Who is a sous chef? A sous chef is the second in command in a kitchen. In French, the term literally means “under chef,” and this individual is an important part of the restaurant he or she works in, ensuring that everything runs smoothly whether or not the Executive Chef is present. The duties of the job can vary widely, depending on the restaurant and its command structure. This position in the culinary world can be extremely demanding but a great career path for those who want to become an Executive Chef one day. We’ll be introducing you to our talented sous here on our blog and first up is Andrea Anom, Sous Chef in DC:
I grew up in Stone Mountain, GA with my parents and older brother. We are a very tight knit family and my favorite family rituals are Sunday dinners and movie nights. I started cooking at home in the kitchen with my mother, father, and grandmother. My family was always cooking and eating and the first thing I learned how to make was a casserole. We had cookouts quite often so food was always a reason to gather, play music, and just have a good time.
I’ve always loved cooking and thought about being a chef but had a passion for medicine so I began college with a major in biology and planned to attend medical school. I got a job as an office assistant in the orthopaedic department at Grady Hospital with the Emory School of Medicine and it was amazing. I sat in on a few surgeries and was surrounded by doctors constantly. I soon realized that doctors have no lives and medical school is very expensive and I thought to myself, “If I’m gonna be broke until I’m 30 and work constantly, I might as well do what I really want to do and I want to be a chef!” The next week I changed my major to nutrition. At the time, I was a server because it was hard to bartend or be a line cook with no restaurant experience. I eventually graduated from Georgia State University with a Bachelors of Science in Nutrition. I decided not to go to culinary school because I was already working in restaurants while obtaining my undergrad degree.
In June of 2012, I found a job listing for Barcelona in Inman Park (Atlanta). At the time, I was cooking at The Cheesecake Factory and was looking for a new challenge.
I accepted the job at Barcelona and trained with then Sous Chef, Justin Gottselig, and I fell in love with my job. I started on cold tapas, worked my way to fry, switched to prep, came back to the line to learn the grill station and then landed on sauté. The sauté station is my baby. It’s a beast but you know you’re a lead line cook when you can make it through your push and then run down the line to bail cold tapas when they get slammed with desserts. I did a little bit of everything in Atlanta. I worked the line three days a week and I prepped two days a week. It was fun to have my hands in so many stages of the food. I definitely became a mother to the empanadas yelling at fry cooks, “Hey! Don’t just throw those in the drawer! Do you know how long those take to make?” It may sound ridiculous but it is the truth.
A part of the reason I started working for Barcelona is because I love all types of ethnic food and I wanted to travel anywhere and everywhere. I heard we were expanding to DC so I contacted our Culinary Director, Adam Halberg, and asked him what the requirements were for trainers. Three months later, I was on a Greyhound to DC. I knew the DC location was going to be looking for Sous Chefs so I made it my mission to continue to work hard and show that I could be a great Sous Chef for Barcelona.
Originally I was DC’s AM Sous Chef but recently my schedule has become more diverse. This gives me a better idea of how our store operates throughout service and gives me the opportunity to become more familiar with the challenges of expediting and running a PM shift. Generally, I’m responsible for supervising and organizing an array of staples that includes all prep items, sauces, accoutrements for specials, the produce order, and most recently the large weekly truck order we receive from Fairfield Foods and our own warehouse.
Ironically, I love that every day is completely different and I never know what is going to happen. Each day challenges me to not only have a productive shift/service but also to make it better than the day before. This can be quite frustrating when managing different personalities, schedules and deliveries. A kitchen truly is organized chaos every day!
Working with Chef Steve Brand is amazing! He’s very honest and straight forward. His energy makes you want to work hard with him. I think we work so well together because we have similar ideas of how to manage time. We both like to push ahead and think about what could be prepared today to make tomorrow more successful. I think he appreciates my organizational skills. Steve is a really good teacher which is one of my favorite things about working with him. It is very hard to find people who see what you want for yourself and are willing to share their knowledge to help you obtain it.
Needless to say I’ve learned a lot working at Barcelona. The transition from line cook to Sous Chef was challenging at times. Learning how to manage people and product properly is an on-going learning experience.
The only thing I would advise someone who wants to be a chef or work in our industry is to make sure you love it. Working in a restaurant is not easy. The hours are long; sometimes guests and co-workers are challenging; you or something you own always smells like food and sometimes you have no life. However if you love food, it makes everything you go through worth it. I love food. I love seeing people happy because I made something delicious. I’ll never get tired of learning about food and sharing that love with the people in my life 
