Sunday, July 4, 2010

Sweet Home Chicago.....

It's a 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes; it's dark and we're wearing sun glasses. Hit it!
- - - The Blues Brothers


Wow, What a differance a month makes! My friend Declan called me two weeks ago with the news he was opening an Irish Pub in "Old Town" chicago and would I like to be the chef. It was a hard decision considering I was commited to starting my business in Las Vegas and wqas getting a few hits but alas the draw of having my own food showcased to the public drew me in like a flame so...I am back in Chicago!

This being my 3rd attemt to carve out a life in this big city I feel I am well seasoned enough to pull this off! Declan has been a friend for 10 years and is originally from Belfast, IR. Being a friend made me both leary and excited...excited do to the fact we know each other well enough to trust each other without question...leary in that this could end a friendship should this all go south!

We opened (soft opening) last week and have been pushing ever since. I drove here in 29 hours from Vegas and hit nthe ground running. So far my menu looks like this:

~DECLANS IRISH PUB MENU~

Appetizers

Grilled Chicken Tenders $7
Chicken tenders “tossed” in our own spicy wing sauce Dip $6
Our Delicious chips served with Spicy Aioli or your choice of sauces
Pulled Pork Sliders $9
3 Mini versions of our pulled pork sandwich served with chips
Chicken Wings $7
Chicken wings tossed with the Chef’s own Spicy or Honey Mustard Sauce
Mozzarella Sticks $7

Salads
Mistral Spinach Salad $8
Fresh Spinach, Orange Supremes, Candied Walnuts, Grape tomatoes, tossed in a Raspberry Vinaigrette
Heirloom Caprese Salad Special of The Day $13
Buffalo Mozzarella & Heirloom Tomato served with Balsamic Reduction and First Press Olive Oil
Mixed greens Salad $8
Baby Lettuces, Baby Greens, Endive and Radicchio tossed with fresh fruit, strawberries tonight, grape tomato & Raspberry vinaigrette

Sandwiches
Grilled Pesto Chicken Sandwich $12
Grilled chicken breast, Homemade Pesto, Roma tomatoes Roasted Red pepper, spicy aioli, red onion, Asiago and romaine served on an herb Ciabatta.
Grilled marinated Portabella for the
Vegetarian alternative of this great sandwich

Build your own burger! $10
1/2 LB. fresh ground beef served with your choice of Romaine, Tomato, Red Onion, Caramelized Onion, Sautéed Mushrooms, Irish cheddar,
Wisconsin cheddar and Swiss
Pulled Pork Sandwich $9
Slow cooked BBQ Pork on a sourdough roll served with chips

Entrée’s
Classic Fish & Chips $12
Beer Battered Fresh Cod served with Fresh Chips
Full rack of Baby Back ribs ½ Rack $12 $19 Chef’s own BBQ recipe for rubbed, marinated, and
slow cooked, Ribs finished on the grill

Hollywood is hype, New York is talk, Chicago is work.
Michael Douglas


.....All this is just a start We are located @ 1240 N. Wells in Old Town if you want to check it out.....I will be updating soon enough! BTW Still doing Catering & Private Chef....Just now in CHICAGO :-)

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Becoming a "Private Chef"

"When you reach an obstacle, turn it into an opportunity. You have the choice. You can overcome and be a winner, or you can allow it to overcome you and be a loser. The choice is yours and yours alone. Refuse to throw in the towel. Go that extra mile that failures refuse to travel. It is far better to be exhausted from success than to be rested from failure."
- Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics


A Personal Chef, AKA "Private Chef", is a culinary professional whose job is to provide chef services to a private individual or family. Broadly speaking, this can mean many things, but the most commonly understood definition of "Personal Chef" is a chef who comes into a client's home kitchen and prepares a number of meals which are then stored in the refrigerator or freezer to be eaten later. In these cases, the Personal Chef will probably visit once a week to do the cooking, although this depends on the client's needs, schedule, and so on.

What I am trying to do is start as a personal chef eventually becoming a private chef for one family. The hardest part in becoming a private chef I have found so far is the fact that EVERY single add for a private chef insists that you must have 3-5 years minimum experience with a private family in order to apply! Taking into account the fact I have been cooking in a commercial kitchen for more than 15 years I ind this odd but I have to figure something out to a personal chef service seems to be the logical choice at this point!

“If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.”

Richard Branson
Founder and Chairman of Virgin Group


First things first I am currently writing my business plan on how I can cater to my clients needs with time/money spent on marketing as well as creating some standard menus to start with. I do plan on being able to adjust every menu to the individual clients/families needs which should be a great draw...at least I hope..:-)

I am also researching what type of cookware (preferably a recycled or green product)I should purchase that can be taken directly from the freezer to the oven if need be. Labels also need to be ones that can be read clearly as well removed easily.

I am looking into local laws concerning what I can and cannot transport as well as what has to prepared at the clients home however with my catering background I don't see where it will be all that different yet.

