Hello friends!!
I apologize for how long it has been since I've posted on my blog. I have been crazy busy with school and work that I haven't had any extra time! As most of you know, I was gone for a couple weeks in Aspen at the Food and Wine Classic, then I was off to California to visit a friend. I had an amazing time and I have so much to share!!
Aspen:
I was chosen along with four other people from my school to go to the Classic in Aspen and cook with celebrity chefs. Needless to say, I had never been so excited for anything in my entire life. I couldn't wait to go!! As the weeks went by, I found myself getting more and more nervous for Aspen. I kept telling myself that I had nothing to worry about, yet the excitement and nerves overwhelmed me up until the day we left for our journey.
I road up to Aspen with two of my fellow students, Nyle and John. I hadn't really talked to either of them before, but we all became very close throughout our travels together. The drive to Aspen was one of the most amazing things I've ever witnessed. The landscape there is incredible, and honestly, there is no way to describe its beauty. We were all in shock driving up the 11,000 foot tall mountains, with NO guard rails. It was terrifying, yet so satisfying because every corner we went around was more beautiful than the next. We stopped at a few places to take pictures and just take a minute to forget everything we were nervous about, and relax.
When we arrived at the St. Regis hotel, where we would be spending the next few days, we were all pretty excited. As we walked passed the valet parking, the first car we saw was a yellow Lamborghini. We all looked at each other and nodded, as if to agree that this is really happening. We are going to be cooking with and for the wealthiest people we probably will ever get to.We took a tour through the enormous hotel kitchens, yes kitchens, there were about four of them throughout the entire building. There were also about five dish pits. We were completely overwhelmed because none of us had been in a kitchen that big, or worked anywehre with that many employees. It was definitely an experience!!
Our first day cooking we met chefs such as Richard Blais, Bart Vandaele, Stephanie Izard, Bruno Davillion, Kristen Kish, and much more. I was paired up with Stephanie Izard and her partner Jen. I have no words to describe how thankful I am for the experience to work with her. She taught me so much and was so kind the entire time we worked together. By the end of the first day, she offered me a job at her restaurant called The Girl and The Goat in Chicago. I agreed to do my externship for school there and I am beyond thrilled!!
The first two days we worked about 30 hours and we were completely exhausted. But every morning we got up, put a smile on our face, and gladly took the over-crowded bus from Snowmass to Aspen, and arrived ready to work. We had a few daunting tasks, like blanching about 6,000 raw peas, blanching and peeling 6 cases of cherry tomatoes, juicing two cases of limes and oranges (by hand,) and much much more. But everyone of those tasks made us a better cook. We learned patience, trust, endurance, and most importantly to have a good attitude about everything we do.
Attending Aspen is something that I will talk about for the rest of my life. I was cooking for people such as Mario Batali, all of the hosts of Top Chef, and pretty much anyone you can think of that's on Food Network. Getting to do this at 19 years old, is such an accomplishment and I am so thrilled for what's to come in my future!
Thank you all so much for taking the time to read what I have to write. I love you all and I am so happy you're visitng my blog! Enjoy the pictures in the next post!!
Xoxo,
Kate
