Shameless Ploy

DISCLAIMER: The following is a shameless ploy to convince the Sammic Scholarship Board to pick me.  Will it work?  No idea.  Will I go to almost any lengths to give myself an edge over everyone else?  YES.

(For this site I will keep the full names of my chefs/instructors confidential).

To the Sammic Scholarship Board,

I would like to present Meghan Vandette to you as a top culinary student.  She is currently pursuing her Bachelor’s degree in Culinary Management.  Her obvious passion for fine dining and classical cuisine has caught the attention of many of our chef educators.  Her ablility to understand the necessity of learning the classics first in order to pursue her fine dining career sets her apart from her fellow students.  She has spent coutnless hours working one on one with the entire culinary and management faculty.  Her commitment has been one beyond compare.  After 23 years in the field of culinary education I’ve never seen a more tireless student reaching for every crumb of knowledge that the culinary world and school can provide.

She has worked closely with Chef Robert, a world champion ice and vegetable carver.  Chef Robert has mentored Meghan to perfect her vegetable carving and begin the intensive process of learning ice carving.  She has gone to numerous events with Chef Robert and shows a natural talent and drive to learn these special skills.

She has also worked closely with Chef Carol, our Asian Cuisine chef.  Chef Carol has traveled around the world perfecting her Asian Cuisine skills and comes from a family of Asian cuisine restauranteurs. Chef Carol has expressed her amazement and respect that Meghan has spent many weekends going to Asian markets and events to learn more on her own time.  She has also given up even more of her free time to assit Chef Carol as a teachers’ assistant.

Her mornings are spent with me perfecting skills and techniques that exemplify the drive of top chefs and students.  She has been dedicated to working with each chef on her butchering abilities by learning how to break down primary and secondary cuts of meat.  She has perfected these skills on leg of lamb, fabrication of chicken and boning, and fileting/ skinning/ portioning of fish.  She assisted me in taking down two entire deer. She has seamed and cleaned inside rounds of beef, taking them down to steaks, stews, hamburgers and stock- useable products. Lastly, I want to say that she has even been able to achieve a high level of success fabricating veal chucks down to scallopini, paillards, stewing pieces and veal farces.  She understands the need for efficiency in the kitchen and always strives to find use for as much of the product as possible so that nothing is wasted.

Meghan is commited to her fitness and the fitness of her customers by working hard on the nutritional side of her culinary education.  She also shows many traits of a leader both in and out of the kitchen.  Other students look to Meghan in classroom discussions and homework assignments.  Her leadership skills are apparent in the kitchen, helping her fellow students reach their goals with smiles on both faces.  It is so impressive to watch one student give without asking anything in return in such a positive way to her fellow students.  She is always clean and neat.  She shows respect for the culinary codes by always dressing in proper uniform and following safety and sanitation guidelines to the letter.

It is obvious to me that this young lady is extermely organized and motivated.  She is at school 10-12 hours daily and much of that time she is not required to be here, but comes in on her free time so she can work with as many chefs as possible.  Despite this rigorous schedule, she maintains a 3.9 GPA and has volunteered to work in several kitchens.  She has worked as an assistant chef to the Garde Manger and Pastry Chefs at the Michelin starred restaurant, Naha.  Also,  she has successfully completed an internship at the patisserie Julius Meinl.  She has her own catering business and also does consulting for a variety of advertising agencies in the Chicago area.

This highly motivated young chef shows a can-do attitude, is full of life, and has excellent teamwork abilities as well as a propensity for leadership.  She always surpasses the expectations set for her and then strives to achieve even more.  She will represent your organziation as shining example of a future fine dining chef.

Thank you for your consideration of this excellent student.

Sincerely,

Chef Mark

SHAMELESS PLOY #2:

April, 13, 2011

To Whom it May Concern,

I have known Meghan Vandette for approximately one year through the International Culinary School of the Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago.  Meghan has been my student in two courses: Food and Beverage Operations Management and Viticulture and Enology.

Meghan is an individual who I have gained an immense degree of respect for in such a short period of time.  She is incredibly organized, efficient, extremely competent, and has an excellent rapport with people of all ages.  Her communication skills, both written and verbal, are beyond exceptional.

I can assure you that Ms. Vandette is an upstanding student who is professional, articulate and incredibly focused on both academic and professional success. Throughout the time I have known Meghan, she is a student who always shows up to class—ahead of time, well prepared and ready to participate.  Many of the students have the fortunate ability to benefit from Meghan as a classmate as she connects and relates many of her life experiences to the content being taught.  Meghan is an enthusiastic, caring, passionate and compassionate individual.
I highly recommend Meghan Vandette as the recipient of this award of practical study.  Her entrepreneur spirit and mature mindset will be a valuable asset to any situation or organization she chooses to be a part of—either now or in the future. In summary, I highly recommend Meghan for any position or endeavor that she may seek to pursue.

Warmest Regards,

John
The International Culinary School of the Illinois Institute of Art
Sommelier/Management Instructor

Advertisement