Gathering Inspiration

It has been nearly 2 months since I last written about my journey of a chef. To be frankly honest, I haven't had much inspiration to progress with the blog. I always figured that not a lot of people cared or has seen this website. Plus with my new job and the cold Chicago winter, its really hard to think of new material.

Although, that changed when a friend of mine encourage me to keep going and to look more towards the future. I want to thank her for the pep talk and the inspiration to keep going as well as towards my readers who still read this blog to this day.

There is some news I also do want to share. As of two weeks ago, I am starting to save up my money to start my very own omelette stand in the Chicago French Market. It's still in development, but I believe once its open, I can finally be the chef I always wanted to be. I might show some progress with some pictures and other things although it might take a while for that to start but I keep you posted.

Speaking of which, I'm also starting to get more into social media. So if you want, you can follow me on twitter @Chefkyro and on Facebook under Kyle Hedlund. I also might do some other media stuff with ROC Chicago as well as some other projects on YouTube. You can check out my channel at mrhellochicago and I you keep updated on the new material.

I just want to confirm that I am not dead, still writing and becoming a chef. I'm just taking a different route. As always, I bid you a-do for now and keep on cooking cooking Chicago.

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January 7th: The Day I Saw the Power of State in the Eye

It was around 5:30 in the morning from when I started my journey to Springfield, IL. It was dark and cold at Union Station in Chicago. I met up with my freinds from ROC Chicago in the Great Hall to discuss our of how we are going to represent ourselves in front of the state witha guitar strapped on my back. We made it to our train by around 6:00 a.m and descended for Springfield. I saw the sunrise for the first time in many years. I belive it was a sunrise to a bright new future of not only myself, but for the whole culinary world as we know it.

We got on our server outfits and discussed on how we are going to talk to the representatives. It was the first time I have ever been to the State Capitol when its in session. The only time I have seen the capitol was from the outside on a middle school trip and wonder what could be inside. I can only imagine how after so many years, I have finally get a chance to be inside and confront with people responsible for laws to be passed through the senators eyes.

After a four hour train ride, we finnally, made it to Springfield station and headed our way to the Capitol. After going through security, we made it to the building and fan out into seperate groups. At first we got lost inside the maze of rooms and tunnels, but we found our representives with no problems. Although, we not the only group finding change in the state. Another group was there who were proposing to give undocumented workers drivers licences and we saw how they were interacting with higher power. I obsevered closely of how I could conduct my first proposal with representitive to the state.

Later on in the afternoon, after lunch at a state liberary and jam session, I was whatching every state representitive and organization members discuss about how we should raise the tipped minnimum wage. Just then, I spotted a grey haired man who was speaking to one of the lobbyist of the session. That grey haired man was one of the representatives I needed to speak to about the tipped minimum wage bill that was about to be proposed.

At first I was a little scared but, I know I have to confront him if I want to change the culinary world for the better. As I approach him, I was expecting him to just brush me off as some crazy college kid in a servers uniform but he was very accepting of ROC's cause. I was stumbling about the facts a little but a freind of mine came in and help me out with my pitch. After hearing my claim, he said that he would support us and shook my hand with confidence. I felt proud that I finnally spoked to a reprentative that cared about the people who are trying to survive the day to day life of a cook. I suddenly began to regain hope for humanity.

Later on, we headed back to the train to return home with pride and beer in our systems. (Dont worry, I am 21.) We sang songs, we drink and just having a good time with my fellow members.

That is my story of when I went to springfeild on January 7th 2013. I will remember that day for the rest of my life. The day where I faced power face-to-face and to take a giant step forward as a chef of the 21st Century Revolution.

 

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Holiday Greetings

Hello everyone and Happy Holidays to all my readers. I know I haven't been updating about my adventures through the culinary world in a while and I am here to tell you that I am STILL updating the website.

My reasons why I haven't been writing as much was because I am trying to find regular employment for after college but with the economy right now its really difficult to find a place with regular hours. I am still cooking, but a lot of them are small parties with temporary work and I do need money to move out of my parents house to continue the Brony Chef Project and to gain more experience to tell my adventures of the culinary world.

