I was quite aware of my attitude and feelings as I headed to, and arrived, at the first day of culinary school. It has been a very very long time since I've gone to classes. I was surprisingly both excited and calm. I was looking forward to the day and I felt a general sense of peace in my spirit. There was no need to hunker down in my car and watch people arrive and build up the confidence to get out of the car and pack my self over to the classroom. This felt right. I was doing the right thing and I truly sensed that I was in the right place. Deep down I knew that I am being directed and watched over by God.
Mind you, I am under no illusion that this is going to be a breeze. At 49 years old, with a herniated disc, hardly enough financial resources, and not having nearly the culinary experience that would have been optimal to start a culinary school, I am not so naive to believe that everything will be easy and that a sense of calm will always be there. This is going to be intense and tough; I get that.
Even after the brief introductions at the orientation of that last week I could tell that all the students were arriving and trying to figure out who was going to be along side them for the next 6+ months. I was doing the same. Who was that person with the lip ring? What kind of person was the quiet girl in the corner? How old is that woman? The woman who had now arrived for class clearly was closer to my age - whew! I was not alone. I was not the only person who was the age of most of the student's parents!
But, even more pressing than what our fellow students were like. We all wanted to get to know more about our Chef Instructor. Who was our leader, our guide, our drill sergeant, our teacher? Who was going to regiment our lives (actually only from 7am until 1pm; Monday to Friday). Who was going to mold us into a chef? After arranging tables and carefully choosing our spots and who we were daring to sit beside we were finally introduced in a much fuller way to Chef Greg. To my surprise and delight, we found out that he is a friendly, lovable, and funny goofball! =)
It became clear that he is interested in seeing us doing our best and helping us to find out who we are, discover our passions, and grow in our knowledge and skills in the culinary world. There was little evidence that he wanted to stand over us with a large wooden spoon waiting to whack us when we get things wrong. Chef Greg is all about teaching us by walking along side and encouraging us. He does not come acress as a drill sergeant. He is an educator and a mentor. Again, whew!
He has a wealth of experience serving great numbers of people. He has served a few from the line for an evening and served thousands and thousands over a weekend. His experience includes being the executive chef at the Pepsi Center overseeing many different food services. He has done Bill Gates wedding, the DNC convention in Denver, been a regional chef for a large corporate oraganization, opened Google's corporate offices' restuarant, fed crowds at golf tournaments, fed dignitaries, and meals for thousands that required a convoy of semi-trucks full of food. I loved hearing all this. I am excited to be learning under a chef that has plenty of banquet, buffet, and convention experience. This is the type of thing I would love to do (obviously at a smaller scale). He is a master organizer - I like that too.
But, in the end, he cares about our little group of sixteen aspiring chefs. He wants to insire and encourage us to do our best, learn, and have fun doing it.
"Learn the techniques of cooking. At the same time, have fun. Fun makes good food" - Chef Greg
(c) C. Neil Riley
April, 30, 2012
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