Sunday, August 30, 2009

Chef Gives Up Prestigious Restaurant Job for Soup Kitchen

California's Napa Valley is home to some of the world's finest restaurants. But one of the culinary world's rising stars left the fancy restaurant scene to cook in a far different setting: a Bay Area soup kitchen.

During lunch time at the Bay Area Rescue Mission in Richmond, Calif., just north of San Francisco, culinary director Tim Hammack is demonstrating the best way to chop onions.

"Food's always been a big part of my life since I was young," says Hammack. "I would always cook with mom and my grandma and my dad."

Hammack grew up in the Napa Valley. After high school, his infatuation with fine food led him on a backpacking trip to Europe, where he explored the cuisines of Spain and North Africa. When he returned to California, he eventually landed a job at Bouchon, a renowned French bistro in the Napa Valley town of Yountville, Calif.

But just as his culinary career was taking off, Hammack started questioning where he was headed.

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