Dinner Party for Eight: Professional Cheffing

The trouble with being a chef (cook) is that occasionally people ask you to actually perform as a chef - professionally.  It's easy when being a chef more or less amounts to exercising it as hobby or when working in a restaurant in a kitchen with a bunch of other cooks; but I find gigs as a private chef somewhat intimidating.  It comes from a  lack of confidence I suppose.  And going it alone.

So.. an acquaintance (the friend of a friend sort) needs a dinner for 8 (or maybe it'll be 6 or 10) at his place.  This entails preparing a menu, pricing, negotiating, testing a couple of recipes, buying (food & wine), pre-preparing a bunch of things, schlepping a load of stuff to his apartment in Madrid (where there's no free parking spots for miles), cooking in someone else's kitchen and serving the results.  Not to mention clean-up and schlepping things back home.

But hey! It's paid work so there is an up-side.

1 comment:

Shalee said...

Have no fear, Willson. I am sure you are more than able to meet and pass this test with flying colors. All your training is not for naught.

This reminds me of when I was performing in plays. I knew my lines, new the songs, felt comfortable in who I was supposed to be, but I always felt sick to my stomach moments before I was to go on. Once I was there, it was all fun and games.

My guess is that you'll be just the same. Trust in your training and just have fun. It's what, from the sound of your posts, you love to do.