Big C or little c?

 

Po Boy views

By

Phil LaMancusa

Oui Chef

Or

Big ‘C’ little ‘c’

Breakfast for 40: lunch for 60; sit down dinner for 100; Cocktails for 180. Another double digit shift. Manager: “Great job Chef!” Chef: “Thanks, I’m only as good as my last meal”.

        As good as your last meal: that’s something that every chef knows by heart, from hotel to hostel; fine dining to food truck; one man kitchen to leader of a brigade of cooks. As with any player, you’re only as good as your last performance. Aspire to lead the band in Kingdom Chef? Good luck.

        Here’s the secret; as a Chef, you picture yourself in the center of five dimensions of activity: “did the trash go out; did the delivery come in; are we prepped up for lunch; did the dishwasher show up; are the linens in; are the ovens fired up; did the salesman call; where’s the fish; what’s the dinner special; what’s our food cost; answer the phone and find out what they want; close that door: were you born in a barn? Where’re my glasses and I need more coffee!” All this as you walk from point A to point B (picking up a piece of trash and checking the garbage can for any stray flatware that’s been inadvertently tossed).

        You cannot learn this in school. You cannot graduate from an institution and step into these shoes: it’s a mania: you’ve got to be crazy. Or inspired, driven, passionate, power hungry, concerned, conceited, getting a piece of the action or just plainly the only one that can and wants to do the job; talent has nothing to do with it, you’re flexing your experience and ability to get things done to your satisfaction and to the satisfaction of the people that are certainly paying you less than you deserve. And your audience expects your best. Every meal; every shift; every day; without fail. You’re the Chef; get it done, end of story.

        That’s the way it is and that’s the way it’s always been, way back to the building of the pyramids and beyond; aboard Noah’s Ark; The Last Supper and up to Madame Begue and Tujaques across from the French Market, Antoine Alciatore over on St. Louis St. or any of the myriad of kitchen chiefs that made our city a destination for satisfying meals going back hundreds of years.

        For every known chef, there are hundreds and thousands that toil in obscurity in the dust, the smoke, the heat and the sweat; keeping kitchens (as they say) in line and on time. This country has known many of these heroes and other countries have known many more; however, New Orleans has the best unknown and known Hero chefs in the universe. Our food and our chefs are second to none.

        I rate a person’s Chefness in martial arts criteria: first: a chef does not call themselves a Chef (although other people may); they know that a Chef knows and is all things, perfection, and having realized that it will take a lifetime to achieve that level of Chef-ness, never stops accelerating. A chef that wants to be a Chef is constantly moving toward that point of macroevolution, however nebulous.

        Consider New Orleans chefs that you probably never heard of; consider getting a book called Creole Feast by Nathaniel Burton and Rudy Lombard. Learn about chefs that worked with no notoriety for thirty and forty years because that’s what a working person does in this business; consider someone starting as a dishwasher and working themselves up to the top position because that’s just what some people did. That mystical ‘work ethic’ that we hear about. This is before the advent of the Celebrity Chef that goes on television, writes books and does a circuit of appearances. These are chefs that don’t call in sick; don’t take PTOs (Personal Time Off) and can (and do/will) work every station in the kitchen.

        Consider the chefs that you knew and have heard about: Paul Prudhomme, Leah Chase, Jamie Shannon, Austin Leslie, Buster Holmes, Warren LeRuth, Willie Mae Seaton, Milton Prudence.

        Consider the Chefs that are still doing their shifts: the heavyweights Frank Brigtsen and Susan Spicer, also Nina Compton, Greg Sonnier, Melissa Martin, Erik Veney and a hundred more. The U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there are roughly 146,000 chefs in this country; and they’re all out there not about to participate in Restaurant Week or Trade shows or television spots because they’re in the kitchen making sure that the customer with a dietary restriction isn’t being killed by their food and wondering if the produce has arrived and who checked it in.

        Indeed.com touts that there are currently 162 chefs jobs available in New Orleans; so, there is a market out there for you to tap into if you’re willing to step into that position.

        I am a working chef; my resume is longer than the Gettysburg Address. I do not plan on retiring. For me the calling came, a mentor excited me; a passion grew and still grows. Salary.com estimates that the average chef’s salary in New Orleans is about 50K and that’s not a bunch of money considering all that is asked for that position; so, the chefs here that are employed aren’t necessarily doing it for the bucks. Obviously it’s for the… what?

        Silly you, obviously it’s for you and it’s for me as well; it’s our romance; it’s our relationship and it’s my lifestyle choice to be your chef.

        I found when I visited other countries how everyone seemed to be happy being the person that they are. I adopted that outlook in my life and it has me more relaxed. I don’t want to be president, the leader of a corporation, a rich Fat Cat or even Mick frickin’ Jagger (maybe Keith tho). I’m happiest being me on my journey, feeding people and getting them some satisfaction. May the same blessing occur to you.