We always find it refreshing to talk to a chef. They are exhaustively hard workers with a boundless passion for food. What's not to respect? Especially when they are as honest and practical as Julia about the highs and lows of working in kitchens, and the realities of making a living at it. We can bet the conversation will not end here.
When did you know that you wanted to work in food?
My dad was determined for me to attend college in New Orleans so he had an excuse to visit Felix's Oyster Bar as often as possible. We visited the city, and legendary restaurants like Galatoire's, Pascal's Manale, and Commander's Palace drew me in. I enrolled at Tulane and gradually realized that I wanted to pursue a career in food. I bucked my English major for management and finance, began working in restaurants, and ate and drank my way through four years in Nola. After graduation, I was off to the CIA. (My only regret is not knowing what a stage was at the time. I would have loved to spend some time in the kitchen at Restaurant August, had I only known.)
How did you get your current good food job?
I went on hiatus from cooking in restaurants and accepted a job as a private chef while staking out my next move. I checked Good Food Jobs daily (truth) and came across a job posting from Haven's Kitchen - which at the time was nothing more than an idea, a splash page, and an empty carriage house on West 17th Street. I accepted the chef position and suddenly was on the opening team of a new small business - something I'd dreamed of for years. For eight months, we planned, designed, constructed - and in many cases, were unclear on what we were doing. Now, here were are, two years later with a business, and still learning every day.
How did your previous work or life experience prepare you for a good food job?
My previous work experience was paramount to my success in this job. While degrees in Management and Culinary Arts are an outstanding foundation for a career, I cannot express the importance of experience. Working in various professional kitchens (Per Se, especially) taught me about systems, kitchen design and equipment, as well as food purchasing, storage, and utilization. I was surrounded by some of the most committed, hardworking people I've ever come across, and learned what it means to be part of a team. Working at mission-driven restaurants (Blue Hill, Franny's) drove home my commitment to sustainable, seasonal food.
What was the greatest obstacle you had to overcome in pursuing your Good Food Job dream?
Working in restaurants is challenging - it can be physically, socially, and financially taxing, especially here in New York. When I hit speed bumps working in professional kitchens, I took short-term jobs as a private chef to replenish my spirit and my savings account. During those times, I certainly questioned where my path was headed, but I found that I sorely missed being surrounded by other cooks. I missed learning from my peers and feeling inspired and guided by my mentors. It was too soon to give up. Lucky for me, the lessons I learned in cooking in home kitchens (economics, resourcefulness with tools and ingredients) lend themselves well to the classes I teach to home cooks at Haven's Kitchen.
What can you identify as the greatest opportunities in food right now?
I think about this one often. Three things come to mind: one is making sustainable, healthful food products that are scalable, affordable, and appealing to the all segments of the population. It takes more than farm to table restaurants - it takes farms, producers, logistics, drivers, distributors, grocers, restaurants, green markets, consumers, etc. to create demand, close links, and start reversing negative food and health trends.
Second is food in academia: after home economics fell off the curriculum, food fell out of our dialogue. Now programs in elementary schools all the way up to higher education, are reconnecting students and educators with all sorts of topics, from gardening and cooking, to history and epidemiology.
Third is a new frontier: essentially, opportunities abound. Now that food is considered a respectable and creative career path, chefs and industry leaders are breaking molds all over world. Preconceived notions about food and dining are changing, simply because there are no rules to follow, and there's an entire market waiting to see what happens next.
If you could be compensated for your work with something other than money, what would it be?
Airline miles.
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