The Who
I’m often asked how I came to be a chef. I don’t think people realize how extensive the answer to that question can be. How I came to be a chef is as complex as how did a 19th century House become the Home it is today in the 21st century. For the house it was through much transition, weathering through various families and time periods of renovation.
For me it was in my upbringing, in a home where I was allowed to be artistic and creative. It was through the teachings of other Chefs and seeing the passions and drive they had for their work. It was in traveling to other countries and observing the cultural differences and how food contributed to there cohesiveness. And most of all in my need to make people happy and see them enjoy life; if even just for that moment when the food, that I have created, just touched their lips.
Being a chef is more then cooking really good food. It is in the creativeness with taste, texture and vision, and when all pulled together it can touch all the human senses of pleasurable emotions. Being a Chef is the understanding that with every taste, smell and image stimulate memories of the past and hopefully seed delightful memories for the future. Every day I am developing into such a chef.
Creating unique foods is a challenge. I was told once by a chef, in my youth, that “…there is no new food...” and that “…everything has already been done”. Going forward, I’ve taken that as a challenge. Although, I will admit that oftentimes when I believe I’ve created something new I soon get the “I had a dish like this in…” from a friend or guest in my restaurant. It’s just then that I realize that I have not, however; I do believe that I have fused some cultural classics with unique tastes and textures to provoke the unexpected.
To find that unique blend of tastes I look to different cultures, their history and classics we have come to know and enjoy over the years. It is in those flavors and merging of cultures we can find a new generation of classic hopefuls. Within this I find a taste that I can use and explore. Finally, when all finished, I find a dish that I can be proud of and often times am praised for its qualities of taste, texture and feeling that it can rouse. It is in that provocation that I find joy, knowing that I have made people happy, and then I know I have succeeded in creating a unique food.
I am influenced by many different cultures, not there food as much as there beliefs and interactions with the land and the people around them. Eating and preparing food is a way of communicating, how much you love someone, think about them, invite them to be a part of your life or not. Unfortunately, I see America fall away from this social interaction and they see food as an unfortunate interruption in there seemingly busy life. I find so much comforting in the comments from others, when they are in my restaurant or at my house, how relaxing it is and they enjoy the escape from an, otherwise, hectic world.
My favorite foods are the ones that evoke a sweet memory of a previous moment in life. A time with family, friends, a special someone or even a special place you where at that moment. Maybe this fond memory was induced by the smell, or a particular flavor, at any rate; it’s a memory that makes you take a moment and smile. My goal when preparing a menu is to stimulate the pleasant memories of the past and help create new enjoyable memories of the future, either way; I want everyone to take a moment, relax and savor the good things in life.
