For awhile now, I haven't felt like posting. I have been getting used to life outside of school, and everything seems boring, mundane, and not worth writing about.
Then I watched Spinning Plates, a documentary on Netflix featuring three very different restaurants and their day-to-day operations and goals. It has me thinking positively, for the first time in awhile.
I am PROUD to be a part of this industry. Whatever tiny part I play in the grand concerto of the food world, I am happy to be here, doing what I do. I may get paid terribly, worked too hard, and bullied, but when I prove myself, the joy that comes from a satisfied look on peoples' faces who are consuming my food reassures me. I may not be making much of a difference right now, but one day, I will. I just know it.
That being said, I want to catch everyone up on what has been going on in Atlanta since Daniel and I moved here. I began work at King + Duke in Buckhead, and am still currently a pastry cook for them. In April, I got a second job working for Anne Quatrano at Star Provisions. I worked directly under one of the most wonderful women I have ever met, named Zibaa.
I don't think Zibaa would want me to dedicate this entire post to her, but I definitely could. She is worth more words than I could ever express. Her work ethic is nearly insane, her positive attitude radiates throughout the whole building, and her desire to see people excel is just invigorating. I learned a lot working for her at Star.
Unfortunately, I had to leave Star Provisions. I was offered a promotion within the Rocket Farms company, and for the longest time, I had planned to accept the title of lead pastry cook at The Optimist on Howell Mill. I had to leave Star to ensure that I could dedicate myself entirely to The Optimist, even though I would be making significantly less money having only one job.
However, because life is extremely unpredictable, I got a text one day from my externship pastry chef, Aaron Russell. He told me about a friend of his who is opening a new restaurant called The Luminary in an up-and-coming market called Krog Street in July, and that he had given him my contact information. Mind you, this is one of the first times Chef Aaron has ever complimented my skills and aptitude in the kitchen. Chefs are not notorious for their excessively complimentary demeanor, no matter how well you feel that you are doing. Usually they express their gratitude just like this, by a verbal recommendation to one of their highly-ranked colleagues that you, in fact, do not suck.
I did some research, only to discover that Chef Eli was on Top Chef season 6, and that he has worked for Michelin star restaurants in NYC, and also that he is a CIA Graduate, just like myself. I was intrigued, so I went to meet with him. After the first interview/conversation we had, my interest had been peaked. I love the style of food that he wants to serve, I love the atmosphere of the new restaurant (even though it is just now coming together, there is barely any furniture in the building at all), and I enjoyed talking with Eli. He is a no-nonsense guy whose wife is a pastry chef at another restaurant in Atlanta. In other words, he has respect for pastry people, because he is married to one. That is a rare quality to find in chefs, because most of them think pastry people are weird, quiet, nerdy, and prefer extremely shiny sheet pans to well-seasoned cast irons. All of those things are true, by the way, but it is one thing to think that about a group of people, and it is another thing entirely to respect us for our strange qualities.
Anyway, after much deliberation and advice-seeking, I decided to put in my notice at King + Duke, and to move over to work at The Luminary with Chef Eli. I am off on a risky, but exciting culinary adventure. I am so grateful for the opportunity to open a new restaurant with a group of people that I already respect. I think that opening this place will guide me in my future aspirations, and will also teach me a lot about how a restaurant should be run.
For now, though, I am working at King + Duke, and trying to hold my own by working six day-weeks without any overtime. I appreciate the very little downtime that I have, and I am using it to finish reading my Chocolates and Confections book, as well as doing research on how to know everything there is to know about the culinary world.
The one thing I love most about this industry that I work in, is the constant evolution. There is always someone out there doing something new, and trying to keep up with the new trends is almost like having a second job in itself. Watching Grant Achatz in Spinning Plates made me realize, more than ever, that things are always changing in the food world, and that a casual jog is not going to catch me up to the big names in this industry. At this point, I need to start out at a full sprint, and learn until my brain explodes. And when my brain explodes? Put the pieces back together in a new way, and maybe I will be the one who comes up with the next big thing.
Until that happens, I'm going to keep reading, keep studying, and keep working towards my end goal of knowing everything possible about everything. I'll let you guys know how it's going.
