StarChefs, Brooklyn, NY
When I began searching for internships this past spring I wanted to find something that I felt passionate about rather than spend another summer doing a job only to bolster my résumé. Two summers ago, I worked as an intern for a Congressional Representative on Capitol Hill, and while the experience was unique, I quickly realized that politics are not for me. I therefore scoured the internet for an internship that would combine two of my passions: food and writing. I stumbled upon StarChefs, my eventual employer, by Google-searching, “food writing internships nyc” and by filling out an application form. Although it was not quite clear from the website, I learned from my time working there that StarChefs is a small publishing and media company that writes and publishes a quarterly magazine and organizes a large annual event for members of the restaurant industry. The magazine, called Rising Stars, is written by travelling to a large U.S. city, performing dozens of tastings, and selecting 12-or-so winners from the candidate pool (chefs, pastry chefs, sommeliers, etc.). The annual event is called the StarChefs Congress, and it is a symposium that brings together hundreds of national and international members of the restaurant industry together to give presentations, participate in competitions, and get to know each other.
In part because of its humble origins, the internship far exceeded my expectations. The office is very small—only 18 people—and I was the sole editorial intern on a team of four. I was therefore able to get to know the people I worked with very well and was given insight into all of the elements of running a media company. The people I worked with were first and foremost fun, and were free with their knowledge (and restaurant recommendations.) I not only got to know the editorial team, but the entire office. This was an invaluable experience, as I imagine that most editorial interns do not also get a taste of social media, photography, design, marketing, and sales. Although my work was entirely editorial and social media-based, it was enlightening to, for instance, sit in on marketing meetings and get to know how the company makes its money. All of the people who work at StarChefs have to be well rounded and competent in several areas of media, a model which I find it valuable to emulate.
My very first task was to write an email to the entire team introducing myself. This included my interests, reasons for wanting to be involved in food, and some fun facts. I received several response emails immediately welcoming me and giving me recommendations for things to do in the city based on my interests. This was just the first instance of the warmth of my coworkers.
Then I familiarized myself with the StarChefs website so that I could build and upload content. I was given a company email and a user profile within the system, and was then shown how to create recipes, features, and interviews in the website. At first, this meant taking all the content from their most recent magazine (Chicago 2018), building it, and making it available to be published in the future. This took about a week, and I was given similar tasks throughout my two-month tenure at StarChefs. I had never worked in the backend of a website before this summer, and although it doesn’t require any knowledge of computer science, I think that it will be a valuable experience to have, especially if I wish to continue working in media and publications. Beyond working with the website, I got experience with Evernote, which allows the editorial team to build and save restaurant reviews and have them accessible to the entire team. Whenever someone on the team would leave for a tasting (which happened almost every week) I would create empty review sheets and have them prepared. When they returned, I would write captions using the review sheets to go along with our photo galleries. I also did extensive work with Google sheets, which is always useful for organizational tasks.
Another interesting and useful opportunity I was given was the ability to sit in on editorial and social media meetings. These meetings determined the approach the company would take to market itself by creating regular, interesting content. These meetings occur in businesses across the world, and the exposure I got to the dynamics of such meetings was and will be extremely useful. I was able to be an active participant and even pitch some ideas to the team. Although there was a clear hierarchy, the team was ultimately supportive, and gave all ideas, including my own, at least some thought.
The most important part of my time at StarChefs—and the main goal of my working there this summer—was engaging in the editorial process: namely, writing articles. Although I worked during a period when not many articles were written, I was still able to conduct a few interviews over the phone, publish one, and write one article that will be published in a future magazine. I had never conducted an interview before and although I was quite nervous, they went well and were informative. My favorite of the interviews I conducted was with Dan Giusti, a former chef at Noma (one of the best restaurants in the world) and founder of Brigaid, a non-profit that is trying to increase the quality of public school lunch in the U.S. I had an hour-long interview with Dan during which we discussed his background, passion, and the difficulties he faces in his attempts at school lunch reform. My interview with Dan was enlightening not only because he speaks so eloquently on the subject, but because this is an issue that affects the majority of Americans. The rest of my work at StarChefs, while interesting to me, does not apply to those outside of the restaurant industry. It was really cool to be able to talk to someone with such a pedigree and spread the word on a non-profit that is doing important work. My interview was published on the StarChefs website (https://www.starchefs.com/cook/interview/dan-giusti-brigaid- school-lunch) and was my first ever byline, which was very cool. I will also have a byline in the Washington, DC Rising Stars magazine and, according to my supervisor, will be asked to write a few more articles during the school year.
Although being published was the most important and exciting part of my summer experience, the most enjoyable part was being able to sit in on three tastings during my last week at work. I really truly love food, so being able to taste amazing dishes and talk to the chefs behind them was a dream come true. These tastings were all done for the upcoming NY Rising Stars magazine and all took place in Manhattan. I got to taste at Jungsik, the Eddy and Jeju Noodle Bar, all of which were delicious. After the experience, I could see myself working for a newspaper or a magazine as a restaurant critic.
I am truly grateful be able to have the experience I did this summer. I was able to live in New York for two months, write and talk about food, and eat well all thanks to the Alumni Sponsored Internship Program and the Class of 1966.
Megamenu Social