What is "The Need to Feed"...? Is it cooking? Is it sharing your dreams and aspirations? Is it standing toe to toe with your brethren for hours at a time... Yes. Yes. Yes, and yes. Being a cook is that and much more. Having developed a penchant for the philosophical side of Ma Cuisine I submit the following for your perusal...
Carpe Diem.
An oft used and ignored phrase of symbolism. What we do today defines us tomorrow. So - what are you doing today that makes tomorrow a better experience than today...? My today is a succession of long days and nights at The French Laundry that will, in my tomorrow, define who I will be in the months and years to come. I know not what will actually happen tomorrow...that is up to God and fate, but my efforts today (and in the past) will shape and mold me as I morph into the future...
I've gotten much out my professional life. I was once just a skinny kid at Pleasant Valley Country Club in the mid-1970's. I lived ego-inducing and passion-building days in my apprenticeship with Chef Esteban Colon in the Grand Canyon and served as group leader and the "old man" (I was just 27...) at the Culinary Institute of America in the 1980's. I cooked, cheffed and built my business in the 90's. I learned about patience, mentoring and stretching my boundaries in this first decade of the 21st century. Where will I be in 2015? Or 2025? Or beyond that...? I know what I know, yet I know that I don't know enough nor will I ever know enough - and so on...
With that in mind I pay homage to Charles Kelly, who brought this to me several years ago:
DANCE as though no one is watching you...
LOVE as though you have never been hurt before...
SING as though no one can hear you...
LIVE as though heaven is on Earth.
Thank you, Chuck. An unknown quote of incomparable understanding. Much like Carpe Diem; reach for stars, brass rings and dreams. It isn't about actually grasping or attaining the goal. Life and the inalienable rights to the pursuit of happiness are relative to your effort and a sense of place. One must understand that we are defined by where we are at any and all times. We are affected by place. I am totally immersed in my learning and am in a "place" - figurative and real. I live on these pages (if the computer-generated script can be called a "page") as a way to open my spirit and allow the free reign of ideas to explode and cascade across the vastness of technology until you read this and get a sense of how important our lives are and how important it is to seek the unreachable stars, to quote Don Quixote. The journey to our end is that which defines us on a colossal scale. What does this have to do with the stage, the sabbatical and the mosh pits of kitchens across the culinary universe...? Nothing. It has nothing to do with that trinity. Yet - it has everything to do with the spirit, the persona and the self. Be true to what you do. What you attain is what you pursue and never will you truly earn what you don't deserve in our world. It takes a lifetime, sometimes, to live for a day. The earned may be deserved but the earned without deserving is false and under scrutiny by those around you. Be patient, work hard, work clean and help others along the way, for that is truly the way to gain the rewards that being a cook - a really good cook - and a chef are what our passion is all about. Get it?
Mentoring.
Find a mentor. Be a mentor. Pay it forward. Nourish your culinary family tree. Share your spirit and knowledge. Do, and teach. Not only is it rewarding but it is amazing how much learning there is in teaching... And finally, as my day at TFL now begins at 5:00 a.m., I leave you will a parting quote, taken in the above vein it may make sense to you budding and blossomed chefs and cooks;
Cooking is like love. Enter into it with reckless abandon, or not at all.
There is much to comprehend, ruminate and express. When I attack the keyboard I'm never quite sure what will jump onto the screen yet somehow I always find the blogging experience to be cathartic and cleansing. Time to dream of Foie Gras and Chateau d'Yquem. Peace.
~R
About Me
- Chef Robert N. Corey
- I started in the food and beverage business in May of 1974. I am Chef/Owner of 12 Seasons Personal Chef and Sommelier Services(www.12seasonswinebar.com). The inspiration for the concept of my Personal Chef Service (originally called The French Manner) began in 1988 in Estes Park, Colorado. It began with the cooking of France and eventually migrated to other parts of the globe. Twenty-one years later in 2009, The French Manner has gone global and now operates as 12 Seasons Personal Chef & Sommelier Services. I still seek to do business under three basic premises: • We shall seek the highest echelon of clients for our services and cook creative, individualized menus for them • We will go anywhere, and do anything (for the appropriate costs) to provide memorable food & wine experiences • We will prepare the freshest of food products and serve our cuisine and wine in a professional and dignified manner... Peace.