I often work with Macy's Union Square as a chef wrangler. That is my own "handle" that I came up with to describe what I love to do, which is work with chefs to get them ready before and during live events. Celebrity Chef Tyler Florence was the guest, I was the wrangler. Later that evening, Tyler's entourage asked me if I wanted to come to his house to work on a cook book shoot. "Why, yes!" I replied.
It was a fantastic experience. I met the brilliant food stylist to the stars, Kevin Crafts who works for Martha Stewart, the New Yorker and so many others. I loved his many tool boxes, chock full of wires, hammers, glues, cotton swabs and a host of other trinkets. It looked like a jeweler and a chef threw their supplies into a big box and gave it a shake. Kevin and Tyler had two entire rooms filled with shelves displaying antique and Asian inspired dishes, small patters, cups, ramekins, wooden vessels. They had napkins, fabrics, tongs, tiny spoons, ladles, baskets and gravy boats. Most of the items had little decoration, just solid colors and great textures. As they created each dish they would run back and forth selecting the perfect "look". Fascinating to watch. Look at Kevin's stellar work: http://www.kevincrafts.net/
My job was to prep, assist the stylists, clean and often make a trip to the Mill Valley Market! They were creating recipes on the spot as well as working from a plan. Tyler's kitchen is a galley kitchen and had just been tricked out by our friends at Gene Schick, Co. (our Viking dealer). http://www.thegsc.com/documents/home.html
Tyler put a small rolling butcher block cart in the middle of the space and they went wild, cooking, tasting and shooting. It got hectic with two camera guys, stylists, assistants, Tyler's business manager, his sous chef, wife Tolan (7 months pregnant), toddler son and their bull dog. We prepped pasta dough, pies, chili, lots of vegetables and so much more. When you see the cook book, what you can't see is two of us hiding behind these small walls at one end of the kitchen, prepping like mad! Another onion (small dice) another pie dough, more chopped rosemary....oh and make it picture perfect. No problem!
Ironically, each day we had a catered lunch because the food he was cooking was the star of the day!
I am in the thank you section, sadly as "Rochelle", not "Rachelle", but hey, happy I was there in a celebrity chef's Viking kitchen getting paid for what I love to do, savoring each and every moment.
Join the San Jose Standards of Excellence Team this weekend at the:
South Bay June Home Show June 4-6
Friday Noon to 8pm, Saturday 10 to 7pm, Sunday 10 to 5pm Santa Clara Convention Center, 5001 Great America Parkway, 95054
"For over 30 Years this show has continued to provide the Bay Area with the top quality local remodeling experts you can trust, set in the beautiful atmosphere of the award winning Santa Clara Convention Center. Featuring the very best local contractor/remodelers and always providing the attendees with a fun atmosphere, strong content and solid entertainment on our seminar stages. We Love The Home Show !!!"
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