HEED MY ADVICE

I have spent the last 15 years looking at resumes.. & trust me when I say that I have seen everything.. I have seen some that are soooo special

Sioux Chief ... Hed Chef ... Gran Mangier

I even had one guy who had pictures of a chicken, a cow and a fish.... because that is what he cooked

First let me calm down.

ok.

1. Your resume is the FIRST thing that a potential Chef or Gm or Owner is going to look at. This is what they are going to make a decision on. "is this person worthy of my time""Is this person going to warrant the time & money that I need to invest in training" (FYI I wrote guy first... & then changed it to person... so GET off of my back). this is your Calling Card... this is how you are going to raise your hand in a room full of people & they are going to pick you... & when you raise that hand, you want them to see one of those big #1 fingers with Fireworks & Sparklers going off behind it that says... PICK ME PICK ME

2. As I look at a resume... there is a certain way that I do it & it goes a little something like this

• EMAIL..... who is the email from? ..... did it come from 
• Chefbrianduffy@gmail.com? or did it come from 
• Weedsmoker@potluck.com?... or did Timothy's resume come from 
• Casey@Im_his_wife_&_he_doesnt_have_a_set_of_balls_to_get_his_own_email.com
• it is YOUR resume & YOU are sending it out... not your wife
• Dates ..... How long have you worked @ each place... 
• Somewhere along the way, I too received bad advice... (Thanks you jackass)... I can hear him saying it to me in 1993 "get in get all that you can & then get out.. get as much experience as you can"..  BTW, That Jackass... left kitchens about 3 years after I left there... & ended up being a private chef...what he failed to tell me was that in 6 years.. people would hate that about my resume. 
• Spelling.... can you spell?
• Use the spell check... & if you are using culinary terms... Use the food lovers companion.. this is a great book . USE IT
• Titles... Stop it with your Bullshit
• Head Chef, Lead Chef, Line Chef, Pantry Chef, Fry Chef, Grill Chef, Saute' Chef, Assistant Chef... 
• We have an amazing teacher... Escoffier he is the Godfather of the kitchen... The guy with the Culinary ring that we bow to & refer to. he is the guy who standardized all kitchens... recipes, sauces & .... the Hierarchy

• So stop telling me that you are the Fry Chef... you were a line cook & thats ok. But dont try to make it glamorous, we have all been there & its part of the respect that we believe in... The Honor of the toque
• Job Description... Shut it
• If you were a line cook, please tell me 
• what stations that you were trained on
• tell me how long you were on that station
• Tell me that you moved through the kitchen & grew as a cook
• If you were the Chef, Please dont tell me that you ordered the food, dont tell me that you did the scheduling, DONT tell me that you created the daily specials.. 
• I want to know how many people worked under you
• What were your costs 
• What volume did you do.. (volume is sales)
• What were your contributions to the business 
• Length of Resume.... 
• I have been in the kitchen for 20 years..
• I graduated Culinary School in 1994
• I have been on TV for 10 years
• I have coordinated dinners for 1000 homeless men women and children with 400+ volunteers
• I have opened more restaurants than most people have worked in
• I know the financials of every place that I have ever worked
• I have a section on my resume that is just for awards
• I know the location of the chicken in my walk-in from 7 years ago
• I have a very extensive resume... VERY
• NOW.. I am not Bragging about what I have done...
• I am bragging because my resume is ONE Page.
• remember its not the Quantity its the Quality
• Very Important... DO NOT LIE... We as chefs are a very tight knit organization... there is a chance that the guy that you worked for 8 years ago is my buddy & we do talk... we do call each other & do ask the real questions... 
• Would you re-hire this guy?
• Did he show up on time?
• How well did he take criticism?
• & then we have the real conversations... over a drink of course
• was he a drunk?
• was he banging any of the waitresses
• was he a slob
• the list goes on 
• (HR nightmare.. hahaha)
• I am sure that I will get all sorts of responses from this .. But in reality I don't care. I have had an amazing bunch of years & I pride myself on some of my hires as well as my methods for finding & interviewing potential employees.... Now If i could only remember the name of the guy who showed up for his interview with the Pot Leaf T'Shirt......
• PS. For a bit more help with your resume.... & Next time.. I will go through the interview process!!! 
  
