Thread: Chefs/Food Industry Folk

Who here are Chefs/foodies/ in the food industry?

I am a Chef worked here in Toronto/Costa Rica/Italy. Trained with chefs and nonnas to get to where I am at. Moved in the ranks well worked hard. I left the cooking side a little over a year ago my father passed away and I joined my mother in the family business.
We have a food manufacturing company producing Garlic products as the main product IE puree, spreads, blends we also have a sauce line for co packing and roasted veg line. We supply nation wide(Canada) plus parts of the states.
I have a new project we hope to launch in the states by next year with Chef Roger Mooking hot sauce, rubs, marinates so on and so forth.

Love food am a culinerd, the name lunch money is a brand me and my best friend are working on. If anyone ever has food questions, recipe question please feel free to ask.

I've cooked for a few years in a small Italian themed chain resto called Travinia Italian Kitchen. It's kinda like an upscale combination of Olive Garden, Carraba's, and Maccaroni Grill. I just left a few months ago. It was a part time job to bring in some more spending cash. I had to quit when the workload at my first job got too heavy. I was only on the line for about 3.5 years but in that time I feel I learned enough to call myself a chef despite me not having been a "Chef". I also know the difference between a chef and a Chef. I loved every minute of it and wish I was able to get back in to it. I'd probably find another gig though. I learned all there was to learn from the Chef there. Unfortunately, the fine dining options in my city are limited and it's very hard to land a spot in the better kitchens. As usual, it's all in who you know... I'm still toying with the idea of joining the local ACF chapter in town, just so I can keep abreast of trends and stuff.

swordsailor - have you been to husk or mcCrady's (charleston) or town house (chilhowie, va)? 3 of the best restaurants - in the country. (i just spent my weekend there)

- chuck

Unfortunately, I haven't been to any of those but will definately look them up. Charleston is a Mecca for foodies in the southeast and it's only a 2 hour drive for me. But I have 2 small children so my wife and I don't get to explore the places that aren't "kid friendly". When we go down to Charleston, we mostly have to eat at the more common chain type places.

Thats wicked, Yeah my training is mostly Italian, growing up to cultures helped me a lot for food knowledge. My mom Being Dominican decent and me going there all the time I learnt a lot on the Caribbean tip and growing up where I did everyone was different back ground.

I still do catering on the side, private and large functions. I am planning on opening a small resto that serves good food. was playing on the idea of a dual menu Fall/Winter-Italian Spring/Summer dominican food.

For those interested in the inside scoop on what life is like as a chef, you should check out chef2chef.net. They have a great forum and a really diverse community. It's been a good resource for me when I had questions or when I wanted to vent about something to those who could relate.