For the young aspiring chef...

Here is a strong misconception among those going into the culinary world... you have to work in a restaurant the rest of your life. When I decided to go to culinary school, and believe me the choice was not made lightly or quickly, I knew restaurant work was not my end all be all. I had worked in enough food establishments to know that the long hours, mostly at night, working holidays and not having a say in your schedule, and the -lets just say it-hard ass work you put in for little monetary reward, wasn't my dream. I knew when I landed on a culinary degree that I was using that degree as a basis that would hopefully launch into a career of writing about food, which also allows me to eat all the food (I run for a reason people). I knew I wanted to pay a bit of my dues in the restaurant industry, because I knew I wouldn't feel right about describing someone's dish and the work they put in to make that dish from start to finish without having experienced some of that dedication myself. It's not to say that I didn't absolutely love the hustle and bustle of the back of the kitchen, falling into the weeds and rock starring your way out of it like a bad ass. That high though wasn't enough to keep me fighting my way to the top of the ladder dominated by male chefs. I consider myself a pretty tough chic and I usually exceed at making coworkers realize my worth, but the glass ceiling in a kitchen is high and it wasn't where I wanted to spend my days so it wasn't worth the journey for me. I ran into my fair share of male dominated kitchens and arrogant line cooks, some more fun to goad then to actually take seriously. So I put in enough time to ALWAYS commend what restaurant chefs do on a daily basis but also enough to know that my degree would serve a different purpose in my life. There are so many other options for those of us with a culinary degree, that the last place we need to hang our jackets is at a restaurant. We can be anything from food critics, to personal chefs, the possibilities are open and the ability we have as chefs to constantly think outside the box leaves our career path wide open.

So my advice, my young Forkers, aspiring to cook for a living, is to think outside of that plate and let your passion dictate where you land. No matter where you land, rock it, push yourself every day to be better and don't be lazy or complacent about it. Grow and learn from every position you are in, and every chef who is better and more experienced than you. Don't become so arrogant that you forget that you can always grow and the challenges and struggles are what teach us, especially in a kitchen.