As far as the marketing I am starting with fliers at the top ten condominium complexes here in Vegas that tend to have busy professionals that would prefer healthier diet but don't either have the time or knowledge to prepare it themselves. Who fits this criteria and who else should I look at after this? I believe working mothers,elderly and busy two income families could use my service as well as those with special diets and of course wealthy clients that just want the best food they can get at home.

“The only thing I had was this recipe, and with that recipe was a dream. And those were the only things that I had to build my business: a recipe and a dream. And there was no way, no way, I wasn’t going to see this dream through.”

Steve Jobs
Founder and CEO of Apple Inc.


What I intend to bring to the table (so to speak) in the beginning is:
1. I will do all the grocery shopping with a budget agreed upon with the client.
2. I will write out a menu for the week or perhaps two with the approval of the client.
3. Have labels ready in advance of my visit with the appropriate containers ready for storage.
4. Charge a set fee as opposed per hour? (This could be a wrong approach so I need advice on this one) That way I can take care of other clients if need be while not worrying about billable hours.
5. Arrive and leave with my own Knives, Tools,Pots & Pans Ect.
4. Clean-up the kitchen and leave it as I found it.

Any suggestions out there? Please let me know. I will try and post how its going as I get the ball rolling until then......

Live to Eat!

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Staying Positive in my Search for a Chef Position

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. ~Herm Albright


The hardest part of being out of work for an extended period of time for me is keeping a positive attitude.

When my job search turned from weeks into over a month I found myself applying for any culinary related job I could find from line cook to management....for most I was overqualified and some I was under. Not having been a line cook in 5 years really hurt me because the speed needed for the line is not something you keep....you have to stay at it and you can loose it which means I did not fare so well in the first couple places I worked! LOL What I run into alot of the time is "why are you applying for this job when you have so much experience?" ...my answer was "I just need a job" ...and that or course is not the right approach!

I realize I need a job but the right job matters as well and it's imperative that I keep a positive attitude, both for my own well-being as well as for the impression I give to potential employers.

Thinking outside of the box:

The notion 'thinking outside the box' is far more than just another management cliché. It is a very powerful concept worthy of deeper consideration.
Being out of work means that I have some serious extra time on my hands to market myself in ways that might have been too labor intensive if I were employed. However outside of the traditional resume and cover letter, how you can I differentiate myself from the competition?

My resume is short and concise with bullet points highlighting accomplishments and everything else I was taught in school yet I don't use that as my focal point. Instead my focus is on the cover letter. I make the cover letter personalized to each application so it looks like I researched that company in-depth (which is something I do anyway) I have had moderate success with this and am thinking of including some of my portfolio with what I send to recruiters and am putting all that together now.

Do not take the first job unless you are %100 sure! I found this out first hand and it's not fun to drag yourself halfway across the country for a job only to find out the place serves terrible food and there attitude bites! Be choosy if you can and take your time...I know I will this time.

Action is the foundational key to all success.
Pablo Picasso


I have found out through trial and error I simply have to have a positive attitude to be successful. I have alot of energy when I am positive and quite the opposite when not. As researchers have discovered, this also holds true in sports. You have to go into a game believing sincerely that you can succeed at it, or your performance will be less than optimal. Creating an internal image of doing what you need to do and then making it happen physically is what good athletes do and as professionals in the culinary industry we need to do that as well.

Adopt a positive attitude … Think positively … These words have been said so many times -- they don’t have much impact any more, which is a shame because it is so terribly important to have that mind-set. So much has been said and written about maintaining a positive attitude that the words often fall on deaf ears.

In job-hunting, I believe, keeping a positive attitude can’t be stressed enough. It is absolutely necessary to build and maintain a positive, forward-looking frame of mind because:

• It keeps me motivated in the face of constant rejection.
• If I have a negative attitude, it distorts my outlook and affects everyone around me.
• A negative attitude cuts me off from avenues that I might otherwise explore.
• Negativity comes across subtly in interviews, often without being aware of it, and it counts heavily against you.
• A negative attitude slows you down, encourages you to do less, the end result being that you see fewer people and make fewer contacts and thereby begin limiting our chances of finding a new job.
• A negative attitude undermines our feeling of confidence and belief in yourself.
• A positive attitude, conversely, makes the hard work of looking for a job easier or at least more pleasant.


Look outside your market!

Be open to relocation.
I live in one of the boni-fide culinary capitals of the world and I am sure I am not the first tell you Las Vegas indeed has some of the best chefs in the world. What I have found is that this is not the only place to look for a great chef position....Chicago, Seattle,NYC,Portland,San Diego, Los Angeles just to name a few and all have great restaurants so I am not limiting myself to Vegas instead I am sending out my resume to everyone in the hope I land at a decent place.

I am writing this not only to describe how I am approaching my job search but to help anyone else in there search if I can. I know how it feels to be rejected and what it feels like when the phone doesn't ring for interviews but I am not letting that stop me! I would love to hear from you if you are searching as well or if you have any positive advice for me.