Freshly out of culinary school, I packed up my life in Rhode Island and moved back west. I had a great four years filled with experiences and memories I won't forget, but I was tired of the weather and ready for the next chapter of my life. Ready to enter a world I've dreamed of since I was 14, I was a bit lost on which way to go. Unsure of how I wanted to enter this world, I took a few interviews and a couple stages. One stood out though, teaching at Sur la Table. I have thought about that before but felt it was something to do while I'm older and "wiser", not something to start at 23, but I got a job and began to share what I know.
Sur la Table is great experience but not as fulfilling. I'm given recipes and told to teach people. It's fun, I get to share the science of baking (which I think many people appreciate and find interesting), and I get paid to have fun doing what I love in a kitchen. The one thing I can't stand is the sale. I want my students to see me as honest and not a sellout. After a year working there, a coworker introduced me to his friends who owned Back to the Table Cooking School. Rather be one of many chefs, here I am one of three. A small business owned and operated by two women; they didn't have recipes, there were no plans or themes or schedules. It was open to me, to create, to explore, and to develop classes based on recipes I create and I trust. I play with flavors and get to share my love of food both old school and new. It may not be what I do forever but I love to share what I know and what I learn as I continue to grow as a chef and a teacher.