  
  
  

How the hell did I end up in this biz???

School to me was an enormous opportunity, I was so excited to get into school & start a career. Up until this point I was a kid, I graduated high school, screwed around for a few years.. I went to college & HATED IT! I dropped out just before spring break & drove to Savannah Georgia with my dear friend Dave (rip) we spent possibly one of the greatest weeks of our lives (@ least I know it was mine) living in a house loaded with 13 University of Pennsylvania Girls***** (maybe one day I will fill you all in ... )

I spent so much of my time during this period of my youth trying to figure out what it was that I was going to do for the rest of my life. I loved the social aspect of the restaurants, the camaraderie of playing Rugby, the love interests that I had during this time were so important to me & I hope that those women know that! So many of the girls that I dated during this time were truly subjects for my culinary explorations.. I loved to cook for them, i had a blast doing it & the best part is that I wish they could see me now & stop by for a meal.... so AC, MBOB, AF, Thanks!!

My Family... An amazing group of people..

• Da ~ The Irish & Italian, Creative Genius, loves good food! 
• Mom ~ Midwest lady, cool as hell mom, great cook, still uses wondra for her sauces! 
• Big Sis, fun chick, cooks & loves the classics like Gram showed her! 
• Mick & Tom, the "lil" bros, gotta love em', late night fried bologna sammies to La Vigale. 
• Gram ~ You my dear led one hell of a life & I hope that my girls have 1/2 of the adventure that you did. One thing I loved was your passion for the food, its history & its importance in our lives.

My days as a Busboy working @ "keegan's" in Narberth.. hahahah! I can still hear the old waitresses "Hun, go clear off table 21 & get 34 their salad, come awn hun, hurry up" at the end of our shift.. (i was 14) we'd have to go downstairs to meet with Old man "keegan" where he would ask us how much we made in tips & then he would hand us a piece of paper so that we could figure out our taxes.. !!!! hahahahah.. I still laugh about this.

Hey its where I started.. again I go back to the chefs in the kitchen, watching these guys. Smoking cigs out back, weed @ the end of the line, a shot snuck in here & there & god.. the waitresses loved them (or @least just flirted with them so that they could get their food faster!!)

The mystique of the kitchen & the love for it all went a step further when I was a wee lad.... I took a road trip with my buddies... we ended up in NYC for St. Patrick's day. we stopped @ one of the greatest pubs in NYC.. 85th & amsterdam, An ICONIC Irish Pub to see my old babysitters.."Lexi & Babs" my buddies laughed, we stopped by, we got in.. WE DRANK... (Shhh... it was illegal, shit I was only 18) but that wasnt it.. NO it went a step further......it was when I went to look for my Lexi & Babs & someone said.. "They're downstairs"... I walked the narrow steps towards the, GULP, basement of a NYC establishment, (Illegal to even think about doing in some places). I can smell the tobacco, the stale beer, the scent of a meal, I can hear laughing, loud talking, cursing...(remember.. This is St. Pats day in NYC) I pressed my hand against the bottom door & it creaked open... Now I dont know exactly what I saw, but I do remember there was a large group of people in a smoky basement, a storage area of some sort with a few tables & lots of bar stools..

(i now recognize this as a break time in-between 2 shifts) 

As I opened my mouth to speak... & my old babysitter came rushing over & began pushing me up the steps. "Whoa Whoa... no need to be down here..... You should never come downstairs" I was quickly rushed upstairs & said good bye to... where does this lead me in my journey on my road to be a chef????

I WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON DOWN THERE.....

