To Cook or Not to Cook? Interview with Mick Wong, Chez Panisse

Name: Mick Wong
Occupation: Sauté cook / Lead line cook
Location: San Francisco, CA
Age: 42

I'll be the first to say it: I'm jealous of Chez Panisse cook Mick Wong. Raise your hand if you are, too.
Mick lives a life that scores of food-loving office dwellers long for. Admit it: underneath your innocuous, bespectacled, tie-wearing exterior, your red and blue bodysuit sports a picture of a whisk and knife crossed and says, Superchef.

12 years ago, Mick quit his own office job, enrolled in culinary school, and went to work at one of San Francisco's best known restaurants, Michael Minna's Aqua. Five years ago, he landed a coveted spot in Alice Waters' kitchen, the famed Berkeley eatery that many say started the fresh-local-sustainable restaurant revolution in the United States.

The credo of Chez Panisse's kitchen is that “the best-tasting food is organically and locally grown and harvested in ways that are ecologically sound by people who are taking care of the land for future generations.” Having been lucky enough to have experienced the food, I know that the cooks take all that wholesome seasonable stuff and make it approximately one million times better.
So what does it feel like to live this culinary dream in a sustainable kitchen? And how can you, oh you office minion, dreaming of the clafouti you'll make from local Strauss cream and those cherries from the farmer's market, how can you make your move to live your own sweet cooking dream?

CG: Why did you choose your career?

MW: It's very basic. I love food. I love creating delicious, beautiful food. I like creating it for people.

CG: What were you doing before deciding to make the leap into the kitchen?

MW: I left college to work for a big bank developing their computer systems. I did that for nine years, starting as a clerk and moving up the ladder. Several years into it, I was doing what a lot of people do: thinking about food, thinking about how I might like to open a restaurant or be a chef.

At the time, I didn't have a lot of cooking experience myself. I cooked here and there, almost always from recipes. I started posting, “The Recipe of the Day” - recipes I found online and liked - on my cubicle wall for coworkers to take home.

Then the bank was bought and my job became redundant. I was suddenly eligible for a severance package. I decided to take the nine months of pay they offered as my opportunity to change careers and enrolled in the California Culinary Academy (now the Cordon Bleu Program).

CG: What path did you take to get to your current job?


MW: When I graduated, I landed the line cook job at Aqua, where I worked a brutal 70-90 hours a week for two years. Then I took an opportunity to become a sous chef at an Italian restaurant. After a short stint there, I left and tried my hand at catering and culinary instruction, teaching cooking at an after school program for kids. But after five years, I decided I really missed the energy of a busy restaurant kitchen.

I started cold calling the restaurants where I really liked to eat. Nothing. Then, Chez Panisse posted a position on Craigslist and I sent them my resume and cover letter. I did a series of interviews and tryouts (working side-by-side with restaurant and café cooks during both prop and dinner service) and got my current job five years ago.

CG: Did the philosophy of sustainable food play into your decision to apply for the job at Chez Panisse?

MW: Chez Panisse is a restaurant icon, which was the first thing that got my attention. I'd been interested in organics and was curious about the concepts of eating seasonally and locally, but I wasn't that knowledgeable about the overall umbrella of sustainability.

I’ve come to learn that “sustainable food” is about much more than the food itself. It’s about how we treat the environment – how we grow the food, package the food, transport the food – and the people involved, making sure farmers and other workers experience humane working conditions and fair wages. You can’t do one piece, such as grow food organically, without the others and be sustainable. It’s a package deal.

I think that sustainable food is more often than not the most delicious food available. The people who are growing most sustainably consider the impact on the land and that care is reflected in the quality of the produce they're growing and animals they're raising.

CG: Can you give us an example of what you mean?

MW: While working, I have these aha moments. Like the first time I ate a strawberry, in season, grown locally by Ella Bella Farms. I suddenly realized that this was what a strawberry was SUPPOSED to taste like...it wasn't this pale, huge, industrially grown thing. Eggs are another good example. You can taste the difference between eggs that come from chickens who run around eating insects outside in the fresh air and eggs from chickens in cages.

CG: And what is the actual experience of working in the Chez Panisse kitchen?

MW: It's a dynamic environment, because of the twice-daily changes in the menu. If you work in a sustainable kitchen, you see the seasons turn. You experience the cycle of the year through the food you're cooking.

