The Well Rounded Chef

I was born in Alabama to a couple of Yankees who knew nothing about Southern Food.  Grits seemed gross (they are if you don’t know how to cook them), fried things were great and I didn’t really know where pie fit in.  Southerners swear it’s a Southern thing, but I remember stories about a great aunt in Michigan who was rejected by the family until she showed up with the best pie anyone had ever eaten.  Mom could handle pork chops and potatoes like a boss.  Dad did a pretty good cubed steak and meatloaf but pretty much sucked at everything else.  Culinary school was a revelation.  I tried so many things I would never have experienced – foie gras, octopus, escargot, grits, pate, and the list goes on. Now I get to teach other people how to do those things too.  I’ve worked on a goat farm making cheese and soap, at a catering company where I learned how to prep an event, lots of restaurants from fast food to fine dining and everything in between, and at culinary schools.  I rarely remember having only one job in my life, and I like it that way. 

Now I teach culinary at a community college and work at The John C. Campbell Folk School managing the cooking studio and picking up the occasional shift in the dining hall.  I’m building a content creation business focused on food and I freelance as a consultant and instructor.  My career goals include becoming a Certified Chef Educator and Certified Master Chef through the ACF programs, completing a PhD program with honors, and running my own business. 

My goals with this website are to write 1000 articles on the foodservice industry.  My particular interests are the history and culture of different cuisines, leadership in kitchens, sustainable food practices, training, the role of culinary schools, the role of fine dining restaurants, the difference between cooks and chefs, and specific skills relating to the kitchen.  

This website will serve as a repository of my own knowledge and thinking.  Hopefully others can learn from it too.