When I met Chef Ian Lai at NWCAV, his extraordinary passion for food and teaching was immediately evident. I had the privilege of taking time out of his very hectic schedule to talk about his experiences in the food industry, and how his journey led him down an unexpected, but incredibly rewarding path.
I remember reading an interesting commencement speech for a graduating class at Stanford University, written by Apple's CEO, Steve Jobs. If you don't have time to read the entire speech, one of his main points was:
"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."
As Chef Ian shares his experiences, perhaps it will help newcomers to the food industry (or any new career path) realize they don't have to have it all figured out right from the start. By doing what you love to do, things always fall into place.
How did you become involved in the food industry?
Academia was a let down for me. I worked the system and chose the courses where I could just write papers and be done with it. While attending University, I wound up working at
Hys in Vancouver because my brother was working there. I started in the front of the house by bussing tables. The lure of the money was great. Even though I wasnt into food at the time, in combination with the ambiance, magic, and drama of the dining room, the restaurant business was exciting.
After I had been promoted to waiter, Hys planned to expand to Ottawa. I was fortunate to be on the opening team and moved out east to help set up and train new staff members. In Vancouver, I trained busboys, but in Ottawa I also trained the waiters and waitresses. I was recruited to be Banquet Captain at the
Ottawa Congress Centre, which was excellent experience. I was in charge of many people, but in my youth I didnt have the management skills. I was a nice guy and I could get things done, but lacked the training to direct and supervise a larger staff, including people who were much older than me. My nickname was Baby Face; how can you be taken seriously when people call you that?
At what point did you start working in the kitchen?
I started working in the kitchen because my roommate was the Executive Sous Chef at Hys Ottawa. One day they needed help slicing prime rib in the lounge. I used to hang out in the kitchen all of the time; so, I put on some whites and sliced for a few hours. I went home and came back to do another shift in the evening. The kitchen gave me odd jobs. Id make crème brulée, cheesecake, and other desserts. I helped with the general mise and found that exciting. I was able to see another aspect of running the business.
I also realized I felt better as a person being a cook than I did as a waiter. I didnt have to have that service smile. The money wasnt better, but I went home feeling good about myself. I was able to have my fit or tantrum and that was it. It was acceptable in the kitchen. In the front of the house, you had to follow protocol and the customer is always right. I knew it was time for me to switch to the back of the house, when I started getting bitter about not getting a 15 percent tip from every table.
After being in the industry for so many years, why did you feel the need to go to school to formalize your training?
Basically to have credentials. With any job, you have to have validity in how you manage a place or manage people. If you know somewhere down the road you are going to be looking after people, I think you should have an academic background. It makes you a better manager, teacher, and trainer. Apart from my University courses, I completed the Provincial Instructors Diploma and the Adult Education Diploma. It was such an asset to take those courses. I was in school with other teachers who wanted to become better at what they did, so we were all in the same frame of mind. Everyone learns differently and you need to know how to approach each person with an appropriate set of tools.
One of the most important things I learned was that you cant win them all. You could say one thing or do one action that counters that persons core values and that event will stay with them. You can try, however hard, but if they have decided you see things differently than they do, you have lost them.
At the end of every semester at NWCAV, we go over our evaluations from students and we reflect on how we approached certain events. You look at the evaluations that are on opposite ends and try to figure out what you said or did that resulted in a very high or very low numerical response. 99 percent of the group may indicate that something was wonderful, but what did I do or say that affected someone elses values? You use that for the next semester to reassess, and you need to be aware of when, how, with whom, and what you bring to the table.
Is there anything you didnt like about a kitchen?
Sometimes
the mise list was just too big. Not with difficult things, but just too
many little time consuming items. Somehow you found a way to plow
through it by service time, and then youd have an amazing service. It
wasnt about being inundated with work; it was about your line-mate or
your brigade that night that made it happen for you.
