I was lucky enough to grow up in a cooking family. By that, I don't mean one that was involved in the restaurant industry; rather, people who are wonderfully creative in the kitchen, and the wide variety of dishes they produced always surrounded me. Most people love their mothers' cooking through sheer familiarity. After working in the food industry for more than 10 years, I must say, she really knows what she's doing (as do most of my relatives.) Both sides of my family worked in or owned cheese factories in Green Counry, Wisconsin. Yes, we do what we can to uphold the Wisconsin stereotype.
During middle and high school, I worked in a local Italian restaurant and pizza joint. Good experience, and once I got my driver's license, I was the pizza boy for a few years.
While working at the lovely and quaint Canterbury B&B, Café, and Bookstore in Madison during college, I took a long shot and applied for a rare open position at L'Etoile Restaurant. I was completely unqualified, and didn't get called back. I was persistent, and for the next 8 months called every few weeks to let them know, "Yes, I'm still here. I'm still interested." For Christmas that year, I even got a card from L'Etoile's owner stating, "Yes, I know you're still there. I know you're still interested. Happy holidays." The following summer I got a call to come in for an interview. I think they did it just to get me to stop calling. Over 250 applicants, and I walked away with the job. Thus began a whirlwind (and several year) education in food, wine, and service. In the second month, I made a trip with the rest of the staff to serve Thanksgiving dinner at the James Beard Foundation in Manhattan. I worked at L'Etoile for a number of years as a senior waiter, and later as the maitre d'.
The experience gave me a deep appreciation of food and wine as exquisite arts, and further, a respect for sustainable agriculture and cooking (one of the primary missions of the restaurant's owner, Odessa Piper.) I was hooked, and food was cemented as one of my life's passions.
While living in Atlanta for a short while, I had the chance to see a quite different side of food than the slow, patient, and careful nature of L'Etoile's cooking. I was hired and joined the management team at eatZi's Market & Bakery, and spent time being trained in baking, pastry, and other aspects of high-production kitchens. Because of my background, I managed the wine and beer selection, among other things (like a deli with 120 cheeses and 80 meats.) The fast pace of a high-volume retail business was something new, and I learned great amounts, but not about food. Here I learned the business of food retail management from GM Kevin Blessing, a master at dealing with people, making difficult decisions, and keeping a clear head when things are a bit chaotic.
I left Atlanta and eatZi's, and ended up back in Madison at L'Etoile. By this time, Odessa had married Terry Theiss, the primary importer of German and Austrian wine into the United States. As a result, the restaurant and staff became experts on German and Austrian wine. To this day, I enjoy German and Alsatian wines above most others.
In 2000, I left the food industry altogether to pursue a career in business consulting and human-computer interaction. I miss the food, the wine, the environment. I don't miss working every night, weekend, and holiday. (Oh wait...I still work all those, but doing grad student stuff.) I'm still an avid cook, and love making things for people to enjoy.
As time goes on, I'll provide links to some of my favorite foods, wines, restaurants, and perhaps a few recipes. One project I would like to undertake when I have some spare time is indexing all of my family's recipes. There are literally hundreds.