Celebrity Chefs – Cook, Artist or Masochist?
Seeking to capitalize on the public’s fascination with celebrity chefs and all the different chef shows on the Food Network, HBO has introduced a new special on Chef Paul Liebrandt. The show is called A Matter of Taste: Serving Up Paul Liebrandt. By most accounts it’s an interesting show. He considers himself to be a food artist and not just a celebrity chef, and as most artists, he can be a bit quirky which can lead to entertaining moments.
The show chronicles his life from apprenticeships in London and Paris through his rise through the ranks in the New York restaurant scene. His path is somewhat different than say the more normal course that we discuss in our article about culinary arts schools, but it does underscore the importance of apprenticeships and learning in the fire of the kitchen so to speak.
The show also highlights the hard work necessary to become truly known for your craft. Through the course of the special, we see a young chef devoting most of his waking moments to his restaurant, working 17 – 20 hour days, often 7 days a week. Can you say burnout? While that number could be somewhat exaggerated for television, I think it does highlight the work and commitment necessary to become an executive chef at a prominent restaurant. It truly has to be your passion.
If you are interested in more information on Paul Liebrandt, here’s a CNN interview with him. There’s also a trailer for the HBO special in that interview. One interesting comment in the interview is when he discusses his talk in front of 600 students at the Culinary Institute of America. He tells them that 95% would not be in the industry in 5 years. That is either very depressing or very motivating. Which is it for you?