On cooking

Sometimes I ask myself why I got into cooking.  I mean, the hours suck, the pay for the most part sucks, and there is always some kind of personality conflict. 

Well I got into it because I truly enjoy the art of it. And I believed that if i worked hard enough and did what I was told, then success would follow. As Buddha said, "success is not the key to happiness, happiness is the key to success.  If you truly love what you are doing, you will be successful"

 

When I first got into the business, the chef that I was working with turned to me and said "Scott, cooking is a dying art."  Those were the first words of wisdom ever imparted on me from a chef.  It's those words that have been reverberating on my psyche ever since.  He was right, it is a dying, if not already dead, art.  It is a shame, because most of the chefs that I know are craftspeople.  They enjoy taking the time to prepare something that makes them feel good and that gives them a sense of pride and accomplishment.  They wouldn't enjoy taking the left over garbage of someone elses failure and mashing it together to try to pass it off on the people playing them for ignorant rubes.  When the true crafts-person is forced to do that, it makes them die a little inside.  It makes them second guess there chosen career path, and generally makes them miserable. These are the people that become frustrated and leave, compounding an already serious problem of staff shortage in this business.

However, I persevere.  I will continue on and still maintain my standards. It may not be in the place I am in now, but I will continue on.  As my Jamaican friend says "I'm a soldier."