Steve Day
I Have been working in foodservice since 1976, when I
went from a occupational training program run out of the kitchen in a Sears store in Los
Angeles, to the 1200 room Marriott Hotel right by L.A.X..Where my 40 hours a week was
spent making salad dressing. I came to S.D. and met chef John at local college with a
foodservice program. He would have me help him cater parties for friends, and relatives. I
was fortunate to work for three very good European chefs, in their respective restaurants.
Two of these were male, the other was a wonderful little French female that was in her
60's at the time. Meeting her and the fact that my maternal grandmother was as good a cook
as I have ever meet anywhere, has always lead me to seek out the advice of good cooks
everywhere.
I was involved in restaurants as a line cook, eventually working my way to a chefs
position at a small100 room hotel. I continued to work on my people skills by taking two
years off to raise my second child, since the wife had been there and done that. During
this time my house burnt down, wiping out many great collections, from books,
decor,equipment,menus, to a great wine cellar. No one was hurt physically, but my desire
for such collections as never come back. This being said I like to work from scratch with
what ever is available at the time, with out concerns for the classical ABC..'s, which I
know and love, but think of them as a tool for innovation and creativity.
I did a long stint as the chef of banquets and catering for a captive audience at a
university. This unique opportunity gave me the chance to refine a lot of skills, and be
off during the holidays. I was responsible for feeding some of the administration more
than their mothers did. There was a constant stream of well-known people visiting that all
needed special meals and attention. Meals ranged in size from two for lunch in the
presidents office, to 1500 for the opening of the new fountain. All along the way the
paper work grew and grew the parties became more refined, yet we still had to realize that
in order to make money we needed volume that we had no control over. We could not solicit
outside parties during slow months.
Right now I am back in training so to speak. I am currently hiring myself out to off
premise caters in town. this means nights and weekends again. Lifting and setting up
tables and equipment. Working outside or out of garages or under tents. The great variety
is what is really great about the whole business.