Blog 14: Interview 3 Preparation

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  What is this person's area of expertise?

I am still on the lookout for a prospective interviewee, as I interviewed my mentor for the first two interviews.

2.  Verify that you have called your interviewee to schedule an interview.  What is the date and time of the interview?

See response to #1 above.

3.  Phrase an open-ended question that will help you find research resources that would help to answer the EQ.

In your experience working in Culinary Arts, are there any resources that bolstered you in the real-world environment of working in a restaurant?

4.  Phrase an open-ended question that will help you think about other useful activities you might do to help you answer the EQ (IC2, possible experts to talk to, etc).

What do you suggest I do, practice, or research in order to grow in my learning experience of Culinary Arts?

5.  Phrase two open-ended questions that help you to understand your interviewee's perspective on an aspect of your EQ.

What do you think makes a great restaurant?

How do you make a customer's dining experience a memorable one? 

Blog 13: 10 Hour Mentorship Check-In

One of the fruits of my learning experience

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?

I am doing my mentorship at my mentor’s residence.

2.   Who is your contact?  What makes this person an expert?

My mentor is Edward Forte, he is a part-time catering chef in which he runs his own business. He has been catering for about 5-6 years now and in between he has worked at a fine dining restaurant as well as in commercial food manufacturing. I consider him an expert given that I have seen his work first-hand. As he is practically family, I have been able to experience his work through his hosting of various fine dining dinners and parties. I have also worked as an assistant from time to time over the years. So my mentorship is not the first time that I’ve worked and assisted him.

3.   How many hours have you done during the school year? (Summer Mentorship Hours and Mentorship Hours should be reflected separately in your Senior Project Hours log located on the right hand side of your blog).

As of January 5th, I have completed a total of 15 hours during the school year.

4.   Succinctly summarize what you did, how well you and your mentor worked together, and how you plan to complete the remaining hours.

My first three entries for mentorship hours consisted of dabbling into different kinds of cuisine. One occasion, the essentials of making Filipino-style barbecue and in another occasion I experienced making 4 or 5 different pies and cheesecakes. On my most recent mentorship visit, I worked with my mentor as he hosted a dinner party. My mentor and I work very well together, I am usually able to pick up different processes quickly and I have been able to apply what he has taught independently. Usually my mentor will communicate with me if he is doing anything with catering and that is when I usually visit, many of my hours will be carried out in this manner. Another source of hours is when he hosts dinners or parties, in fact, my mentor has a party lined up that I will be assisting in.

Blog 12: Holiday Project Update

1.  It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school.  What did you do over the break with your senior project?

Over break, I had a few opportunities to put some hours into Independent Component, I was able to bake for some family Christmas parties. I was also able to complete another 6 hours with my mentor, bringing my total to 15 hours. In this 6 hours, I assisted my mentor during the New Year's’ Eve party with setup, some kitchen duty as well as helping serve guests.

2.  What was the most important thing you learned from what you did, and why?  What was the source of what you learned?

I got to experience first hand the timing of hosting a dinner party, it helped enforce the idea and execution of timing when distributing dishes.

3.  Your third interview will be a 10 question interview related to possible answers for your EQ. Who do you plan to talk to and why?

Unfortunately I have already interviewed my mentor twice, so I will need to create some contacts to find another perspective interviewee.