This Foodie and Blogger is Back!

I'm back! I'm so sorry to leave you guys hanging, probable wondering if I fell off the face of this planet I call New York. But my itch to write was growing too intense, and I'm ready to continue this food journey with you all. The past month has been crazy and full of life changes, and boy have I missed blogging with my fellow foodies. I'll try to catch you up as quickly and with as little words as possible. Here goes nothing...

First, I graduated from ICC and finished my culinary school education! But right after we finished learning in the kitchen, we got to round out our journey by spending a week at Stone Barns and Blue Hill in Terry Town, New York. Stone Barns, as well as Blue Hill (the restaurant located there) are a part of the Dan Barber empire, and it's the ultimate location to put your farm-to-table knowledge to work. I would love to go into more detail about what we did on the farm and what I cooked in the kitchen, so count on a blog about my experience at Stone Barns to come soon ("strawberry multigrain tart with basil whipped cream" recipe included)!

Picking eggs at Stone Barns for the kitchen at Blue Hill

Since graduating, I've continued working as a line cook at Pig and Khao. It's been a wonderful learning experience working in another professional kitchen. I feel like I'm learning the cuisine and flavors more and more everyday, making me even more comfortable with the kitchen and restaurant. It's also incredible to see how kitchen's evolve so quickly and regularly, even just over the past month! I've seen a handful of cooks and FOH employees come and go. It's a tough business to get into and even harder staying in and gaining success in.

This brings me to my next thought and something I've come to learn over the past month...I have never worked harder in my life and I've never been so broke! I work full time (and very often overtime) late into the night, sweating my a** off, lifting forty pound boxes of pork jowl, and making little to nothing. It's crazy how cooks ever get ahead in the industry, but I know they continue work in kitchens because of one thing; they simply love to cook. Feeding people innovative and mouthwatering food that patrons come back for time and time again is an amazing feeling, and that's the reason why I keep coming back for more (no matter if I have to buy single-ply toilette paper for a little while).

The third major event that's happened to me since I last posted on Nom Nom New York is that I moved! By the way, moving in New York City may very well be the hardest, most infuriating, strenuous task I've ever done. There are so many apartments you could look for years. You also have to decide what area of the city you want to live in or if you want to live in an outside borough like Brooklyn). As well, you have to decide if you want a broker or if you want to do it on your own. Then once you finally pick a place, actually orchestrating the move can be a huge headache. Just imagine moving and buying furniture without a car...yeah, it's insane. It was a crazy few weeks, but I'm so happy with the apartment I ended up with. It's a studio apartment in the financial district, probably eight blocks from my last apartment. It's new and contemporary and has a more homey feeling. It's more comfortable and cozy all together, and I'm excited to continue my New York life here (P.S. I'm writing this post from my new couch now!).

Taking a break from moving, sitting in front of my new kitchenette

I also wanted to take a moment to thank my wonderful parents. They not only helped me move into my apartment and put up with stressed-me, they also helped this whole dream come true. I'm living in the greatest city, working and learning from amazing chefs, and none of this could have happened without them. I'm so blessed to have them as parents, mentors and confidants, so thank you mom and dad. I love you!

Finally, the last thing that has changed in my life since I last wrote is that I've decided to go back to school at ICC, but this time for food writing. I just can't seem to stay away! When I heard about the six week course taught by Alan Richman, I couldn't pass it up. I've actually already had one assignment where we had to pitch a feature story idea to Alan related to food in some way, and he told me he loved the pitch and if this were a real working publication, I would have gotten the job! So now I'm in the process of actually writing the story. I'll post the story on Nom Nom when it's finished.

The man, the myth, the legend...Alan Richman

Again, I'm so very sorry its taken me so long to write another post. Hopefully you can forgive me and understand that it has been a crazy month. Now that my life is a little more settled, I'l have many more posts to come, so stay tuned!

Cheers, and nom on!