Marjorie Meek-Bradley

During my first semester, I fell in love with cooking. I got The French Laundry cookbook and was obsessed: I wanted to work for Chef Thomas Keller. After graduation, I went to Napa to eat at Bouchon, and I asked to talk to the chef to see if I could stage for a day. After the day-long stage, I got hired and worked my way up.

I worked there when Chef Jonathan Benno was the Chef de Cuisine. I learned so much about techniques and ideas. He taught cooking as a craft, rather than a recipe. This idea is what I try to instill in my cooks; it is such an empowering way to think about cooking.

It tells me about how driven and ambitious they are. I also want someone who understands the importance of teamwork. To me, knowing how to balance both ambition and teamwork makes the ideal candidate.

You can teach someone anything, but you need to be able to stay organized and clean when it comes to your prep.

As chefs, we can leverage our newfound notoriety as a way to be active and make an impact. Last year, I went to Capitol Hill with other chefs to support the Farm Bill and the SNAP program.

The farmers’ market is probably the biggest one, but also what my friends are creating and cooking together at home, off shift. It helps me remember that it is about the food people are eating.

I also love checking out Bon Appétit Magazine, they’ve rebranded themselves in the past two years and have a very cool mix of seasonal ingredients, ideas, and their photography is always fantastic.

Traveling is definitely another way of continuing to educate oneself. Wherever I go, I always try the local specialties.