Touring the World and the Organic Movement

At my college, I have two projects I want to talk about.

The first project is the Cultural Affairs event for my Catering Class. Originally, I was supposed to be one of the executive chefs but now I am the "Tour Guide" to present the other regions of the world (the Mediterranean, Asia, North and South America). So far my research is limited to travel books but I would figure it out as I go. The reason I want to write about the event on the blog is because I want people understand why learning about other cultures is important to be a chef. A lot of chefs travel to explore not only the food but the culture of that destination.

An example of the quest for a mother cuisine is when an American chef wants to make an Italian restaurant but he/she wants it to be as authentic as possible. When a chef travels, they look at the small villages, the villas and the towns where the origin of a certain dish was created. You might think that the hotels and tourist spots could work, but to truly experience what Cachio e Pepe (cheese and pepper pasta) in Italy or a bowl of Pha (spicy Thai Soup) in Thailand is to look at the local perspective of food. The traveling chef's mission during these trips is to capture the essence behind a dish or create an environment inside the restaurant that is close to real thing without being cheesy. It sounds like an impossible feat but it can be done right.

The second project is a speech about the Organic Food Movement. To many people, the term organic is about makeing a product without the use of chemicals or pesticides. Yet there is more to that than meets the eye. There have been arguments about the classification, sanitation and marketing of said products. The price of organic products are higher each year than the processed. The question I always seem to ask is "Why is it that expensive?" Is it because there is more to the organic side that we don't really see to make it better? Is it because we all demand simplicity and we are willing to pay more for it? If you have any opinions or possible arguments for why organic produce is highly priced, feel free to comment below.

As for other news about my life as a culinary student, i'm going around the clock from going to college to the R.O.C and back just to keep up. Its a hard occupation but it is the life I choose to live and I love it.

As for now, I will drink my afternoon Starbucks coffee and get back to my work.

The R.O.C and My First Protest

Recently I joined an organization known as the R.O.C (the Restaurant Opportunity Center) to get my career a jump start.

The R.O.C is a non-profit group, where they help restaurant workers find employment and protect the rights of those employees. They have offices in New York, Las Vegas, Chicago and other major cities in the United States.

During my spring break from my college, I was able to join in to one of there protests in front of the restaurant Capital Grill on St. Clair Road in Chicago. The reason why we are protesting against Capital Grill was because there was some indiscriminate firing of staff, low wages and mistreating of the cooks, servers and all the other staff who work so hard to make a good product. As we were preparing in a Dunken Doughnuts for our chants, I got a chance to learn more about what the R.O.C is about.

It is more then just finding jobs and teaching about the rights of workers. It is a movement were the goal is to make the culinary position more sustainable for anyone who wants to be in the restaurant business and to make the world a better place for cooks, dishwashers and the servers out in the front lines. To me, this is a good thing to have in the restaurant world, because becoming a chef is more than serving food to mouths. It is about giving generosity to others who appreciate food as much as people who they are serving to.

Once everyone else was in position, we started walking around in a circle; chanting out to the public of there misdeeds in the warm, cloudy night. We had a few stares, smiles and cheering from the crowds who pass by our carousel of protest. Jessie Jackson passed by us in his car to give support our cause. There was also a civilian who just started to join in our chant to support us. One of the leaders named Will was leading us the way with his mega phone in his hand to cry out the two lined poetry of justice.

After about an hour, we finish off with a cheer of excitement to end this weeks protest. They usually have protests every week depending on what month it is, but as long as Capital Grill keeps on mistreating the staff, the R.O.C will come back to protest against the establishment. So far the R.O.C made 16 protests all over the country to support the cause.

At the end of the night, I felt so powerful that I know that my voice can make a difference. Im not sure how long the protests will continue, but I am willing to keep going until the goal can be reached.

Hello To All

Hello to all who is reading this first post. My name is Chef Kyro. I wont use my real name but I will tell you ,the readers, about who I am and what I do.

Currently, I am a student of a local community college working towards my degree of the culinary arts. I live right by Chicago in the suburbs with my family. I am almost done with college but I still have a long way to go until I get my degree. I am unemployed at the moment, but I am still searching for the one job that can launch my career. For the most part, I want to be a chef and a food writer to tell my story of adventures in the kitchen. I also write many articles about the small details that people miss in food and how it can impact peoples lives (which I will post from time to time.)

In this blog, I will tell you about the college and the restaurant I would be working at. For the most part, I will keep the true identities a secret to protect me and others who are involved with the blog. I might change the names of people I encounter and the places Ive been. Although I will use the town's name to give a visual of the scenery of my stories, I will still protect the reputation of people. There would also be stories of life in the restaurant kitchen and an inside look in the world of the culinary arts. There will be articles to not only enjoy but to also think about how significant life can be through food and its people.

This is not just a story of a culinary student, it is a a journey to chefdom and to write for all to enjoy.