Michael Batterberry, co-founder FOOD ARTS magazine

I was standing next to Michael Batterberry in the crowded Rainbow Room. We were listening to Reese Schonfeld as he revealed his plans for the launch of the TV Food Network.

It was 1993 and I’d guess just about everyone in the room was secretly hoping we’d be discovered, and he’d invite us, (beg us), to sign a contract for our future appearances on his network.

The more he said, the more our hopes were dashed.

After a few minutes, Michael turned to me and said, “Let’s go and have a glass of champagne in the bar, there isn’t a place for us here.”

From the outset it was clear there would be no room for anyone of Michael’s depth and breadth of interests. Michael and his wife, Ariane had the intellectual heft and undaunted persistence to raise the money for the publication of Food & Wine magazine.

Later, a bitter dispute with their partners resulted in the Batterberry’s ouster from this magazine. The tragedy eventually led to their next venture: FOOD ARTS Magazine.

Food & Wine lives on with a current circulation approaching a million subscribers.

FOOD ARTS also lives on as the most influential magazine for top flight restaurants.

Ariane lives on as publisher of FOOD ARTS.

Michael was managing editor. He too will live on as the generous visionary who encouraged the flow of ideas into the magazine. (He even allowed me space to discuss issues related to biotechnology.)

Michael earned the respect of legions of food professionals who admired him as a historian, as a great writer, a wonderfully witty speaker, an insightful forecaster of food trends and a mentor for innumerable chefs and other food folk.

We were so fortunate to have known and admired him.

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Inwardly I groaned. Crumbs, I thought, now I’m in for it. I resigned myself to suffering through a story about his son, Mr. Moneybags, complete with adorable grandchildren — the lot. “Oh,” said I. “Do tell me about him.”

So he did.

Turns out his son was a rotten kid from the day he was born. By the time he was 12, he had already been in trouble with the law. At 17, he dropped out of school and became a drug dealer. He made so much money, he was able to buy himself a monster expensive motor bike. Three days later he lost control of the bike and hit a tree.  In an instant he was paralyzed from the waist down. He’ll be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

The accident happened a few years ago. Since then, the son has invented several valuable tools that help paraplegics. He has testified before Congress on behalf of handicapped people.

He has achieved success in the journey of life.

I’m telling you this story because success has many faces. If you want a lifelong career that doesn’t conform with the norm, you must hold fast to your dream and not let others talk you out of it. On the other hand, when job hunting, it makes a whole lot of sense to consider working for a company that is in its ascendancy rather than one that looks as though its future could be dicey. For example, without wishing to dash any hopes, I wouldn’t set my heart on becoming a syndicated newspaper writer. Newspapers are vanishing like the smile on the face of the Cheshire Cat.

This morning in Nation’s Restaurant News online, I learned Panera Bread Co. has raised its full-year fiscal 2010 outlook after reporting a 33-percent jump in income for the second quarter and had a 14-percent jump in revenue…

In case you might be seeking work as a pastry chef or a bread baker or if you are interested in research and development, Panera may be just the place for you.

Alternatively look into the most forward looking supermarkets and discover the opportunities for employment at such fine organizations as Wegman’s. You may be surprised to find there really are many super jobs in supermarkets and in the best of chain restaurants like Chipotle.

A definition of success, after all, is whatever makes you happy.

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View of Hudson Valley

I am the most fortunate of women.

I live in the Hudson Valley.

Yesterday I went food shopping in Adams Fairacre Farms, a locally-owned super supermarket. It carries glorious fruits and vegetables, many organically grown by local farmers; fabulous fish — and smoked salmon supplied from a local smokehouse. There is free-range poultry, (including duck, goose, young turkeys and baby poussins), and pastured, grass-fed beef and lamb. There’s a huge variety of cheeses, creme fraiche and locally-churned butter.

There’s honey personally delivered by a neighborhood bee-keeper, farmhouse pickles and preserves, prize-winning cheeses from Valley cheese makers as well as ice creams and sorbets from a nearby creamery. There are handmade chocolates and cookies and a vast selection of breads, biscotti and cookies from nearby brick-oven bakeries.

The store doesn’t carry wines, but there are 167 wineries in this region and they are readily available. (Clinton Vineyards provided wines for Chelsea Clinton’s recent upstate New York wedding.)

