Hello everybody, Welcome to my new blog. Eat like a chef. I am your host Chef Stephen. I am really excited about starting a blog. I have always wanted to share my thoughts to the world and a blog is a great place to start. I am just going to jump into this with an introduction and a little background information, so you have an idea of what this blog will encompass. I have been in the hospitality world for the better part of 26 years. Having worked every station in professional kitchens from a lowly breakfast/prep cook all the way up to the top of the food chain as an executive chef. To say I have experienced what it’s like to be a chef would be a gross understatement. It’s been a whirlwind of a ride that has taken me to some interesting places. I have worked with many chefs, cooks and front of house staff. If you think its glamorous, think again. If you want a career that gives you a life outside the kitchen, look elsewhere. If you want weekends off definitely look elsewhere. If you want a 9-5 job look elsewhere. This field will not grant you any of those things. It can eat you up and spit you out before you even get your feet wet. What I am saying, is it’s not for everybody. Cooking in a professional kitchen bares zero resemblance to cooking at home. A famous chef, I think it was Norman van Atkin, once said “You don’t choose cooking, cooking chooses you” That was a quote that really resonated with me when I first started this journey. You have to embrace every aspect of this career. Not just the savory ones. That would be the actual cooking and creating of dishes, the menu writing, plate presentation, dish development. The things I am referring to are the unsavory parts, clean up, walk-in organization, maniacal chefs, shady line cooks, shadier front of house staff. Fellow employees throwing you under the bus or talking shit about you behind your back. It does not matter if you are a rockstar chef or cook people will talk shit about you. Usually, though, it’s driven by jealousy. My aim as I journey through the world of blogging is to share my experiences as a chef, culinarian, chef instructor and overall food enthusiast. To enlighten the minds of those who wish to gain insight on chefs, what we eat and our perspectives on the culinary world and industry as a whole. Disclaimer! having worked in professional kitchens for as long as I have, be warned, there will definitely be some cursing involved in these posts. Now, it’s not like you’re gonna be walking into an episode of Trailer Park Boys or just finished watching the South Park movie, but I am a chef, and it goes with the territory. The chefs or cooks out there reading this know what I am talking about.
I started my chef journey in Maui, Hi, in 1998. After working in a fine dining establishment for 16 months, I went to culinary school in. My wife and I lived in Maui for about 4 years and our daughter was born on Maui as well. My journey then took me and my family to Portland, Oregon which lasted only 4 months, before moving up to the Seattle area. I worked in a number of different restaurants ranging from bistros to cafes, mini resorts, family run restaurants, and hotels in Seattle. I started noticing a trend amongst young chefs around 2018. They were increasingly looking to hire young less experienced cooks with little talent. I was becoming aged out of my industry. If I didn’t sport enough visible tatoos or I commanded a higher salary they were not going to hire me. They wanted cheap labor that they could mold into their ideal cook. I was becoming increasingly frustrated after years of struggling in this industry. So once covid hit, I had made a decision to change careers to become a personal trainer. I finally became certified and was on a new path. My wife and I had made the move to southern California to help my mother with my father who was quickly losing his battle with cancer. We also wanted to be closer to our daughter who had just turned 21 years old and was on her own in Los Angelas. My wife and I moved to the Coachella Valley on April 3rd of 2021 where my parents lived. My father passed away on April 13th. Needless to say, it was a very difficult first year back in California after having left the state 1995. When I realized how saturated the market had become in the field of personal training, I reverted back to doing what I knew best. Cooking! I told myself I would never again work in a professional kitchen and then I went back into one briefly. I became bored quite quickly as the job was way below my experience level. It was really to just make ends meet though. The sous chef suggested I become a personal chef. That there was a market for private chefs in the Coachella valley. I did some research and realized that was exactly what I wanted to shift into. As of today, I am now the owner and operator of Chef Mort Personal Chef. I can safely say I will never work in a restaurant unless its consulting.
