Max
Since I was five years old, my father owned a restaurant in Florida. In 2007 he sold it, and we moved to Boston to open a new restaurant. I was always around the industry, but it wasn’t until after graduating high school that I started working in the restaurant full-time. More managerial work than cooking, though.
In 2014, I decided to take cooking seriously and enrolled in culinary school. One day I met a chef who told me that if I dropped out of culinary school, he would teach me everything I needed to know and pay me. He said if I wanted to return to culinary school, it was my decision, but it sounded like a great opportunity I couldn’t pass up because I would be getting paid to learn! So, I worked with him for two years, from 2015-2017.
After, I decided to embark to New York to work at Eleven Madison Park, where I met Chef Charlie. I returned briefly to Boston to help my father, then went back to New York, and after, I went to DC for a time, always searching for new knowledge and opportunities.
Today, I am a Sous Chef, where I work with a great cook, friend, and Chef. Together we have both witnessed our growth in the industry. My daily pursuit revolves around surpassing my limits and evolving into the best version of myself. The pressure I face is not external; it emanates from within as I continually challenge myself to reach new heights.
I advise anyone looking to enter this industry to remain consistent and believe in yourself. Everyone’s trajectory is different, but the one consistent action between those who made it is that they stayed true to themselves and saw it through to the end.
Kayla
My name is Kayla. I grew up in Staten Island, New York.
I started cooking professionally around 5 to 6 years ago, but the love began in my childhood, with my mom and grandmother serving as my biggest inspirations. The moment it all clicked for me was when I started working in a different field. I realized that I didn’t enjoy it as much as cooking, so I asked myself, why don’t I stick to something I love instead of being miserable every day? So I decided to take up cooking professionally, and I went to the Culinary Institute of America. I’ve been in kitchens ever since.
I’ve learned more about cooking while working than I did in school. One of my biggest takeaways from culinary school was learning the industry’s business side, like marketing, and how to open a business.
For those who don’t know much culinary school could be a good starting point if you want to open up your own restaurant, but it’s not necessary for everyone who wants to become a cook or a chef.
Jonathan
My name is Jonathan N Pde, and I currently work at @dannyspizzatavern
My desire to create is what got me started in the kitchen with small gigs baking cake and bread for friends and family. They always gave positive feedback, which motivated me to join the industry.
It wasn’t love at first sight but it grew on me as I worked in better kitchens, learned new techniques, and progressed year after year.
I did my BA in Culinary Arts & Catering Tech in India from the Culinary Academy of India. I then moved to Toronto, the culinary melting pot of Canada. With many different ethnicities and cultures came various cuisines and fusions of flavour. being a cook was a perfect reason to travel, explore and study in Canada, so I did a culinary management course at George Brown.
My first job in a Kitchen was eye-opening. I realized it was not as glamorous as portrayed on TV. It was humbling to find myself on my hands and knees, scrubbing my station at the end of the night and truly understanding what it takes for a kitchen to successfully function. It requires people to be on their feet 14 hours a day and be meticulous day in, day out. It forced me to have a different discipline in the kitchen. A considerable amount of my skills & learning came from working in various kitchens.
Without discipline, everything crumbles. One cannot progress without it. it’s the creative aspect and the joy it brings when I see someone’s face light up when they eat my food that keeps me motivated to be in the kitchen the next day.
Don’t be afraid to follow your journey; be honest and truthful about what you enjoy cooking and eating. We often get lost in culinary trends or icons leading the scene. Still, you should always stay true to yourself and believe in what you want to accomplish in this industry. Stick to the cuisine you love.
I want to quote Chef Rene Redzepi here, “We almost destroyed our industry by making it too hard & too macho.” It is already a complex industry that demands a lot from us. We should do each other the favor of being kind and treating our hospitality workers with more respect.
📷’s by @cravingcurator official HOTK reporter in 🇨🇦
Leonardo Lungarella
I currently reside in Mallorca, Spain, but I was born in Quilmes, Argentina. My journey to Spain happened because of my girlfriend, who’s Spanish. We met in Costa Rica, and after two years, we moved to Madrid to open a restaurant.
My journey in the kitchen started in an Irish Pub where I met my best friends. It’s easily one of the best experiences I’ve had in my working life. I discovered immediately that this world of hard work, burns, and cuts was what I wanted for my life. It may seem like hard work and sacrifice, but it’s a well rewarded effort.
Making a living doing what I love most keeps me motivated. Cooking is my therapy and passion. Going back to work after a difficult moment inside or outside the restaurant helps calm me down and see things more clearly. My colleagues are very supportive. Without them, I could not have achieved anything. I truly believe nothing worth making is achieved without a healthy, balanced, and loving human team. My job is to make that happen. That’s where excellent dishes are born from.
That being said, I would love to take this industry to more sustainable levels. It makes me sad to think how big a role this industry plays in polluting the seas, among other things. I would call for more awareness and respect for the planet and its inhabitants, including humans.
Sam's Falafel
Emad (Sam) & Yasser Ahmed
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I came to New York in 1995.
I’m often asked what makes my falafels unique, and I tell them it’s my experience. I have 40 years of experience in falafel making. Now I’m passing that knowledge on to my younger brother, who works with me in the cart.
I began making different falafel, but there is a variety of falafels depending on the country. So I called my friends in Egypt and Syria and asked what they recommended. I took their advice and made my own with some secret spices and a special sauce.
After 9/11, I stored my car for a year and a half. Then in 2003, I started again, but I paid the price because on the first day back I had almost all my customers come back! Some customers from more than 20 years ago are still coming to my car now.
It doesn’t matter if it’s bad weather or good weather, the support from the community has been outstanding.
