Holy shit, 15 months sure did fly by quickly. It seems like just yesterday I was learning how to tourne a potato, or how to properly flip an egg without using a spatula. As of August 14, 2009, I'm done with culinary school, and it kinda felt like it ended so abruptly. The day started out like normal, my friends and me waiting outside of Bleu, looking cool and impressing the newer students with our knowledge of all things food related. Standing around discussing our externships, our projects that were due that day, and about our lives in general, until Chef Jeff told us to line up for morning inspection. After that it was business as usual, go in, make sauces, help people with their stations, and get yelled at by Chef Franz (he's really just a big teddy bear at heart). We had more to do that day than we usually would, so Wes, Mark, Alex, and me didn't get to eat crew chow, and this was the one day where it wasn't something egg related.
We did a final check on our stations, got pans on the grill so they'd be ready to be used at a moments notice, and then we set off. Cooking the night away. Friday was our busiest day out of the 3 weeks we working lunch, we had over 40 people. The day went by fast, almost too fast, and then it was over. We cleaned up our stations, washed dishes, and shuffled out into the elevator so we could ride up to the 5th floor for the last time. I cleaned out the last of my books, got changed into clean clothes, talked with Chef Peter and Ela for a bit about my dream family, than I took the elevator back down, and left the building for the last time. The last day of culinary school is nothing like the last day of High School, we didn't get the day off to sign year books, or finally ask our crush out on a date, no, it just ends.
And tomorrow, I start working at H5O Bistro in Portland, Oregon. I've been looking forward to this day for quite some time. I've been cooking practically my whole life to some extent, either helping my mom in the kitchen by stirring soups and cutting bread, to working the line at my school. It's become such a large part of who I am, and I really couldn't live without it. The anticipation is killing me, I have no idea what they are gonna make me do my first day, maybe I'll prep veggies, or cut meat, or maybe I won;t do anything at all and the whole day will be one big pow-ow, who knows? I certainly don't. But isn't that the best part? The mystery of the real kitchen that I've been dying to see my whole life,finally to be revealed to me in one swift blow?
The purpose of this blog is to, I don't know, express my feelings on what it's like to start working in a kitchen, when you have never had any other job before in your life. I plan on updating this thing weekly, but we'll see how that turns out.
well, this has gone on long enough, I have stuff to do today.
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