Back from working out of town just in time for another zoom call with the author’s group. Besides all the good info gleaned there’s not much to report regarding movement on anything publishing. We’re thinking of offering something for signing up for the blog, like a chapter or two of the manuscript but haven’t moved on that yet. We should be able to extract some data from the analytics of the blog page soon and see if there is any movement or trends we can associate with posting regularly and that may help guide future blog posts.
A Musician That Cooks
Fortunately I’m busy with private catering and some recording sessions. If it were up to me that would be reversed. I’ve been playing music since I was a child and has always has been my 1st love. Cooking and later writing was a way to supplement it. In my mind’s eye I’m a musician that cooks, not a cook that plays. What you may think depends on when and how you met me.
Having worked a series of lame jobs, the last being as a dialysis technician, something I was good at but ill prepared to deal with emotionally (way too much pain and suffering culminating with watching my charge nurse accidentally kill my favorite patient with an air embolism), I needed something I could relate to.
Quite shaken, later at home I opened the newspaper want ads, started at “A” and when I got to “C” said “I can do that” and never looked back.
At the interview I talked with the owner about food, like the exotic for the time (1982) pesto and zabaglione- things I’d learned to reverse engineer by going to San Francisco eateries like Vanessi’s or Caffe Sport and eating them, not working there as the owner assumed. In fairness people were less food savvy then, there was no Food Network or culinary schools in every city and after our chat I got the gig even though the dishwasher had more experience.
He took a chance on me and my career began.
Food reminds me of music and I cook like I play. Once I was good enough for other people to ask me about my cooking I coined a term defining it: “Jazzfood” i.e. solid technique coupled with tasteful improvisation.
A Meal, Like A Song Is A Snapshot In Time.
Musicians and chefs are similar in many ways. A meal, like a song is a snapshot in time. Having a nurturing disposition (hospital work) coupled with the rush of instant gratification while utilizing a finely tuned skillset that improves with each use, I found my calling, or some say side hustle.
It allows me to do something I love in order to continue doing something else I also love, and not a bad place to be. The writing came later as a way to utilize my knowledge without the heavy lifting of running a restaurant, club or hotel.
Best of all I’m fulfilled and sleep well at night. Now if I could only publish my manuscript…
The Pasta Bar 1983
The gentleman on the far left is Randall Postiglione, the guy I was bullshitting about food with. He sent this pix I’d never seen a few weeks ago for our 40th anniversary. When I heartfelt thanked him for the picture and career he wrote back “The ‘chance’ I took wasn’t a gamble, Al…you had the ‘right stuff’ and we all could see it…”
Chokes me up to read that. Thank you Randy
Alan Lake a.k.a. “Jazzfood” a.k.a. “The Garlic Chef” has been a globetrotting professional chef for three decades and has won numerous awards, professional competitions and distinctions. He’s also the author of The Garlic Manifesto, a book about the history of garlic going back to 10,000-year-old Neolithic caves that contains facts, fiction, folklore, artwork, recipes, professional insights, quotes etc. – think Mark Kurlansky’s Salt or Cod, but a bit more personal. He’s been a musician since he was a child and coined the term “Jazzfood” to describe his cooking style as “solid technique based upon tasteful improvisational abilities.” He views his food as he does his music and writing and has been known to bust a pout if any of them are subpar in any way.
Wonderful article Alan. I hope one day I get to taste your food and hear your music. Thank you for sharing your story. Rae Schiff