Every day the dishes are determined by what's available. Every shift, after the cooks arrive, we sit down for a menu meeting with the chefs. That's the time where cooks and chefs can tweak dishes. We talk about their vision for the menu and volunteer our input for how a dish might be composed.
Besides that, it's similar to working in any restaurant kitchen. The cooking itself can be stressful and physically taxing. If you thrive on adrenaline and energy, great. Otherwise, this is not for you.

CG: Would you say the stress and activity are the most challenging aspect of being a chef?

MW: I'd say that the biggest challenge is having to cook even when you don't want to. You have to really love to cook, because when you have to work, there's no saying, I don't feel like cooking today.
And overall, it's hard work. As a cook you are on your feet 8 or more hours a day, working in the heat, unless you're a butcher or make salads. You're surrounded by dangerous things: knives, hot pans, hot oil and water. You have to be physically coordinated. Cooking in a restaurant is like doing athletics.

CG: So is there a good way for people who are interested to try it out?

MW: There's a practice in the industry called staging, (pronounced stah-jing) which essentially means as a would-be chef you work in the kitchen for free. You can stage for a day or two, some people stage for months.

If you can afford to take the time to do it, then you get to learn hands-on what it's like to work in a restaurant kitchen. A fair warning: you don't get to do glamorous things. You get to do things like shell fava beans for hundreds of people. But you do get to work next to people who have experience working daily as a chef. And some people stage as a substitute for attending culinary school.
One new chef I know staged for a year in the Chez Panisse kitchen WHILE attending culinary school and bartending for his living at the same time. Now he's a sous chef. You hear a lot about the success stories because those are the people who are really passionate about what they do.

CG: So you don't have to go to culinary school to become a chef?

MW: No, you don't. Culinary school isn't cheap. I believe it can cost about $50,000 for a 15-month program. You can become a successful chef without going - like Alice Waters: she had a singular focus and passion, she followed her vision and now people know her work.
Whether or not you choose culinary school, it makes sense to figure out practically whether you want to do this kind of work before going. A lot of people want to do it. Only some people make it and of those that do, only a few really love being a chef. That doesn't mean you wouldn't love it I'd just recommend you try it out and talk to chefs to learn more.

CG: If you had to do it over again, would you go to school?

MW: It did give me exposure to 30 different chefs in a year, who came from all different backgrounds and with different styles. I learned about the business side of running a restaurant as well as the artistry of cooking. I would say I got a good, basic foundation from school, but I learned 90% of what I use today working in restaurants. It did get me into Aqua, however. So there are definitely benefits.

CG: How long does it typically take for someone to go from square one to sous chef?

MW: It all depends on the person, the type of restaurant they aspire to work in, and their luck with timing and opportunity. It can be as little as 2 years but that's fast. I was actually a sous chef about 2 years out of culinary school at a nice, neighborhood restaurant. Now, I've been cooking 12 years and I'm not a sous chef, but I’m working at a nationally, if not internationally, renowned restaurant.

CG: What about the pay scale for chefs?

MW: It's all over the map. Most people right out of school can expect to make minimum wage. In a fairly successful, nice, casual restaurant a sous chef could make $45,000. Chefs working at big hotels or restaurant groups might make over $1M a year, celebrity chefs or not.

CG: You mentioned working long hours at Aqua. What's the reality of a chef's schedule?

MW: In reality, as a sous chef, you can work 70 hours or more a week. You're working during mealtimes, when the rest of your friends and family are eating and socializing together. It's definitely something to consider.

I feel lucky because Chez Panisse's values of sustainability go beyond the food. The employees are treated to sustainable lives, and as a result, it's one of the most humane restaurants I know. We're closed on Sundays, giving everyone a day to rest. We work reasonable hours.
We also have a really interesting chef setup. Both the cafe and the restaurant have 2 co-chefs. In the cafe, one chef is in charge of menu for 3 days and the other for the next three other 3 days.
In the restaurant, one chef works for 6 months then their co-chef works for the next 6 months. Each chef has 6 months a year off to travel to France or do whatever else they want.
But this is a truly unique place. Maybe as more restaurants become sustainable they'll follow Alice Waters' lead.

CG: Is there anything else you'd suggest to beginning chefs?

MW: I didn't know much about what I was getting myself into before I enrolled in school. I'd read a few books, like Becoming a Chef. The chefs featured in the book are down to earth and practical, talking for example about how you'll graduate and get a minimum wage job. But they also mention how hopefully that job is at a place where there's upward mobility.
I'd also recommend you have fun cooking on your own. Challenge yourself at home to cook a lot of different things and experiment.

CG: Any parting words?

