Melvin
Bray
EN001
Mr.
Ackney
March
4, 2013
Essay
Revision
Food is an artistic pleasure
Food is an artistic pleasure to
me because of my knowledge of working with some of the top chefs in the
culinary industry in restaurants and hotels around the Washington metropolitan
area. There are so many things that a seasoned chef or
just an ordinary cook can do with food; such as preparing flavorful dishes,
soups, sauces, and marinades for grilling or baking, or just setting up a
buffet meal. Having ten years of working
experience with chefs, like Tom Meyer, who is also a C.I.A. graduate, of the
Old Ebbitt Grill Restaurant in Washington, DC, and Executive Chef Jean Louie of
the Watergate also located in Washington, DC, gave me inspiration to maintain
my enthusiasm in the art of culinary skills.
These are just a couple of reputable chefs whom I have gained a strong
sense of knowledge from.
Mainly, I would like to focus on my
view of how and why my experience became lengthy. I used to work long days, arriving at
pre-dawn hours at the Old Ebbitt Grill as a breakfast, banquet, and buffet
chef. I, also, worked the nightshift at
the Watergate Restaurant as a night closing first cook. I worked every station in the kitchen, in
which, in culinary terms is considered, the “back of the house”, and the dining
area is considered the “front of the house”.
Food stations change according to the menu. On particular days, the breakfast menu
changed for brunch, lunch, and dinner, which included private parties as
well. I, actually, started from the
dishwasher station and worked my way to the fryer, pasta, grill/broiler, sautéing,
baking, dessert stations and some light ice carving. The Old Ebbitt Grill was a very interesting
place to work. Working with a wide
variety of ethnic groups, we had plenty of good days, as well as, bad days. Good days, simply means that everything ran
smooth that whole entire day. Bad days
consisted of waiters and waitresses making faulty mistakes such as, breaking
dishes, confusing the orders for cooks to take and prepare in a timely
fashion. One of the kitchen rules is
that customers, waiters, and waitresses are always right. (Yeah right) Some of my most enjoyable times were when we
did private parties. A person could meet
very interesting people from celebrities to just local talent in the area or
just passing through town.
The kitchen staff was very interesting,
working with sous chefs like, Penny, better known as, skinny penny, Roger
Kaplan, and the overweight chef, Bruce.
They all displayed unique talents and contributed to supporting Tom
Meyer’s direction with this restaurant. Artistically,
it became more of a pleasure when my cousin, Vincent and I were working at the
Holiday Inn of Georgetown under Executive Chef Lois. Upon her leaving for the day, she gave me
total control over the kitchen. With
this responsibility, I was able to give my cousin skill sets in working as a
prep cook along with basic kitchen organizational skills. In addition, I would design big huge mirrors
of fruit and vegetables for brunch and breakfast buffet for Saturday and Sunday
morning.
In
conclusion, because of the culinary skills that I have obtained working with
some of the best chefs in the field, I am still able to artistically express
myself as I continue to cook for my family.
In addition, I am able to prepare my own food. This means
reviving in your own mind and life the arts of kitchen and household. This
should enable you to eat more cheaply, and it will give you a measure of
"quality control": you will have some reliable knowledge of what has
been added to the food you eat. In
addition, I have found it very important to learn the origins of the food you
buy, and buy the food that is produced closest to your home. The idea that
every locality should be, as much as possible, the source of its own food makes
several kinds of sense. The locally produced food supply is the most secure,
freshest, and the easiest for local consumers to know about and to influence.
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