I am majoring in Hospitality Management with a concentration in Culinary Arts. My goal is to become an executive chef and open my own restaurant as well. I had a couple experiences in the restaurant industry, with the help of C-CAP (Careers Through Culinary Arts Program) I’ve worked at Skadden Arps Cafe as an kitchen intern (which was my first summer internship) and Gotham Bar and Grill as a garde manger intern. With these experiences, my passion and love for the restaurant industry grew more. I would describe my strengths as assertive, attentive and a fast learner. However, public speaking is what I need to improve on.

Love at First Bite

Food is what we need to consume in our everyday lives in order to survive. As a young and naive 12 year old, I only found eating as a generic necessity unlike chefs I’ve seen on TV who praised and adored food. I was used to eating typical foods like pizza and pasta; maybe a cheeseburger if I’m feeling adventurous. But that changes in one casual dinner.

It was a rainy Saturday evening in Queens, I could feel my stomach rumbling as I waited  for my mom to get back home from work. I dreamed of hearing the sound of keys chiming which is the sign of my mom opening the front door. Excited, my 12 year old self ran, as fast as a subway rat, to the front door just to open it before she does. When I opened the door I was greeted with the usual hugs and kisses, but I noticed something missing: there were no groceries in her hand.

Hungry but understanding, my mom looked really tired and “drained” (how she describes herself after work). I asked her, “What are we eating for dinner?”  “None, lets eat at the nearest Korean restaurant, so you and kuya (brother in Filipino) better get ready in 5 minutes” she replied. I ran quickly to my room and told Noah, my 15 year old brother, “Get ready! We’re going to a Korean Restaurant.” My mom usually cooks dinner when she gets back home from work, but sometimes she brings Chinese takeout whenever she feels tired. However, I’ve never eaten in a Korean restaurant before, but being a naive 12 year old, I expected it to be similar to Chinese food (which is the only ethnic food I’ve eaten before). I dressed up as fast as possible even though my stomach was growling louder and louder, begging to be fed. I wore a nice striped polo shirt, basic denim pants, and Sketchers shoes. Noah wore almost the same clothes as me, except he wore a non striped polo.

After ten minutes, it was time to leave the house. We didn’t have a car at that time so the subway is our best friend. We took the R Train to go to the restaurant, it wasn’t that bad of a ride because it was only two stops away. Finally arriving in front of the restaurant, I didn’t know what to expect since I haven’t eaten Korean food before. The exterior of the restaurant had bright lights and none of the signs were in English. Once we entered the restaurant, for a second, I was mesmerized by the bright lights, tabletop grills, and ethnic decorations. I wanted to eat already.  We were greeted by a friendly and hospitable hostess, who then sat us to our table. Looking at the menu, I was really undecided on what to choose. Fortunately, my mom noticed my confused look then said, “LJ, I’m going to order for you, I know you’re going to love it.” A friendly waitress came to our table and took our orders, my mom ordered Beef Bulgogi for three.

Five minutes later, the waitress came back, carrying a tray full of small plates of different dishes. She placed the dishes one by one, almost filling up our table. Each plates have different dishes such as: crispy fried mackerel, lots of smelly fermented vegetables, green salad, etc.   Confused and interested at the same time, my mom introduced each dish one by one. But, as a naive 12 year old, I only tasted the fried mackerel because I’ve eaten it before. I didn’t even bother tasting those fermented vegetables because who would want to eat rotten foods?

But one dish stood out to me because of its distinct smell. I would describe the smell of  it like rotten vegetables, sour like a bag of limes, and has a slight smell of old cheese. Also, its didn’t look appetizing at all, it was death to my eyes. It looked like a rotten salad dressed with hot sauce. It’s called Kimchi, fermented cabbage with chili paste, garlic, and other spices. My mom told me to try it, without any hesitation, I decided to take a tiny bite of it. The first bite was crunchy like lettuce, as hot as an iron, sour like a granny smith apple, and has a slight smelly aftertaste. It was like “Love at first bite,” I didn’t expect to love it. I wanted more of it that I finished the whole plate. Tasting kimchi was like riding a rollercoaster for the first time. I realized that rotten foods isn’t so bad after all.

The waitress came back to cook the Beef Bulgogi (beef barbecue marinated in a special soy sauce with other spices) at our tabletop grill and brought three small bowls of white rice. As she glanced at the empty plate of kimchi, she was very surprised. She then asked another waitress to refill the  plate with MORE kimchi. I was very delighted with more kimchi, and the waitress started grilling Bulgogi right in front of us. The sound of meat grilling was like music to my ears. The smell of barbecue is like heaven; it reminded me of teriyaki so much. When it finished cooking, I got into my eating position, held my chopsticks on my little fingers and finally dug in. Tasting Bulgogi was a delight to my mouth and stomach. It tasted a little like Teriyaki but better. My mom suggested me to eat it with Kimchi and it was amazing. I started to realize why chefs adore and treat food very specially. Food is an edible art, and dining in a restaurant is like looking at an art gallery.

An hour or two later, we finally finished eating, stuffed and full of barbecue and kimchi. This dinner took my soul out of my body and moved me to Korea. I came to a realization that exploring unusual or exotic foods may be a fun hobby to do. Looking back right now, without being overly dramatic, this dinner changed my whole perspective in food and reality.

This whole new perspective in food made me who I am right now. I became a “foodie”, a person who tries new foods as a hobby. Also, I researched famous restaurants and chefs to further understand the world of food. I watched cooking shows and competitions on TV to entertain and educate myself. In high school, I merged my “foodie” status to “maybe a future chef” when I competed in a cooking competition which was one of the best moments in my whole life.

I became a risk taker, who is open minded, and adventurous. This event led me to explore different types of foods from other cultures and ethnicities. This event is one of the factors that made me interested in becoming a chef in the future. I questioned myself, “How do these people make such delicious and scrumptious food?” Then it hit me, I can make a career out of cooking.

Since I loved tasting food and seeing how they’re made, ‘why not learn how to cook and maybe someday be a chef in the future?’