a few things ...

it has been some time since i've written anything on here. to be honest, i dont have any spare time. i work in the mornings at gravitas and then go finish the day off at textile. it's busy work being a full time pastry chef at two of houston's top restaurants. on top of that, ive spent the last weeks trying to find steady help at gravitas.

what is it about the majority of culinary students thinking that out of school they will be making the wages of a sous or pastry chef? this is a very tough and demanding field. its very hard and requires you to put all your effort forth for little pay. its the nature of the beast. it separates the chefs from those who were lured by the stardom and celebriti-ness that recent tv shows have elevated this blue collar field into.

i had a tough time getting to where i am at now. after a week stage at a hotel i will not name, all the sous and executive chefs sat me down in an office. each then took turns telling me why i would not and could not be anything in this field. why they were so high and mighty and why i will never be like them.

since then i went to work for joseph sanchez at rickshaw. he is an amazing chef and friend. after a few months there he promoted me to his sous. i loved working at rickshaw. i learned alot from joseph and it introduced me to the flavors of asia. while at rickshaw we participated at the cesar salad competition. i competed against the afor mentioned hotel and came out victorious. i won for best presentation while they won nothing.

with my background there i went to apply at noe. mike potowski (sous then and former exec chef at rickshaw) immediately took me in with open arms. noe was an amazing experience and i still refer back to the beginning of my career as my noe days. it was amazing working along side robert gadsby and mike potowski. i admire both chefs highly. unfortunately we all had a falling. but the memories of an amazing team will always be there. at noe i really learned to branch out from the normal pastry chef routines. at noe i started developing my style.

a year into noe, chef gadsby was invited to participate on iron chef america. to this day i am very shock and honored gadsby decided to take me along. he had other sous in la and chicago. so we went. we fought hard and lost to mario batali. a few months after we taped, the episode aired. we had a viewing party at the omni hotels. i invited all the sous from the afor mention hotel, but non showed. to this day, i know none have seen the iron chef battle.

then i had short stints at a little bakery, soma and the americas in the woodlands. their i created new and profound friendships with jonathan jones, justin bayse and randy rucker. we all talk, hang out and talk all things about food. 'its a groovie thing'

and now i am working double time with jason gould and scott tycer at gravitas and textile, respectively. i am now working for two of the cities top chefs. its incredibly intimidating, but i push forth to keep up. its alot of work and i'm constantly having to question everything i do and why i do it and how it affects my product and when to do it and on and on and on. its a great experience and i'm learning alot about food and why i am in this field.

and on my spare time i read and write about food. and some of you read my ramblings. thanks.

well. come see me gravitas in the am and textile in the pm. if im not there, i am more than likely grabbing a beer at beavers, hanging out with justin or lending a helping hand at randy's tenacity dinners.