MW: If you have the slightest inkling you want to do this, look into it. Chefs come from all different backgrounds and have all different experiences. I can't see myself doing anything else. I love it, warts and all.

Career in CSR? Interview with Lisa Day, 20th Century Fox

 

Name: Lisa Day

Occupation: Associate Director, Energy Initiative at 20th Century Fox

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Age: 39

Lisa Day and I were coworkers many years ago at a Los Angeles-based environmental nonprofit, Earth Communications Office. Now, as down to earth and practical as she ever was, Lisa has the intimidating job of managing the Global Energy Initiative for 20th Century Fox, taking the studio carbon neutral by the end of 2010 as part of Rupert Murdoch's pledge that News Corporation reduce its subsidiaries' energy impact on climate change.

“Associate” may be her official title, but in reality, Lisa is the top green hen in the den of Fox's companies. In addition to launching and managing all environmental and energy initiatives on the lot and in all international offices of Fox Filmed Entertainment, she is responsible for greening the production of all of Fox's movies and television shows filmed around the world.

Her job in corporate responsibility touches many more bases than just the sustainable food movement but according to Lisa, because everyone has to eat, no matter where she goes or what she does, the question of sustainability on Fox's employees' plates must be an integral part of what she does. Besides that, the sustainable food movement is a personal passion for Lisa. She recently scoped out the farmers' markets in different LA neighborhoods before deciding where to move.

I caught up with Lisa recently at Fox's main cafeteria. In addition to enjoying a typical LA sunny day sitting under palm trees and ogling actors taking press photos next to us for a new piIot, I learned a lot more about what power green foodies can have should they pursue corporate jobs similar to Lisa's.

CG: How and why did you choose your career?

LD: It wasn't until I was in law school that I discovered I didn't want to be a lawyer. I was always interested in environmental issues, so I got a grant from UCLA for a summer internship at Earth Communications Office. I began working for ECO full time after I graduated. 

At that time, if you wanted to work for the environment, one of the best choices was a nonprofit career. Green corporate positions were largely non-existent.

CG: What path did you take to get to your current job?

LD: Not long after I left ECO, the chance to work at Participant Media came up. Then it was a small experimental company, and taking a job with them was an opportunity to combine the two worlds I knew – the movie business and green and social justice issues. Then we filmed Al Gore's “An Inconvenient Truth” and I spent two years working on green issues, which prepared me for Fox.

I found this job posting on the Fox website. I had a friend working at the studio, but she didn't make the initial connection between my interest and the opportunity. It took me spending time looking on companies' websites to find jobs.

CG: What do you love most about what you have done to make the studio's cafeterias and production kitchens more sustainable? 

LD: What I do is very practical. I can easily see a positive impact because of the size of the company - the food that several thousand people are eating every day - is local, coming from sources within 200 miles of the studio, and where we can, we buy organic. We also got rid of plastic water bottles completely two years ago, reducing our consumption by 240,000 - 840,000 bottles a year depending on production.

When I started my job, we switched to a new food supplier, US Food Service. They weren't as large as other suppliers and their contract with Fox was a big deal, so they happily worked with me to figure out how to get us what we needed. They have helped us source local and organic suppliers and they put a new program into place that helps us track food miles. Now, anyone doing business with them can use this new Circle of Responsibility service. 

They were just awarded a big green certification and I feel comfortable saying that since Fox as a company was pushing them to make changes, they stretched and grew to help. They wanted us as a client and then they started seeing the business pluses. It's a win-win situation for both companies.

When I went to work for Fox I thought, I can't believe I'm going to work for “the man.” But I am able to accomplish more than I ever did in the nonprofit world because everything I do has a big impact. 

CG: What's the most challenging aspect of what you do?

LD: Moving from the nonprofit to the business world, I see the realities that corporations face. They may want to make changes, but currently there are practical cost differences between organics and suppliers of mass-produced food who can easily provide the quantity and quality needed.

Since the order to go carbon neutral came from the top (Rupert Murdoch himself) it became possible to be creative and take time to make change.

There's still concern and fear from managers for how employees will react when being asked to change their eating habits. For example, there are a lot of guys working on set who just want a burger for lunch. So we don't tell them they can't have it. Instead, we do a lot of employee education and offer a variety of choices. What we've learned by doing it this way is that none of the changes we've made has had a bad reaction from employees.

CG: How can someone get started in your field? What did you do?

LD: If you are still a student, try to find as many internship programs as you can at companies you might want to work for and get your foot in the door that way.