“Aha,” thought I. Here’s a business — a food job!

There are more than a million visitors to the Hudson Valley every year. Many travelers are looking for a gift to take home to the kind person, who looked after the children or the dogs and cats.

How about a gift basket overflowing with artisanal foods and Hudson Valley wines? If you’d love to give such a present, imagine how much your friend would like to receive it!

No matter where you live, there are regional specialties to arrange in an attractive container to be hand delivered or mailed.

Offer your creative services to food shops, florists, hotels, bed and breakfasts, historical homes, wineries and wherever tourists gather together.

Suggest different price points and several options and be willing to do the mailing.

Give a commission to the sites that display your “for real” or photographed gift basket ideas or make a contribution to a local worthy cause with every purchase.

In this way you have your own business and you have benefited many others!

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Ice cream is a $59 billion business with sales anticipated to increase to $65 billion by the end of this year. It is dominated by Nestle and Unilever. Nestle owns Haagen-Dazs and Dryers and Unilever now owns Ben & Jerry among their many brands

This might lead you to think the days of the Mom & Pop parlors are over but don’t despair, you’ve probably noticed that there is a homemade ice cream shop that is thriving at just about every seaside vacation spot. All of them appear to do a roaring business at least during tourist season.

If a store front seems like too big a commitment, perhaps the idea of a mobile ice cream truck might be more appealing. With wheels of your own, you can create your own flavors. Peter Wong, a New Jersey entrepreneur has come up with several Asian flavors including lychee, green tea and red bean but, not surprisingly, his biggest seller is Killer Chocolate, a deep dark chocolate to which he sometimes adds a banana or fresh mint. Stake out a roadside spot or keep rolling, twittering your location for your fans and followers.

By the way, even small dairies employ a professional ice cream taster who may be asked to suggest new flavors too.

I recently came across an article in the Los Angeles Times about Katherine Montero who describes herself as an ice cream sommelier.

She graduated with a business degree from Harvard University and an interest in molecular gastronomy and biology. She’s created a job working with a chef in an ice cream laboratory in Miami.

They’ve dreamed up some truly weird flavors including pizza ice cream: a combination of basil and tomato marmalade served with a curl of parmesan cheese. There’s also maple syrup served with a strip of crisp bacon and chocolate mole ice cream. Those who yearn for vanilla may be out of luck but there is a never ending parade of people who are willing to try anything, at least once.

I mention these things because if you can identify the thing you truly love, you can scoop up a career wrapped around the object of your affection.

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Chef Mario Batali

What do you think of when you think of Mario Batali? Pony tail, shorts, plump knees, orange crocs? What do you think of when you think of Donald Trump, Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga (? ? ?) Public faces (and private fortunes!) are created by brand managers.

In a way, we too create ourselves. We develop a style all our own that encompasses how we wear our hair, how we dress, how we walk, what we read, which TV programs we watch and how we communicate our thoughts. We may behave differently in the company of close friends than when we are going for a job interview, but, essentially we are who we are.

The difference between us and “them” is “they” are supposed to stay in character all the time. We show a different face to our beloved than to the repair man, who failed to show up — again!

Brand Manager Job Description

A brand manager is a creative professional, who develops a public image for a person, product or an entire company and increases his, her or its revenues.

For example, we think of Ben & Jerry as great philanthropists who produce super ice cream. We think of Starbucks as earth-friendly folk who generously provide health benefits for their employees and make high priced coffee that is sold in a paper cup.

These images are creations of marketing experts who have specialized knowledge within specific fields.

A culinary brand manager understands the demographic profile of food television viewers, analyzes food trends, researches packaging innovations and coordinates the strategies of advertisers and marketers.

The brand manager invents novel or traditional products to be endorsed or manufactured by a food celebrity and distributed to consumers, who are eager to buy.

The goal of a culinary personality brand manager is to create a unique, instantly recognizable, endearing personality, who is inclined to repeat words like “Bam!,” “EVOO!” and “Y’ALL” to further the ultimate objective which is to make heaps of money for the “brand,” whether or not the brand is Emeril (Lagasse), Rachael (Ray) or y’all.

