How to Become a Chef

My Amateur Chef to Professional Chef Journey

By Briana Bruinooge, RDN, CSSD

My passion for cooking and health started when I was young. In my junior year of college, I had to start cooking my own meals instead of the UNH dining hall. I experimented with making pesto and hummus from scratch. I would freeze it and add the sauce to chicken dishes to save time. When I moved to Montana that spring for the National Student Exchange, I didn’t have a car. I had a single speed purple bike that would take me everywhere; including the grocery store a couple miles down the road from Montana State University. 

As you can imagine, carrying cartons of eggs and leaky meat products was not my go-to, so I learned how to cook mostly vegetarian and vegan meals that also tasted delicious. My vegetarian friends would always ask me what the recipes were that I used. I would throw whatever carb and whatever veggies and sauce I had into a pan and get to sautéing. Stir fry was an easy go-to. 

Being in college, I also learned how to cook on a budget. Peanut butter, carrots and wheat thins were a staple snack. The peanut butter jars in fact were a hot commodity that all the roommates would steal spoonful’s when their jar ran out. There was also Rebel, the best dog who loved to eat peanut butter as well. I feel lucky that I have so many foodie friends that enjoy making dinners together and enjoying the food and company as one. Food is so much more than fuel, it is nourishment, social, cultural, and emotional.

My Study Abroad in Italy

Backtracking here, my sophomore year of college I got to go to Acoli Piceno, Italy to study abroad. I fully immersed myself into the restaurants, markets, wine tasting and olive oil tasting. I double-majored in something called Eco-gastronomy. 

EcoGastronomy offers a unique academic program emphasizing the interdisciplinary, international, and experiential knowledge that connects sustainable agriculture, hospitality management, and nutrition. I took cooking classes, hospitality classes and agriculture courses. My favorite cooking class was food science where we learned why fudge can turn into rock candy if you bake it wrong; how mozzarella cheese is made and why eggs need to be at room temperature to make lemon meringue.

Cooking and Catering After Graduating

Jumping forward, I graduated from UNH and went back to Montana State to complete my Dietetic Internship. I got to work in various fields such as University of Montana dining, pre-k to high school food management, a vegetable farm called Purple Frog Gardens and some non-profits: Community Food & Agriculture Coalition (CFAC) and Livingston Food Resource Center. Living on the farm was awesome. If we wanted eggplant parmesan, we would go outside and gather eggplant ourselves to make that night for the group.

I continued my cooking and catering with Seasonal Montana which provides farm-to-table, seasonal ingredients for various events.

From Sous Chef to Lead Chef

In 2018, I found out about a non-profit called First Descents. First Descents provides life-changing outdoor adventures for young adults (ages 18 - 39) impacted by cancer and other serious health conditions. 

I became a sous chef for outdoor adventures such as white water kayaking and rock climbing and learned from some of the best health-healing focused chefs there are. Now I am a lead chef and spend four weeks out of the year providing plant-based nutrient dense food as fuel for these excursions for up to 30 participants and staff.

My Professional Chef Services - How To Become A Chef

I provide private chef services for large groups (up to 30 people) for events such as triathletes. I also provide worksite wellness cooking demos virtually. I encompass my knowledge of sports nutrition, farming, and health-healing cooking into these private chef services. I am able to accommodate various diet restrictions such as gluten free, dairy free, nut free, and vegan with recipes such as lentil-tacos (you would never know they’re vegan!)

If you are looking for a private chef for an event or as a benefit to your employees, reach out today!