A tough question?

Ara Gureghian · #1 08-03-2005, 07:53 AM

I graduated 35 years ago after 3 years of Culinary in Switzerland...
Fast forward... have been very successful... turning out to be very Artistic, Perfectionist... with a Passion for cooking still every seconds after all these years...
A personal tragedy in my life made me close
www.PersonalChefAra.com
and finally move near Atlanta...
For the first time in a long time I am "EMPLOYED" versus "SELF EMPLOYED"... I know... welcome to the real world... I already quit 2 days after I started and was begged to come back... to a kitchen that I thought a hurricane Cat5 had just hit... untrained crew... unreal situation...
I don't belong to Corporate Restaurants either... which I call "Robotic Cooking"... and I do not want to open yet another restaurant or start "Personal Chefing" again... I keep thinking that there has to be this establishment that "needs" me... a clean place... organized that wants to put out passionate food... I m looking...
And at the same time I am thinking as I moved to a more countryside setting on 13 acres... how about an Internet Business... from home...
BUT WHAT??? Recipes don't sell... baked goods? there are a million providers out there even thought I have won 2 gold medals with a carrot cake and a cheesecake...
Tutoring long distance?
It would be indeed for me the golden goose... and if anyone out there has a good idea... would you please post it? and then again I am thinking... if the idea is so good why would you post it???
So... that is why I called this "A tough question"...
You be well...
Ara

CHEFONCALL · #2 08-03-2005, 08:52 AM

Hopefully you saved some cash for these rainy days. Everything will workout the way it is supposed to. I think at sometime during our careers we all go thru this. I for sure would not give up hope on your compassion and desire for good quality workmanship and craft. Today that quality in well trained chefs is very much needed. That needs to be passed onward to the younger Chefs.

Of course it is about earning a paycheck but it is also about quality of work.

Have you considered maybe operating the dinning room?

KAYLINDA · #3 08-03-2005, 10:35 AM

Your passion shows through your post. Your site is very nice too. Though at this time I have no ideas for you...I wanted to say "please don't give up"...someone like you is needed in so many places! I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers....and if any ideas come to mind, I will post them.

kuan · #4 08-03-2005, 03:30 PM

If you have 100k, set up a commercial/demo kitchen on that 13 acres and start giving lessons.

Headless Chicken · #5 08-03-2005, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kuan

If you have 100k, set up a commercial/demo kitchen on that 13 acres and start giving lessons.

I was just about to say too. Through your post and sight, you demonstrate passion and knowledge. Why not pass on that passion and knowledge to the next generation.

Botanique · #6 08-03-2005, 06:26 PM

If you don't have 100k, and that sounds like something you would like to look into, get a business loan -- or a loan on a second small home, I am not sure if you would have to have a commercial kitchen built to give lessons.

Have you thought about a bed and breakfast?

Just throwing things out there -- gotta run! More later!

Ara Gureghian · #7 08-04-2005, 08:40 AM

You guys are awsome... I am very moved by your answers even if there is no
"golden goose" ideas! Does'nt matter really... it is the thoughts that count...
I have thought, yes, about teaching quite often... passing on the little many "tricks" to the trade... the awsome shortcuts... the magical path of planning to every function as a "theatre play" is with its many scenes... the euphoria and adrenaline rush has always been my drug of choice!
I believe in "karma"... my path is at idle now... and at the same time I am seeing for the first time yesterday some small steps forward in this delapitated kitchen that I am running! As a stick got into the spokes last night and I was hearing from a server to leave her alone, as she has had many many years of experience... turned out later on to be experience from many years at the Waffle House... And that is quite something to deal with... when one is used to spending in the upwards of $5000 for a dinner for 12!
So maybe, and actually I know that, I will make a difference there... but my search will never stop... A Bed and Breakfast and Diner (weekends for diner) also sounds very nice... closed in the winter for a yearly vacation...
Anoher thought also was to fix this house up real nice, I do have a formal dining room... and entertain "potential" clients here from Atlanta... Something nice, elegant but very comfortable at the same time... this Georgia Mountain area is so beautiful and we do have 4 Wineries within a few miles...
Well... thanks for letting me vent... not many understand what I am talking about... you all seem to... I will definitly try to make a daily visit to this site and try to help others as much as I can...
Be well... and would love to read some more of your ideas...
Ara

kuan · #8 08-04-2005, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ara Gureghian

passing on the little many "tricks" to the trade... the awsome shortcuts...

OK chef, you know there really are no shortcuts right?

You (we) are a dying breed my friend. Keep the faith, you will find something.

