ENJOYING THIS STORY? SUBSCRIBE TO GUIDEPOSTS MAGAZINE<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\nMost of all, I liked hanging out with my buddies on the corner of Lexington Avenue and 84th Street, on Manhattan\u2019s Upper East Side, where I was born and raised. Just shooting the breeze. That was the life I imagined for myself when I dropped out of high school. But someone had other plans for me.<\/p>\n
I was lounging around at home one day, watching TV, when the phone rang. It was my dad. \u201cCome to my office,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to talk about your life.\u201d<\/p>\n
My life? I was 17! Was I supposed to have it all figured out? It felt like being called to the principal\u2019s office\u2014but worse. My dad is a great guy. He\u2019s also very scholarly, so my leaving school must have hit him hard. I didn\u2019t want to let him down. But it seemed that was exactly what I was doing.<\/p>\n
Part of me was scared. Part of me tried to play it cool: just Dad being Dad. I went down to his office at Joe Allen\u2014a famous restaurant in the theater district that he was a partner in. \u201cGo get a job,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can\u2019t just hang out with your friends on a street corner.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay,\u201d I said nonchalantly, shrugged my shoulders and headed out to meet my friends. Where was I gonna find a job?<\/p>\n
The next day, Dad called again. He sounded exasperated. I guess he figured out that my hunt hadn\u2019t just been a bust, but a complete nonevent. \u201cThe busboy had to leave to take care of his grandmother. You\u2019re going to fill in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad didn\u2019t ask me; he told me. \u201cAnd don\u2019t forget: no special treatment. Because you\u2019re my son, you better work harder than anyone else. Put your head down, do your job and don\u2019t aggravate anybody\u2014including me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I had my marching orders, and showed up at the restaurant the next day. And the day after that. I didn\u2019t have much interest in the business, but I didn\u2019t want to upset Dad. I showed up late sometimes\u2014only to spot Dad waiting for me, eyes on his watch\u2014but I did my job.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t so bad. Clearing tables. Setting tables. Two weeks went by pretty fast. Now what?<\/em> I wondered. \u201cDo you want a job?\u201d the chef asked me as I was walking out of the kitchen. I think the guy took pity on me.<\/p>\n\u201cSure,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
He had me start in the pantry. That\u2019s when my career really began. I stocked the pantry, washed dishes, learned how to clean lettuce. Used a knife. Made salad dressing. I didn\u2019t think I had any natural skill, but it was gratifying to learn something. And my salads did taste pretty good.<\/p>\n
About six months into my job at Joe Allen, something unexpected happened. I remember waking up one morning, staring at the ceiling and saying to myself, I\u2019m really looking forward to going to work today<\/em>.<\/p>\nWhere did that come from?! Little things, I think. Learning new cooking techniques, watching my knife skills improve. From that point forward, I looked at work differently. I enjoyed it. I felt I was contributing. Slowly, I was shedding my irresponsible 17-year-old skin.<\/p>\n
I was prepping in the kitchen one day when my dad and his business partner\u2014and the restaurant\u2019s namesake\u2014Joe Allen, sauntered in. \u201cWe want to talk to Bobby about something,\u201d Joe said to the chef. Uh-oh. What had I done wrong?<\/p>\n
They took me up to the office. \u201cThere\u2019s a new school opening,\u201d Joe said. \u201cIt\u2019s called The French Culinary Institute. Do you want to go?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNah,\u201d I said, \u201cI don\u2019t think so.\u201d School and I didn\u2019t get along so well. In truth, I thought I wasn\u2019t good enough to go to cooking school. I had the idea in my head that, as a cook, you either had it or you didn\u2019t. It didn\u2019t come naturally to me.<\/p>\n
Cleaning produce was one thing. But if I didn\u2019t have \u201cit\u201d at 18, how could I ever possibly be a chef?<\/p>\n
They talked me into it. I didn\u2019t want to let them down. I studied for my high school equivalency test\u2014a requirement to enter culinary school\u2014and passed. That felt good, like I\u2019d achieved something tangible.<\/p>\n
To my surprise, I was looking forward to going back to school. It sounded like a great opportunity.<\/p>\n
It was. The French Culinary Institute had just opened its doors. There were only nine students, but it was a mix of interesting people. I was the youngest by about six years.<\/p>\n
Our teacher was a great guy\u2014an old-school, formally trained Alsatian chef named Antoine Shaeffers. He was obviously a terrific cook; he also had a wonderful, buoyant personality.<\/p>\n
Even the most mundane cooking-school tasks\u2014like \u201cturning\u201d vegetables, paring them into perfect, uniform shapes\u2014started to seem kind of interesting. But by then, anything having to do with food had become interesting to me.<\/p>\n
And since I was still working at the restaurant by night and going to school by day, food really took over my life, 24\/7.<\/p>\n
The culinary program lasted six months. It was intense. I learned a lot. I went back to Joe Allen, thinking I\u2019d move up the ranks in his restaurant. \u201cGet out of here!\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re not gonna learn anything else here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wait a minute!<\/em> I thought. I finally got comfortable doing something I liked, and Joe and my dad were pushing me out?<\/em><\/p>\nI couldn\u2019t believe it. \u201cI want to stay,\u201d I pleaded. \u201cI want to be the chef here someday. This is my career.\u201d Did I say career? I guess I had grown up, at least a little.<\/p>\n
