Chatter and Dish - Story Time

Ahhh…culinary school! What a unique college experience!! When other freshman have schedules full of classes like, ‘Biology 101’, ‘Macroeconomics’, and ‘Creative Writing’, us culinary school attendees enroll in classes like, ‘Classic French Pastry’, ‘Principles of the Plate’, and ‘Chocolates and Confections’. There’s no question that earning a degree from a culinary institute is unlike the traditional university experience.

In one my dining experience classes, my classmates and I were broken up into groups and tasked with developing a small-scale restaurant concept, creating and executing a menu and decorating our "venue." I was chosen to be the group's executive chef and was able to get a little taste of what it would be like to create and implement my culinary vision. I came up with a New Orleans-inspired fine dining restaurant. Everything came together wonderfully and I'll never forget running the kitchen line of my own restaurant for a day. (Even if it wasn't a truly real scenario.)

While working at a bakery in Italy, someone requested I make a cake based on the Denver Nuggets Basketball team. It sure brought a piece of home to Italy for that week!

I have so many fun stories, but this one cracks me up! I was a freshman in college and we had a “chef of the day” that rotated by name. So, there was a slightly annoying kid who thought he was some hot stuff because he was the “chef of the day”. Anyways, we had to do a plate presentation and then dinner service. I had prepared a small amount of candied bacon which was just enough for my plate presentation because we had run out for actual service (I have no clue how, but I think it got burned or someone else took it) and I had just finished chopping it when the annoying kid came around and said “ohhhh I want some of that, let me try.” I said “no, that’s all I have.” He proceeded to tell me that I had to because he was the chef of the day and as he was reaching for the bacon, I took the knife in my hand, flipped it so the blade was facing up and smacked the back of the knife on my cutting board. He pulled his hand back so fast and his face was priceless. I said, “please don’t ever touch my stuff again, or next time, the blade will be facing down.” Needless to say, he never did! And I wouldn’t ever do that, just wanted to give him a little scare 😂