Sunday, March 27, 2011

7 days, 8 hours, 50 minutes until....

....begins the first day of school...and the next big step in my culinary career. April 4th I begin my "diploma program" at Le Cordon Bleu. At first I was very alarmed at the fact that the school, has dropped their AS degree program. They have basically cut the entire program in half. I would say that I am nervous about the difficulty that may certainly present itself along with the the workload of school...but I certainly love a challenge and I have the utmost confidence in myself and my culinary abilities.

Up until now I have worked in restaurants from burger joints to semi-fine dining establishments. I have worked from the ground up and learned everything I know from working in kitchens under different chefs. The whole reason I started this blog was to serve as a journal to document my schooling. I have heard wonderful things about Le Cordon Bleu, usually from former students that have found success with running one or more kitchens in reputable restaurants. I have, on the other hand, heard some very terrible things about the school as well, most always from students that have made it no where in their career. This is fine with me. As with anything in life, you get back what you put into something.

I have worked with "chefs" that completed their schooling through Le Cordon Bleu were just plain lazy. They had absolutely no sense of purpose or drive inside of themselves, than to be anything more than a slightly over-paid and self-glorified line cook. When I tell people I'm going to Le Cordon Bleu and they start to say negative things about the school, I quickly realize that they are yet another lazy person with no drive or ambition and certainly no love for their "craft".

It's funny that the chefs I know that have attended Le Cordon Bleu and have succesful executive chef postions now in reputable restaurants throughout florida (and beyond) were always hard-workers to begin with.

I am fully confident in the direction I'm moving in and look forward to challenging myself to become the best chef I can be. I'm already studying some famous restaurants in and out of the country that accepts some externships. I can't wait to run a kitchen again, except now as a trained chef with absolutely full control of my budget and menu creation. Once I have completed my schooling, spent 2-5 years as a sous chef, and attained an executive chef position, I will spend much more time creating new exciting recipes, flavors, and move quickly into the study of molecular gastronomy. After ten years from now I will have at least one restaurant. That is my goal and that is what I will do. Remember you heard it here first!haha

No recipes today. I have not made any specials in quite some time but I am going to change that as much as I can starting tomorrow night, if my sous chef Nat has not already created one. We'll see when I get there.

 Goodnight!

2 comments:

  1. Keith and I were talking the other day and when the time comes we will definitely be happy to invest in helping you open your first (and more I'm sure) restaurant!

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