Common traits of brand managers include: being results oriented and highly creative innovators, who possess strong interpersonal, communication and analytical skills, and entrepreneurial leanings. (Source: About.com)

Average salary is $76,100 though CNN places this figure at $90.000 or even higher for a senior executive.

Education/Experience Requirements: A Bachelor’s degree and 4 years of field experience. (For culinary brand managers, it helps to have culinary training but it isn’t crucial.)

Sample interview questions for an applicant to this field include:

1. Describe a time when you went above and beyond for a customer.
2. What would you do to maximize the brand image in this region?
3. A new competitor is entering the market. How do you protect your market share?
4. Tell me about a brand that does not compete in your current category that is not doing performing well and why?
5. Walk me through your resume – tell me why you’re qualified.
6. Give me an example in which you have led a team successfully to accomplish a task
7. Why should we hire you as opposed to someone else?
8. In trying to market a product, how do you differentiate one brand of product to another.
9. Do you have a culinary degree?

(Source HR Management)

Getting Started
Check out The Center for Brand and Product Management at the University of Wisconsin as well as the Top 10 Brand Management Blogs for getting started and gaining insights.

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L is for Lobsters by Cynthia Furlong Reynolds

During this past Fourth of July, also known as my darling son’s birthday, I had a great tuck in of steamed lobster and little neck clams, corn on the cob slathered in butter, salt and lime, followed by fresh strawberries. It was a meal encompassing many FOOD JOBS: farmer, fisherman, grocer….

Yet, I decided to think only of the lobstermen, who had set sail and fished for my supper as I happily lay in waiting.

I checked online and found The Lobster Institute. The helpful information includes the following:

“There are hundreds of thousands of people involved in the lobster industry, in a variety of jobs. In addition to those that fish for lobster, those connected to the industry include everyone from lobster dealers and processors, to bait dealers, boat builders, marine equipment suppliers, restaurateurs — and even innkeepers, artists and crafts folk who rely on a successful lobster fishery for their livelihood.”

Lobstering is a tough life. The New York Times recently reported that a five-year moratorium on lobster fishing off the Atlantic Coast is currently under serious consideration. But according to Michael Grimshaw, president of the Southern New England Fishermen and Lobstermen’s Association, “When you’re catching lobsters, everything’s good with the world.”

The lobster industry is a truly American icon and a large part of the tourist trade in coastal communities from Maine to Massachusetts to Connecticut and New York.

As long as there are lobstermen, there will be a need for lobster dealers. The lobster dealer typically runs the wharf in the harbor from which the lobstermen venture forth, and where they return to sell their catch. The dealers buy lobsters from the harvesters, and sell them to a variety of outlets including restaurants, processors, and even other dealers.

The lobster dealer also generally supplies bait to the lobstermen, and sometimes other marine supplies as well. Occasionally several lobstermen from one area join forces band and form a cooperative (co-op) — acting as their own lobster dealer.

But if thinking about lobsters while nibbling on a claw is more your speed, may I highly recommend:

The Lobster Chronicles By Linda Greenlaw

• The Lobster Chronicles by Linda Greenlaw for a description of the grueling life of a lobster fisherman. You will never forget this harrowing story. It is well-worth buying and reading by the water’s edge.
• Lobster at Home by Jasper White. Check out all this popular Boston restaurateur’s other absolutely marvelous seafood chowder cookbooks. You will be rapturously happy when you prepare his recipes. I admire him and his work with the greatest enthusiasm.

Just one passing thought, I’d be cautious about marrying any one who insists on wearing a lobster bib…the chances are this mode of attire conceals other unspeakable character flaws.

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Jodie Foster, Actor, Producer, Director

When Jodie Foster gave the commencement speech at the University of Pennsylvania, she said:

“You pick up bits and pieces of treasure and trash, pain and pleasure, passions and disappointments, and you start throwing them in your bag — your big bag of experience.

You do some dumb things that don’t work out at all. You stumble excitedly on little gems that you never saw coming. And you stuff them all in your bag.

You pursue the things you love and believe in. You cast off the images of yourself that don’t fit and suddenly you look back behind you and a pattern emerges.

You look in front of you and the path makes sense.

There is nothing more beautiful than finding your course when you believe you are bobbing aimlessly in the current.