Future Chefs, Please Report

I decided years ago... 1992 to be exact that I was going to make a career out of what I liked to do for friends. Yup, Cook... I was going to Culinary School... so here goes! I contact The Restaurant School in Philadelphia... & the decision was made.. I am going to culinary school.

I chose to do this before all of the Media & Tv & Celebrity-ness of being a chef was out there, this was a purely creative decision, with a slight bit of horny 20+ ism because I saw these chefs in the restaurants that I worked, & the ass that they got from the waitresses & bartenders was crazy! they went nuts for these sweaty, foul mouthed, scarred armed, beer swillin' while they work guys. Let me tell you this.. I loved to cook for my lady friends... I really liked to cook for my lady friends & they seemed to like when I did that

All the great packets start coming in the mail. The information is overwhelming... come on come on, just let me in the kitchen, let me start my new career... I am a creative person, let me loose to CREATE!!

First day of school, pick up knives, (I opted out of the school suggested F-Dick knives & my wonderful parents, yup the same ones who casted my broken wrists, drove me to and from the hospital as a young lad for being... well exactly that, a young lad.. I had more stitches as a kid from playing & I mean playing harder than most kids ever did.. but yup... THEY JUST BOUGHT ME KNIVES & I was proud of my German Forged Henckels) & receive our text books, wait... where is my text book... ohhhh, here it is... its a photocopied black spiral bound from staples group of pages that have a plastic cover to it... hold on here.... oh but wait.. didnt i just get student loans for a $22,000 education?

oh well more into that as this saga unfolds! 

I go to my first "class" a truly unique group of people, 24 to be exact from all walks of life. We've got in no particular order (or maybe even in this pic!!)

The Smokers.. Please note that I was not allowed to have facial hair, but RS was...wtf

the soccer mom

the new career lady

the stoner

the hottie redhead

the right outta goretti girl

the aristocrat

the italian stallion

the $loaded$ kid

the artist

the culinarian

the paisano

the artist

the purist

the cutie very talented (hot) 

we are all going to begin this journey together, but guess what folks... Ive got my own agenda

We receive our class schedules & curriculum form the president & then head into our new environments. we begin by meeting the Chef Instructors 

Chef Gerry ~ Great dude, amazing knowledge, didnt like me, passed away a few years back

Chef Gary ~ Knowledgable chef, Hated me, ultimately 15 yrs later he liked me

Chef Colin ~ Welsh chef, not bad, probably didnt like me, but I found out later he hated me too

Chef Richard ~ This guy I liked, classy, kind of a dick, but in a very "i know what I am doing" way

Larry ~ Cornell Grad, Papa is in the Culinary Hall of fame (so Ive heard), we got along well

Listening to these guys talk was the best, I loved to hear the stories & what they wanted from us... it was very inspiring to me as a 20+ year old. these guys were CHEFS, These guys have been there, in the trenches, look @ their arms, some burned & scarred from years of working the line. their stories were even more inspiration for me to take control of where i was & to own this fucking school.

As I looked around the room, i realized that I was going to be with the people for the next 2 years, spending days & nights with them, studying with them & working with them & i also realized that in a short time we were all going to be going for the same jobs.... WHOA.... we were all going to be going for the same jobs.. I need to pay very close attention to this.... 

After this time we all went outside to the "smokers area" and started to talk, Where had we worked before, what our plans were for the future, were we married, single, attached.. who's banging who, which chef was a dick. But while this was all going on I kept thinking about the comment that I had made to myself before.. "we were all going to be going for the same jobs". 

Ya know, before this day I knew that I wanted to cook, I knew that I wanted to be in a kitchen, I wanted to be a chef... but @ the end of this day I realized that this was soo much deeper than this, I was gonna be good @ this, I am a leader, I can be the" head of the brigade" I can rock this business. It was a feeling that was so deep inside of me that I could GRAB it. 

Im gonna stop for a bit now & come back to all of this.....

Because this my friends is "The Thyme of My Life"!