DC: You spent fifteen years in Corporate America before pursuing your culinary dreams. Explain the process of leaving a job that you may have considered safer versus following your passion.
PP: The safety of a corporate job was hard to leave behind, and I didn’t leave my full-time job right away. It took many years of meticulous planning to be able to follow my passion. I started my career moonlighting as a personal chef in 2006 and later completed my initial training with the acclaimed Culinary Business Academy of the United States Personal Chef Institute (USPCA) in San Francisco. I started a small personal chef business, working with individual clients in their homes to keep my overhead low. Catering jobs soon followed, although my intention was always to go back to culinary school. As a member of USPCA, I was invited to participate in the Sears Chef Challenge, where I battled it out against 24 other seasoned chefs, winning 20K for Los Angeles Food Bank.
After many years of working as a personal chef, I eventually enrolled and earned my culinary degree from the prestigious French Culinary Institute (International Culinary Center) in New York. Shortly after graduation, I appeared and won famed shows like Chopped and Beat Bobbly Flay on the Food Network. It’s been a tremendous transition in the making.
DC: Some people consider you a rising star in the culinary world. What are three skills that you’ve taken from your previous career that has helped you along your journey?
PP: I think the three skills that have helped me the most are planning, asking and networking. Asking. The ability to ask is the easiest, most valued skill in catapulting my career. The old adage is true: “If you don’t ask, you don’t receive.” I’ve used this in many aspects of my culinary career, whether it’s asking for expert advice, opportunities to demonstrate my cooking skills or collaborating with others in the industry. It all starts when you ASK.
I was able to access a lot of opportunities from networking. Networking provided me with a great source of connections, and opened the door to talk to highly influential people within the culinary industry.
Planning allowed me to see the big picture and break it down into small, manageable and action-oriented steps. Going into a new industry is daunting, so it’s important to take big goals and break them down into small actionable steps. My ability to prioritize and get things done, helped to bring that skill into my culinary world.
DC: I know that you specialize in creating specialized and innovative menus. Describe a menu that you designed that you considered your most creative.
PP: I work with a company to create one-of-a-kind menu for a pop-up supper club for food enthusiasts in NY, Miami, and DC. My menu inspiration was based on the French occupation of India in the late half of 17th century in a city called Pondicherry, a beautiful blend of French techniques with Indian flavors and ingredients local to that region.
A few fun dishes that I created for the event were, Cashew Crusted Crab: herb & lentil crepe | carrot & ginger puree, Coconut Oil Poached Halibut: leek beurre blanc | lemon rice | crispy papaya slaw, Hearty Lamb Stew: toasted coriander & coco powder | sweet potato | cipolini onions, Poached Meringue: cardamom creme anglaise | spiced nut & plantain crumble.
DC – You’ve appeared on numerous TV shows including Food Network competing against Bobby Flay. Tell me which chef has been your biggest inspiration as it relates to their food and personality.
PP: Alice Waters, who is a chef, author, activist and pioneer at the forefront of the locally grown, organic food movement. Hailed as “the mother of American cooking,” she opened her visionary restaurant Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California. Shortly after moving to San Francisco, I became enamored with her philosophy and her commitment to finding the highest-quality seasonal ingredients and using a simple, improvisational approach. It reminded me of the simple, yet profound cooking style that I grew up with.