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Survival of the Fittest

If you’ve never moonlighted as a waiter/waitress at a restaurant or helped out a friend back in the day on a catering gig….then you probably have no idea of how hard and challenging catering is as a whole. Most people see the glitz, glamour, and gorgeous presentations that we produce, but they have no idea how much strength and stamina it takes to pull off a catering gig.

Let’s see…you have all the equipment that is loaded in the van (chafing dishes, platters, pans, pots, decor, linen, equipment to keep the food warm, plates, glassware, heavy pans of food….should I keep going?), then everything is unloaded at the venue or home. Many times, there are stairs involved (the equipment doesn’t get any lighter just because you have to carry it up the stairs) or elevators, or long driveways…the list goes on. Are you getting my point. The client sees the gorgeous side, but on my side, if you aren’t in shape…(like the great philosopher Mr. T. used to say…” I pity the fool”)

So how does an award-winning chef get his Monday through Friday start? You’ve got it…fitness training. I go to the gym 5 days a week to try to keep this 62-year-old body in check. Of course, I do this for my own well-being, but believe it or not, I’m also doing it for my clients, because if I’m too week and too tired to pull off and create your incredible event, it will show up in the details or lack thereof. Long story short….those guns… those pythons you’re looking at, they’re not to impress the girls (or the guys)…LOL, they’re so I can keep doing what I love to do.

So now that you understand what goes on behind the scenes, the next time you see the chef…Kiss him on his forehead 🙂

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