Wouldn’t you know that your path was there all along waiting for you to take the first step?

Your path doesn’t belong to your teachers, your leaders, your lovers. You path is your character defining itself more and more every day, like a photograph coming into focus.”

That Jodie Foster is so clever.

She is absolutely right, isn’t she?

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Courtesy of the Little Mexican Cooking School

I received a telephone call from a FOOD JOBS book reader who has just lost her job and doesn’t know what to do now. She wanted something new. She had worked as a caterer, recipe tester, food stylist, freelance magazine food writer and cookbook editor.

With these skills, I suggested she consider becoming a teacher in a cooking school. Her topic could be any one of the specialties or she could actually teach a course on FOOD JOBS!

In fact, I started out as a cooking school teacher in Greensboro, North Carolina. I demonstrated a complete meal in each class, but told little stories about the ingredients I was using. Many came more for the stories than the cooking class itself. I later expanded these tentative steps into a course that nestled comfortably beneath the umbrella of gastronomy.

If you want to teach, but not cook, maybe you would like to consider the endless and ever expanding topic, ‘Food in the News’. The advantage of offering these subjects is you can be in charge of your own material and develop your own course guide.

I’m teaching FOOD JOBS* and get a huge amount of satisfaction from the classes and the enthusiasm of the students.  The best part is that I learn something new every day.

Professional cooking schools are thriving everywhere. So are community colleges. Many high schools also include hospitality courses in their culinary curricula.

With the help of ShawGuides, my caller can easily locate a Culinary School at the Arts Institutes, Cordon Bleu cooking school or other professional, avocational cooking school or a community college wherever she wants to live. (She would like to move from her current location to a warmer climate in another part of the country.)

I sent her a sample course guide and advised her to adapt it so that a Dean of Education could see exactly what she had in mind. Her proposed syllabus should also include a brief outline for a series of six (or more) classes. Here below is such an example:

Syllabus Sample Template

CATALOG COURSE DESCRIPTION: FOOD CAREERS

This Food Careers course will introduce the extensive range of career opportunities. The classes will help participants evaluate their own unique skills and encourage them to explore the many paths open to them. There are literally hundreds of job opportunities available to today’s graduates.  They need only bend down and pick up the prospect that is most appealing.

SAMPLE APPEAL TO STUDENTS TO TAKE YOUR FOOD CAREERS COURSE

The reason you decided to acquire an education at XXX Culinary School is to find a career in the food field. There is almost nothing more important than developing a sense of direction and ultimately being in a position to choose a path that will lead to a richly rewarding life. Together, we will examine many specific fields within the hospitality industry.

It is essential to understand the factors that contribute to the success (or failure) of a food business. You will be encouraged to track economic, political and demographic trends as they impact the hospitality industry and exert a strong influence on our current and future food choices.

You will also discover the importance of thoroughly researching a company before applying for a position. You will receive practical guidance to write a result-oriented resume and cover letter, and learn how to develop positive interviewing strategies. Class discussions will include the art of negotiation and emphasize that acceptance or rejection of a specific offer is limited not only to the size of the salary or the number of benefits: there are other important matters that must be taken into consideration too.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

At the end of this course you will be in a position to define your goals and begin to take practical steps to plan your future career. You will be able to :

• Describe the difference between a job and a career

• Develop a strategy for job hunting

• Identify the advantages and disadvantages of working in each sector of the hospitality industry

• Identify the most influential publications and reliable web sites within each sector of the hospitality industry

• Identify food trends and extrapolate probable trajectories of each trend

• Evaluate the impact of changing consumer choices

• Evaluate the impact of changing economic conditions

• Compose a personal portfolio of your work

• Outline a plan to market your business and build client referrals

• Understand the vital importance of networking

• Prepare a business proposal

• Describe the steps necessary to achieve your personal career objective

• Describe the economic and demographic reasons that justify an entrepreneurial objective

• Assess the business impacts of the “green” revolution

INSTRUCTOR

Add your name here and summarize your background.

Sound easy? It still takes effort. If this course of action appeals, you still have to put yourself out there and do the heavy leg work. But once you have a focus and a goal in mind, the hard work turns into a matter of steps to follow down a virtual yellow brick road.

