Famous chefs reveal the life-changing moments that got them cooking

sushi making
Dan Gentile
Dan Gentile

Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a life-changing moment of clarity that defines their career. And even fewer people have one that involves cutting the head off a chicken.

But when you talk to people in the culinary world, nearly everyone's had that "aha" moment when they realized that they were okay with their fingers smelling like garlic for the rest of their lives. We asked 16 chefs to share the experience that forever changed the course of their lives, making free weekends a thing of their past. Here are their tales.

fried rice
Flickr/baron valium

Ming Tsai, Blue Ginger (Wellesley, MA)

"My parents weren't home, and friends of the family that were passing through town stopped by. I invited them in and asked them if they'd eaten, they had not. I went into the kitchen, looked in the refrigerator, and found leftover rice and made them fried rice. I had never made it before, but had watched my parents and grandparents make it hundreds of times. I served it to the guests and at that moment realized that I could make people happy with food."


Tom Colicchio, Craft (New York, NY)

"I was 15 years old, and my father suggested I should become a chef. The support of my parents was a huge first step. They knew I had a passion for cooking, and having their support was essential to finding success in my career.”

 

Graham Elliot, Graham Elliot Bistro (Chicago, IL)

"I always wanted to work with my hands, and was in the middle of the rebellious, punk-rock phase of my life (which has now entered its third decade). Working as a dishwasher at age 17, I fell in love with the energy of the kitchen. The camaraderie, bonding, and commitment. The dedication to pushing yourself to the limits, all of these made me realize I didn't just want to commit myself to my relationship with food, but absolutely needed to!"

tomatoes
Flickr/cuifen.pui

Tim Love, Lonesome Dove (Dallas, TX)

"My first ‘aha' moment was when I was working on my father's farm. I realized that I had all of this knowledge about produce without even trying to learn. That’s when you know you have a real passion, when you are absorbing information and applying it productively without even noticing. Then once I had my first shift on the line, it confirmed that I made the right choice. I was just making salads and I fell in love with the pressure and energy associated with the kitchen."
 

Josh Habiger, Pinewood Social (Nashville, TN)

"When I was about 15 years old, I was working at a diner called Kay’s Kitchen in St. Joseph, MN as a dishwasher for $4.25/hr. When I would get the dish area all caught up, I would run up to the line to ask the cooks questions. Shortly after that, the owner of the restaurant gave me training shifts to be a cook. On my first day, a ticket came in for over-easy eggs. The guy who trained me told me we had the opportunity to make the perfect over-easy eggs. Every time we saw that order, we had the same opportunity. I really like that attitude to always give yourself the opportunity to be better. That was when I decided I wanted to cook. And when I saw Charlie Trotter’s first cookbook... that was when I decided I wanted to be a chef.”

 

Michael Ferraro, Delicatessen (New York, NY)

“When I was 18, I was enrolled in community college and didn't really know what I wanted to do as a career. At that time, my older brother was opening a bar and grill in Hamden, CT. We ran the kitchen and took care of the back-of-house operations. About six months in, I found myself spending more time there than studying for college. That was my ‘aha’ moment, when I realized how much I enjoyed being in the kitchen. I applied to the Culinary Institute of America and left everything behind."

fish hands
Dan Gentile

Tyson Cole, Uchi/Uchiko (Austin, TX)

"Once I was in front of guests and making sushi, I just had this whole world open up in front of me. It was so creative, so interactive, so fun, and I was so well-suited for it. The tactile-ness, the execution, interacting with guests... I just felt that it was like God put me here to be a sushi chef."
 

Brian Malarkey, Searsucker (San Diego, CA)

"Fresh off  the culinary school 'boat' and disillusioned with what I thought was the industry -- houndstooth pants, paper hats, and sh***y white scarves making terrines and galantines and hotel food from instructors without class or style -- I felt like a number in the nimrod circus. Given, this was 20 years ago and the industry has certainly changed. But I walked in the back door of LA’s world-class Citrus on Melrose -- by bigger than life French chef Michel Richard -- and the sights, the smells, the teamwork, the food was all art on the plate... the cooks and chefs were the rock stars. The guests were all bending their necks to see what was happening in the kitchen. The celebrities were treating us like celebrities! I may have been making someone else’s food, but I was proud, happy, and at peace."
 

