It's been years...

Joined Jan 2005
2K Posts | 0+
So Cal
...Well, at least it's felt that long since I posted last.
I finished up my classes on the 11th and as hard as it was, I left San Francisco and returned to SoCal. It was a year with mostly good but some bad times as well, and I was fortunate to meet and become friends with a diverse group of people. I'll return to the city by the bay one day to teach at the academy once I've proven myself in the "real world."

But for the time being I can be found cooking up a storm in a restaurant at a winery right outside of Temecula, CA. Today will actually be my first day working there since I had to wait for my drug screen results to come back. I don't know what they were looking for, but the fact that I spent a year in S.F. might have something to do with it :lol: I'm just glad they don't test for Cuban tobacco otherwise I'd be screwed :wink:

To everyone that participated in the blind cigar taste test with me, I apologize for the huge delay in finishing this up. By next week I should be done with all the great smokes you guys and gal sent me.

I don't know what kind of hours I'll be working but I can tell you I'll be putting in some long days...which is fine by me since this is the life I've chosen. If any of you happen to be in the area, stop by and say hi. In the meantime, I'll be posting as often as I can...that is, if I can find the time between all the catching up with posts that I have ahead of me!

-Axe
 
So, at long last your culinary career has begun. Be well, and may the blessings of The Lord be with you. It's going to be a lot of hard work, but I'm sure in the long run, there will be plenty of good times and an overall worthwhile experience. The restaurant business is a tough one, filled with all kinds of unfortunate ego tripping, self-important types, and also quite unfortunately, more than it's share of back stabbing, and business deals gone bad. Having said that, it's also a business worth sticking to, if it's what you really love.

Those who succeed in working in the food industry can build a wonderful life for themselves, maybe not financially, maybe yes, but you can also meet some people who will become lifelong friends, and enjoy rich, rewarding experiences that few, if any ventures can bring.

All the best. Keep in touch, and if I'm ever out that way, I'll warn you in advance, so the kitchen can prepare seconds and thirds for me.

:mrgreen: :thumbsup: :mrgreen: :thumbsup: :mrgreen:
 
Don't worry Anthony - I will record the Ranger games for you. You can watch them in your spare time. :roll:

Good to hear from you, man!!! Can't wait to get out your way again.
 
Congrats, brother!

Let me know where you work. I'm in Temecula at least once a month.

I ship out in about a month, so I will definitly come up to see you and taste your cooking. That way I can give everyone here a review on your talents!
 
welcome to the wonderful world of the Culinary Arts , ahhhh yes i remember the first job, as a Pro, I would have killed to only work 60/65 hours a week, & have 2 days off, dammmm that would have been sweet, instead I worked sunup till sundown 6 days a week & went in on Mondays to servey the damage & order for the next week, , I ended up enlisting in the Navy to get an Easy JOB !! Enjoy, Vince
 
:rotflmao:

Too funny Vince!
Hopefully my 60-70 hours a week working with computers for years helped prepare me for this mess I've gotten myself into :lol:
At the very least, the kitchen will be a lot cooler than the outside temp here in Temecula lately.
 
Yes, when you work in the restaurant business, you see your family on Thanksgiving only. You drop all your old friends, best friends and get yourself a bunch of new friends, all in the restaurant business. You eat, drink, sleep, and think restaurant business, all the time. The people who can hack that life love it, but lives do change drastically when you get into the food business.

It's like anything else. It requires discipline, perspective, a tremendous work ethic, and the realization that your life is going to change quite a bit. If you really want to keep those old friends from high school and the job you had before the food business, it will require a lot of discipline and perspective.

Very few people who get whole hog into the restaurant business are able to keep old friends. Sad, but true. Not that they don't meet many good new friends, that become old friends as the years go by, but for all the travel you do, and types of people you meet, it's a sheltered existence, because it's all about the restaurant business in your world.

And where would we be without the people who make that sacrifice every day? The great restaurants, and tens of thousands of great recipes wouldn't even exist.

And someday, maybe in the not too distant future, we will have the pleasure of driving up to the 5-Star Beverly Hills restaurant, the culinary Olympics Gold Medalist, such incredible food, decor and ambiance that it will even blow the Zagat Ratings right off the chart, "too good, everything, unable to rate, just go there," and other such accolades will abound.

And over the entrance will be a picture of our handsome thread starter, by then a world renowned chef, and the only one to be called, forget Iron Chef, he'll be Platinum Chef, and underneath his picture, the name of the restaurant, . . .

Axe's Place.

And of course he'll be in his chef's hat, and holding an axe, because he don't use no chef's knife on the radicchio buddy, he uses an axe!

:mrgreen: :thumbsup:
 
Damn Bloof...there will always be a table reserved for you buddy!

And don't forget the patio attached to the restaurant so all my forum buddies can smoke some fine cigars.
 
And the patio of course has a retractable glass, steel reinforced structured roof for when it rains, so cigar smoking may still abound.

". . . retractable glass, steel reinforced structured roof . . ."

I don't think I said that right. Construction guys, . . .

HELP!!!

:help: :help: :help: :flush:
 
Kelvin said:
and a big screen TV for the Ranger games, man!

You got that right bro. And there will be a big sign above the TV stating that only Ranger's hockey will be viewed on the premises!
 
Hey Axe! Glad to see you survived!

Now you can start posting your favorite recipes along with wine/beverage selections and accompanying cigars.
 
axegod75 said:
:rotflmao:

Too funny Vince!

At the very least, the kitchen will be a lot cooler than the outside temp here in Temecula lately.

well I never had an a/c unit in any kitchen I worked in , other than the one in my home , standing in front of a 1600F broiler , across from a steam table with 2 dozen croks sitting in the hot water, the deepfryer on the side set at 350/375F & the grill at 400F & the ovens all on @500F, the fans blowing & the hood sucking out the smoke & heat but not near enough air flow for me , I loved going into the walkin cooler or freezer to catch my breath, there was a Plastic Bucket filled with Ice & shrimp right inside the door of the cooler, every time I went in I grabbed a few, that was Lunch, supper & snack.
Enjoy, Vince
 
Haha, there's no a/c in my new kitchen either. I was referring to the fact that I have to get used to this hot SoCal weather again. I just left San Fran during the summer which means that aside from 1 week of unusually warm weather, I was regularly freezing my double coronas off :lol:

One of the things I learned at the academy was that even the "cold kitchen" isn't cold :roll:
 
I am glad you are done....... NOW GET YOUR A$$ up here to Michigan and join Alex and I on a bird hunt!!!!!!!
 
Axe man, so glad to hear you finished your schooling. I have to say you were definatey one of the folks from the forum I often thought of while sending another fine tobacco product up in fire.

All the best in the industry, definately not one for the faint of heart, but one that comes with huge rewards for the strong....And hell, you are the axe god!

Stay true, stay strong, and Keep burning the gars... I'll send you a few for celebratory fun!