Community

Recently, I was listening to a podcast when someone used the word neighborhood.

Another person asked, “Why that word? Why not community?”

That stopped me in my tracks. What does community mean?

If you look it up, it’s “a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common” or “a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.”

I thought I knew what that meant — until recently.

When Disaster Strikes

Hurricane Milton taught me something that thirty-plus years in kitchens had not:

In the aftermath of a natural disaster, your community is everything.

As chefs, our instinct is to feed people. We want that hot meal to feel like a warm hug.

We want those who have lost so much to feel human again.

Seva: The Heart of Service

But community, for a chef, is more than just feeding others.

It’s about Seva — a Hindi word meaning selfless service performed for the benefit of others.

I’ve lived in this industry long enough to know the other side of that coin:

If you give and give without recharging, you burn out.

And recharging looks different for everyone.

For some, it’s silence. For others, it’s the bottom of a bottle or a quick escape from the pain.

After a 10-hour shift serving 200 people, standing in front of a mini inferno, the last thing you want is more noise. You want your downtime.

“If you’ve never been in the industry, you’ll never truly know the sacrifices we make.”

More Than a Network

For most of my career, I thought community meant having a network of chefs to swap ideas with.

I was wrong.

Real community is deeper.

It’s surrounding yourself with like-minded, healthy people who lift you up and have your back.

It’s the freedom to drop your guard, to let others see your weaknesses, and to let them help turn those weaknesses into strengths.

It’s having more than your own voice — it’s having many.

When Community Shows Up

Real community shows up for you.

They eat at your pop-ups.

They help you troubleshoot a recipe.

They call you when you’re struggling.

They drive an hour after a 15-hour shift just to sit and break bread with you.

They light up when you walk into the room.

That’s love. That’s family.

1,385 Miles from Home

I have more community 1,385 miles from my home than I ever thought possible.

And if you asked me what the most important thing is for someone starting out as a chef, one of my answers will always be:

Find your community.