Origin Story Part 2
Into the Kitchen!
Hello! If you are just picking up the Grape to Table newsletter, thanks so much for joining to learn more about wine, food, and travel. But right now we are in the midst of my origin story (haha) – so please see newsletter #1 for the first half of the story.
And now, drumroll please, the rest of the story…
After seemingly months of badgering Chef Trotter’s assistant for an interview with the superstar chef, I received an email stating that yes I could interview him if I agreed to spend a night in the restaurant kitchen “trailing” (aka shadowing).
I do believe my heart skipped a beat upon reading this. Of course, the answer was emphatically, “Yes!”
Yes! But with much trepidation.
Thankfully my month-long course at the Cordon Bleu had at least given me some idea of how to act in a professional kitchen. I knew to wear sensible clothes and shoes and be on my best behavior. Surely, I was terrified!
I have to admit my memories from this night (20+ years ago!) are vague. I know I was given a chef coat and a hat, and I remember peeling tamarind (not a fun task). I also remember loving the energy of the kitchen – the bustle, the camaraderie. I also remember the seriousness of it all. Perhaps there was some banter, but this was one of the top restaurants in the country, which demanded focus and a certain reverence.
I spent the night shadowing various members of the kitchen, and then at the end I was led into the dining room, seated in a quiet corner, and given the dining experience. It was mind blowing. Finally, many courses later, I was led to Chef Trotter’s office. I can still see him seated behind a desk and remember his demeanor – serious but kind. In short, he told me that if I truly wanted to write about food I should get restaurant experience. I tucked that thought away and walked home to my apartment – exhausted but exhilarated.
Fast forward six months to my nearing the end of the magazine masters program. I had enjoyed the program as a whole, but my professor for our final project left me disillusioned and incited a bit of rebellion in me. When our thesis class met one last time and revealed our future plans I listened as my classmates rattled off prestigious jobs at places like the Wall Street Journal. I proudly announced I was moving to New Orleans to work in a restaurant!
I made the move armed with a letter of recommendation from Chef Trotter and the fearlessness and energy that comes with being in your early twenties and setting off in the world!
Chef Trotter had recommended that I apply at two, prestigious female owned restaurants – Bayona and Peristyle. I applied to those and a long list of other great restaurants. By chance, my first two interviews were with Commander’s Palace and Emeril’s Delmonico. The reality was I needed to start making money, and when I was immediately offered an entry level line cook position at Delmonico I accepted on the spot.
Yes, in case you are wondering, I had no idea what I was doing! But I was teachable and reliable. I started off on the pastry station where I warmed and plated desserts all night long. It was a busy time. We usually did around two hundred covers (or more) in a night. I had my own ticket machine that seemingly spouted out tickets endlessly. I dreamed about that ticket machine. In some ways it was a nightmare; in other ways it was the best time in my life.
I was part of a tribe of mostly young, mostly male cooks, and they looked out for me. I progressed to garde manger (the salad station) and the fry station. Then my father passed away suddenly, unexpectedly, and I was devastated. The intense work and late nights did not jive well with overwhelming grief. So I brashly gave my notice and got a job at a gourmet shop. It was quiet and calming.
However, fate was not done with my cooking career. One year later I received an email from Emeril’s director of culinary operations, Dave McCelvey. I had been a freelance contributor to their website, which had a section with an online magazine vibe covering all sorts of food topics. Chef Dave remembered me from Delmonico, and he had a position opening up at Emeril’s Homebase – writing and testing recipes for Emeri’s two television shows and cookbooks. Was I interested?
This is how I found myself being interviewed by Chef Emeril Lagasse who at the time was one of the first celebrity chefs thanks to two shows on the Food Network and a restaurant empire that crossed several states. I wish I could remember more of the interview. Much like my interview with Chef Trotter, I more so remember the surroundings – his office at “homebase” on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans. I remember that he was friendly, and not surprisingly there was a magnetism to him that undoubtedly propelled his success.
I was hired!
Looking back, the two years I spent working at Emeril’s Homebase were instrumental. I worked with some very talented cooks and writers (namely Marcelle Bienvenu, Charlotte Martory, and Alain Joseph) that taught me so much about the kitchen but also about life. We would divide the week between time in the office (writing recipes, cookbook content, and responding to fan mail) and time in the kitchen (testing those recipes and just generally having a good time).
I had found my place. Constantly testing recipes proved the culinary education I most needed.
Much of this two year experience was spent on an upcoming cookbook Emeril’s Potluck that did exactly what the title suggests – offering up casual classics to feed a crowd. It allowed me to even revisit dishes I grew up with (like my father’s oyster stew and the famed dish of my hometown: Country Captain). I loved the process (even the ghost writing in Emeril’s voice).
But…I was young and impetuous and had my own misgivings about working for “the man” (as if a restaurant group in New Orleans was really corporate America!). Thus, I found myself giving my notice just as we wrapped up testing on Emeril’s Potluck and finding a job at a small diner in the Bywater run by another Emeril’s alum who also wanted to buck the system. Chef Heidi Trull and her iconic “Elizabeth’s would prove another learning ground.
To Be Continued…
P.S. I would like to acknowledge that Chef Trotter did come under fire for his intense management practices, and opinions on him run the gamut. But I only experienced the positive side of his restaurant – twice during shadow shifts and twice as a diner. But this was a mere glimpse of that world. Chef Trotter died from a stroke in 2013 at the age of 54. There was a documentary released about his life in 2021 that I have yet to watch, but it’s on my list: Love Charlie: The Rise and Fall of Chef Charlie Trotter.
Such serendipity but your intuition was also at work. What great teachers and cities!