Do you ever miss working in a professional kitchen environment and would you consider returning to one?
Yes, sometimes, I miss the rush, the pans, the heat, and its a different kind of stress. Being able to put it all together, even when the orders dont stop, is exhilarating. Sometimes, I miss the camaraderie of a big organization with all those different cooks and characters that you meet, but then we find those characters in the students that we teach, so its just the same. The only drawback is that you have a professional relationship with students and you cant really get to know them as much as you would if they were your coworkers.
I think I have done my time in high-pressure kitchens. Id like to help out in designing and troubleshooting. I definitely like to watch a busy kitchen run now. I love watching service in action, and like to be an observer watching the next generation deal with it, and live vicariously through their actions.
You taught at Dubrulle for 4 years and have been at NWCAV since 2003. How do you enjoy teaching?
Teaching is extremely rewarding. It is so different from the industry.
At the end of the day, in a kitchen, you know if you did well or not.
With teaching, it is rewarding every single minute to see that you can
make a difference with somebody.
Do you think the industry for younger people?
It depends on what part of the industry you get into. With new high-end restaurants, it doesnt matter how old you are as long as you have the stamina the mental, psychological, and physical fortitude to put up with being paid for 8 hours a day but working 12-14.
You also have to look at your shelf life. Where are you in your life? Not age wise, but are you still single, are you married, and do you have kids? How much longer do you want to work? Every Olympic athlete has "x" amount of time. They look ahead at when they are going to peak and say, "This is where I want to be in this amount of time and Ill do whatever it takes to get me there". Thats what they do. With high-end restaurants, its pretty much the same thing. Remember, too, that not everyone fits that Olympic stature, so thats how people have to see it. Not everyone has to be a famous Chef either. You need to decide which level of competition best fits your needs and your time frame.
Are Chefs or cooks able to be involved in the food industry and still maintain somewhat of a decent lifestyle?
Absolutely. You can be a line worker and be respected 100 percent. You will probably work at a smaller restaurant or hotel where you will put in your 8 hours, go home, and leave the rest to the next shift. That is fine and I respect you 100 percent. You probably have a family, a mortgage, youre probably settled in quite well, and are a creature of habit. A lot of people want that. TV creates that stir about being a famous Iron Chef or in Ramsays Hells Kitchen, but that is such a small percent of the industry. Does being a celebrity mean you have a better lifestyle? Id say probably not. So, again, it is about finding balance within your own self and where you feel most comfortable. There are lots jobs in the hospitality industry that allow you to still have a family or personal life. I believe there is a place for everyone at the table, but you have to be honest with yourself. Success is what you feel you have accomplished in your lifetime. Success is something that you can be proud of and is not the image others have of success.
I think at NWCAV we are aiming to help students learn about themselves more, rather than saying you
all have to be successful Chefs. By learning about yourself, you will find your own route. We are switching the teaching and the direction away from an institutional training apprentice-style school to a school of life skills, personal achievements, and acknowledgments.
I know for me, a students success isnt based upon their academic performance or their pizzazz during final practicum. Their success for me, as a person, is to realize what they are capable of and who they are. This is an important step in their personal development. I know most of the students are probably not going to be famous Chefs, but if they get a good start and realize these are the skills that I have learned, these are the coping skills and tools I have learned, and this is who I am, then theyll be more successful at anything they do. Cooking is secondary, really. Be honest. Be honest with who you are, and if you come honest to the table, I know where and how to direct you, in order for you to achieve your goals at my table.
People are surprised when they hear that new kitchen staff are sometimes paid $8.50/hour, even in high-end restaurants. Why is the pay so low?
I think this type of job is front-end loaded. You pay all of your heavy dues at the beginning. As you progress, the investment pays back. It is a front-end loaded industry with low pay and lots of work. If you are in places like that, but have a good mentor, it is worth it. You will eventually collect the right ticket to move on to better jobs, which have better pay.
