Don't touch your face after cutting a jalapeño and other advice from Alex Guarnaschelli

The daughter of a cookbook editor, Alex Guarnaschelli grew up surrounded by food. Today, she's executive chef at The Darby in New York City and a regular judge on the Food Network's "Chopped." She shares her story for First Job Friday.

Q:How long have you worked in the restaurant industry?
A. Twenty-three years.

Q. What was your first job in the industry?
A. I worked at Larry Forgione's "An American Place"  in the pantry/pastry section. I made a lot of peanut butter ice cream and wrapped a lot of Camembert cheese in phyllo dough.

Q. What are the lessons you learned from your first restaurant job that have stayed with you throughout your career?
1. Never wipe your face right after cutting a jalapeño.

2. When you start something new, take it slowly. It's better to shuck one oyster perfectly in five minutes than 10 badly in two minutes.

3. If you're in charge, try to be as calm as possible. If you're not in charge, try to be as calm as possible.

4. Egg custards separate and overcook easily. Don't neglect them as they cook.

5. American ingredients have great regionality and deserve great respect.

Q. What was your first big break?
A. When Guy Savoy told me I could work the fish station at his eponymous Parisian restaurant.

Q. What helped you reach career success?
A. My parents' belief in me. Great mentoring and occasional kicks in the a**. Patience and hard work.

Q. Why is having and being a mentor important for restaurant/hospitality careers?
A. It was critical for me to keep my confidence up and my thoughts on track. I wouldn't have done half as much without those relationships. That, and reading cookbooks and eating out whenever possible were a great help.

Q. What advice would you give to those seeking out a career in the restaurant industry?
A. Be patient with yourself and the craft of cooking. It takes a lot of hard work, repetition and dedication. Cooking is manual labor with great fun involved. Try to enjoy and find that beauty in food.

Monroe Chef takes top prize on Food Network's "Chopped"

Many Louisianans, including us at the Louisiana Restaurant Association, were on the edge of their seats last night when owner of Restaurant Cotton, Chef Cory Bahr, appeared on the Food Network show Chopped. As the opening of Chopped unfolds, the rules are revealed, “Four chefs, three courses, only one chance to win.” What does the reigning chef win? A whopping $10,000 cash prize!

Bahr admitted that he had never seen an episode of the show before he was selected to compete. His unfamiliarity with its premise influenced his decision to prepare for the competition in a way that one might not expect.


"It seemed pointless to me," said Bahr. "I would never be able to guess the mystery basket ingredients, or recreate any dish I could come up with during any practice. I just decided to focus on technique and flavor and hope that it would be enough."


The challenge throughout the competition is to create an unforgettable meal using the items in a mystery basket and staples available in the show’s stocked pantry and fridge.  In last night’s episode, the appetizer round’s mystery basket included corned beef, black olives, baby corn and gummy fried eggs.


From those ingredients, Bahr prepared a corned beef steak with regular and sweet potato hash peppered with olives and baby corn that he and his competitors had to shuck.  The judges liked his hash but remarked that the corned beef was a little tough. Despite that small criticism, Bahr moved on.


In entree round, the mystery basket revealed striped bass, sour lemon candy, Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes) and cream of mushroom soup. Bahr saw the fish and was really excited, although he said, “I can’t go back to North Louisiana if I don’t cook this fish right.”


The judges really liked Bahr’s preparation of the striped bass and the sunchoke puree, but didn’t think his treatment of the sour lemon candy was creative enough. Regardless, Bahr moved onto the final round.


The dessert mystery basket held raisins on the vine, spearmint leaf candy, knodel—a type of potato dumpling—and almond flour.


These ingredients inspired Bahr to call upon his grandmother’s recipe for bread pudding, which the judges loved but commented on it being a little undercooked.


His overly-confident competitor in the final round looked over at Bahr’s bread pudding and said, Yea, I got this.”


In each round, candy was one of the mystery ingredients. Did their inclusion throw Bahr off his game?


"I tried to use the candy's flavor profile to enhance each course," Bahr explained. "In the first round, I used the gummy fried eggs in the viniagrette because of its citrus and sweet flavor; the lemon candy in the second round was used as an acid to the fish and also for its textural component and the spearmint candies in the dessert round were used in the mint sauce for the bread pudding."


When host Ted Allen lifted the cloche to reveal his competitors dish, Bahr exclaimed, “Yes! My grandmother is going to lose it!”


Not only did he flex his culinary chops, he represented Louisiana and his native Monroe extremely well. Throughout the show, Bahr maintained a positive and friendly attitude and steered clear of any trash talking that some competitors on Chopped partake in. Those watching at the restaurant’s viewing party were ecstatic and so are we!


"I really agreed to do the show, in part, to show the country that there is great food, great restaurants and great chefs in North Louisiana," said Bahr. "I want people to know that you can get an awesome meal anywhere in our state."


Bahr, of course, has known that he was the winner of his episode since February. He found it extremely difficult to keep the secret, especially because every day, someone would ask him how he did.


"I only told my wife and my grandmother," Bahr confessed. "It was hard, though, because everyone was so nice and sincere in wishing me good luck. I just told them I tried my best and that I hoped it carried me through the competition."


Congratulations Chef!