Bringing People Together
Thursday, Mar 24, 2011
I decided to go into the restaurant business because from the time I was six I can remember being in a kitchen. At home I was in the kitchen with my mom at dinnertime, helping her cook dinner and learning how to tie a bow using the back of her apron. On the weekends I would spend time in the Berghoff kitchens, where the pots were as big as I was. I started actually cooking in the kitchen of my parents’ second restaurant, Tosi’s in Michigan, when I was thirteen. Obviously growing up in kitchens and restaurants is where I discovered my love for cooking and entertaining. It is also where I discovered what’s really at the heart of it all. Simply put, food brings people together.
Think about some of your favorite memories shared with friends and family. Most likely they are around a dinner table or at a party enjoying food and drink. We may not remember exactly what was served, but we remember being together, laughing, and enjoying one another’s company. Being able to help create these memories for my family, friends, and people every day at the Restaurant is why I love being a chef. What would these memories be like if the people who enjoyed the food together, actually played a part in the kitchen preparing the food together?
This question was answered last night at the Berghoff as I watched a group of 30 employees from a local Chicago company do just this in a team building activity appropriately named “Cook Your Own”. Dressed in chef hats and aprons, my guests separated into teams, and with the help of my Chefs were each responsible for making a course of our special dinner menu. In our kitchens (not meant for that many bodies) butts bumped, techniques were learned, and laughs were shared, but most importantly memories were made. After two hours of cooking in the kitchen, we all sat down in what we call at the Restaurant, our Chef’s Room to enjoy our hard work. The menu was a Mediterranean one that ended with one of my favorite desserts, Crème Brûlée. At the end of the night, our plates and wine glasses were empty, our stomach’s full and satisfied, but most importantly our guests had grown as a team and made memories that they will share for times to come.