The day started early. Too early. Four-thirty AM. No, I don't plan to make a habit of it. Maybe it was excitement. Maybe nervousness. Maybe both (turns out, Chef-Instructor-Co-Owner Tony woke up around the same time -- "You should have called!" I said).

Everybody arrived a little early as requested, and we each got into our cute Chef-In-Training outfits: full Chef-whites ("As seen on TV"), merciful black pants (traditional Chef's pants are grey checked -- they look like something that either escaped the 70s or the golf course. Neckerchiefs. Small black caps (not the moderate to enormous toques that make the chef look like he's wearing a white souffle on his (or her) head. All very tasteful. I'll put up a picture when I'm awake enough to put the uniform back on and set up the camera to photograph myself. You gotta love a man in uniform.

Inevitable first-day logistics were spread throughout the day, we took things as they needed to be taken. One thoroughly boring part was an apparently legally-mandated reading of all the schools policies & procedures -- 8 pages of them. I suggested videotaping it for the future. It might save a suicide. The rest of the day, however, more than made up for this hour of government bureaucracy -- it was fabulous.