Restaurant labor has been a topic of conversation around here lately. One thing that stands out in our correspondence with cooks and kitchen employees is their (sometimes brutal) honesty. Gunnar's story exemplifies both the passion and the reality of working in a kitchen, and he tells it with an authenticity that clearly extends from his life to his work. We're pretty excited to see how Gunnar and the rest of the team at MeyersUSA bring a touch of the Nordic to their new restaurant and food hall in Grand Central Terminal, NYC. 

When did you know that you wanted to work in food?

I was working as a dishwasher, and if I was super fast, the chef would allow me to help out in the kitchen. It did not take long until I found out what to do with my life. I was about 15 years old at the time and have been in the kitchen ever since.

How did your previous work or life experience prepare you for a good food job? 

I had been a helper at a farm before I got into the kitchen, so I knew how to work hard and work a lot and those two things are maybe the two best things that a kitchen person can have. I also fell in love with nature during those years in the country, and I believe that's a very big part of my cooking today.

What was the greatest obstacle you had to overcome in pursuing your Good Food Job dream? 

I believe that making a life in the kitchen fit with having a wife and four kids has most definitely been the hardest obstacle. Unfortunately, I'm still trying to figure out a way to make it work, but I believe and hope I'm getting better at that.

Name one positive thing that a former employer taught you that you continue to appreciate?

I once worked with a chef in Denmark that told me that no matter how good the food looks, it's always the flavor that counts the most and that I should make sure that the flavors were always there more than the looks. Of course both would be best, but this is something I often think about.

What can you identify as the greatest opportunities in food right now?

I think that for chefs, now is a good time to be alive. The opportunities are endless and the variations of restaurants and jobs are more than ever. Its a much bigger playground than it was in the past.

If you could be compensated for your work with something other than money, what would it be? 

Endless time with my family.