DISCLAIMER: TLDR. Blah Blah Blah. For my first post I wanted something a bit more personal so here is a more in-depth introduction to well.. me. No one is forcing you to read this >:)

My name is Dustin Jang. As a kid growing up, I never once believed I had a talent or a skill I was good at. This sounds really sad and pathetic, but it was something I later accepted. I don’t believe confidence was what I was lacking. There was just nothing that sparked in an interest in me at the time. Despite all of this, I noticed I did have a sort of competitive drive when it came to video games. I immersed myself in the world of videogames and I was dedicating countless hours into tutorials and what not to be the best that I could be. Sadly, I knew that becoming a professional gamer was not realistic and that only a select few are good enough to earn a living from it.

When it was time for me to graduate high school, I had to decide on my major and plan out my career goals. Engineering eventually was the major I decided to go with, but a couple of unfortunate events led me to choose culinary arts as my backup option. Why culinary? I always enjoyed watching and eating my grandmother’s food and I was so mesmerized by all the chefs on TV. Food Network had such a huge influence on me, and I especially loved watching cooking competitions you see on shows like Iron Chef. I kind of knew that cooking was going to be my calling. I loved the fast paced work environment that was pretty common in most restaurants and I also liked the idea of putting a smile on people’s faces with food I cooked. I knew that I wasn’t going to be making a lot of money as a cook, but it never really bothered me as much as it probably should have.

I started my first kitchen job in a restaurant called Ikemen. I thought I was coming into this job all prepared, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I believed I was a decent cook at the time because I felt like I had more knowledge of the culinary world compared to most kids my age. Oh boy was I wrong! The head chef crushed what little hope I had of becoming a great chef. After a year and a half, I decided I wanted to move on. I did some research on fine dining and soon after, I came across a restaurant called Ray’s and Stark Bar. At Ray’s, I sharpened my skills and got a lot of great opportunities to work with foods I’ve never seen before. It was probably the hardest job of my life but I was working for one of the best chefs in the city. After Ray’s, I staged at several kitchens including Fundamental LA, Eveleigh, and Ba of Highland Park. I fine-tuned my skills even further in the kitchens at Spago Beverly Hills and Bouchon Beverly Hills. Fast forward a couple of years and I’ve already worked with several catering companies, hotels, and private chef agencies. For a guy my age, I have experience and worked in all areas of the food industry.

Right now, I am a private chef and a principal cook at UCLA. I don’t know where my future lies, but I know I am getting closer to reaching my goals.