My brother and I make everything from scratch, the falafel, the hummus, the baba ganoush, and the sauce; I buy nothing ready. We wake up at 5 in the morning to make everything homemade.
We had a restaurant, but we sold it in 2008. We didn’t have time to manage a restaurant, and having the cart was easier. People sometimes think I don’t have to pay much because it’s a cart, but I have to pay for the garage and other expenses.
Sam’s Falafel has sustained my family and my kids. They had the chance to go to university, and now I have two of them studying engineering, and my daughter got her master’s in public health. I have worked hard cooking and managing this business so they all have the chance of a brighter future.
If you are in NYC, we invite you to support NYC’s street food stands by joining the @streetvendorproject Scavenger Hunt!
Juan Morales
My name is Juan Morales Caycedo. I was born in Bogota, Colombia.
For as long as I can remember, food has been the only constant interest in my life. One of the things I love most about cooking is transforming things that seem inedible into delicious preparations.
My grandmother was a great cook, so that’s where I found my love for food. My uncle had a daily menu restaurant in Bogota, and he used to take me to the market in the mornings to buy ingredients, and I used to help with simple duties in his kitchen.
When I started working in fine dining, it changed a lot of my attitudes toward life—especially being more conscious and caring about each ingredient and understanding the importance of every step in the preparation of a recipe. Respect and use all the edible parts of every ingredient. If it’s an animal, using everything cause there’s a life behind that. Even with vegetables, there’s time, sun, resources, and people behind to give you that product. If you don’t eat what you’re putting on a dish, please, don’t serve it.
Also, always remember there’s life outside the kitchen. Don’t get obsessed. Have meaningful relations with people. Respect the space to make the best work possible without losing yourself and turning into a robot. Work in a place you feel good. Be careful with alcohol and drug abuse in the industry. Don’t stay in a place you stop learning. Make the owners respect your time to rest.
Josh
I’ve been in restaurants for 20 years. My first job was at a Pizza Hut back home in Arkansas, way out in the country. All of my buddies in high school worked together and it was a fun place to work at. Our friend’s mom was the manager, so we would hang out, drink soda, eat pizza and we listened to music from a jukebox!
After doing that for a year, I moved down here and worked in Fort Lauderdale for six years with one restaurant. Then I stopped working in restaurants for one year and a half. I was 24-25 when I decided to go back to school here in Miami at Johnson and Wales to get my bachelor’s degree in culinary in 2008.
I don’t know what else I would do if I wasn’t cooking. When I started doing this a long time ago, I remember feeling like I was a part of something, because I was a little bit of a lone guy, quiet and introverted. Now it’s about these people, they make me a little crazy, but, I love the team and I love cooking. I love challenging myself and figuring out how to make good food.
I love finding because of the ingredients. I love talking to people about food and getting into the fun teaching part of it with some of the younger guys, showing them the experience I have up to this point. For me, it’s home away from home.
Now with my wife, our team here, and our business partner, we’ve been able to really get behind the vision that I have and work together to bring it to life. It’s been a lot of fun.
Botoum Sok
I started cooking because I’ve always seriously loved eating and needed to know how things were made. It all began when I moved away from home for the first time, and I craved Cambodian food so badly and started cooking to comfort myself from homesickness.
My friends convinced me to go to cooking school in Paris. From there, I had a lot of great work opportunities and learned a lot. I also realized it was the only thing I could wake up for in the morning. I can’t imagine waking up that early every day for anything else.
Not all shifts go as we expected. I feel the worst when I can sense the frustration of my team. I learned that when things go wrong, it’s essential to pause and regain everyone’s focus and attention to keep going.
Interview and shot by Shabnam Ferdowsi official HOTK reporter in Paris.
Imrun
My name is Imrun Texeira. I was born in Ottawa, Canada, and currently reside in Toronto.
I started working as a dishwasher in a family-style restaurant at 14 years old– partly with an interest in kitchen life and the need for financial support – and quickly worked my way into the line with cooks double my age. I took my culinary apprenticeship program at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Canada, and became a certified Red Seal Chef at the age of 23.
I’ve loved food since I was a child; eager to cook, but mostly to eat good food. As a toddler, I almost burnt down my house trying to cook bagels in a plastic bag on top of an old element stove top. It didn’t turn out so well haha!
One of the things I love most about cooking is getting to nourish people, and creating edible art with my hands feels fantastic. There is nothing else I would rather do. I love to cook, eat, and be around good food. The food we make and the effort we put into it is a true reflection of ourselves.
During my time at Noma, I was paired up with another chef to put up staff meals for a week. We were told to make Indian food based on our heritage, so we did. The staff loved all the food and flavors. It was great to see. It gave me a deeper appreciation for the food of my homeland and a desire to represent those flavors in the highest realms of cooking.
Passion is 99% of the reason one would go into this line of work. Beautiful things can happen when you bring that many passionate people together. You never know what you can learn from everyone. The knowledge is endless.We live in the most multicultural country in the world.
I am blessed to be surrounded by such diverse food choices and talented hospitality professionals. Representation matters and will inspire more to come into this industry if they feel they can obtain greatness too.
Ezechiel
The moment I genuinely connected with the kitchen was when I worked at a great restaurant by the beach. It was like the chefs hired nothing but MVPs. We were all passionate about cooking and tasting flavor combinations.
The process of becoming a Sous chef is definitely worth it. This is when you hone in on managing people and learning more about the back-office side of the industry.
It’s the last step before you take on the executive chef role. Being consistent and dependable and always excited about food. If you want to succeed in the industry, follow the chefs making waves and help them ride them; you will learn so much in the process, and you will always elevate.
Chefs work hard, and they should be recognized as leaders by their peers and the community. Culinary Awards are the rewards for our excellent quality food and consistency, and I believe they are necessary.