A day in the not-so glamorous life of a corporate chef You know, people always think being a corporate chef is glamorous. In reality, it’s fun, but not as fun as you’d think. There’s a lot of work in between the fun. Recently, someone asked me what my typical day is like, and that’s not easy to answer, because I don’t often do the same thing. If I’m in the office, I’m usually catching up on emails and planning travel. I travel A LOT. Take for instance, a recent weeklong trip to California. It started with me getting up at 4 a.m. to catch a 6:30 a.m. flight from Milwaukee to Minneapolis and then connecting on to Orange County from there. After landing in OC around 11:30 a.m., I caught up with my colleague John, and we checked into our hotel. We usually stay in Residence Inns because they have kitchens with full-size refrigerators. Next we head out to a local grocery store, so that I can get ingredients for the demonstrations that I’ll be making for customers on the following day. California style Going to a supermarket in California is great. The quality and variety of produce is so different from what’s available in Wisconsin, where I live and work—especially during the winter months. The variety of greens and different exotic produce is amazing. The stores also have a great selections of wine, cheese, cured meats—all the makings for a great Italian lunch. It’s something we just can’t pass up, so we grab some cheese, olive oil, prosciutto and a baguette and that’s lunch. Everything we buy is locally grown or sourced. The provenance of food is becoming more important with our customers and you definitely see this in California, but it’s not going unnoticed in Wisconsin either. Sargento recently launched its own pedigreed Artisan Blends™ cheeses and Limited Edition Pasture-Grazed Cheddar, making it easier for consumers to experience cheese with more complex flavors. After we break for lunch, I start to prepare the ingredients for the next day’s presentations. It takes a few hours to do all the chopping and dicing, organizing and packing of the ingredients. Everything has to be prepped, because we leave the next day at 6 a.m. All the prep work is usually done by late afternoon, early evening, and then we go for dinner. Something light and quick is in order our first night out, because we’re a bit jet-lagged and travel weary. I always try to pick the restaurants—it gives me a good chance to keep abreast of trends and see innovation as it evolves. That first night in California, we went to a really extraordinary sushi place. The presentations were beautiful, the fillings were fresh and unique, with uncommon flavor combinations. I loved it, but I wasn’t unhappy when we called it a night at 10 p.m. On the road again Five the next morning came soon enough and we had many miles to cover and presentations to do. It’s not uncommon for me to drive 500 miles on one of these trips. Our customers are not that close together, yet the distances aren’t far enough to warrant hassling with air travel. We did two food shows a day for the next three days. I feel like it’s my job to educate our customers about cheese and to show them ways to enjoy more flavorful cheeses, like aged Swiss, or some of our Bistro® Blends. I also want to be sure our customers understand all of our capabilities beyond just cheese, I show them sauces too, like our Custom Melts™. I usually make a complete meal to showcase Sargento’s capabilities. This trip I showed a lot of dips and sauces—blue cheese and mushroom, hollandaise and Asian stir-fry. But after one of these trips, I always feel that I learn something from our customers too. They’re always pushing the envelope with new ideas and flavors. I may leave some ideas behind, but I always take some back with me too. Typical, my days are not. And while my job may not be as glamorous as you think or I might wish at times, it’s still mine—and I wouldn’t trade it. Cheers! Guy Back to top