Yes, it was expensive. I didn't go to the Harvard of culinary schools either (CIA). Nope, I took the "fast track" 18-month corporate route. Don't get me wrong; CSCA and Le Cordon Blue are fantastic. They did their best with what they had. But truth be told, if you were lazy you wouldn't get anything out of it.
I wanted to be there. When I told people back in my UCLA days that this is what I eventually wanted to do (after running my own record company, of course) they would say "Oh, that's nice". But I was serious. And when I got there in my starchy whites, creased checked pants and clean clogs, there was no stopping me. For 18 months I got burned incessantly (one of which got a nasty infection thanks to working the dish station), cut every finger I have, froze working long hours in the walk-in and busted my ass every day. And even though women still have to work harder in the kitchen to prove themselves, I held my own with the most sexist of pigs.
Most chefs don't respect my type of culinary school. They say true learning happens in the back on the line. In some respects that is true. But when you attend a school with driven, talented and fantastic cooks like Jason Aguirre, Erin Hadd, "Two-Buck" Chuck Holden, Jared Levy, Chet Pasag, Sarah Kenas, Jose Villa and the incomparable Wes Avila (above), you have no choice but to step up your game. I have no doubt in my mind that thanks to these guys I could work anyone's kitchen and pick up exactly where I left off... top of my class.
So why don't I? Why don't I get off my pampered ass and get in someone's kitchen? Chef Owen in proteins class told this story about a VIP 4-top coming in. He was new to the line, but was working furiously on one of the dishes. The other three had their plates up while his sauce kept breaking. He just couldn't get it right. The executive chef had enough of that, snatched his hot pan out of his hand and burned him with it. If that were me, I would have gone to jail that night for chasing chef with a knife. I'm too old for that crap. Sorry.
I do, however, love to write about food. Like seducing ingredients to create flavors you can't forget, I adore pairing words to remember a food experience forever. (My sister asked me once if food really tasted like that.) For my externship, I was blessed to food write for Angeleno Magazine in Los Angeles. It was one of the biggest thrills of my life. (Thank you Brad Johnson!) And now that I'm living on the East Coast working in the internet, I really miss writing about food.
My longing is your gain as I'll be channelling that desire right here. Culinary school "secrets", restaurant reviews, a cookbook club, podcast demos, interviews and so much more. Plus, if there's anything you want to know about, let me know and I'll get it to you. So tell me...
Are you hungry yet?
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