• Created on 8/24/11 by phatch

Passion of a Chef   With the advent of the internet, food channels, cooking shows, and celebrity chefs on TV, cooking has suddenly become some sort of glamorous. Out of the blue, culinary schools are springing up like mushrooms, packing to the brim with eager-eyed youngsters looking for a quick and easy road to fame and money.           But is it really that easy?   Passion of a Chef – Starting Out These youngsters started out excited and raring to go. But after some time in the killer restaurant industry, reality hit them hard when they... read more

• Created on 8/8/11 by GourmetM

While food trucks are the hot trend in large cities such as Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, smaller cities are starting to see this phenomenon catch on. Restaurants on wheels can offer anything from pizza and sandwiches to gourmet ice cream or complex chicken dishes. Many would-be restaurateurs are turning to food trucks because of their relatively low start-up costs. Before you quit your day job in hopes of making big bucks driving around selling cupcakes or burgers, read on to find out the 10 things you need to know before beginning a food-truck... read more

• Created on 2/16/10 by ChefTalk.com

Chris took a break out of his busy schedule to tell Jeremy Emmerson, what we can expect to see!   J.E - Tell us about your new show (what's it about). C.C - Chefs vs. City is a combination of amazing race meets your stomach, five challenges per city, complete the challenges first, and finish the race.     J.E - How many cities did you tape in? C.C - Seven cities Boston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco, New York, New Orleans, Chicago,       J.E - What will viewers learn? C.C - Viewers will see unique foods from each city and great foodie spots to visit... read more

• Created on 2/16/10 by Nicko

Written By Chef Peter Martin This past fall I found myself unemployed.  With the economy the in the middle of its downward spiral, this was not a good thing.  And being a chef in Wisconsin my prospects were few.  While job hunting I got a call from a friend who had recently made the jump from the restaurant world into the world of institutional foodservice.  He claimed that he was enjoying his job and the lifestyle it afforded him, and better yet, he knew of a position open in his company working as a food service director for the county jails, and felt I should send... read more

• Created on 2/16/10 by JackBlack

I tried, chef, I really did, and on numerous occasions. But I just can not sit through an entire episode of Hell's Kitchen. Invariably, after or during one of your obscene and belittling rants, I tell you to shut the f#@k up, consciously using one of your favorite expletives. Why do you do it, I wonder? It can't be the money and fame because you seem to have had both before these shows began. You're an extremely accomplished chef whose restaurants carry a combined total of something like 12 Michelin stars, and you've trained under some of the greatest of our time:... read more

• Created on 2/16/10 by JackBlack

It is 7:30 on a Saturday night and I'm leaning against a stove sweating. There's music blaring beyond the kitchen doors, but I'm contemplating the next course. We're at that inevitable lull, the point between appetizers and meal. Out front there are announcements to be made and toasts to drink.  We've been rushing since noon, but now we wait. And Sweat. Timing is crucial when cooking for a crowd and it's often dependent on longwinded speeches or announcements. In short, the initial push is a guessing game. It brings to mind a story of a banquet oversaw by chef August... read more

• Created on 2/16/10 by adornenburg

"I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way." --Mark TwainMark Twain would have loved me: I can come up with an impressive assortment of ways to spell the same word -- most, if not all, considered by everyone but Twain to be wrong. As a dyslexic, in fact, I specialize in misspelling words (often by transposing letters). It's one of the things that convinced me years ago that I'd never achieve my dream of becoming a writer.Twain, like me, was thought to be dyslexic. In fact, experts estimate that as much as 10-20% of the population has some form of... read more

• Created on 2/16/10 by JackBlack

Star (stär), n. 1. Any of the luminous bodies seen in the heavens. 2. A conventional figure having five or more points, representing a star. 3. A person of brilliant qualities, who stands out pre-eminently among their peers.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary Chefs are not rock stars. Chefs are managers, business people, and sometimes entrepreneurs, but mostly chefs are cooks, at least the good ones are. But the media insists the contrary. Take the latest issue of Gourmet Magazine (October 2003). Here's one of the most well-known and respected food and dining... read more

• Created on 2/16/10 by theloggg

It has been a good six months since I last wrote an entry for Cheftalk, and I have gone through more than I can write about.  If a PC could run out of ink, I could easily run it dry.  Instead, we'll revert back to 10th grade English Literature and go straight to the Cliff Notes version. Early this year my wife and I decided it was time to move again, for the last time, again.  In May I took a Sous Chef job with a large natural foods grocery chain opening a store in Sacramento.  I went into the job with nothing but excitement about having responsibility and helping the... read more

• Created on 2/16/10 by theloggg

(Devil on my left shoulder)  180 days into the job I received my 90-day review.  Unfortunately the raise was only retroactive one pay period.  Back in my high tech days a 4% raise wasn't too shabby.  It doesn't carry the same wallop when you make $12.00 an hour.  I have reached a point where I am finally able to reflect on my career change.  The newness of Seattle has dulled and the excitement of being out of school is gone (however my first loan repayment check written tonight reminds me of the good times I had).   I would be lying if I didn't say once a week I think,... read more