For the second year in a row, Chef Pierini and a small group of culinary students, were invited to assist catering for the Golden Globe Awards.
The award show was hosted out of the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Executive Chef Troy Thompson, who is the head chef at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, requested the culinary team.
Last year when Chef Thompson asked Pierini to put together a small group of students and cater the event, it was something of an experiment.
According to Pierini, he selected students by taking the first 24 students who expressed they wanted to be apart of the experience.
Pierini recalled no one really knew exactly the magnitude of work required for the 3-day weekend event, including himself.
He went into detail about how the massive kitchen they worked in for the weekend produced about 16,000 meals between the 5 parties and the event.
Pierini said, “Here (culinary kitchen) you do something 5 or 6 times, there (Beverly Hilton) you do one thing 1,200 times.
There were two girls that were cutting radishes into circles for two days straight for 16 hours. That was the boring job, the other ones got to sear salmon and they got to do other things,” he stated.
By the end of the event, Thompson was so impressed by how well trained the students were that he hired some of them full time to work in the kitchen permanently.
This time around, Pierini selected the students he wanted to work for the event.
“I knew the amount of work that was involved. I took about 8 from last year that had done it before, so they knew what they were getting themselves into.
“And then, I hand picked them out of the kitchen. It’s not a school event, it’s not a student event, and it’s not like a field trip,” he expressed.
Pierini said his group of returning and new students he took this year, and the students that were hired from working last year’s event, made up almost half of the staff working in the kitchen.
Kimberly Anzaldo, culinary arts major, stated, “For me I didn’t know what to expect. My first day I got there I was so nervous, but the Executive Chef Troy Thompson, super nice guy, he did help us. They demonstrated for us, and told us what they wanted.
“We prepped since Friday, all day. Saturday, we came in at different times. It was more work, more produce, but it was fun. It was a good experience for me. I want to focus on banquets and coordinating events. I learned a lot from them,” said Anzaldo.
She admitted that she took it as an experience to help her in the future, and that now she knows what the chefs expect from them in the kitchen.
Illene Ordonez, baking arts major, expressed that she as well didn’t know what to expect.
Ordonez acknowledged that, “The difference between here and there is that everything moves faster. It’s like you’re running all the time. But it was a good experience because you find what’s easier for you to make it faster.
“And when I came back to the regular kitchen, I found myself moving faster. I think this program prepared me well for the Golden Globes Awards.”
