2012 May: A New Leaf. Life after THE CIA

Executive Chef 2005

After an extensive 8 week job search and numerous interviews and cooking practicals I have landed a job.  It met all of my criteria and even more.

Executive Chef 2006

I will be the Executive Chef of a prestigious hotel in Southbury, CT.

There is already a good base of banquet business and almost no main restaurant business. One of my first tasks is to repair, organize and bring up the general morale of the kitchen then on to bigger tasks. 

Executive Chef 2007

My job is to revamp the menus to create a destination local, build the restaurant business and increase the banquet business and corresponding revenues of both.  Train the current staff if possible and hire and train more staff.  Clean, organize and repair the kitchen and meet any and all other challenges that come my way.

Executive Chef 2008

It is just what I was looking for.  Creativity, Responsibility, challenges around every corner.  No where to go but up!!

Chef on Chopped 2011

It is almost 2 years to the day from when I started at the CIA to getting this job (June 1) would be exact, but I start on the 28th of May so that's really close.  With all my previous experience and the vast array of knowledge heaped upon my brain at the CIA,  I can not wait to get going.

Final kitchen class at the CIA.  Ready to take on the world!  February 2012

I have already approached a few local merchants about sourcing their products for the menu.  I will be sourcing many more in the weeks to come. New menu items to test, training manuals to create, recipes to index and more and more and more.

I should be blogging quite regularly again as I have something exciting to let loose upon the masses.

Final day of school at the CIA. March 2012

"A Bearnaise sauce is simply an egg yolk, a shallot, a little tarragon vinegar, and butter, but it takes years of practice for the result to be perfect." Fernand Point

Well the new year has come, and the old has gone.  School passed by in the blink of an eye, and I find myself in Connecticut deeply entrenched in the job search.  I graduated in late March and have been actively searching the region for an executive chef position.  I have been to many interviews, had many cooking practicals, even reviewed a few restaurants as a consultant.  Nothing seems to have panned out yet.  But even as I write this on the brink of early summer, I have two more interviews on Monday.

The economy seems to have rebounded a lot since 2010.  Everyday new jobs are posted in the search engines on the internet.  I am keeping my search to the local Hartford area due to the fact that my wife has a great teaching job and does not want to move.

What is in store for me? I only know that I have set some priorities for my life and I will get the job that meets all of them!

Tune in same chef time, same chef channel to find out what happens next.