A new cook in the kitchen

About a month ago, I was excited and sad to hear when my beloved chef at the restaurant had been offered an incredible opportunity to be the head chef at a very well-known restaurant in Chicago.  As sad as I was to see my personal cook book leave, I was so happy for the advancement in his career.  He is destined to do big things in Chicago.

As the manager I had to post the chef opening and begin reading resumes so we could hire a new chef and have them trained by our one and only.  We had quite a few applications come into the restaurant that looked marvelous.  Over the past couple weeks I have been interviewing candidates for this position with my dear friend and our current chef.  It is refreshing hearing all the great ideas and the ambition from new chefs.

This was my first time going through the hiring process from the other side of the table.  It was interesting listening to everyone’s back story and why they wanted to be a chef at a vegetarian restaurant.  They all had their own unique answer and reasoning.

Most of the candidates were vegetarians and were passionate about expanding cuisine standards.  But I guess there always has to be someone unlike all the rest…  One interviewee had some very bizarre questions for us.  First off, they were not vegetarian and kept asking if we missed eating meat?  If that wasn’t strange enough, they suggested we incorporate meat into some of our dishes?  At first I thought they were being funny, but after a while it became too much.

After two weeks of very interesting interviews we had to pick a new chef to fill the big shoes at the restaurant.  It was a very difficult decision, we finally decided to offer the job to a young innovative chef from Seattle, Washington.  He had previous experience working in an organic restaurant and was very passionate about our values and our menu that welcomes everyone.

He accepted the position early last week and begun training at the restaurant.  The dynamic between our new chef and our wonderful cookbook is incredible.  They complement each other so well.  He is beginning to catch on to the way the restaurant runs and has already made a few new dishes for us to try…Yummy.  I have a feeling he is going to be great!

I haven’t gotten to know him that well yet, but I hope to do so soon.  It is exciting seeing a new face in the kitchen working to fill the big shoes of my dear chef.

Good Luck in Chicago Mr. Cookbook, I can’t wait to see all the big things you are going to do! We’ll miss you and always remember GO VEGGIES! :)

Go Green and Staying Keen,

Julie