brownbag

brownbag xmas
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.

It's no secret to most people thaat know me that I love to cook and aspire to one day open up our own restaurant/catering service.

My father is a fantastic chef and once made plans to open up something in Charleston, SC, but things happen and once we moved overseas his dream was never realized. I've decided to take up that dream in his honor.

Fast forward to my college years. To pay my way through art school I was lucky enough to be hired by a family owned restaurant, called The Lady and Sons. With no experience whatsoever I worked my way up from busboy to server to night manager and even asked to partner up with the owners to open a new restaurant in Savannah's sister city, Charleston! All in my first year working there!

Paula Deen and her two sons, Bobby and Jamie, were very much like my family while I stayed in Savannah for 5 years while I attended school. I was truly lucky to work for such an amazing family who welcomed me in and put so much trust into someone who had no prior experience. When Paula initially asked me to open a new location in SC I was quite honored and shocked. Now you ask - who is Paula Deen? She is author of several Random House recipe books that are best sellers and featured frequently on QVC, New York Times, The Today Show amongst others. She also has a cooking show on the Food Network, called Paula's Home Cooking. It couldn't have happened to a more deserving family.

Unfortunately, I took the longer road to personal success and decided to pursue my career in graphic design in Florida. Quite happy with the progression of my design, the restaurant bug never left me. For almost a year now, I've introduced and managed a catering service, named brownbag. Once a week, I cater to The Golf Channel for a set number of people and feature all kinds of dishes. It can range from Italian to Japanese to American fare and so on. It's been a success. The response has been mostly positive and has only heightened my desire to begin our dreams of one day opening one of our own restaurants.

I realize it's hard work and the odds are against us that it'll be successful. If it fails it won't be for lack of desire or hard work. Today El and I decided to thank our "clients/guinea pigs" with a comped lunch. Today we featured our famous Chicken Chunk Sandwich on Marbled Rye or Wheat; a tossed salad with olive oil and vinaigrette; and a delicious homemade 15 bean soup - my first foray into soups. Everyting turned out awesome - the chafing dishes and pans were cleaned out! Sadly, the holiday season has taken a toll on us and we need some rest. Also because the recent hurricanes hurt Florida crops, produce is very pricey. I may resume brownbag in the Spring, but of course, nothing is for certain. Anyways, our customers deserved a little Christmas "thank you" for their support and interest so this was our way of saying so.