People like you are awesome. I wish there was a way to press a button and pass the torch but there isn't. Seems like it's something kids have to discover on their own, something which gets more and more difficult these days.

foodnfoto · #9 08-04-2005, 09:40 AM

Nice website Ara

Since you have some experience in food writing, why not explore that as a freelancer. Submit some of your previous writings to Savuer, Fine Cooking, Food Arts, and other food and lifestyle magazines. It would be good to write introductory letters to food editors describing yourself, your background, abilities, interests and passions.
Also, submit some ideas for articles you'd like to write that interest you and maybe the reading public. Be specific and tailor your ideas to the needs and target market of the magazines. There are plenty of editorial outfits that need freelance food writers.

You may also want to contact Alton Brown. I know he has his research facility and food studio somewhere near Atlanta. He uses recipe developers and food stylists as R&D and crew for the production of his show.

Be careful using the term food stylist to describe what you do. Although it sounds nice, food styling is a very different profession than personal or private cheffing or catering. I know, I am one.

There is a really good book titled Careers for Gourmets and Others Who Relish Food by Mary Donovan published by VGM Career Horizons out of Lincolnwood, IL. You might get some good ideas and inspiration from it.

Good Luck.

Ara Gureghian · #10 08-05-2005, 12:00 AM

You are correct Foodnfoto... The "food stylist" needs to be removed now as I am not on that path anymore...
Hi Kuan... the faith will always be there... these written new ideas are all good and as I am only 45mn's from Atlanta. I need to go and "knock" on some doors... that was one of the reasons that I moved here... One has to be careful living in the country setting as I do, as suddenly, after mowing the lawn... pressure washing this and that... coupled with a motorcycle ride through the Mountains... suddenly the day is gone!
I will let you posted on my progress... thank you...
Ara

panini · #11 08-05-2005, 05:43 AM

I completely understand where you are in your short time here on earth(I think).
After getting all the local and international news, new forum posts, ebay listings, research tangents, etc. There are times I would like to back away from the keyboard and sigh, I'm finished! Yes, done with the internet, that's all I want do.
This also happens sometimes with my career.
I really like the Bed and Breakfast idea. I also like the demo kitchen idea. So I will suggest a get-away Bed and Dinner for chefs or wanna-be chefs. A place to go and relax, enjoy some private or class food/wine teaching. Preparing meals for other chefs.etc. I don't have to mention the need for a large pastry area after browsing you dessert menu.

Pan

mikefly · #12 08-05-2005, 06:16 AM

WOW a chefs resort im so there!!!!!
most of the bonds ive created with my brothers and sisters of the culinary world have been forged in the heat of battle depending on one another to hold up there end of the line and when one starts to fall the rest come together to keep it strong....i would love nothing more then to be able to make family(i dont make freinds)with people like myself in a calm country setting learing from one another in hopes to keep the pasion of the art we all love alive!!!!!
id be willing to bet im not the only one who would be willing to make a pilgramage(stop laughing at my spelling) to help start something like this....

hey a culinary cult he he he

Botanique · #13 08-05-2005, 09:16 AM

ROTFLMAO (if you need a translation, private message me!)

Ara, I think you can expect a group of us on your doorstep!!!! I have never been to Georgia....

Ara Gureghian · #14 08-05-2005, 02:17 PM

A "Chef's Resort"... What an idea! What an awsome idea... NOT for the faint of hearts and not for any filming of "****'s Kitchen"... Can you just imagine a dining room full of Pasionate Chefs... and also apiring ones... (I hate to use the term "wanna be"...). Classes... interaction... maybe even get accredited... serious Cooks also... (would probably need to be open to "some" public to meet the numbers... yes... that $ sign that always lingers upon us...). There is so much sightseeing here... the vibes of the land are so awsome... Guest appearances... I am just writing the ideas going through my head! And I think I know exactly where also, (not on this property, but I do know of another one that already has some nice Victorian style homes on it...).
Will start working on this idea... at least putting the numbers together...
I don't think this idea has ever been done... has it???
If this takes off and becomes reality, I can assure you that all that would contribute to it with their thoughts and hearts will find me a very sharing, caring and giving person... unfortunately life is not a rehearsal... we are thown in it with no practice... and even though I have made many mistakes I do try to do it right! We, in the food business are such gifted and lucky individuals to be able to create this Art that is the only one that is so multidimensional... "Colors... Taste... Textures... Dimensions... and... temperatures!!!..."
Be well... will keep talking...

PS: Mikefly... very nicely said... and... I was not laughing... as in... does the tree falling in the forest makes a noise if no one is there to hear it???

Ara

Botanique · #15 08-05-2005, 02:30 PM

Ara, I'm picturing knives ablaze, garlic saturated skin, and rosy cheeks....