Daniel Holzman, The Meatball Shop (New York, NY)

"My 'aha' moment came when I moved to LA when I was 22 years old. I had been working in fancy restaurants for about eight years already, but I always took it for granted that I'd find a 'real' job and stop working in restaurants. That summer, I got my first office job working as a secretary for a film company. Trying to work a 9-to-5 job made it extremely clear to me that the kitchen was my only home."
 

Jeff Mahin, Stella Barra Pizzeria (Los Angeles, CA)

“I started cooking because I honestly didn’t know what else to do. I then left cooking to go to college. I was attending Berkeley, and I was looking around at all of these amazingly brilliant minds when I realized I knew one thing that most of them did not. I knew what I wanted to really do with my life: cook.”

McDonalds
Dan Gentile

Jesse Schenker, Recette (New York, NY)

"I knew immediately while working at my first official kitchen job at McDonald's when I was 14. I loved the smells, the grease on my hands, and the urgency needed to expedite the food."
 

Michael Psilakis, MP Taverna (New York, NY)

“I never actually set out to be a chef. One day at the restaurant I owned on Long Island, the chef didn't show up. With a full reservation book, I knew I couldn't just close the restaurant, so I put on an apron, channeled my mother, and started to cook. The crisis was actually a blessing as I fell in love with cooking.”
 

Jeff Michaud, Pizzeria Vetri (Philadelphia, PA)

“For me it was when I was working the double-broiler at the Hilltop Steak House in Nashua, NH, and we would cook for over 1,000 people a night. I was in high school at the time. The rush I would get from banging out the food was the 'aha' moment for me!”

salvador dali
Flickr/Jean-Pierre Dalbéra

Josiah Citrin, Mélisse (Santa Monica, CA)

“Growing up, my Mom was a catering chef, so she did a lot of cooking from home and had a collection of cookbooks. I remember being in high school -- probably about 16 or 17 -- and just realizing that I had no real idea what I wanted to do with my life. I thought I’d go to college, but then what? One day I was looking through one of my Mom’s cookbooks, it was a Salvador Dali one actually, and it had all these creative dishes in there and I thought to myself 'this is what I want to do'.”
 

Josh Capon, Lure Fishbar (New York, NY)

"My first 'aha' chef moment was when my parents picked me up at the University of Maryland when I wasn't performing well in school. They drove me to Rhode Island and took me on a tour of Johnson & Wales University (a culinary school). While walking through the halls and seeing all the students in their crisp, white chef coats and cooking away, something inside clicked and it all made sense. I like to say I made a mature decision at a rather young age to leave University of Maryland -- where I was having a great experience, but knew I was wasting my time and my parents' money -- to start a new chapter. I also felt that every job I had since I was 14 (dishwasher, busboy, line cook, counter) led me to this moment. It was easily the best decision I have ever made."

 

Jon Shook, Animal (Los Angeles, CA)

"It was the day I ate a mashed-potato sandwich -- my very first day working as a dishwasher at Frappes North in Ormond Beach, FL. It was a batard loaded with potatoes, bordelaise, and short rib. That flavor and the connection with the cook who made it for me -- that was my inspiration."

chicken
Flickr/Kristina Savic

Jimmy Bradley, The Red Cat (New York, NY)

"When I was a kid, I went to Plymouth Plantation. During the tour, we watched the pilgrim actor cut the head off a chicken and feather the bird for supper. I asked if I could try it and they let me. Then I asked if I could help prepare the supper and, again, they let me. The 'pilgrim' told me that this was my calling. When I arrived home in bloody clothes, I explained the experience to my father, who assigned me the duty of preparing our supper every night. With time I improved and was slowly left to my own devices to create the whole meal. It was a poignant memory in learning the blood, sweat, and tears that go into creating a meal."

Dan Gentile is a staff writer on Thrillist's National Food and Drink team. His 'aha' moment came when he wrote a story in fourth grade about an intergalactic monkey named Supernova Slip. He realized then that he wanted to be an astronaut. Follow him to more unfulfilled dreams at @Dannosphere.