So, I saw this Chef Byron Gomez, you know, on one of those cooking shows. Looked all cool, calm, and collected. His food? Looked like art on a plate. I thought to myself, “Hey, I can probably do something like that. How hard can it be?” Famous last words, right?
I decided I was going to try and replicate this one dish he made. It had all these tiny components, swirls of sauce, and perfectly placed microgreens. My big “practice” session was all planned out. First step, shopping. That itself took half a day. Finding some of those ingredients was like a treasure hunt, and not the fun kind.
My Big Kitchen Adventure
Then came the actual cooking. Or, should I say, the attempt. My kitchen, usually a pretty chill place, turned into a disaster zone. I had like, five different things going on, timers beeping, stuff burning while other stuff was still raw. It was chaos. I was trying to make these fancy purees and delicate little crisps he makes look so easy.
- One sauce ended up too runny.
- Another component just… well, it didn’t look anything like what he made. More like a blob.
- The plating? Don’t even get me started. My plate looked like a toddler had a food fight on it.
It was supposed to be this amazing, impressive meal. Instead, it was just… a mess. And I used up so many dishes. The cleanup was a nightmare on its own.
Why did I even put myself through this? Well, I had a lot of time on my hands back then. I’d just finished up a big project, and suddenly my days were empty. You know how it is, you start scrolling online, see these perfect lives, perfect food, and think, “I need a challenge! I need to make something perfect.” I guess I was trying to feel super productive and maybe a bit fancy. Thought if I could nail a Chef Byron Gomez dish, I’d really achieved something.
What I actually learned was that those TV chefs? They have a whole team behind them, or at least years and years of practice in crazy professional kitchens. What you see on TV is the highlight reel, not the everyday struggle of a home cook like me trying to figure out why my espuma gun just exploded yogurt all over the ceiling. Yes, that happened.
So now? I still like watching those fancy cooking shows. But when it comes to my own kitchen, I’m sticking to stuff that tastes good without needing tweezers to plate it. Maybe Chef Byron Gomez’s style is awesome for a restaurant, but for my Tuesday night dinner? Nah, I’ll pass. I’m back to making good old comforting food. And you know what? It’s a lot less stressful, and my kitchen stays a lot cleaner.