Meet Perry Pollaci

 

We were lucky to catch up with Perry Pollaci recently and have shared our conversation below.

Perry, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

I’m very blessed as I have a great support system in my wheelhouse and surround myself with incredible people who are successful, gracious, thoughtful, and wise. sometimes it’s just a simple internal monologue telling myself that things are gonna be OK.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I grew up in a hospitality. My parents own restaurants for many years, so I started as a bus boy and dishwasher when I was a teenager and got in the kitchen by the age of 16. I’ve always been very passionate about food. I have a deep understanding of flavors And products. I went to the culinary Institute when I was 19 years old and then turned at a very fine restaurant for Michael Mina when I was 20. This began my journey in fine dining. I worked under some spectacular chefs in New York City such as Cesar Ramirez, David Bouley, Jeff Zakarian, as well as some incredible chefs (David Feau and Walter Manske in Los Angeles.
Growing up in restaurants and making my way through the ranks from dishwasher to executive chef I did some stints as a private chef in the Hamptons and the New York City and I really got to explore my own cooking style whereas when you’re a cook, you just re-create someone else’s dish over and over again. I ran restaurants for about seven years and honestly, I got pretty burned out and was looking to change career paths being executive chef doesn’t leave a lot of time to hang out with my kids so for the last five years, I’ve been doing private events and cooking for high-end clientele in Los Angeles, and I’ve been fortunate enough to explore other things in life besides a restaurant. Fitness and mental health has become paramount in my life as well as writing. I recorded a couple of records and get to be a present father. I have a new record coming out on August 22 and one of the songs my kids are actually on which is pretty fun.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I think with all the lessons I’ve been given one of the hardest ones to learn is when to ask for help. I know that I’m very good at cooking, but life is a lot more complicated then perfectly roasting a piece of meat one of the most powerful things I’ve learned is saying I don’t know and accepting that I don’t have it all figured out and whento ask for guidance.
I think if you wanna cook, you need to bite the bullet and find a chef that you love and commit to them for at least a year or so and then find another chef that you love and commit to them. It takes a long time to learn because all chefs are similar, but different. Everyone has their own style technique and you pick up all these tricks and you put them in your pocket and then at one point you take all of these tricks and then make them your own.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

I’m big on writing and making list I think naturally I’m very disorganized so keeping a calendar is the best way to set myself up for success. I like to have a board of goals for the month and I like to share that with a friend a parent or a therapist Just someone that can help keep me accountable.
In the morning, I like to do a quick journal kind of check in with myself and where I’m at and there’s all these great little quick reads that I do that are like daily affirmations, stoicism prayers, etc.
I also find that a great workout does wonders for my mental health.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Tim Lawson
Kristyna Archer

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