RAHiggins1

Give Mozo Shoes dot com a looking over.

If its not too late I'd throw The Spence in the mix.

Wow. ScoopKW is right on the money. I'll add that 3 consecutive years at the same place "should" get you in any other restaurant door. At this point its a matter of if you wish to pursue advancing your skills in this craft. Be prepared to discover that where you are is really about as low as it can get, as you have described it. But at least your brain is telling you to question what you are experiencing. I'd suggest digging deeper into this site. It has hosted a lot of the best in the business at one time or another and there is a wealth of knowledge readily available.

I'm watching it, but that is because of it's comedic value. I'm pretty sure one of the requirements to be on the show is to be a chain smoker. I can't imagine any of them having a decent palate with the amount of taste-buds they keep slaughtered daily. What does make me curious is the amount they must have to pay celebrity chef guests.

Art Institute is too expensive. Chattahoochee Technical College's culinary program is funded by Georgia's Hope Scholarship as a State school and its core classes are accredited and transferable to any four year school. Also CTC has produced some very fine chefs that have done well. Chef James Ellington a CTC Alumni, worked under Sean Brock at McCrady's, he was Charcuterie Chef at Restaurant Eugene and Holeman & Finch until he joined Richard Blais's "The Spence". You might also consider lining up some Stagaire's in different places to get a feel for it. You can find most chef's in Atlanta on social media, hit them up and be honest about what you want. Your restaurant experience should get you in the backdoor. Another great way to work your way in would be to go apply at Fox Bros. BBQ, those guys know every great chef in town and could line up Stagaires for you.

Do not go to the Happy Valley on Jimmy Carter Blvd in the Oakbrook Shopping Center next to Nam Phuong. It was Gross. It was expensive. I encountered young and old flies buzzing around my food. They did not provide dipping sauces, only soy, mustard, and plum sauces.

On WG Puck... Here in Atlanta "Wolfgang Puck Catering" offers the worst faux beef burgers and dogs and frozen chicken fingers imaginable at the "Georgia Aquarium". Worse than school food. So yeah, that drags his name down. http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/explore-the-aquarium/food-and-shopping/

Adding VN Pho in Morrow, GA to the list for excellent Banh Mi. Pho is good too, but Pho Dai loi in forest Park is better.

I especially enjoyed his coining the phrase "Meat Glue" for Activa RM as if he made that one up....

My wife scored a copy of "Life, on the line" by Grant Atchaz and Nick Kokonas. I got the book yestrday 2-21-11 and already a 3rd into it the next day and I am enjoying it so far . I'm just to where Atchaz has taken the Chef de Cuisine job at Trio. Atchatz comes across as a little over the top on trying to convey his differentness to other contemporaries. I only know one chef personally that he mentions in his book so far and if all of them are described as "Richard Blais" is then I would say his descriptions of others are pretty accurate as well. How I relate to Atchaz's story so far is that in retrospect, it would seem Atchaz made the decisions early in life that I would have made, had this been my story.

The no thanks is what I am seeing. In this economy, employers can be picky. I see little option myself being unemployed as my old job is not coming back. Might as well go to school as a second degree and get the paper. I can't get more than a cursory glance otherwise. If you are going to go to culinary school, go to the CIA or the FCIA, Ruhlman's posting of the excerpt from Boardain's new book "Medium Raw" Has convinced me of that. After spending a year and a half in the trenches, I can say for certain it DOES make a difference. Yea, I walked into Flip and got a entry prep/dishwasher job and quickly worked it to a station on the line and then all the stations. Time however isn't on our side. You like me, because we are old dogs, do not have the time to spend the next 10 years it takes to get there without that Diploma. The whole time I worked in the kitchen, I watched Arts Institute students come and go, but the CIA grad that showed up is on the fast track and I'm not, or wasn't and neither were the local food schoold kids. (Life caught up to me and I had to go back to earning better money. So the kitchen job is sidelined, even though both Flips in ATL want me to work more. I would have stayed if someone would have made me an offer. I would probably have gotten that offer with the piece of paper.)

I hate it when one of my latin co-workers doe that!

Last year I decided to get back in the industry. Dave Scantland informed me of an entry level opening (prep/dish) at a new restaurant by a relatively new to celebritism chef. I dove feet first into it as I staged and was accepted for a part time position(cook's wages won't pay my mortgage). My first week there I could hear the chef yelling at the fry station all night. It was a nightly thing. The second week, I came in on a saturday afternoon to find both sous chefs working the fry station. I was immediately put on the backup position and quickly told how to make all the items. An hour later someone else showed up and I was moved to the lead position and successfully worked the station rest of the day. Suddenly I'm on the schedule for fry. The next saturday however, I got weeded so bad I was kicked off the station. A year later and I can pretty much do anything in the kitchen required of me.

Smoked mayonaise is signature at Richard Blais's "Flip Burger Boutique" and is un-believably good. Stir a few drops in to your favorite mayo and taste the results. Then add it to some home made french fries.

David Chang uses it in his signature egg and caviar dish. You can add it to condiments to add a smoky flavor. You could add it to a sous vide salmon filet to simulate smoked salmon.