Griffin Paulin: "So, You're Considering Sullivan"

[Robin Garr]

You need to read this thoughtful piece by a passionate young chef before you eat out again. Then enjoy your next restaurant meal with a little more understanding of what it takes to put it on your table.

So, You're Considering Sullivan...
By Griffin Paulin

I think this is relevant to many skills. Formal schooling can only teach you so much. Getting "down and dirty" in the actually workings of many trades is where the real learning begins.

I think this is relevant to many skills. Formal schooling can only teach you so much. Getting "down and dirty" in the actually workings of many trades is where the real learning begins.

I think there are a lot of things to be taken from this piece. There are obviously some good local cooks and chefs that have come out of this program. My experience in the 2.5 years I've lived and worked in Louisville has been that the talent pool from Sullivan is very wide but not very deep. These for profit schools hype these kids up about how they'll be head chefs running these 5 Michelin starred restaurants upon graduation. They probably don't even tell the students you can only get a Michelin rating in 5 areas of the United States.

I think another big piece to take from this is that you're going to get out of culinary school what you put in. I had 8 years experience working in franchise, corporate kitchens before I decided to go to school, not Sullivan, and I actually researched the program and spoke to instructors about the curriculum. I feel like culinary school is one of the only educational institutions where students will go in without learning about the program they're about to spend $40,000 on. I'm sure premed students understand what will be required from them once they enter medical school and what their education will entail. It shouldn't be much different for any type of degree program.

I find it very strange that in a city like Louisville, that is so culturally geared toward restaurants and food, that the culinary programs aren't taken more seriously and held to a higher standard by leaders in our industry than say a school in Bismark. A lot of these kids are going to be fueling this industry in the future and I feel that it's up to the programs offered, and the restaurant industry itself, to take an interest in the future of these kids. I offer an open door policy for any one that wants a stage in my kitchen to see if this is the right career choice for them and if they can actually handle the work.

Bob nailed it, but I think he meant 3 Michelin stars. Still, succinct breakdown.

Thanks for the kind words, Robin.

Bob nailed it, but I think he meant 3 Michelin stars. Still, succinct breakdown.

Thanks for the kind words, Robin.

Haha. Yeah obviously three is the limit I was just trying to convey the amount of shit they fill these kids heads with.

So true... Back when I was a line cook (in the pre-Food Network, Julia Child was the only food show era), the Chefs were "old school", even if they went to culinary school (I was in NJ, so CIA was the big one), they had worked in the kitchen from the bottom up. I had several lessons in prep and knife skills from the Executive Chef in a big operation who still loved to get "in the trenches". I enjoyed learning from him.

I would love to work with you, Griffin, but age and injury have taken the physical ability to do it. I still like to cook on my small family scale with occasional large gatherings. I would love to get the secret of your Scotch Eggs, though.

As an aside, I can say that working in a Tony' Roma's kitchen on appetizer station and prep was one of the most brutal kitchen experiences I've ever had.

I'm not sure about the Louisville store, but the Flagship store in Orlando had four fryers. You'd run onion loafs all night- you'd have to stop service to add oil- on a Tuesday.

Some braniac thought it would be wise to put the salamander at eye-level above the low-boy.

At the end of the night, you'd be covered in grease and it'd be baked onto your face and clothes. The callouses on your hands would have deep wounds in them. We had a trough on the middle of the line for clean-up. That didn't help the hole in the bottom of your shoe.

Griffin's completely right- make sure you love this before you go dropping a bunch of money on education. Your hardest days are yet to come.

The real world.!!!!!!

During my travels with J. Gumbo's I met and spoke to many aspiring chefs who were considering or attending culinary school. My advice was always the same: Spend 5 years working in the industry at any or all levels (fast food to fine dining), THEN go to school, then jump back into the work place. You'll get MUCH more out of your education and you'll also leave school with real world experience ready to enter the industry again. You will be far more valuable to potential employers than someone who only has a culinary degree and no actual kitchen experience. Plus, those first 5 years will tell you if you really want to do this or not, much less drop crazy money on it. Real world training + education + passion make you a force to be reckoned with.

Good article. Griffin nails it much in the way Marsha did a few years back. This is exactly how it is.

Nailed it, Stephen. That Tony Romas app station is a MFer, doesn't breed competent cooks though.

Nailed it, Stephen. That Tony Romas app station is a MFer, doesn't breed competent cooks though.

That was 1996- 1999. I learned a lot more about this business since then.

Stop in mate, you'd love to see how this Bar runs.

Love 1860 and I'll be back in soon.

Off-topic, but in perusing Griffin's blog, I was excited by the proclamation that some sort of successor to Rumplings is in the offing. It was interesting to read his assessment of his own venture, but personally, Rumplings is probably the Louisville closing that bummed me out the most. I loved it. I can agree that I experienced a consistency issue or two, and maybe would have handled things differently from a business perspective, but I sorely miss the ramen, the snacks, grabbing a beer and a carry out order on a nice day....

Please keep us posted, Griffin.

I'll lop-on.

I loved Rumplings. Sitting outside with a big bowl of noodles, watching the world go by. I honestly feel Chef's doing himself a disservice on its failure.

I blame it on frontage. It was a great menu, the service was pleasant. The atmosphere didn't bug me much- it's a noodle shop.

Like Hearts and Soy, they spoke to the neighborhood. it was just tucked away in this little enclave. You kind of had to know it was there.

Suzi- it's all about the egg. The key is to bring them to room temperature before soft boiling, and have a lot of patience. When duck eggs are readily available, you have more margin for error- the yolks are massive and stay soft with relative ease.

Thanks for the kind words, y'all. I'm not sure now is the right time for a Rumplings re do. It would probably take me liquidating almost all of my assets- also, I have a newborn who will NOT be going in to childcare at 3 months of age. I'd look at 2019/2020 as an ideal time, unless something too good to pass up presents itself.