“That’s not a word!”
“Yes it is because I just made it up!”
“I even went so far as to submit it to the urban dictionary. So when it gets added to Webster’s you know you heard it here first.”
Definity- “the complete breadth and depth of what defines you”
That’s my answer and I am sticking to it, I will defend it and argue it until I go down! No matter what…and I warn you now…. I’m going down swinging.
It’s late and I am sitting at the dining room table, where most of the worlds important and life altering decisions are made. I mean seriously, how many life defining decisions have you made around a dinner table? My most important one is the one that brought me to write this post. I still get a bit fuzzy about the when and where…..Oh hell I don’t even remember what I was eating. My father recalls it like it was just at breakfast this morning. I was 16 or 17 I think, and he and I were on one of our father son Kamikaze Drive abouts that we take every year (we’ve been known to cover 3200 miles in a 7 day span). We were known to, and truly wanted to get lost and journey far off the beaten path, sometimes even getting the rental car stuck somewhere on some random highway in a mountain gorge, you get the picture. It was during these trips that I would tend to have these life altering moments of clarity. You know the ones that total destroy your current view of reality and really screw with your head? Most of us hold on to something so tight it defines us, and until that definition is shattered we truly don’t realize the power in letting go of that definition. Yea..those kind of moments!
I was sitting at a dinner table, much like the one I am sitting at now. It was a 4 top, seated for 2, a really good meal, if I remember correctly. I looked at my Dad and said “Dad I think I want to be a Chef.” I was scared I think, not only for what his reaction was going to be, but also because shit just got real! I had made my first choice in choosing a defined direction for my life and what would turn out to be the next 23 years of my life. I know today, because he talks of this dinner often when we reminisce, that he was proud of me and excited for me. He supported me as any good parent should do. Believe in your kids, empower them to be who they want to be. My mother was a bit taken back I think, but she supported and encouraged me to go get it... especially once she realized I wasn’t changing my mind. All my friends and Band mates (yes I was in a band – as most every chef, line cook, server, bartender is at one point in there FoodieLife career, it’s almost a requirement) encouraged me, told me to go get it, make it happen. Go be GREAT!!
So many people gave me definition of what I thought I was about to be. Those moments of encouragement that fuel the teenage fire of world domination and delusions of grandeur of being famous and making it in the circles of those famous chefs. The Thomas Keller’s and Escoffier’s of the culinary arena… better make room cause Chef Hoffert is on his way to sit with them at the table. What I didn’t get was the true visual of the reality check that would come in the form of “Hard Knocks” over the next 23 years. I guess you could say that was a good thing, and I can truly say if I had to do it all over knowing what I know now…my answer is still a resounding YES! Now, don’t get me wrong…I would do a whole hell of a lot of shit differently and make some better choices in some areas. But the thought of jumping on that thrill ride again makes me smile. Not just smile but smile in that way that makes someone look like they are cooking up some trouble sprinkled with a little mischief.
Part of who I am today is because of the work, love and art of the kitchen and the FoodieLife. However, the urge to sit down tonight and just start spewing these experiences came from one of those epiphanies or life altering moments of clarity that I would always have while on the road with Dad. This one was small at the time, but over the last few months it has turned into one of the biggest mind fucks I have ever experienced. You ready for it? Here it is so simple yet so profound; if I hadn’t said it to myself I never would have heard it. “You don’t have to define yourself by your past, your experiences, other people’s opinions or fear of what other people may think. Do what YOU want to do, no matter what anyone else thinks, including yourself. Because here’s the news flash …If you don’t go do it for yourself no one else will… and guess what? In the end…. No one gets out alive so go out with a bang!” Now some of you may look at that and say well duh! And truly I had been living so much of that statement without even knowing it. Hell, half of it is what made me want to be a Chef. I was an artist, a creator, a pirate and nothing had boundaries on my ability to create other than my imagination. But I still had the stigma of “I am a Chef”, I went to school to be a chef, I trained to be a chef, I put 23 years into being a CHEF!! My definity was very limited….my thoughts and training had been programmed to do things one way and one way only. I had to work hard long grueling hours in hot, hostile and sometimes just downright death defying situations. Now don’t get me wrong…that rush has its place and there are days I crave it. The ticket machine won’t stop, the waitress rang the order in wrong and now you have to re-cook the whole 4 top you just sent out all the while still trying to feed the 300 guests. All of your prep guys called out because they were hung over from the concert or party the night before and you and five other guys have no other choice but to stick it out and fight through this together or no one is getting out of here in time for a beer. Yea in a sick way…… I totally crave that sometimes.
What happened though when I had that life altering moment of clarity, is I realized my Definity has yet to be defined. I have so much more to offer this world and if I kept living by someone else’s metrics of success then im, well…..I’m Fucked!
So, here we are…. FoodieLife was born and I am writing a new chapter. Sure I am still a chef and always will be. It’s in the blood and the chaos has always been my playground. But now……now, I know, I have a whole lot more to offer!
MAY MY DEFINITY NEVER BE DEFINED!!!