Why am I a chef, and what keeps me passionate about food? The last thing I ever thought about becoming was a chef. I was living in Seattle, attending school at The Art institute of Seattle. I wanted to become an audio engineer but realized after graduating with an AAA that the music industry was much less desirable than I thought. After working many odd jobs, I think I knew what was calling me. Cooking. I had started watching shows like Great Chefs of the World and Great Chefs of the USA. The food network was just getting started at this point so, it was those two shows that had sparked a flame in my desire to cook. I still wasn’t convinced it was the right path though. I had convinced myself I did not want to cook for the public. My girlfriend at the time, wife of 25 years now, convinced me otherwise, telling me I would be doing a dis-service to myself and other if I didn’t pursue this gift I recently unlocked. I had finally made a decision and created a path for myself. I wouldn’t look back; I wouldn’t compromise my decision. I would stick it out however difficult it might get. And it got difficult. Quickly! As previously mentioned, we moved to Maui shortly after we got married. I had secured a position in a fine dining restaurant on a golf course in Wailea, which sits on the south side of Maui. I was enthralled with cooking. I cooked every moment I could. For family, friends and co-workers. I started as a breakfast/lunch cook and was quickly thrown into the fire of high-volume breakfast and lunch services. 250 for breakfast 300 – 400 covers for lunch. I fuckin loved it. I loved the energy, the excitement, the bravado, the camaraderie that took place in the beginning. It was electric. Every day going in to set up the line and knowing you’re in a pressure tank, knowing you need to be ready by 8am. It was that feeling that ” Fuck! I am not gonna be ready, hurry the fuck up already” It really grew my sense of urgency. Also, my obsession with time really helped me hone my sense of urgency throughout my career. I was hooked very quickly and I never once from 1998 till 2019 ever looked back or considered doing anything else. I had found something I was going to be great at and to this day still very passionate about. I love food. More than being just the obvious life source for human beings, I really love all aspects of food. Where it comes from, the process of growing, farming, the time and effort it takes. I love the smells and the textures of food. exploring farmers markets, local mom and pop shops that focus on cool products like artisan olive oils and vinegars, jams, different spices combinations and any products that are produced sustainably. I love learning historically about where dishes originated from. The origins and cool stories of what made dishes so popular. Let’s take for example pizza. Who would have thought making a crust of flour, yeast, and water, adding tomato sauce, cheese, and a fresh herb like basil, The Margherita, would have spawned a global sensation. As the story goes, In 1889 Queen Margherita of Savoy visited Naples Italy. She was dining in a particular restaurant where chef, Raffaele Esposito, was commissioned to create something new for the queen to sample. He wanted to create a dish that would not only impress the queen but was also delicious. He made a crust of flour, yeast, and water, added tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil to symbolize the colors of the Italian flag. He named the dish The Margherita pizza after the queen and history was made. There is debate of this claim. There are reports and some evidence stating pizza to have been made in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s as well. Although once Queen Margherita put her stamp of approval on the dish, it became the national dish of Italy. To this day pizza has been a staple in the diets of many countries around the world. It’s one of many dishes I would refer to as a “Rockstar dish” of the world. Just, for fuck’s sake, don’t offend the Italians by adding pineapple to your pie. A horrible addition created by a chef in Canada. Yes, our neighbors up north were the first to take a perfectly great dish and ruin it with pineapple. If you haven’t figured out at this point, I have been an avid No! fuckin pineapple on pizza guy for years now. Sorry, it’s of this chef’s opinion that pineapple simply does not belong on something as glorious as a pizza. We can have that debate in another blog.
Other notable rockstar dishes that reign supreme. Burgers, tacos, fried chicken, French fries, apple pie and more recently ramen. I am sure you all can think of more and I would like to hear what dishes you feel are Rockstar dishes. Here are the criteria. It has to be a global dish, that’s a dish that is well respected in at least 50 countries. It has to be popular amongst many cultures. Meaning if you want to go to somewhere like Asia, you can find many opportunities to find a rockstar dish there. It has to be something you think about regularly and seek out on a regular basis. You might be wondering why ramen made this list. Well, it wouldn’t have, but the past few times I have visited my daughter in Los Angelas I have seen an increasing number of ramen shops popping up everywhere. As well as a ramen chef being featured on Netflix series Chefs table. Ivan Ramen. So, all of you that still rock the top ramen packs filled with an alarming amount of sodium, go visit your local ramen restaurant and have your mind blown away by how delicious it can actually be.
What inspires you to cook? What is your favorite food? And what would you consider a rockstar dish?
Till next time
Chef Stephen