To work in four star restaurants profiled by Food Network’s Chef Hunter, chefs in search of executive employment are given the most demanding interview of their life. Previously working with some of the best names in the kitchen, from Martha Stewart to Alain Ducasse, Host Carrie McCully has no shortage of experience or big name connections in the restaurant business, this time working with Producer Bob Tuschman from Food Network to make Chef Hunter a show based in reality worth watching.
Chef Hunter demonstrates how one has to have their heart and soul in this full-on contest of guts and glorious payoff. Competing for the real life job position, candidates are asked to create their own menu items utilizing culinary experience and business ‘savoir faire’ to serve VIP, investors, and high profile guests. Understanding the dynamics of this industry in and out, everything is considered in this intensive job interview, not just what you see filmed; the two minute reel on how they love their mother or want to settle down to one restaurant. Criteria falls along the lines of whether they are going to cut it on national television or if they have what it takes to make it through several highly intensive challenges that alone demonstrate more skill and expertise than experience through years on the job. Now in front of the camera, McCully remains true to form behind the scenes as well. Chef David Alvarez now of Les Halles was her top candidate before Les Halles signed on for New York’s Chef Hunter episode.
Culinary recruiter Carrie McCully now in the limelight
The tour de force has taken it up a scale with a television show utilizing her personal recipe for success: honed intuition. When asked the number one highlight of hard earned Executive Consultant/Host position, Carrie responded that she now has the exposure to continue working with bigger, brighter, more brilliant chefs in connection with unique five star restaurants.
It is no wonder why. Starting out of college with a marketing degree, McCully became very much involved in New York restaurants during the ‘90s when a new evolution of dining was hitting the scene (i.e. gastropubs). Insider fact about the creative genius that structures past, present, and futures of high profile establishments, reading a professional chef’s resume like the road map of their entire lives and combining the two for numbers that hit black in new bolds: Carrie was personally innovating marketing plans behind dining restaurants a decade and a half ago. Think seasonal menus before seasonal menus were known as seasonal menus. Carrie has since then co-founded Forces of Nature Media, a boutique consulting firm that specializes in the recruiting and placement of culinary professionals in high profile restaurants across the country also specializing in Marketing and Branding.
What does it feel like when you have to tell a chef they are not hired?
[Laughing] It doesn’t feel good. I can say that when I have to tell a chef they didn’t get the kitchen, it is because of their attitude or lack of coherency with what the restaurant is trying to accomplish.
If I am looking for a chef to go through the process of this intense of a pressure filled interview, I need to know that they have character and can go the distance in what is really important to the restaurant…
What was it like working with two chefs off Top Chef (Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken of Border Grill) versus someone who runs a restaurant (Nick Fielding of Wilshire) calling the shots?
Different atmospheres were taken into consideration. Chefs are more are kitchen related. They want to see the back of house running the show. Those two are legends and they know how to communicate very clearly. They are direct. General Managers are trained in the full experience of service. It is bigger picture - very into overall costs, very into chef presentation along with interaction with guest.
What is your personal take on the way L.A. restaurants are run?
Not to degrade the quality of restaurants elsewhere, however; L.A. is professionally run. Being bigger entities than they used to be, restaurants are now seen as a national thing with L.A. maturing significantly.
How are Los Angeles restaurants different from restaurants in other parts of the country?
L.A. is the Renegade City with revolutionaries like Alice Waters. It’s a whole different game in Cali. There are less classic sauces; it is more about color, freshness, and texture, with a different spin on the traditional take of a recipe.
Do you see the world of executive chefs becoming even more exclusive?
There are always going to be executive chefs. With the changing economy there will be more private chefs, more entrepreneurial spirits starting on their own who are not afraid to branch out independently. The field has always been highly competitive and will continue as such. However, there is hope for those looking to make it as an executive chef. With renewed economy come renewed opportunities…
McCully is a risen and continuously rising star in an avenue of expertise ensuring success of the most prominent restaurants in the Chef Hunter's six episode tour across the United States now shining Thursday nights at 10 pm on Food Network.
