Last night Dave and I went into the city to have dinner at L'Ecole, a restaurant attached to the French Culinary Institute, where Dave went to school. I'd never been there even though it's right in the heart of SoHo, on Broadway and Grand. I've walked past it about a million times. It's kind of scary how oblivious we can be to our surroundings!
Anyway, we had a nice dinner (swordfish for me) and then walked around the FCI building, with its large stainless-steel kitchens and portraits of Jacques Pepin, Bobby Flay and other well known chefs associated with the institute. It was nice to get a first-hand look at a place that was so formative for Dave. We even saw some of his former teachers, who stopped and chatted with us.
Our dinner was in celebratory recognition of the completion of his band's first concert, last Thursday. I attended with our friends Adam and Bill. Overall it was a good show and several people said it was much better than the school had seen in previous seasons, but of course Dave still sees room for improvement, as any good band director would.
(Photo: Subway entrance in Times Square, last week.)
I would love to have a first-hand look at a culinary school. I would also love to hear Dave's story about why he is now a band leader instead of a chef! I have had fleeting thoughts about going to cooking school even now (as a senior citizen), but I'm afraid cooking might seem like a job if I had to apply so many rules to it.
ReplyDeleteGood for you for supporting Dave's band's performance. Hearing amateur musicians play can sometimes be difficult. It's probably even more so if you are their leader.
Today I will join other amateurs for my monthly piano group get-together. Since we call it "Works in Progress", mistakes are allowed and even encouraged. Think I'll go practice now anyway...
Dave was a band teacher in Michigan before he left his job to go to culinary school. When he graduated from FCI he looked for cooking jobs, but couldn't find anything very promising -- it's a very competitive field and the pay is initially low. So when a band teaching position came open in New Jersey he went back to that instead.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like a shame that he didn't at least get a chance to try his hand at being a chef. That's probably why he gets so much enjoyment out of cooking for you.
ReplyDeleteI hope he finds enjoyment in his teaching job. He must like kids a lot to subject himself to being with them (mouthy teenagers) all the time!