They were unmoved. It was time for me to leave Joe Allen. I sent out r\u00e9sum\u00e9s and pounded the pavement. I was hired as a sous-chef at a hot new restaurant on the Upper East Side. It was called Brighton Grill. They\u2019d hired a chef from New Orleans.<\/p>\n
Two days after the restaurant opened, I showed up at work (on time!) at 8:00 a.m. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a problem,\u201d one of the owners said to me. Uh-oh<\/em>, I thought\u2014again. But I knew I hadn\u2019t done anything wrong. It was the chef.<\/p>\n\u201cWe found him passed out on the laundry bag. He apparently hit the tequila last night. Lots of it. He\u2019s fired. You\u2019re the chef now.\u201d<\/p>\n
I was in shock. It was like I\u2019d been the understudy in a Broadway show, and was about to get my big break. But was I ready to perform? I could cook okay. I didn\u2019t have much of a repertoire yet. But somehow I managed. <\/p>\n
I stayed at Brighton for a year, learning every day. Then I was itching to move on, to try something new. At The French Culinary Institute I met a woman named Gail Arnold who was cooking in one of Jonathan Waxman\u2019s restaurants.<\/p>\n
Jonathan was known as one of the most inventive chefs around. I jumped at the chance to work at Bud\u2019s\u2014his place on the West Side.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where I fell in love with the flavors of the southwest. Believe it or not, I\u2019d never been to New Mexico or Arizona or Texas. But there was something about this food that I just instantly got, instantly loved.<\/p>\n
We were cooking on a high level at Bud\u2019s, with great ingredients. Things I\u2019d never tasted before\u2014papayas and mangoes, chili peppers and blue corn tortillas. All that stuff was completely new to me. And it was awesome.<\/p>\n
And the crew was amazing\u2014energetic cooks, eager to experiment. We all learned from each other. It was a rare, special, inspiring place.<\/p>\n
I wound up working at all three of Jonathan\u2019s restaurants. One was a tiny French bistro called Hulot\u2019s. It was closed on Sundays. But here\u2019s how passionate I\u2019d become about cooking: Another chef and I would get the keys from the manager and show up there on Sunday afternoons\u2014when the place was closed\u2014just to cook. For fun.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when I knew cooking was my life. I woke up every morning thinking about what I\u2019d cook that day. I still do.<\/p>\n
I worked in more kitchens. I kept learning, and experimenting. Finally, I was feeling ready to open a place of my own that would feature the bold, southwestern flavors I love. I wanted a bigger stage.<\/p>\n
Of course I talked to my dad about it. If he agreed I was ready to make this move, that would be my green light. By then I knew to trust his judgment better than my own!<\/p>\n
We started scouring the city for a good location. Then Jerry Kretchmer\u2014who owned a famous restaurant called Gotham Bar and Grill\u2014came by to talk to me about opening a place. \u201cDo you want to open up a southwestern restaurant with me?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
That was a little awkward. I explained to him I\u2019d been looking for a place with my dad.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, think about it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
I went back to Dad. He actually seemed relieved. \u201cDo it with him,\u201d he urged me. \u201cThat way you and I can just be father and son.\u201d Once again, wise counsel from my most trusted advisor. And soon my first restaurant, Mesa Grill, opened its doors.<\/p>\n
That was more than 17 years ago. I still love every minute of it. I still wake up thinking about flavors, about new dishes to try. I still love the family atmosphere in the kitchen. (One of my rules? No yelling. I find it totally unproductive. We try to keep it fun and upbeat\u2014like our food.)<\/p>\n
I\u2019m still amazed I was once that confused kid, without any clear sense of direction\u2014and that there\u2019d been a time when I worried I wasn\u2019t good enough to go to culinary school. Do I ever have doubts? You bet.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard for me to think of myself as a great chef. I think of myself as someone who\u2019s always learning, always wanting to cook better, more delicious food.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s what I saw in those kids I met at the public high school in Queens\u2014a desire to learn, a commitment to give it their best. At the end of that year, thanks to The French Culinary Institute, I was able to give one of them a scholarship. It was too hard to pick one kid. There was some real talent there.<\/p>\n
I narrowed it down to five, and came up with a plan to secure scholarships for all of them. Sure, they\u2019re a little rough around the edges, and have a long way to go, just like I did when I was their age.<\/p>\n
But in my dad and his partner, Joe, I was blessed with supportive\u2014and demanding\u2014mentors who not only helped turn my life around, but also helped me find my passion. I can\u2019t think of a better way to pay them back than to encourage other young people to find their passion too.<\/p>\n
Did you enjoy this story? Subscribe to <\/em>Guideposts<\/strong><\/a> magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A while back I took on a big commitment. I committed to a year volunteering at a public vocational high school in Queens. I went every week to teach a class, and just cooked with the kids. It was a pretty amazing experience. I saw myself in a lot of them. The uncertainty, the insecurities […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[267,136],"tags":[33,207,44,57,171,76,58,51,197,14,36],"ppma_author":[1559],"class_list":["post-17886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-stories","category-positive-living","tag-celebrities","tag-cooking","tag-courage","tag-creativity","tag-earth-angel","tag-father","tag-guideposts","tag-inspirational-stories","tag-motivational-stories","tag-spiritual-growth","tag-success"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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