Although, I do want tell you that in 2013; There will be more updates and new adventures into my world of a chef and as a writer. It wont be easy, but I am determined to excel in the culinary world and in this website.

I just wanted to give my readers a holiday greeting and to assure you that 2013 would be a year of new discoveries and a year of adventure.

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The Power of Stages

A lot of people think that just because you have a paying job, means that you are progressing. True, its nice to have money and it is necessary in world of today, but recently I discovered that in order to get a head, you must learn from others.

There is a certain practice that culinary students used to do but it is not as popular today. The Stage is when a cook or a chef would work in a resturant for a day to learn how to cook a certain item or a number of certain items. This practice could also be used as a "working interview" to see if you could handle the pressure of various orders or how you create hollindaise sauce without breaking it. The reason why this practice is not popular today is because most of the time, you work with no pay. (I would like to note that there are some places do have paid stages.) Although, the big plus size with stages is that you gain more experience, learn more about how the certain mechanics of how the restaurant works, and make various connections with chefs to find more job opportunities.

Now im not saying that you should just only do stages for free for the rest of your life or use this method to use for income. Its a learning opertunity and a chance to make connections with other big time chefs. You might say, it continueing culinary education in the most unconventional way. True, its a tough upbringing and you sacrifice full-time employment but it does bring the upbringing of many great chefs and future culinary stars.

For the past month or so, I have become a freelance cook, going to small resturants, catering companies, and other fields of the culinary world to gain experience in my field. Its going to be a long journey for me to become the chef I always envisioned and the path im taking right now is the one less explored. Yet, I believe at the end of this road, I see the promise of greatness to those who work hard and prosper for what they do.

 

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Near the End of my Training

As of Tuesday, November 6th, 2012, I have finished my last class required to graduate. (I am still in another class but that is for another post.) As I near the end of my culinary training, I wonder how I progressed over the past two years. I remember all of the challanges, homework, tiring night classes and the trials to get to where I am today. I can still take some classes in the future and maybe learn a new techniqe or two, but I feel as though I have completed my trials to move forward and to take the next step of my journey.

The real world can be as cold as the frozen november air, but I will be ready for any challange that is thrown at me and I will peservere.

I havent really been writing lately since I have been finishing up my study's and working on the Brony Chef Project. Although, I really start to become a little bit more diverse with my interests and I start to see the world through a new perspecitive. I started to see the startings of a new revolution on the horizon. It may not be as glorius as other revelutions in the past but I belive that with the social media and the modern idea of a changing world, there can be and will be a brighter tomorrow. I dont really mean to be mellow dramatic, but it's simplily my perspective of what is happening right now in the world.

As for the R.O.C, we recently had a meeting about how the R.O.C can evolve into more of a community. There were new ideas with focus about how we can recruit more members into the R.O.C and how we can improve the resturant industry. As the discusstion and ideas were exchanged, I realized that people can be caring about a cause and people can unite to change the world. So to all my readers from here and the Brony Chef Project, I would like to ask to join in our community and make the world a better place not only to resturant workers, but to anyone who wants to change the world for the better. Here is the link: http://rocunited.org/

As for my future, its still unknown to me; but I can assure you, that the world would be a better place for people who has the passion and determination to move forward.

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The Ethic's of Eating

Do you always know what you put in your mouth is morally right? Are you helping the world bybuying ethnically,organic produce at high prices while they rot every minute its sits on the counter? These are questions that a lot of foodies and regular citizens ask constantly to make sure that its ok to eat. There have been studies made by economists, ecologists and university students to prove there point for what is a more ethical and practical solution. But, what about the general public who shop at supermarkets or the dinners who eat out all the time? Are they aware of the environmental, economical and ethical decisions that companies make everyday to ensure that they stay successful?

I just want to say that I was NOT paid by a big corporation to squash the competition or by local farmers to expose the evils of fat cat capitalists. This is simply my own analysis of the environmental, ecological, and ethical view points of what we eat and the practices of producing that product. If you have any objections of what I said here, I will be happy to read your comments below.

