Introduction

I have been wanting to start a blog for some time now and have been putting it off for tomorrow and as we all know, it's always a day away. I think that I have nothing to say or talk about until I start talking.

 As some people may know I lost my job at the end of march and it was devastating. I felt that I had never worked harder for someone or invested so much of my self in a project. It was sudden, unexpected and it crushed me for a few days. During that time I started to think of what to do, as I had moved to Camarillo to be part of that dream. What to do I thought, stay in Camarillo or return to Santa Barbara felling deflated? I made the decision  to take a gamble and move to Seattle, a city that I always wanted to visit but was too afraid to leave the familiarity and comfort of home. I questioned everything, what I did or did not do, my career choice, was food really my passion? Thinking about this and trying to gain perspective, I started to think of the control that was needed in my life and how I could get it back. I thought to my self, how does a chef gain control in the kitchen? It all started to fall in to perspective, "Mise en place!" Mise en place translates as "everything in it's place," it's the preparation a chef or cook puts into his or her work in order to gain the upper hand on any thing that comes your way during service. It might be pans in the oven so they are hot and you don't have to wait 30 seconds for them to heat up allowing you a wee-bit of time to breathe. It might also be having backup hard-boiled eggs for the cob salad because a group of 20 people came in for lunch and that's all they ordered. It is just being prepared for anything and everything! Chef Daniel Boulud said, "mise en place is to put your recipe in kit form." In terms of my situation, life is like a dinner service and your next move is your recipe. You can prepare, study it and be confident with all the things you have put in their place or you can be a sloppy cook in life. In conclusion; I just want to say to you, be prepared. Do the work, do your mise en place for things to be in their place in your life.

About this blog: This will serve a a place for me to share my experiences in the restaurant as well as in life. I will also bring you comprehensive recipes and restaurant reviews from the eyes of a chef, as-well as a funny story or tow of things that happen in the restaurant. Flawed as I might be, I have something to say!

Stay Tasty!!