Tightknit Community

As I have gone through culinary college, I have constantly heard how the chef’s in the metro area are a close community. The public often overlooks the fact that our chosen profession is one of service to the people, and yet we sacrifice our time, our family and sometimes even, our well-being to accomplish this job. The type of personality it takes to join these ranks is one of compassion, pride and giving without expectations of receiving. Just in the few weeks that I have owned my place, I have had the pleasure of experiencing what belonging to this family entails. From chef instructors who give of their time to help with the menu design and recipes, I have to say thank you to Chef Susie Judy without whom the grilled cheese would just be bland, for Chef Damico’s insight into how to keep a hamburger flavorful and perfect until service. Chef Zesch for his advice on how to keep my menu open ended for changes and Chef Shuman for catching all of my grammatical errors on said menu. As the weeks have gone by, I have experienced friendship and hard work from my fellow student Dana Whaley, who is never afraid to jump right in to a chaotic situation and help straighten things out. I have had ex co-workers show up at the back door unexpectedly and offer their time, not to mention my ex-boss Dan Langreder offering his time and support. For all these people to have only known me a short time, and yet make me feel as if my success matters to them in a very personal way shows what a truly tightknit community this really is.