chef’s table
WE ASKED FOUR CHEFS, “WHAT’S THE FIRST RESTAURANT JOB YOU HELD AND WHAT DID IT TEACH YOU?”
Sera Cuni The Root Cellar
THE SUMMER BEFORE MY SOPHOMORE YEAR IN COLLEGE, I worked at a pizza place on the Cape where I learned so much about making everything from scratch. We made everything there – the pizza dough, the sauce and the pasta for the lasagna. We grated the cheese and sliced the meats. I loved the experience, not only because of the camaraderie I felt with my co-workers, but because the place felt like home and family to me. For so many years, I’d watched my great-grandparents roll out handmade pastas and stir these big pots of garlicky tomato sauce, and now, I was doing the same. Their passion for food certainly inspired mine.
Michael Chuong elements
MY FIRST JOB IN THE RESTAURANT industry was InterContinental Hotel in New Orleans. My executive chef was French, executive sous chef American, chef de cuisine English, banquet chef Indian, garde manger chef French. For a young man from Vietnam, that opportunity gave me a positive direction to pursue a career that I love and that all nationalities can work together for the same passion.
Mick Carroll Radius
MY FIRST JOB WAS AT THE BENBULBEN HOTEL in Enniscrone, Ireland. I was 16 years old. That job taught me how to tend bar, serve tables and how to prep cook for banquets of 200-300 people. I learned I loved the hard work, the creativity, the hours and the constant slagging (joking around) amongst the people in our industry. Aligul Sevil Talulla’s
MY FIRST JOB WAS AT A RESTAURANT in Turkey helping the cooks in a small family restaurant. I learned to start at the bottom and learn through experience, learn from your mistakes and learn from others’ mistakes. CHM
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chapelhillmagazine.com September/October 2018
