Day One

I have been cooking professionally for over 20 years and to some extent it can be said I am successful. I am paid well these days, I can whip out a meal for thousands and still get a good nights sleep the night before the event. I have made food that turned a noisy dinner party into silent reverent reflections on the pursuit of perfection.

Except for a few times where I have given everything I had into a single moment, my life thus far has been bathed in mediocrity. I am not the best, and far from it, but I want to be!

The goal of these ramblings is to track and work my way to the top of this chosen profession called "The Culinary Arts". Art being the operative word.

How am I going to do this? I am going to forget everything - pretend I am just out of high school and looking for work. I will go to the finest establishments and give myself over to them. I will take the abuse that is common to the underlings of this often brutal endeavor and then write and reflect upon them.

My regiment will be - To work a shift with every great Chef in the greater bay area. Even if it is just pealing potatoes or cleaning out grease traps nothing will be beneath me (OK, almost nothing) I will learn and polish what skills I develop.  Ultimately my goal is to work at the only three star restaurant in the bay area the famed French Laundry under Thomas Keller.   But I'm going to have to work up to that one. 

I guess now I need to find those chefs and restaurants and convince them to let me work in their kitchens.

So Here I Go!