THE CIA & ME

By Chef Shea Gallante ~ Cru Restaurant
I recently returned home from the Chicago Food Show, aka “The National Restaurant Association Show”. WOW, what a huge show! I have been to Food/Restaurant Shows before, but never one like this. My purpose there was to support the Daymark team in their effort to bring Technology, Safety and Innovation to the Food Service Industry, at all levels. Oh yeah, and to sign books that we wrote about a very important topic -- Sous Vide/HACCP Safety.

While I was there signing books, I met a lot of people. The ones who interested me the most were the few associates from the CIA. As an alumnus, I thought that this was very genuine of them. We talked about the school, its direction, its growth and its future.

I Graduated in ’97 from the CIA. Although I was a local (I grew up in Dutchess Count), it was not a dream to attend the CIA. I actually never even dreamed of becoming a chef. Rather, it was a few years after cooking to make some extra money that I realized that I wanted a career in something that I was good at and allowed to be creative. I realized that I had potential to be a pretty good cook. When I finally decided to pursue professional cooking career, then it was a no brainer. The CIA it was. During my time there I was a blank slate. I really had no “formal dining” restaurant experience and was truly learning things for the first time. This was a true turning point in my life because I decided that I was going to accept and follow through with this to the best of my ability. Upon graduating, I left the CIA with the knowledge that I had just developed a foundation for what the future had in store for me and that I still had a whole world of knowledge ahead of me--nothing but hard work and dedication.

Fast forward 10 years. I received a letter from the CIA asking if I would be interested in being a Guest Graduation Speaker. This was probably one of the biggest honors of my career. What a great experience it turned out to be. I was given the opportunity to spend two days at the CIA with President Ryan, seeing everything from a different angle and in a new light. What impressed me most was their attention to detail and the high quality that appeared over and over again. The CIA is built and operated with the highest standards possible. The school is an enormous operation that is barely in the middle of its growth cycle. Yet, in spite of its many changes and intense growth the quality still shines through. In fact, it is the most noticeable attribute of the CIA – quality and pride.

I must say, the same holds true with Daymark. I do hope that the two could forge a relationship in the future. Now that would be a great partnership!