Restaurant and Hospitality Concept and

¶ … Restaurant and Hospitality Concept and Interest in Culinary Arts My interest in culinary arts started in my earliest childhood. My father was an experienced and talented self-taught chef whose dishes I remember as my fondest memories of tastes and smells that I associate with my family history. He always let me watch him as he prepared dinner, often from the vegetables he cultivated and harvested from our small garden.

My father also introduced me to the healing power of fresh and healthy plants, herbs, and other good food for growth and health. My father taught me to respect the environment that provides our nourishment and he taught me how to cook and, eventually, to plant my own peppers, herbs, and tomatoes. I built a compost heap for my garden as part of that overall concept of working in symbiotic harmony with the environment.

The more I learned the more I began to seek out cooking books and to experiment with new recipes and types of cuisines. My long-term goal is to own my own restaurant whose menu is based on the ingredients grown and raised on the premises. Ideally, that would also provide an opportunity to employ members of the community along with professional hospitality staff to serve in the restaurant and tend the garden.

Generally, my concept of restaurant design and my long-term interests and aspirations are derived philosophically from the accomplishments of Dan Barber. Specifically, I hope to emulate his successfully uniting his passion for food with his desire to improve the planet. On a practical level, his success in that regard illustrates that it is possible create a successful restaurant without sacrificing higher principles about human health and the welfare of the environment. In the short-term, I hope to intern for Mr. Barber after completing my education.

My ultimate career goals include working to change laws that impede access to healthy food and becoming involved in workshops and courses to promote healthful and natural cooking and agricultural development for both children and adults. At FCI, I hope to acquire a formal education and the technical knowledge and networking skills necessary to create my vision of a sustainable restaurant.

I hope that my experience of living in rural and urban areas and my exposure to various different cuisines and cooking techniques from Europe and from the Caribbean might allow me to fuse different elements of traditional cuisines to create new flavors that still respect their ancient origins. I hope that this will be my signature as a chef, together with environmentally friendly and healthful nutrition. 1. (b) Favorite Restaurants My three favorite restaurants are: (1) Blue Hill, (2) WD50, and (3) Jean-Georges, all three of which are in New York City.

Blue Hill appeals to me because of the manner in which it has cultivated distinctive fine dining within the farm-to-table concept. The entire Blue Hill menu demonstrates the chef's commitment to emphasizing the connection between the farmer and the customer at the table. It provides a range of flavors and always features pristine, farm-fresh produce and artisan ingredients that remain consistent between Blue Hill in New York City and Blue Hill at Stone Barns. WD50 helped introduce American palates to molecular gastronomy.

It is a restaurant designed to stimulate the interests of people who think food can be fun. In my opinion, WD50's Michelin deserves a much higher rating for its food score because every new little dish is both a taste sensation and source of laughter and fun. It is definitely not recommended for strict traditionalists because every dish is presented to challenge your expectations, such as where a dish looks one way to the eyes but stimulates your taste buds much differently.

Chef Wylie Dufrense is an FCI graduate, who also worked with Jean-George, known for his original New French cuisine with Asian-inspired influences. This world-class chef always creates dishes that are unique and unexpected, but always within a balanced culinary concept and a great overall experience for diners. 2. Personal Circumstances, Academic Achievement, Work and Community My family experience financial difficulties while I was in college and I had to become primarily responsible for paying my tuition, medical insurance, and living expenses while taking a full course load meant for fulltime students.

I could no longer burden my family with this obligation so I took a full-time job as a Residential Counselor at Silver Hill Hospital where I ran an acute transitional unit for mentally-ill patients. It was a difficult schedule but it also provided invaluable lessons and first-hand experience about.