I guess the best way to get this thing going is to tell you a bit about me and, therefore, something of the motivation behind this project. I’m originally from Detroit, with a mixed heritage of Irish, French and German ancestry and though Mathematics was my original career destination I’ve ultimately come to able to do what I truly love for a living. While I’ve been in the family kitchen most of my life cooking with my mother, my grandparents and other family members, my professional career started with the culinary program at Schoolcraft College….a program which has produced a great many successful chefs.
Culinary school was an awakening for me not only in terms of techniques and flavor profiles I had no familiarity with but also the approach to cookery that separates home cooks and professionals. After finishing cooking school I got the chance to work for the head of the culinary department, Certified Master Chef Shawn Loving. Watching Chef Loving on a day to day basis showed me how a consummate professional runs a kitchen.
Moving from Schoolcraft took me on a year long stint at the Detroit Athletic Club working under Chef Kevin Brennan. Working in the banquet kitchen I got my first experience preparing for and plating large scale events like weddings and special members functions. My first higher end hotline experience came when I joined the team at Cameron’s Steak House in Birmingham. I was kind of nervous joining the line crew at Cameron’s because it was almost entirely Mexican and so since I wasn’t Mexican and didn’t speak adequate Spanish I thought I’d have trouble fitting in. It was so much the opposite, however, I began learning a little Spanish day to day and my line mates Celli, Rafi and Alex shared their culture, their music and their food with me. I was lucky to call them all friends by the time Cameron’s shut its doors for the last time on Father’s Day 2019.
While working at Cameron’s I took on a second kitchen job working under Chef Ken Miller at Toasted Oak in Novi. When my time at Cameron’s ended I was able to fill out the time at my new kitchen. Working at Toasted Oak gives me the opportunity to continue to grow as a line cook but also the chance to develop my abilities at whole animal butchery. Working with Chef Miller has also included a beginner’s course in lacto fermentation and the positive effects its byproducts have on both our long term health and the development of flavor profiles.
With this blog I’m looking to not only share my development as a cook but also new techniques I learn, dishes that I develop and posts about an interesting ingredient here and there. My first trip to Europe this past summer has shown me how travel is essential to a cook’s growth into becoming a well rounded chef. This blog will grow as I do, change as I do and hopefully be of interest to more than a few people lol! Welcome again, let’s get started.
MI Kitchen 