Cheers
KH
“Yes it is because I just made it up!”
“I even went so far as to submit it to the urban dictionary. So when it gets added to Webster’s you know you heard it here first.”
Definity- “the complete breadth and depth of what defines you”
That’s my answer and I am sticking to it, I will defend it and argue it until I go down! No matter what…and I warn you now…. I’m going down swinging.
It’s late and I am sitting at the dining room table, where most of the worlds important and life altering decisions are made. I mean seriously, how many life defining decisions have you made around a dinner table? My most important one is the one that brought me to write this post. I still get a bit fuzzy about the when and where…..Oh hell I don’t even remember what I was eating. My father recalls it like it was just at breakfast this morning. I was 16 or 17 I think, and he and I were on one of our father son Kamikaze Drive abouts that we take every year (we’ve been known to cover 3200 miles in a 7 day span). We were known to, and truly wanted to get lost and journey far off the beaten path, sometimes even getting the rental car stuck somewhere on some random highway in a mountain gorge, you get the picture. It was during these trips that I would tend to have these life altering moments of clarity. You know the ones that total destroy your current view of reality and really screw with your head? Most of us hold on to something so tight it defines us, and until that definition is shattered we truly don’t realize the power in letting go of that definition. Yea..those kind of moments!
I was sitting at a dinner table, much like the one I am sitting at now. It was a 4 top, seated for 2, a really good meal, if I remember correctly. I looked at my Dad and said “Dad I think I want to be a Chef.” I was scared I think, not only for what his reaction was going to be, but also because shit just got real! I had made my first choice in choosing a defined direction for my life and what would turn out to be the next 23 years of my life. I know today, because he talks of this dinner often when we reminisce, that he was proud of me and excited for me. He supported me as any good parent should do. Believe in your kids, empower them to be who they want to be. My mother was a bit taken back I think, but she supported and encouraged me to go get it... especially once she realized I wasn’t changing my mind. All my friends and Band mates (yes I was in a band – as most every chef, line cook, server, bartender is at one point in there FoodieLife career, it’s almost a requirement) encouraged me, told me to go get it, make it happen. Go be GREAT!!
So many people gave me definition of what I thought I was about to be. Those moments of encouragement that fuel the teenage fire of world domination and delusions of grandeur of being famous and making it in the circles of those famous chefs. The Thomas Keller’s and Escoffier’s of the culinary arena… better make room cause Chef Hoffert is on his way to sit with them at the table. What I didn’t get was the true visual of the reality check that would come in the form of “Hard Knocks” over the next 23 years. I guess you could say that was a good thing, and I can truly say if I had to do it all over knowing what I know now…my answer is still a resounding YES! Now, don’t get me wrong…I would do a whole hell of a lot of shit differently and make some better choices in some areas. But the thought of jumping on that thrill ride again makes me smile. Not just smile but smile in that way that makes someone look like they are cooking up some trouble sprinkled with a little mischief.
Part of who I am today is because of the work, love and art of the kitchen and the FoodieLife. However, the urge to sit down tonight and just start spewing these experiences came from one of those epiphanies or life altering moments of clarity that I would always have while on the road with Dad. This one was small at the time, but over the last few months it has turned into one of the biggest mind fucks I have ever experienced. You ready for it? Here it is so simple yet so profound; if I hadn’t said it to myself I never would have heard it. “You don’t have to define yourself by your past, your experiences, other people’s opinions or fear of what other people may think. Do what YOU want to do, no matter what anyone else thinks, including yourself. Because here’s the news flash …If you don’t go do it for yourself no one else will… and guess what? In the end…. No one gets out alive so go out with a bang!” Now some of you may look at that and say well duh! And truly I had been living so much of that statement without even knowing it. Hell, half of it is what made me want to be a Chef. I was an artist, a creator, a pirate and nothing had boundaries on my ability to create other than my imagination. But I still had the stigma of “I am a Chef”, I went to school to be a chef, I trained to be a chef, I put 23 years into being a CHEF!! My definity was very limited….my thoughts and training had been programmed to do things one way and one way only. I had to work hard long grueling hours in hot, hostile and sometimes just downright death defying situations. Now don’t get me wrong…that rush has its place and there are days I crave it. The ticket machine won’t stop, the waitress rang the order in wrong and now you have to re-cook the whole 4 top you just sent out all the while still trying to feed the 300 guests. All of your prep guys called out because they were hung over from the concert or party the night before and you and five other guys have no other choice but to stick it out and fight through this together or no one is getting out of here in time for a beer. Yea in a sick way…… I totally crave that sometimes.
What happened though when I had that life altering moment of clarity, is I realized my Definity has yet to be defined. I have so much more to offer this world and if I kept living by someone else’s metrics of success then im, well…..I’m Fucked!
So, here we are…. FoodieLife was born and I am writing a new chapter. Sure I am still a chef and always will be. It’s in the blood and the chaos has always been my playground. But now……now, I know, I have a whole lot more to offer!
MAY MY DEFINITY NEVER BE DEFINED!!!
Cheers
KH