Please contact me if you have a question about your own career.

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Symposium for Professional Food Writing

If you are looking for words from the wise on writing, I recommend you start with the brilliant William Zinsser, who wrote:

“Writing is not a contest. Every writer is starting from a different point and is bound for a different destination. Yet many writers are paralyzed by the thought that they are competing with everybody else who is trying to write and presumably doing it better. This can often happen in a writing class.

Inexperienced students are chilled to find themselves in the same class with students whose byline has appeared in the college newspaper. But writing for the college paper is no great credential; I’ve often found that the hares who write for the paper are overtaken by tortoises who move studiously toward the goal of mastering the craft.

The same fear cripples freelance writers, who see the work of other writers appearing in magazines while their own keeps returning in the mail.  Forget the competition and go at your own pace. Your only contest is with yourself.”

I adore William Zinsser’s book, On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction, and require that my students in my Professional Food Writing course purchase it.

If you prefer writing guidance through a course or workshop, I recommend the “granddaddy of all food writing conferences”, The Symposium for Professional Food Writers conference. It is geared for professional food writers and editors only. It is limited to 90 attendees and customarily held at The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

A team of successful writers leads discussions and workshops. The next Symposium, the 20th Symposium for Professional Writing is scheduled for September 12-16, 2010.

If money is tight, yet the passion for food writing is strong, you’ll be pleased to know that the Symposium offers scholarships. According to its Facebook page, the Symposium notes:

“We have many scholarships this year with more to be posted soon. The deadline is July 14 so start getting your two best samples ready!”

Note to Readers: Please be sure to check the Symposium for Professional Food Writers for exact deadlines.

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They think this is a funny assignment, that is, until we fall in the trap ourselves. These are ‘accidents waiting to happen’.

In fact, just as we most enjoy the foods we have eaten before, we also find happiness in reading variations of the same detective novels and suspense movies. For instance, the formula for the James Bond movies are all the same:

1. Scene One: exotic location and the first of two beautiful woman appears

2. James Bond (“JB“) encounters villain (who invariably has a foreign accent, a cat and delusions of grandeur)

3. First beautiful woman is sleeping with villain

4. First woman betrays villain just in time to warn JB of impending danger

5. JB seduces first woman, who is immediately killed (horribly but imaginatively)

6. Villain cheats

7. JB  outcheats villain in the company of 2nd woman

8. JB gains entrance to villain’s lair in company with 2nd adoring woman

9. JB is caught and threatened with imaginative but horrible death by villain who offers a lengthy explanation of his plan for world domination

10. JB escapes. 2nd woman escapes

11. JB returns to villain’s lair with monitoring device.

12. Mayhem ensues involving helicopters, fire and many men in jump suits tumbling from high places. Villain dies. Imaginatively but horribly.

13. JB escapes in nick of time; runs; holding hand of beautiful woman

14. James Bond lies with woman in unusual setting as they figure out where to go for dinner.

You’ve heard it all before, but what the heck!

‘Like I was saying…’ food cliches are like junk food: they taste great at the moment, then are immediately followed by remorse and regret.’

If you can complete these cliches, you’ll get an ‘A’ for the exercise and a ‘F’ for original thinking. (Bonus points are given for adding to this list.):

“It’s on the tip of my _____.”

“Bite the ____.” “I’ll bite!”

He said, “Tongue in _____.”

As he ate the last slice of chocolate cake, he remarked, “No pain no ____!”

“Don’t have a cow!”

“He/she is just a meat and ________ person.”

“Bring home the _______.”

“As fresh as a ______.”

“As cool as a ___________.”

“As nutty as a ___________.”

“That’s the way, the __________ crumbles.”

“That’s like walking on ___________.”

“Hey, don’t count your __________ before they’re hatched.”

“What does that have to do with the price of ___ in China?”

“Life is like a box of _________, you don’t know what you’ll get.”

“A few ____ short of a happy meal.”

“There’s no such thing as a free _______.”

“Well, how do you like them _______?”

“Take that with a grain of _____.”*

Now, I, sign your name, promise never to use these hackneyed phrases in a cover letter or in any food writing. (Though nobody is perfect; I’m only human.)

Signature, please!

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