Logan Worley
Introduction
As many of you know ChefTalk has a large number of culinary students who are part of the ChefTalk community. We thought it would be great if we could find someone who would journal there experience of going to culinary school from start to finish. ChefTalk is pleased to have had the weekly writings of Logan Worley. Logan attended Culinary School in September 2001 and has since graduated. While attending school Logan took the time to jot down his experience and posted it online here at ChefTalk. Below are the journal entries of Logan for the entire time he was at culinary school. Many of the entries have pictures. Read up on how to get ready for culinary school, and what the experience is all about.
Life After Culinary School - Career Change Part I
Logan Worley talks candidly about changing careers to become a chef and going to culinary school...Life After Culinary School - Career Change Part II
My feet hurt more than ever, hence the appointment with the podiatrist next week. I've had just about all I can stand with prepping the saute station. In addition, throw in the pantry station twice a week and, well, "Man, I wish I had a desk job again." ...12/19/2000
12/19/00 Started off shaving filet mignon for 10 plates of carpaccio. While I was prepping the carpaccio, the Sous Chef cut through her nail. No stitches this time, just a couple band-aids. The cooks were in a "let's see who can get one up on the next gu...Life After Culinary School And Becoming A Chef
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. ...Cooking New American : How to Cook the Food You Love to Eat
If you ask most cooks to run down a short list of their favorite cooking magazines, chances are you would hear “Fine Cooking†more than ...Washoku: Recipes From The Japanese Home Kitchen
I was supposed to have this review finished about 3 months ago, but to be honest, I have been stumped like never before. I had ...Fish Forever: The Definitive Guide to Understanding, Selecting, and Preparing Healthy, Delicious, and Environmentally Sustainable Seafood
As I began writing this review I struggled with a creative and comprehensive way to sum up the book in one statement. Then I looked ...Rice and Cabbage Riso E Verze
This is a dish of rural origins. Country people, when talking about this dish, will tell you to pick out a beautiful, big cabbage because ...12/13/2000
12/13/00 We sold ½ the restaurant to software company for their holiday party, group of 65 or so. Same routine as the last party, 50+ salads in the middle of a la carte. Fortunately, this time a la carte was mellow so I never fell behind. Also "prettied ...Author info
I currently work a cubicle day job and work at a fine dining restaurant 2-4 nights a week. We are starting this post long before my school starts so I can post throughout my restaurant experience now and my transition into school and beyond. To catch you up with what a "newbie" or culinary student can expect, so far I have done the following in my first 6 months....
- Peel, chop, dice, peel, chop, dice - Work pantry (salads, desserts, appetizers, pizzas) - Work "middle" (plating, saucing, presentation) - Work the Grill - Prep and work fundraisers, street fairs, art shows (including grilling 500 filets for a fundraiser, that was cool) - Take coworker to the hospital for stitches - Burnt my hand and thumb - Attempted (unsuccessfully) to cut off my left thumb
Upcoming Posts.... - Weekly posts on what I've experienced - Johnson and Wales Campus visit - Hectic holiday season - Moving to two new restaurants after the new year - Spanish language school in June - Any further trips to the emergency room
Being my first post, I don't want to ramble on. But I want to start with some advice that I got from the Cheftalk bulletin board. GET A COOKING JOB BEFORE YOU GO TO CULINARY SCHOOL! I cannot stress the difference between chopping parsley for 2 hours and watching FoodTV. To me, cooking in a restaurant is NOTHING like cooking for friends, family, entertaining, bbqing, etc. For the most part, it's the same plates night after night. Find a Chef that needs part