The Kitchen Skaters

by Tanner Price

Opinions expressed in this articles do not necessarily represent the point of view of Best Served. In furtherance of bringing more voices to the table we are committed to sharing varied thinking throughout the industry.

I feel there is a connection between skateboarding and working in a kitchen. Both arts require full commitment and sacrifice. The pain and agony of defeat and the sheer jubilance of success and achievement.

Concrete as smooth to the touch as an unused cutting board. The smell of a Carbondale late-night full-capsule bonfire welcoming the wakening of a Southbend gas broiler. The taste of paella dinners shared within hostels just a nose manual away from MACBA (Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art). The sound of a back smith on a marble hubba and the sizzle of thick-cut-peppered-maple-bacon nearly undistinguishable. The look of pride in landing a trick or flawlessly executing a 5-course dinner. The perfect flick of a kickflip or an omelet.

The falling and failing are part of the contract. They are two of the accompanying constants in these unforgiving pursuits. If you are not bleeding or burning, then you are not pushing yourself hard enough. If you cannot stand the heat, then get out of the kitchen, and if you cannot sacrifice your meat get off the concrete. The chosen paths of the skateboarder and the chef are anything but normal and the intersection into these subcultures can be unearthed within their values.

In the documentary entitled A Beautiful Mind, Rodney Mullen, a legend of the sport, presents skateboarding as far more than a physical construct. He discusses how it is alive, always growing, and it seems that there is no clear end in sight. The same is true for a professional chef and their kitchen. Ideals are placed heavily on freedom and risk, a drive for continued advancement and creativity. Neither have a definitive resolution, there is always more to learn, it could be a new trick or technique, but it is an unknown, and the dream of mastership seems unattainable.

It is a mentality, those who have not experienced, could never understand. Both actions require absolute attention, and every action therein is taken with purpose. The mind must be completely and utterly focused on the tasks of no-lose scenarios. To fully commit and ride away into dreams for what tomorrow will bring. There needs to be visualization before execution. Everybody can do it, but few can get it done, and getting it done begins when the clock is punched out and the skatepark is empty. That plate, menu, trick, and run are completed successfully in the mind before they ever come to fruition.

You are not confined to the rules in either discipline. Naturally in this space one can challenge themselves without having to adhere to uncompromising guidelines on what it means to be successful or deemed acceptable. Individuality is not only encouraged but necessary. A self-defining nature born from the endless scopes relative to both skateboarding and cooking. You can be a street or vert skater just as you can be a pastry chef or saucier. And then being one or the other does not mean better nor does focusing on just one.

Anthony Bourdain, in his article entitled, Don’t Eat Before Reading This, states, “the professional kitchen is the last refuge of the misfit.” The skatepark is the other. I can only imagine a kitchen full of skaters who put the same passion into each plate as they do every trick. Keep the evolution coming and keep them tricks as slick as butter.

©2020 Tanner Price

Tanner Price, a born and raised Coloradoan, started creating menus at age 8 for a class assignment featuring unique items and naming the envisioned restaurant The Treehouse. After 12 years in the industry he had the opportunity to create a menu for a tavern as the Head Chef and since hasn’t looked back. With a zest to explore and discover, his culinary expeditions have taken him to kitchens and galleys at fine dining restaurants, pubs, taverns, golf courses, country clubs, hostels, a luxury dude ranch, and a cruise line. Currently, he is living his dream as a chef on a luxury private super yacht. With a degree from The University of Colorado, Denver in English Writing , Rhetoric, and Technology, Tanner also excels as a story teller with wit and wisdom. “It is one thing to experience the US and International cooking adventures, it is another to write and share stories about them in a way that inspires people to engage in their passions,” says Price. Around food and the table he is at his happiest. He can be reached via email at Tr.Price@outlook.com and loves to share his journey on Instagram at Chef_Dogtown. Chef Tanner is a believer in the dreamers and states, “The only person that can keep you from achieving your goals is you, so become a lion and eat that person.”