Cooking is an art. A splash of spice is to a chef as a gentle brush stroke upon a canvas is to a painter. Those who understand this have transformed daily household cooking into the culinary arts.
Garrett Benedict, 18, in his first year as a West High alumnus, has since his junior year aspired to learn to cook well. Now a pastry and frontline chef at two highly acclaimed restaurants in Anchorage -- Marx Bros. Cafe and Orso -- Garrett finds himself realizing his dream.
I sat down with him one afternoon at Orso, a place he could candidly call a "home away from home." He revealed his love for the culinary arts as well as past experiences and future aspirations in this painstaking yet flourishing art form. Our conversation was edited for space and clarity.
Q. So, how did you start into the culinary arts?
A. When I was in seventh grade, my best friend's mom gave me the book "Becoming a Chef" by Andrew Dornberg and Karen Page, and I read the book in two days. I just tore through it. It was about the industry, working as a cook and working in different restaurants. I ate that book up. Ever since that point, I really started thinking about cooking. Then I bought more cookbooks -- books not necessarily about cooking but about chefs. I learned about the culinary arts class at the King Career Center through my high school counselor and took it. From then, I got referenced to Orso and worked in prep for about a month and a half before getting promoted to the dinner line, working in the pantry section, where I worked for about seven months. So, it was definitely that book that changed my life (laughs).
Q. It has to be hard being a cook while you're still in high school. How did you go through that experience?
A. It was pretty rough. My first day working the dinner line at Orso was also my first day of my senior year in high school. I started my morning at KCC. I would cook for three hours at my culinary class and then go to West High for my three regular classes. After school, I'd go straight to work, cooking from about 3 p.m. until 11 p.m. every night. So, I was cooking a solid 11 hours a day! My girlfriend didn't like that too much (laughs). But it was hard to deal with, plus, I was lucky enough to have a light class load so I make it through each day.
Q. What are some differences and similarities between the culinary arts and typical art forms such as painting and drafting?
A. Well, for one, it's edible (laughs). It's also a temporary art. When painting on a canvas, it's there, forever; it's tangible and you'll always be able to see it. Also, in culinary arts, you can really satisfy people. When you send out awesome food that is plated-up well and looks really nice, then it makes an impression on people once they eat it. If you're a cook, you have taste memories. You can remember exactly how certain dishes tasted. The best dish I ever had was at Culinary Institute of America in an Italian restaurant. I could remember every single course along with its exact taste. No other art form has left such an impression on me.
Q. For those of us who are not familiar with the culinary arts schools, how does someone get into places such as the Culinary Institute of America or other similar institutions?
A. It pretty much began with my own curiosity toward cooking. Once I started working at Orso, I really realized that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I wanted to be a chef. I talked to people who I worked with, like the executive chef here at Orso, and all of them said that the Culinary Institute of America is the best culinary school in the country, if not the entire world. From there I did some investigating of my own; I visited the campus itself last fall and actually got a chance to cook in an Asian cuisine class. A lot of chefs say that you can work your way up in the cooking industry, but by doing that you can never really learn the business side of cooking, being one of the reasons why I want to go to CIA -- hopefully so I can open up my own restaurant someday.
Q. Speaking about dishes, which is your favorite?
A. That one's tough (long pause). I really like roasted chicken.
Q. No exquisite meals?
A. Roasted chicken can be exquisite in its own way. Many have the misconception that cooks who work at fancy restaurants cook the same four-star, high-class food when they go home. It's completely opposite. Since you've been cooking that type of food all day, when you go home you want comfortable food; you want your meatloaf, your mashed potatoes, your roasted chicken. My favorite things to cook are foods that take a really long time to cook. Cooking really fast meals seem to be over and done with too quickly. That's why I like roasting a chicken: it takes time and concentration. Man, I'm getting hungry!
Q. Have you ever watched the show "Hell's Kitchen"?
A. Yeah, that show is ridiculous!
Q. It seems like that is the impression that most people get about what goes on inside the kitchen and how the head chefs are comparable to dictators, etc. What is it really like inside the kitchen?
A. I've never had that sort of experience at all. I have read about how many chefs are like that but have never really witnessed it.
Q. Well, then what is your worst moment in the kitchen?
A. I'm trying to think of a good one because (there are) a lot of them (laughs). Probably the only time that I've ever been yelled at by the head chef. I was working the pantry station at Orso, and we're in charge of the salads, desserts and cold appetizers. One of the appetizers was Mediterranean Olive Mix, which is made up of a bunch of different olive types along with different herbs and dressings mixed in. It is actually pretty good but a pain in the neck to do.
When we'd get low on the mix, usually the lunch chefs would make the mix for me, but we were running short of the mix one night and I just didn't want to make anymore so I figured I could just squeeze by with what I had. We ended up running out of the mix a half an hour after the restaurant opened, and I told one of the managers to "86" the olives. "Eighty-six" is what you say when you run out of a dish -- don't ask me why (laughs).
Anyways, one of the executive chefs came downstairs when he had heard that olives had been 86'd after only a half hour and I was behind the line, and he looked just at me. He stared at me for a bit then asked, "So, Garrett, there's no more olives?" and I said, "Yeah, 86'd the olives." Then he started screaming at me about how it was unacceptable. Then he took me off the line and pulled me into the back kitchen, getting out the olives that we needed while I got the other ingredients and setting up two cutting boards across from each other and began working nonstop for five minutes, enough to make all the olives that we needed. I never made a mistake like that again (laughs).
Q. Finally, what would you say to a teenager who is looking into culinary arts?
A. I would say to them that anything is possible. I started from reading books and not even knowing how to cook at all, literally experimenting in my own house with disastrous results, and now I've managed to get hired as a chef. It's amazing how far you can come in just a short amount of time. I only started cooking when I was 16, and I'm not even 19 yet. Everyone says that you can do anything if you put your mind to it, and this is the first time I've ever truly agreed with that statement. Just work hard, you young culinarians! (Laughs.) Work hard every day and get noticed -- that's how you become a chef.
Becquer Medak-Seguin is a senior at West High.