Lets look at the environmental side of organic products. Its true that USDA organic products must be grown in an environment that is chemical and hormone free environment, but what about the other factors involve in growing that product? Through out human history, we see what certain factors such as disease, whether, and infestations destroy crops. When we developed the advanced technology and chemicals to preserve our food, we prevent crops from getting destroyed and bring in a higher yield of food.

Yet at the same time, the chemicals can effect our own human health and our planet earth. So if you think about, organic products can be more healthier for you in terms of eliminating the chemicals, but it is more prone to disease that can make us sick and gives out less yield. So buying organic products can be good for the overall environment, but at the same time, can devastate our own bodies and rot to quickly. Its a bit of a dark thought, but these decisions does affect our own environment on a small or large scale.

As for the economical side of the spectrum, its a good idea to invest in local businesses and I completely support localism. Although, you have to also look at where the money is going to once you make the purchase. Is it going to the business to improve and grow or is it being invested in the owners pocket, buying illegal purchases or scamming the staff of their paycheck. IM not saying that all local business owners are buying drugs or other black market goods, but there are a few that might be a little sketchy. Its all about trust and the quality of the product. If the business has a good product and good service in a safe enviroment, then it's the best choice.

Its also o.k to shop at big supermarkets too. I say that because supermarkets used to be small businesses at one point and they grew to that magnitude because they were successful. Athough, we also have to take in effect that big businesses are dangerous not only to local businesses but to the overall economy.

If the big corporations take control of the market, then economic diversity would be destroyed and there would be only one company running the country's economy. If you think about, there has to be somewhat of a balance between how often we shop locally and with other providers.

In term's of the ethical spectrum, there would always be problems on both sides. One side says that big companies are not treating their employees the right, while the other side claims that local business is too loose with ethical training. In short, the best thing for both sides to do is simply teach the aspects of right and wrong. You wouldn't steal out of your own cash register from your own business for your own pleasure or to get out of debt, would you? Unfortunately, people sometimes cant tell right from wrong but that is what makes us human. Its the fact that we learn from right and wrong. We don't need advanced classes in ethics to tell you that. All you need to do is look in the other persons shoes and lead by example.

Again, as said before, this is only my viewpoint of the situation we are all in and I wrote this to ask the big question, "Which side is better for the over all health of our world?" I ask this question, because as a food writer, chef and culinary student, I must know what is ahead of me.

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Changes and Revolution

For the past few months, I started to see change and a theme to those changes. When I started college right after my high school graduation, I thought I was going through a traditional college experience. I thought I would go through my classes on time, meet other students my age and go through life from nine-to-five. Of course, I was wrong.

But just because I did not follow the plan for the average college student doesn't mean I failed. It means I have discovered more about myself as a chef, writer and as a human being. I truly felt what it means to pursue my dreams and to make the world a better place. I have survived trials that others would give up on and persevered on my own victories and losses. Im not saying that my experience was horrible one, but it did push my limits and gave me a new appreciation of the culinary arts.

As I near the end of my culinary education, I started to see a new future where a revolution of food and humanity began to reveal itself. I started to understand that the world is ever-changing and I should start to change my thinking of the real world.

I started to study about the history of revolutions throughout the world and how it changed the world around them. There seems to be a key element to any revolution through out history and that is a unity of people and the knowledge to understand what needs to be changed. I started at the R.O.C to look for work, but then I started to be part of a revolution of workers rights or at least a movement of change and innovation. There was a bit of a spark that lit inside of me when I started my first action against Capital Grill, that there is more to food than just running a restaurant or getting a show on food network. It is about the people who eat, cook, and to enjoy life to the last bite.

I wanted to write this post because I believe that I'm going through a time where I began my own "revolution of knowledge" and to be more determined to improve this website, the Brony Chef Project and my understanding of the world around me. Im also going to be writing and reading more to improve this website. You might say that this is a promise to anyone who reads this as that I, Kyle Hedlund will progress as a chef, food writer and as a modern day Renascence man.

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