map of content (cooking)

I've done some food blogging over the years. One of my first blogs was a blog that focused on the science of cooking alongisde reviews of interesting restaurants that I hit up in Los Angeles and Europe. The blog is now over a decade old and deprecated, but you can see some of the writing over at my Github.

Before the pandemic hit, I also started an experimental supper club, where I planned, tested, and executed three course meals based on ingredients chosen by my guests. You can check out my associated Instagram and the signup sheet to get an idea of what these menus looked like. I had always been very curious about being a cook, a chef, and doing restaurant work, so I decided to create the experience for myself and test the waters before diving. Alongside the supper club was a newsletter I briefly started and wrote for. I've reconstituted some of the articles here below. The most pertinent ones are most likely the ones that talk more about intuitive cooking and using recipes as inspiration, rather than verbatim instructions. I've separated those out for your perusal, but some of the posts are prefaced with some supper club details.

working at a 2 michelin star restaurant

Many have asked me how I scored an interesting opportunity like this with no experience.

To that, I'd say eating at the restaurant multiple times certainly helped with menu familiarity and just loving the restaurant in general. Good communication, persistent follow up, and a heavy dose of luck was what sealed the deal.

The last time I ate at the restaurant, my partner was the one who asked our waiter for me to see if they would take on interns with no experience. Through that interaction, I got a business card, and the rest was an email and phone call.

I've transitioned through some careers multiple times, but this particular experiment has been the most radical one to date during the year of experimenting with careers.

I've been sharing my stories on Twitter. You can find renditions of the threads below.

1. soaking duck legs / original tweet thread
2. the first service / original tweet thread
3. people come first / original tweet thread
4. physical capabilities / original tweet thread
5. quality above speed / original tweet thread
6. standards / original tweet thread
7. the magic of the experience / original tweet thread
8. continuing the work and professionalization / original tweet thread

Some other thoughts related to my time interning:

• food waste at restaurants / original tweet thread
• food hopping culture / original tweet thread

experiencing hospitality

• embracing humanity as spontaneous hospitality

recipes as intuition

• recipes are a terrible way to learn how to cook
• how to approach a recipe to cook better
• how to approach a recipe to cook better part 2
• how to approach a recipe to cook better part 3
• knowing the fundamentals of cooking means infinite recipes
• your ability to salt is a major culinary skill

fun newsletter outings

• serving people food is really rewarding
• when in doubt change the color of the potatoes
• instead of buying kitchen items jerry rigging is a great way to diy
• if you don't know it look it up
• niche blogs have awesome shit like chocolate milk reviews
• power outages and sauce making
• find the way you like things even if it involves modifications
• pizza without cheese and meat swaps
• the essence of the paper cup
• i could eat is a universally positive phrase