The "Absurdist" Side of Life

It all began this afternoon doing a syndicated interview for WGN Radio when the host of the show asked me how coincidental it was that my food directly corresponded with all other aspects of my career. Or perhaps, it was that all other aspects of my career have influenced my food? "COINCIDENTAL?!!!" Either way, I've always deemed it to be true that chefs creations would be a beautiful interpretation of life of some sorts. I believed that dishes derived from deep rooted family traditions, travels, research of local agriculture, economic state, and celebrated occasions. For a chef to create a dish, there needs to be inspiration. Without it, we'd merely be people following a formula, in this case, a formula for food. In my case, chefs are artists.

The host of the show suddenly decides to be difficult and asks me, " So you don't follow a formula for food? Because I interviewed some of the professors at your University who all said you were top of the class. Meaning a great student - Meaning someone who follows formulas very well."

I took a quick breath as we were live on the air and then this is what blurted out: " That's funny. It's true that I was a great student. It came easy to me. I have always thought that it takes the same amount of effort to make yourself miserable or make yourself happy. Therefore, if I was going to be in there for a long period of time, I was going to make it the best run ever. I was dedicated to becoming the best. I aced all my classes and then stayed after class to train for competitions with a certified German Master Chef. I learned every sauce, every method, where, why, and how, it came to be. I had even learned the cultural backgrounds of all different types of culinary techniques. At one point, I had over 500 pages of recipes memorized. I was a student for 16 hours of my day, 6 days a week. Subsequently, May 2004 rolled along and it was graduation time. Congratulations! Off to the real world of formulated chefs! Maybe one day I'll get to become an executive chef of a prestigious hotel. NOT! The time spent as a real graduated chef was good for the first 15 minutes....okay, maybe 20 minutes. I realized it was everything I wasn't. Formulated.

I soon became enchanted with the stories behind a dish instead of exactly how to make it perfect. I fell in love with the vineyards and their vintners instead of knowing that there's 50mg of yeast in a wine barrel to make the sugar turn into alcohol. I was enthralled by the tradition of eating 12 grapes on New Year's Eve or eating Carrot Cake on your wedding day. I found myself getting excited over trying a new wine, a new fish I had never even seen before, or smelling a vanilla pod that actually came from Madagascar. It was an awakening of the senses. Take the movie, SIDEWAYS, for example. They were in search of wine but on their unforgettable trip, they found so much more. There is so much more to food and wine, when you submerge yourself into is as opposed to just knowing stuff about it. It was this love affair with the magic of food and wine that took me to Napa Valley California - which lead me on a tout of inspiration to open what is now Chef Adrianne's.

The host responded, " You're telling me that you opened a restaurant, the number one riskiest business, on a TOUT of Inspiration? Talk about the ABSURDIST Side of Life! You fell in love with an absurd idea, took a risk, and there you go!" I didn't know if she was mocking me or applauding me.

It is now almost three years later, and while I do acknowledge that there are many facets to opening a restaurant or being a great chef, I know for certain that the origin owning greatness in it, is inspiration. You want to be a great chef, you must be inspired. You want a great restaurant, you must be inspired. The best artists of all time created their best works on a blaze of inspiration.

Ironically, the WGN radio host taught me to answer this question possibly more correct than anyone ever could:

Want inspiration? Try taking a walk on the "Absurdist" Side of Life.