I tried many times to find another avenue for my life without belonging to a kitchen. For a while I was a handyman at The Bridges Resort in Warren, Vermont. What was I thinking!! Let's just say that everyday was a first day! I figured my job title should be the un-handyman. That job was short lived. I had to get back into the kitchen at all costs! During my last week I was mowing grass by the entrance and noticed a help wanted sign across the street at Miguel's Stowe Away. I left that day and started working the line again! WooHoo!! The crew was great! All of my dearest friends are the original staff. After all these years we all still find time to get together, cook amazing food, and laugh our asses off at the antics that took place! Kevin, Jesse, Chad, Sarah, Paulo, and Pookie you all mean the world to me.
This was my jumping off point in the cooking world. Seeing your creation on a grease pen specials board was very empowering! As with all restaurant jobs they eventually come to an end. I was moving up the ladder quickly. Probably too quick for my own good! So I moved to Park City Utah with friends. One day after arriving I landed a sous chef position at Loco Lizard Cantina. This place wasn't even open yet! It was an empty lot with a desk in the middle. This was my first chance to actually have input into the menu. Chuck Isble, who was the chef loved the energy I brought to the menu and the kitchen. I could not wait to meet the rest of the staff and see what we can do! I slept for about two hours the night before our first prep week. Riding to work that morning I was feeling strong until I saw the restaurant sign. Then I remember feeling this unbelievable wave of terror! What if I fail, what if the crew are scumbags, what if the food sucks...Ahhhh! Needles to say I was a wreck when I got out of the car. As usual I tend to over think scenarios and all that worrying was for nothing. Wheew! The crew was skilled and the raw product was very nice. The only thing I never saw coming was that everyone in the kitchen spoke Spanish! Nobody spoke a word of English! What the @$#*!! I'm in charge of all these people? I ask for tomatoes and they bring me pies! I learned kitchen Spanish FAST! Now I could communicate with them and this made them want to learn English. Win-win! We had a great time in there! I was doing this six days a week and working ski patrol at The Canyons Resort five days a week. How the hell did I pull that off?
Park City life was too good to me so I had to move on! Vermont was calling me back. I applied to a Relais & Chateaux property in Warren Vermont. I was hired over the phone that day! The Pitcher Inn was my first foray into the fine dining world. This was a notoriously hard kitchen. The kitchen crew were all professionals. At this point in my life I was not culinary trained. Yes, I did have experience, but knowing the theory behind the recipes was what I lacked. I had to eat, sleep and breathe high end cuisine. My first month was very difficult. I thought Susan Shickler, our chef, hated me! I had to prove myself and fast. I gained the respect of my co-workers in no time and my confidence was growing by the minute. I learned so much from watching Sue. Most of the way I prepare food today come from this experience. Six years ticked away pretty fast! I was there for the ups, downs, good and bad. To this day I feel fortunate to have this unique experience. I called Sue recently to thank her for all of the hard work and time she put in showing me how to make food look sexy. Thanks again chef!
I still needed more! Working at The Pitcher Inn full time and doing per diem catering work was not enough. How about culinary school! I can't think of a better way to achieve my goal. I embraced school while I was there. I took advantage of every seminar and demonstration. The chef instructors took notice of how I worked. They knew I was on their level. I was given the opportunity to prove this by testing out of my first year. The test was a blind basket cook-off. The instructors would watch me prepare the soup, salad, entree and desert. The hard part was you only have three hours to complete this while they stare at you. I blew them away in a little over two hours. I wanted to take pictures of every plate but I was so nervous that all I snapped was desert. All I had time for was a chocolate lava cake with raspberry coulis, coco nib tuile and espresso ice cream.
The chef instructors all agreed I should move on to the final portion of the curriculum. This meant I had six months of school left before obtaining my degree! I was very proud of myself. The remaining months of school were great! I have a lot of fond memories of my classmates.
School was over and the world was my oyster! What now? The Inn at Shelburne Farms was next on the hit list. Rick Gencarelli is the most charismatic and talented chefs I have ever worked with. His crew were all veterans and were all very tight. His outlook on food deserves great respect and admiration. Aaron Josinsky , his sous chef was the most incredible personality I have ever seen. To this day I still channel his energy and creativity. His dedication to the profession has no boundaries. I truly respect him for this.
Through a staffing issue I found myself in charge of the kitchen in the morning. Rick explained the pitfalls of this particular shift. There is no way I'm going to let him down! Over time I gained the respect of the kitchen and was able to focus on making food I have never made before. Everything from hand-made breakfast sausage to jelly doughnuts, we got it done! My first year there I had Clay Seacrest as my wingman. There were some difficult times involved. Clay did a tremendous u-turn. By the end of our stay he was pulling off some very good work. Clay has since graduated from CIA and is working in Syracuse, N.Y. Way to go Clay! The second year I had the pirate crew consisting of Joe Mitchel, Josh Brigham, and Colleen Fadden. Once again we seemed to pull off the impossible!
I was sad to see the farm go. It is one of the most beautiful places to work. The amount of positive energy will be missed.
At this point I felt a little spoiled. Food will never be like that again. My mission now is to uphold all the standards of the farm to any future prospect. This is where Monty's comes into play. One of my co-workers was hired as the executive chef of this new restaurant in Williston Vermont. I went in there as his right hand man. Adam Swartz is truly a gifted chef. He operates on a totally different wavelength than everyone else. His menu was brilliant and his ingredients were of the highest quality.
Little did we know that we were suckered in by a scourge named David. He had no intent on letting us produce amazing food. He just wanted to show his golf friends that he could give them free beer and annoy every employee. It was a matter of time....It was him or me! I felt bad for Adam but I had no problem walking right out that door.
I was feeling a little restless again. The thought of moving kept popping into my mind. So I spun the wheel and landed in Baltimore Maryland. I had grand visions dancing around in my head. There is a whole city at my disposal with thousands of restaurants. My first gig was at Brightwood Village. This was a high end community with armed personnel on site at all times. The family that owns McCormick spice lives there! They had a full kitchen with a fine dining menu in place. The staff never cooked before. The chef left this to me. I can't make people want to work. My final day was actually fun! I made desert for the staff with some leftover plantains and phyllo.
I spent a month looking for just the right kitchen. I answered an ad in Craigslist for a private chef. I had the job by the end of the day! I loved making food and helping out the Balsamo family. Paul and Kate both work in education and have an amazing knowledge of food. Paul is definitely happy when he is in front of his grill. Kate loves to open a new cookbook and try recipes to see what works. Too bad more families can't come together like this and eat wholesome food.
Back to Vermont! I worked at Mary's in Bristol......Nope! The Spirit of Ethan Allen.....Hell NO! Which brings us to The Tyler Place. I have never heard of the resort before. It is literally on the Canadian border. I went for my interview with Jeff Towle the GM and Jeremy Ratta who is the executive chef. I had a great time! The property is beautiful! I also love their concept. Chef Jeremy loves to have fun in the kitchen. You can tell when he starts belting out lyrics to his favorite songs. Jeff is probably the nicest general manager ever! Calm, cool and relaxed at all times. It's great to see this duo and become part of the team.
Whew! My fingers are flying. Todays rant is over! Work comes faster than you know it. This along with purchasing a house has left my brain a little rattled.
Peace!
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