Micro-Blog from Brett Ouimet

Fear causes hesitation

For the past 20 years or so, I have often thought about going back to school or changing careers, but always told myself that I couldn’t. I guess I was hesitant of the change or the difference in salary.  I was laid off in the beginning of 2011, after 14 years at the same company.  After a few months I realized that time is now. I needed a change, a new direction. Something bigger, something better. 

When I heard that The Chef’s Academy was opening in Morrisville, something just “clicked”. I love to cook. I love food. I’ve been eating all of my life. It had my name written all over it! Fear set in as I enrolled, but something was pushing me to do it. After a few days I was very comfortable with the facility, the instructors and the staff. My fellow students were just as eager and excited as I was. I knew that this was the right move for me. It’s week 5 and I’m loving every minute of it.  I look forward to the endless possibilities and opportunities that lay ahead. 

Don’t let your fears control your actions. Life is what you make it and that’s a beautiful thing.

The man with the three fingered hand,

Brett Ouimet

The Chef's Academy North Carolina

New Year, New Happenings at The Chef's Academy

The Chef's Academy wishes everyone a Happy New Year, and we hope all the best in your lives in 2009. Through the holidays we missed keeping everyone up to date on what was taking place with us, so in this issue of The Chef's Academy happenings we'll do our best to bring you up to speed. Through hosting holiday parties, student club meetings, and community classes everyone had a busy break here at The Chef's Academy.
In the waning days of December Chef Trinosky held a Garde Manger class for a group of students wanting to learn more about the artistry of fruit and vegetable carving. Chef Trinosky went over a lot of basic techniques for students to start learning the basics of carving, and after a brief lecture and demonstration, students had the opportunity to try their hand and start learning a new skill set. In the short amount of time working there were some very intricate designs students came up with and they all enjoyed the day.
While students were out on Christmas break, we also had time to get some house keeping taken care of and the floors were polished and a great deal of painting was done to touch up areas that had lost their luster. Now the building is back to looking sharp!
Once classes resumed back after New Year's there has been a lot happening from corporate team building functions, to catering events that Chef's and students have been working on. We also resumed our Community Classes.
Our community classes take place every other Saturday and they are a great opportunity for people who are wanting to learn new skills in the kitchen. Chef Jason Anderson along with Chef Robert Frye hosted our latest community class and they took patrons through a 4 hour course on learning Japanese foods. The class focused on Sushi, Hibachi, and noodles with approximately 20 people in the class. Everyone enjoyed the day and you can see some of the creations of the day on our Facebook page. Our community classes provide the kitchen novice with skills needed to cook new foods in their own kitchens. From learning basic knife skills, to cuisine from around the world, our Chef's take pride in helping you become more skilled in a kitchen. The community classes are a great idea for a gift to give that person who really enjoys cooking, and have been proven to be a great date that is definitely not the "norm". To find more information on our community classes click here. The Spring class listings will be updated soon!
Our student clubs are getting more organized and updates on the clubs and their meetings will be updated as more information becomes available. Look forward to hearing more about our Student Activities Club, Student Ice Carving Club, Student Craft Beer Brewing Club, Student Molecular Gastronomy Club, and other student events taking place at The Chef's Academy.
Stay tuned to other happenings taking place at The Chef's Academy in the near future as well. Towards the end of January we have Chef Instructors that will be participating in The Indiana Pork Producer's Taste of Excellence culinary competition. February will bring more club meetings, as well as our Open House Friday February 6th, starting at 1:00pm. February 20th we will be hosting a Chili competition. Updates will be provided as these events near.