THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 8, 1995 TAG: 9506060073
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: On The Town
SOURCE: Sam Martinette
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
Last December I had the honor of helping executive chef Frank Farello, dean of area chefs, write a statement of his philosophy of food, and of his career as a chef. Chef Farello died last month. In today's Flavor section, you'll find an appreciation of him. What follows is from the chef himself. While I crafted the sentences, the words are straight from Frank's heart. This is what he had to say:
I consider myself a very fortunate man because I came of age at a time when it was possible to walk away from a well-paying job that I did not love to pursue my dream of becoming a chef.
``It was 1950, and I was a longshoreman with a wife and baby, but I felt that there was something better for me. I took a job as a short-order cook at a drug store, kept my eyes and ears open and my mouth shut, and began a lifelong career that has far surpassed what I expected.
``Yet, I realize that learning through the school of hard knocks is not preparation enough to compete in today's highly technical and competitive food-service business, and since my retirement as a working chef six years ago due to health reasons, I have devoted my time to two areas, teaching young, aspiring chefs, including both high school and culinary school students, and making sure that the chefs of my time - the ``senior chefs,'' as I call them - are not forgotten, with their experience and wisdom cast aside. Call it a recipe for today's chef, an equal mix of education and heart.
``As I moved up the ladder, I observed chefs and learned from both their good and bad habits, and developed a measure of self-respect that I feel I have successfully passed on to those working with me. The expectation of higher standards that I, and others like me, adopted helped move those of us who chose to make a career in cooking from the status of domestic help to that of the professional chef of today.
``When I started in this business, there were only a handful of well-known chefs, at places like the Waldorf Astoria and the Ritz, and they were European-trained and seemed untouchable. But as time moved on and I became an executive chef, I learned that although food is the most important ingredient in any kitchen, the chef must also know how to deal with salesmen, how to handle labor relations, must develop a taste for what will work in his or her restaurant and market, and how to keep the customer out front happy.
``To run a kitchen with authority, and I mean the authority of education, knowledge and experience, rather than a loud voice and a stern hand. Today's chef must know all of these things and many more. It is a true profession, and to the able to guide aspiring chefs along the path to the authority that grants one entry into this charmed professional circle is one of the greatest honors I have received during my career.
``I am not content to teach only the mechanics of food and cooking. I try to instill the old-fashioned virtues, such as family cohesiveness and communication. Since the dawn of time the family has gathered around food, and the professional chef knows this better than anyone. As a professional, the chef owes it to their community to return that knowledge to a society in need of good, strong values.
``In my younger days, I learned from observation. I would go to food shows and ask questions and then go home and experiment. I would study the chefs for whom I worked, always questioning. This was how I learned, but I understand a need now for a more formal education, so that the chef of today can compete in a more technical and ever-changing world.
``The chef's profession is larger than the physical act of cooking. It consists of the desire to learn, the education to power that desire and, just as important, a great deal of heart.
``Why do I give so much of myself? I feel that the Good Lord has put me on this earth to pass the knowledge I gained the hard way on to young people, saving them the time they might waste making the mistakes I have already learned from.
``Each time I stand before a lecture, I thank the Lord for the good fortune that took a man who might otherwise have spent a lifetime working simply for money, at a job he never cared about and gave him a purpose. I consider it an obligation to return that good fortune to the community.''
Those are the words of the late Frank Farello, Certified Executive Chef, Member of the Academy of American Chefs, Dignified Order of the Dinner Gong, Certified Food Executive. ILLUSTRATION: Frank Farello
He was the dean of area chefs
by CNB