Indeed I can!
In my time at Bluelight I could probably count the number of new posts that I've started on two hands, so it feels a bit odd to start writing something as self-centred (not in a bad way mind you) as a blog. But hey, why not?
So, the big news with me right now is that I'm contemplating a major career change. Currently I'm a chemist, doing mostly production work, but with a toe dipped in (as much as my paranoid boss will allow) to R&D. I love everything about the job... except the work. When I was in school, I had this image in my head of working as a research chemist, possibly in academia, and in the two years since graduating it has all fallen down around me.
But that's a whole other story. The one thing that I'm truly passionate about is food. So I'm thinking that I'm going to open a restaurant. I'd love to go to school to learn to be a chef, but I have yet to find a place that does vegetarian culinary arts training that ends up with any kind of recognized certification, and I'm unwilling to give up vegetarianism at the moment.
What am I to do? I've been toying with the idea of developing a vegetarian culinary arts program and peddling it to the local technical school, which has a rather good culinary arts program. Unfortunately I know firsthand that the faculty there are very prejudiced against vegetarians, so it would be a very hard sell. The fact that I don't have any culinary arts certification only makes it worse.
Other options? I'd love to do a vegan fine dining restaurant, and I have a few ideas for dishes-- all from a molecular gastronomy standpoint (my being a chemist and all)-- but that is easily the toughest restaurant to run successfully for seasoned pros, and I'm very much just an enthusiastic amateur at this point. Not to mention that my city has a fairly small market for high-end dining, and an even smaller vegetarian/vegan community, Alberta essentially being Texas North and all.
I'm thinking that maybe it would be safer and simpler to do a sort of veg/vegan fast food concept, sort of based on the Wok Box model. Basically the idea is to have quick and easy to prepare food that is tasty and healthy, but not just open-a-package-and-reheat. Outlets that are comfortable and a bit funky without being too posh; cool but not pretentious. Perhaps using a central prep kitchen for the entire city, allowing for fresh food made regularly with less strain on those doing the end-assembly.
I'm still in the brainstorming phase, and trying to figure out how feasible this is. In an ideal case, I'd get a few locations going strong under my own belt, and then use the capital and experience that I've picked up to work on a fine dining place.
So, thoughts? Vegetarians-- would you eat at a fast food place that catered specifically to you rather than have you as an afterthought at best? Omnivores-- what would get you into a vegetarian fast-food place?
Ps. I think that I really need to get a profile picture or something. It's been many years since I've had one.
In my time at Bluelight I could probably count the number of new posts that I've started on two hands, so it feels a bit odd to start writing something as self-centred (not in a bad way mind you) as a blog. But hey, why not?
So, the big news with me right now is that I'm contemplating a major career change. Currently I'm a chemist, doing mostly production work, but with a toe dipped in (as much as my paranoid boss will allow) to R&D. I love everything about the job... except the work. When I was in school, I had this image in my head of working as a research chemist, possibly in academia, and in the two years since graduating it has all fallen down around me.
But that's a whole other story. The one thing that I'm truly passionate about is food. So I'm thinking that I'm going to open a restaurant. I'd love to go to school to learn to be a chef, but I have yet to find a place that does vegetarian culinary arts training that ends up with any kind of recognized certification, and I'm unwilling to give up vegetarianism at the moment.
What am I to do? I've been toying with the idea of developing a vegetarian culinary arts program and peddling it to the local technical school, which has a rather good culinary arts program. Unfortunately I know firsthand that the faculty there are very prejudiced against vegetarians, so it would be a very hard sell. The fact that I don't have any culinary arts certification only makes it worse.
Other options? I'd love to do a vegan fine dining restaurant, and I have a few ideas for dishes-- all from a molecular gastronomy standpoint (my being a chemist and all)-- but that is easily the toughest restaurant to run successfully for seasoned pros, and I'm very much just an enthusiastic amateur at this point. Not to mention that my city has a fairly small market for high-end dining, and an even smaller vegetarian/vegan community, Alberta essentially being Texas North and all.
I'm thinking that maybe it would be safer and simpler to do a sort of veg/vegan fast food concept, sort of based on the Wok Box model. Basically the idea is to have quick and easy to prepare food that is tasty and healthy, but not just open-a-package-and-reheat. Outlets that are comfortable and a bit funky without being too posh; cool but not pretentious. Perhaps using a central prep kitchen for the entire city, allowing for fresh food made regularly with less strain on those doing the end-assembly.
I'm still in the brainstorming phase, and trying to figure out how feasible this is. In an ideal case, I'd get a few locations going strong under my own belt, and then use the capital and experience that I've picked up to work on a fine dining place.
So, thoughts? Vegetarians-- would you eat at a fast food place that catered specifically to you rather than have you as an afterthought at best? Omnivores-- what would get you into a vegetarian fast-food place?
Ps. I think that I really need to get a profile picture or something. It's been many years since I've had one.