How many years does it take to move up, or is it more individual based?
It is about the person and the drive. Corporately, you can make 6-digits once you get into a big property. One of the Chefs I know is being transferred to San Francisco and will be making $120,000.00+; another is in Vegas making $240,000.00. In the beginning, the more elite the place is, the more unpaid hours that you are going to be there. As a cook, you know that if you stay there and put up with the pressures, that this current job will allow you to get into the next. At some point, you will have put up with so much that you actually make it to the top. Youre then in middle management. There will be a different kind of pressure to deal with because you then have to deal with upper management. When you go from line worker to middle man, you get it from both sides.
Does attaining a Red Seal get you further in the food industry?
Some people obtain their cooking diploma, apprenticeship, and then gain their Red Seal. I think it opens a lot of doors for you in management. It sure gives you credibility. Most management levels actually require you to have it.
Do all managers in the industry have to have formal management training?
No, but I think they should always have an education at least one level higher than the staff. Most managers are there because of tenure, or someone has quit and they are already there. Many managers in the industry can cook very well, but they lack the management skills and the social interaction that is involved with the softer side of the business. They are often of the opinion that it is "my way or the highway", or they become dictators, burn up, lose face, and then move on to a different restaurant. The thing people forget is that your reputation follows you, because the industry is very small. People know people and they talk. You can go to as much training as you want, but if you never engage yourself in situations, youll never understand them. Without the tools, youre either hitting walls all of the time, or you may be lucky and be able to pull it out of the bag sometimes. Most managers have to work at being managers. They have to assess what they did that day, how they could be better, what could be different, and how they could have brought their team a lot further with the skill sets they have.
When Chefs take on newcomers in the industry, what should they try to keep in mind to help those new individuals thrive?
I think that managers, not only Chefs, have to remember where they came from and the route that got them there. They have to remember what made them successful, who made them successful, and what about that person made them successful, and follow in that suit. They were in shoes of a newcomer once. So for managers and Chefs, just remember how you got there, and dont try to make it as difficult. We all strive to be what our parents were not. That applies in the kitchen as well. Strive to be not what your Chef who treated you was. No matter how much we may not want to be like our parents, Chefs too have these same patterns, and we can wind up with some of the same traits. We can have the traits but we can have different values.
What things should a cook who is entering the industry be conscious of?
Think about management. As cooks starting out, they are always thinking of moving ahead in line positions, but rarely think about what happens when they become management. How would they have dealt with that situation? As a line cook, the more times you think abut how a situation could be dealt with when it arises, you will have already done the mental mathematics. Every situation has a different set of tools to use. Going to management courses and using those skills that you learn are very important in a career. I enjoyed going into work with newly learned managerial skills and trying those new techniques with people. Its amazing when you actually step back and see that people respond positively to what you are doing. You see the light of day, and it sets the bar differently.
Learn about your ingredients. The more you know, the better you are at incorporating new things into your repertoire.
Travel to see the world from a different perspective. This helps you understand the cultural aspect of the food you cook.
Read voraciously, and dont just read cookbooks. Everything is interconnected history, politics, religion, philosophy, and geography. Food has a wider base than simply the ingredients.
Inquire. Learn from others that are willing to share.
Reflect. Always think about what just happened and how it gives meaning to your personal story. Share in your accomplishments and challenges. You will realize that others have gone, or are going, through the same thing, and you will build supportive networks.
Acknowledge the people around you that make it happen for you.
Frolic. Take time out to decompress and live.
Thank you, Chef Ian, for all of the wonderful advice!
Stay tuned for a follow-up post on his latest project and how he's connecting the dots.
Tagged as: [
career
culinary
industry
interview
jobs
nwcav
]
Posted by Kimberley Slobodian on June 26, 2007
[
Add Your Comment [5]
]•
Email This • Permalink • Add to del.icio.us
Subscribe now with RSS or receive my posts by Email.
