One of the first lessons I learned being a chef was that no kind of tension whatsoever would help in the kitchen. The rush and bustle was allowed but it was to be done in a light and playful mood. But today, I simply could not control it. It was to be the most pivotal day of my life. I looked back on my entire life as I stood in that kitchen.
When I was 16, my father who was a soldier at the time, wanted me to join the National Defense Academy and my mother who was secretly thrilled by the idea of becoming mama
doctor supported him by obligation. I, however, wanted to be a movie star. It's funny now that I think of how clueless we all were then. My father was eventually posted to the south to help curb the rampant trend of militant attacks back then. And on one Saturday morning, I went with my mom to see him. We got to the military base and were still getting comfortable when we heard the first gunshots. Militants had made an unexpected strike on the base and it was getting more bloody by the second. My father quickly got his rifle ready and guided us out of the room towards the underground safe house. But he never got there. Neither did my mother. My mother died first just as we were approaching the descending stairs, a bullet went straight through her head, and just like in the movies, my father pushed me into the safe house and faced about a dozen militants that were behind him.I don't know how long I was in that safe house for but I came out to meet my parents' corpses lying there lifeless. That sight never faded from my memory.
Eventually, my father's brother decided to take me in at Paris. And that was where I discovered my culinary interest. In a matter of months, I had joined the Le Cordon Bleu culinary institute. I finished the course with exceptional grades. And at 21, I returned to Nigeria. I started out as a commis chef with Lagoon Restaurant, and went on to become Sous chef in a year. Eventually, the chef de cuisine, head of the kitchen, left to start his personal establishment in Venice . And I beat the then Chef de Partie, to become the new Chef de cuisine at a very young age of 24. I grew in status and skill and kept getting closer to my dream of working with Anthony Bourdain at the Brasserie Les Halles in New York. Anthony was my idol. I remained single all this while, refusing to let anything impede my career, but when Bridget came into my life, there was nothing I could do to stop what was going to happen. We got married six months after I met her. Things were going very well till that fateful day.
I only allowed chefs in my kitchen at all time, but today, a valet came into the kitchen, and what he told me stopped my heart for some seconds. Chef Fregz was in my restaurant. Gubemi Fregene popularly known as chef Fregz was by far the most recognized and respected chef in Africa. If at all I was going to work with Anthony Bourdain, I would need his recommendation. This one meal would determine the direction of the rest of my career. I watched from the window as he walked to a table with his scanty entourage of one security personnel and two friends.
To Be Continued...
Sam
When I was 16, my father who was a soldier at the time, wanted me to join the National Defense Academy and my mother who was secretly thrilled by the idea of becoming mama
doctor supported him by obligation. I, however, wanted to be a movie star. It's funny now that I think of how clueless we all were then. My father was eventually posted to the south to help curb the rampant trend of militant attacks back then. And on one Saturday morning, I went with my mom to see him. We got to the military base and were still getting comfortable when we heard the first gunshots. Militants had made an unexpected strike on the base and it was getting more bloody by the second. My father quickly got his rifle ready and guided us out of the room towards the underground safe house. But he never got there. Neither did my mother. My mother died first just as we were approaching the descending stairs, a bullet went straight through her head, and just like in the movies, my father pushed me into the safe house and faced about a dozen militants that were behind him.I don't know how long I was in that safe house for but I came out to meet my parents' corpses lying there lifeless. That sight never faded from my memory.
Eventually, my father's brother decided to take me in at Paris. And that was where I discovered my culinary interest. In a matter of months, I had joined the Le Cordon Bleu culinary institute. I finished the course with exceptional grades. And at 21, I returned to Nigeria. I started out as a commis chef with Lagoon Restaurant, and went on to become Sous chef in a year. Eventually, the chef de cuisine, head of the kitchen, left to start his personal establishment in Venice . And I beat the then Chef de Partie, to become the new Chef de cuisine at a very young age of 24. I grew in status and skill and kept getting closer to my dream of working with Anthony Bourdain at the Brasserie Les Halles in New York. Anthony was my idol. I remained single all this while, refusing to let anything impede my career, but when Bridget came into my life, there was nothing I could do to stop what was going to happen. We got married six months after I met her. Things were going very well till that fateful day.
I only allowed chefs in my kitchen at all time, but today, a valet came into the kitchen, and what he told me stopped my heart for some seconds. Chef Fregz was in my restaurant. Gubemi Fregene popularly known as chef Fregz was by far the most recognized and respected chef in Africa. If at all I was going to work with Anthony Bourdain, I would need his recommendation. This one meal would determine the direction of the rest of my career. I watched from the window as he walked to a table with his scanty entourage of one security personnel and two friends.
To Be Continued...
Sam
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