Volunteering… how I have a newfound appreciation for it.
Working for free is no foreign concept in the food world. If you're looking for
exposure, you probably won’t be attending a James Beard Foundation (JBF) dinner
because you were hired to cook it, no, people like Mario Batali do, but volunteer and
that’s a different story.
I got to volunteer for a JBF dinner
through the dean of my school, Chef Cesare Casella. He provided a plethora
of cured meats for the event including two giant legs of cured pig. Yup, that
amazingly delicious prosciutto.
We were prepping our tables including setting up this heavy duty contraption
which held the whole prosciutto leg. Suddenly I look up
and I see Mario Batali casually walking across the room! Turns
out, he is cooking dinner for this Italian Feast thrown by the JBF. I had no
idea! I especially had no idea that Chef Casella and Chef Batali are good
friends.
Chef Cesare is in the red chef coat with the
rosemary in the pocket.
But, by far, the coolest thing that happened to me all week was my
first encounter with an iron chef:
What’s better, the yellow socks or the orange
crocs?
Pretty sure those were getting auctioned off for more than
most people make in a week.
Another victory in my food world!
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