do you say to that?!

"Well, maybe your recipes are horrible!"

"Maybe your sous chef can't speak English so he can't tell me I'm doing it wrong!"

"Of course they're horrible, I hate it here!"

"That's because I peed in them."

None of those responses came to mind as I sat in the chef's office so I looked at him blankly - on the verge of tears - and apologized. I proceeded to suggest that he fire me because, deep down, I hated that place with a passion.

It's my thought that if you feel like you want to throw up and cry on your way into work every morning - and you're not pregnant or hungover - it's time to look for a new employer. So I finished out the day by making his stupid barbecue sauce, his stupid french fries, his stupid chicken wings, cleaning his stupid dishes (notice a theme here?) and cried tears of joy as I left.

Maybe it was a sense of entitlement but I felt that no one as educated as I am should be treated or talked to that way. Or MAYBE I was right. (Did I mention that I never got a lunch break or food? Yeah - in a restaurant. Seems like telling a fish he can't have a glass of water, right?)

Luckily I went on to do my official school restaurant internship at THE BEST restaurant with THE BEST kitchen crew. I will proudly state that RUSTIC CANYON (in Santa Monica on Wilshire) was an amazing restaurant experience. Probably the best food I have ever tasted and I learned more in my two months with them than I did in my seven months at school - which is strange.

It was during my time at Rustic Canyon that I quickly started to realize the restaurant business just wasn't for me. I saw the head chef coming in for twelve hour days, six to seven days a week. No holidays, no days off...no fun. Some people may be able to handle that kind of schedule but I am not one of those people. So I put in my time for my internship, sweated day in and day out, chopped, diced, sliced and counted down the days. I also declined the 2-day-a-week-at-minimum-wage job they offered me and went back on the digital media job trail.

Now I am working at post-production company in Los Angeles, happy as a clam. (Although I'm not a major clam-lover, per se).

Who knows how this culinary education will play into my life? It may seem like it didn't fit in with my theatre degree and my digital media degree, but I am happy to be putting the latter to use. I think the hardest part out of all of this are the student loans! (Google lawsuits against Le Cordon Bleu for more information on that!)

However, I do put the culinary degree to use on daily basis - when I cook for myself and loved ones! And, let me say, it is a much more pleasant way to enjoy the entire cooking and eating experience. There is no one constantly rushing you around (nothing can be done fast enough in the restaurant business). You don't have to sweat like a mule (there is no such thing as A/C in kitchens, only FIRE). And you get to enjoy the final product of whatever it is you're working on (prepping 100 tomatoes is only the first step out of many for a final product).

I have decided to transform the focus of this blog from my culinary school journey to my daily cooking experiences...and perhaps through in an anecdote or musical selection when I feel necessary. :) The beauty is that some recipes are masterpieces and some are filled with mediocrity! (I will try to only share the really good ones).

Cheers and here's to eating your food a la harte...