Culinary School: A Bit of News

I have a lot of good intentions. I would like to one day have a very large garden. Maybe I’ll even wear a sun hat while I tend to it. I would like to return to painting. I would very much like children one day when I am not too busy to remember to bathe or feed them (I hear these things foster a happier childhood). I would also like to work in a restaurant kitchen.

I say this with an implied drum roll because somehow recently the clouds opened up and opportunity knocked and I did not ignore the sound but rather jumped and clapped and invited opportunity in for breakfast. After summer ends I’ll be taking my first restaurant job under a chef who (whether she knows it or not) has been my greatest cooking influence. Am I belaboring this point? I’ll be working at Nectar Restaurant under Julie Francis.

If you’re not familiar, I profiled her a few months ago and Nectar has been in Cincinnati Magazine’s Top Ten Restaurants for many years running.

I’ll still be working as a designer during the day and I’ll still be going to culinary school and I’ll still be here writing this blog. But part-time, at least for a while, I’ll be sweeping or cutting carrots or doing whatever else I’m asked to do. As I told a roomful of clamoring culinary students not too long ago, I’m just here riding this wave, and I’ll see where it takes me.

I’m honored, I’m excited, I’m half-crazy and I wanted to share this news with you because many of you have come along with me for the ride. Thank you for that, by the way. Your comments, your emails and your personal feedback have all been really meaningful to me.

Visit Nectar when you can, I hope you’ll love it as much as I do.

Tagged as: Julie Francis, Nectar