For everyone, Businesses for Social Responsibility and Social Venture Network have great websites with job listings. You can also sign up for the CSRWire (Corporate Social Responsibility Wire) enewsletter, which includes job listings.

If I know of a company that has a strong environmental or CSR bent, I check their website regularly. I created a list of companies that I liked kept tabs on jobs openings they listed.

CG: What education/apprenticeships would be helpful to have a job like yours?

LD: Environmental Defense Fund has a program for MBA students

They train for 6 weeks and you do your internship at one of those companies. It's a very cool nonprofit- corporate partnership. For food-minded business students, greening food at corporations has a lot to do with reducing overall energy costs.

The World Resources Institute is an interesting think tank that works with business markets, government, agencies, etc. and has a job board as well.

CG: Are there opportunities to network with others in your field or conferences you recommend?

LD: There's Green Drinks, which started in Seattle. Every month, everyone in a sustainability field can get together informally to have drinks.

CG: What is your recommended reading/resource list for newbies (blogs, websites, experts, books, articles)? Who inspires you?

LD: “Fast Food Nation” and “The Omnivore's Dilemma” are both fantastic primers.

In addition to what weI'm signed up for Environmental Leader, daily emails of different articles that have appeared and leading environmental stories of the day. Once a week they send a special feature to keep on top of what's going on in corp environmental world. 

I also like the articles on Ethical Corporation, Grist, and Civil Eats.

CG: What do you wish you knew then that you know now?

LD: I wish I knew then how popular green would suddenly begin to blow up in the corporate world. This sector is completely different than it was when I got started. Then, I felt my only option to make change was in the nonprofit world. Now it's a completely different place. Who would have ever foreseen it?

To read more written by Cassie Gruenstein, please visit www.DiggingDeepCampaign.com

ABC's of Food: Starting with Our Kids

Today the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity released its recommendations for Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity Within One Generation.

No matter your politics or geography, it's become impossible to ignore the truth about food and kids. The statistic that 1 in 3 children born in the year 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime is actually inconceivable, as big numbers like that usually are. We're all reduced to numbers by statisticians but we think the scary number in the equation isn't referring to us.

In the 3rd grade I had one diabetic friend. I was horrified when Xenia had to prick her finger and give herself shots. She said it was no big deal. The day she began to shake and turned white, then ate the apple she always carried was the first inkling I had of the ominous force controlling her life, more frightening than any of her rituals.

Xenia had Type 1 diabetes. My mother explained that children with this disease had horrible things happen to them as they aged. Blindness, kidney failure, early death. In the 80s, only older adults got Type 2 diabetes, when they began to wear out and their bodies couldn't tolerate sugar.

Nicholas Christakis' new TED talk on the Influence of Social Networks begins with an explanation of how obesity spreads across networks of friends and families. He calls it a “multi-centric epidemic” and notes it's not just behaviors that spread across social networks, it's actually social norms.

I can't comprehend that Xenia's experience has become the norm – and therefore must seem normal - to millions of children who are sick, or whose parents, friends, and siblings are diabetic.

The happy news is that Christakis says while networks spread bad stuff, there must be an evolutionary reason they developed and persist. He believes benefits outweigh the costs and “social networks are required for the spread of good and valuable things” like ideas. Now our social networks are rapidly expanding online, spreading good stuff that will hopefully outweigh the proliferation of keyboard cat videos or pics of Beyonce in unflattering swimwear.

A great example of good things spreading was given today in a live chat on Grist.org, by author of Diet for a Hot Planet, Anne Lappé. She talked about what she's seeing happening at the government level:

“I think...solutions have to be multifaceted: from education to media literacy to policy change. It can feel overwhelming, but from my vantage point, I've seen such incredible action on the ground that I'm really encouraged...from the Manhattan Borough President (who just legalized beekeeping to promote urban agriculture) to the City of Santa Monica (which banned non recycled take out packages) to the City of San Francisco (which just released a local-emphasized food procurement policy) to the City of Seattle (which declared this year the Year or Urban Agriculture) to the City of Portland (which just rededicated its edible garden, that replaced its lawn, in front of city hall). It's happening.”

Sorting through all the the good information out there is a different challenge and it's hard to find a place to begin personally, let alone the right checklists for how to make change in our own lives and throughout our local social networks. I've added another box on the left with what I think are the best basic resources for getting started. Go forth and garden.

Photos: Blast from the past: a "normal" pantry of yesteryear, Sierra gets saucy in the garden.

Growing Fast: New Resource List

First things first, a garden update: we have achieved 100% sprouts!

