Experience
Chef · Barista
35° North · Santa Fe, NM
As one of few employees trained across all roles, my contribution was characterized by versatility, hard work, and an insatiable drive towards individual & institutional improvement.
Scratch Cooking & Baking
Beignets · Sandwiches · Salads · Sauces · Dressings · Meats · Quiche · Puff pastries · Biscotti · Cookies · Muffins du jour
Coffee Bar
Pourover · Espresso · Brewed coffee · Cold brew · Roasting · Tea · Scratch chai · Customer service · Cashier
You worked hard today.
You work hard every day.Kitchen Manageron my last day of work
This [area of the kitchen] looks better than it ever did since we opened.Senior Chefafter cleaning;
optimizing layout;
and reorganizing.
Quality Innovations
Create quick reference guides for kitchen and bar · Study portioning & preparation for improved consistency
Operational Streamlining
Optimize prep station layout · Develop pre-portioning strategies · Refine storage, documentation, and display
Waste Reduction
Build calculation tool to tune batch sizes to demand · Improve pastry sheet utilization · Optimize storage practices
Awards
Second Place
DC “Iron Tamper” Competition
With a dramatic flourish, the secret ingredients were unveiled: cloves, key lime juice… and kumquats. I and my teammate would have five minutes to invent an espresso drink utilizing one of these; we dared to integrate two. The judges were well pleased with the result, equally dramatic in flavor and presentation.
Training
Apprenticeship
Kitchen on Fire · Berkeley, CA
Knife Skills & Mis en Place
Completed three times, a requirement of the program. Knife skills: impeccable. Mis en place: applied in the kitchen and well beyond.
Basics of Cooking series
Stocks & Soups · Sauces · Saute & Stir Fry · Roasting & Broiling · Stewing, Braising, & Steaming · Grilling (Indoor & Out) · Frying, Searing, & Confit · Starches & Grains · Quickbreads · Yeast Breads · Iron Chef
Topical courses
Seasonal Vegetarian Cuisine · Quick & Healthy Entertaining · Farmers’ Market Fresh · Decadent Chocolate Desserts · A Chef’s New Year’s · Seafood Five Ways · Couples in the Kitchen: Romantic Meals · Elegant Vegetarian Holiday Meal · Advanced Breakfast Cookery · Pizza Making
Regional cuisines
Nigiri and Sushi · Southeast Asian Vegetarian · Vietnamese Cooking · Cuisine of New Zealand · Mediterranean Entertaining: Morocco & Tunisia; Greece & Turkey · Mediterranean Vegetarian · New American Cuisine · International One-Pot Meals · A Night in Sicily · Spanish Seafood · Advanced French Cuisine
Philosophy
Kitchen Minimal
& #LiquidImprov
In my own kitchen, I value inventive adaptability above all: the ability to serve attractive and delicious food and drink at a moment’s notice, with whatever’s in the fridge, on the bar, and in season. A useful skill in its own right, practicing such improvisation also hones culinary intuition and refines technique. Most recently, it is the drive behind an effort to research, develop, and document reliable yet memorable ‘minimalist master recipes’: the topic of a unique food blog and the foundation of future improvisation.
Engineered Execution
In the professional environment, it’s a different story: when consistency is key, artist must defer to engineer. Operational, analytical thinking are crucial for reliable, safe, efficient execution. Vastly different though the applications may be, this is precisely the motivation behind analytical tools like the Joint Expense Accounting Template and TMY3 Data Map. Whatever the venue, consistency and expediency do not happen by accident: they are the result of careful planning and preparation.
Education
M.S. Mechanical Engineering2007
University of California, Berkeley
Sc.B. Mechanical Engineering2005
Brown University
Profession
Artisan Analysis / Engineered Explorations2015+
Freelance Consulting · Calculation Tools · Culinary Research · Applied Cartography
Nexant, Inc.2009-2014
Associate Project Manager · Senior Energy Engineer · Safety Officer · Cross-Departmental Technical Tool Developer