How the job came about - Part II

My Caribbean visit was cut short by a looming hurricane named Emily. I had a big catering event taking place shortly after my return date and although I was ready to call in some favors and brave the storm; having withstood hurricane Ivan in 2001, my friend advised me otherwise and set to changing my ticket. I returned to New York one and a half days later, with sand in my hair, and still feeling the glow of that warm, Caribbean sun. Emily ended up bypassing Anguilla. However it did manage to halt flights off of the island for a few days, and wreak havoc on Cuba and Jamaica.

Within 24 hours of returning to New York I was on-line looking for jobs in the Caribbean. I’d found a plethora of services where you could pay for job listings, but that didn’t seem like the right route. A few previews of listings stated jobs for “kitchen cheefs”, not quite what I had in mind. I looked on the job board at the French Culinary Institute and found a job listing for a chef at a resort in Nevis. The qualifications and experience they were seeking were more than I had, but I sent my resume in anyway, made a phone call, and was turned down. Next came a listing for a pastry chef in Turks and Caicos, and the chef was an alumni. I immediately called him and asked if he could use a line cook. He said he wasn’t looking at the moment but to try back in October. A friend then came to me with the name of someone who ran a resort and a restaurant in St. Croix, but they were closed for the season and weren’t hiring. But I was determined, so I continued to send my resume around to other resorts and restaurants.

The more I though about it, the more I didn’t see myself working in a resort. I thought that a private chef’s job aboard a boat would be perfect. But then, how many jobs like that are there, and how would I ever find one? But I kept in mind the words my father ingrained in me whenever I’ve had an objective or goal I was reaching towards, "honey, remember the words of Winston Churchill” he’d say, as he chewed his cigar, “never give up, never give up, never give up". And with that, I kept my sights on finding a private chefs job… aboard a boat… in the Caribbean…

I was cruising around the city on my Vespa one day. The sky was a gorgeous azure blue and the light reminded me of the light in Anguilla. I thought to myself, isn’t it funny that people can be worlds apart and yet be looking at the same sky? Me, looking up between brownstones, surrounded by concrete and pavement; someone in the Caribbean looking up from white sandy beaches and crystal clear water… I was also thinking with a little bit of shock and amazement that in such a short time I’d actually sent out a dozen or so resumes for jobs abroad; when I had this overwhelming sense that somehow I would end up working in the Caribbean this winter, it was really just a matter of when and how the job was going to come about. I tend to trust my instincts and so, I just went with it and figured that if it was the right thing – it would happen...

Summer was coming to an end, my Hampton gig was soon to be up and none of my leads were panning out. Necessity was taking precedent, and so I began looking for work in New York City. I interviewed with restaurants in Manhattan and with six years experience, I was offered a job at $10.50 an hour, minimum 10 hour days, six days a week at a three-star French restaurant. There was just no way I could go back to another burn-out schedule. I wanted to have some fun and do something inspiring, not be enslaved...

I read the alumni job board religiously and would send my resume out (albeit, half-heartedly) for cooking jobs around the city when one day, as I combed the board, a job jumped at me. It was a listing for a private chef aboard a 120-foot sailing yacht in St. Barth’s. I thought to myself, "Oh my god, I would love this job! It's exactly what I've been looking for!”, but in a moment of self-doubt and self-pity I also thought, “I probably won’t get it”. Fortunately I had enough sense to apply anyway and I spent the next hour putting together the best possible cover letter I could, and pulling out some nice letters of recommendation that I had tucked away in my files. I sent off the cover letter with my resume, two letters of recommendation from very highly regarded chefs in the industry, and a prayer.

Two days later I got a call that would lift me out of my job hunting funk…