Huzzah. This morning we started seeing the cosmos and zinnias, chard, watermelons, and every one of my okra seeds...that's right, people, okra.

And now, after a morning water and hours of steamy sunlight, the corn shoots have arrived. This is timely because the pole beans we're expecting them to support are dwarfing them at the moment. We're going to pretend this situation will work itself out. We're also pretending the ant colony that moved into a corner of the tomato plot is not actually filled with fire ants, though they look suspiciously pinchy.

Instead of lying (away from the ants) to watch that corn come in, I've been looking for answers to a question raised yesterday in conversation with my friend Tiffany in San Francisco. Tiffany and I have been buddies exploring the vast and wonderful sustainable food scene in the Bay Area. We've been inspired and overwhelmed by the information flowing from Civil Eats, Roots of Change, and CUESA to name a few favorites. Classes, festivals like Eat Real, and even the "Reading Seeds" food author lecture series, provide entree to much knowledge and enthusiasm.

Finally, four decades after "Diet for a Small Planet" was first published, resources abound for curious consumers, budding backyard gardeners, urban homesteaders, and citizen foodie proselytizers to get educated and get involved. We don't take issue with this. This stuff is hot.

The question we have is this: "How does one get involved in the sustainable food movement professionally?"

And while I love you Grist, there must be something more concrete than Auden Schendler's article, "How Do I Find a Green Job?", which provides good advice but lacks specifics.

So for those of you spending Friday afternoon at your desk daydreaming about just that, you're in luck because I have answers:

1) Resources for the curious exist and many are now compiled on the left-hand side of this blog. Some have been percolating for decades, like the UC Davis SAREP resource page, which lists publications for everything from how to start a community garden to local food system planning. Some, like Sustainable Food Jobs and the National Young Farmers' Coalition are only months old. Things are moving fast and I need your help, so please email me with resources.

2) Know it All's Sow: Coming soon, As The Bee Flies will feature interviews with entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, chefs, farmers, filmmakers, authors, activists, sustainability professionals, educators, and financiers who have made the leap and who want to share advice with a new crop of foodies seeking a fresh start.

3) Incubation...under construction: At this week's Slow Money Symposium, Austin food blogger Salt and Time boldly pointed out to potential investors that it isn't only money he needs, it's incubators for new small businesses, it's training programs, and it's mentoring from the folks who have already been there and done that. Now, THAT'S a question I can sink my teeth into professionally and passionately and I'll keep you posted as the answer emerges...

In the meantime, enjoy your Earth Day weekend and get out there and garden it up.

Photo: Pole bean with corn sprouts barely visible (and I mean barely.)

Transplant

Nose nearly to the ground, I found the first sprouts in the garden today.

The sunflowers have decided to show themselves on this overcast Austin day. I'll take that as a good sign.

I'm pretty proud of those sunflowers, planted less than a week ago and only 4 days after my arrival as a Texas transplant from the San Francisco Bay Area. According to Sarah - a wonderful friend and my hostess in this foreign land - I've been a busy bee. I can't help it: I'm too excited and everyone in Austin is just so nice.

Since attending the Organic Farming Research Foundation's conference in 1999, I've been watching food and farming with much interest from the sidelines. I didn't go far afield: my professional life to date has been in the environmental nonprofit sector, learning from the original activists how using your moxie, being strategic and creative, creating networks of friends and collaborators, and flashing the cash are the necessary tools to get the good work done in this saving the world biz.

In February this year, I was finally pulled into food by the opportunity to work with April Davila to produce her exciting project, A Month Without Monsanto. April's journey has been followed by 20,000 people since February. We're now looking for an agent to help make this labor of love into a book. In the meantime, I figured as long as I was uprooting my career, why not uproot my comfy (and pricey) Bay Area life and transplant myself? And then came Austin.

I'm here to figure out ways to learn more, give back to, and get involved with the sustainable food movement in this community and beyond. It's a dynamic movement at the moment, and evolving by the minute.

There's a tight-knit group of Austin Food Bloggers, all listed on Austin American-Statesman writer, Addie Broyle's "Relish Austin" column and food blog. I'm just learning how each of them writes it up about Austin, so this blog will likely evolve as well. I'm not a fan of wheel re-inventions.

I am a fan of connecting people, so for the time being that's going to be my goal. I'd like to talk to people involved in different aspects of this movement and have them help me and you learn what's up and how we can get involved in getting the good eats to our plates.

Photo: Vegetable transplants at The Natural Gardener