Imagine going into a 5-star restaurant and having a plate filled with mouthwatering food, and once you taste it you fall into a euphoria of food heaven. Now imagine that food being cooked by a young chef.
Landon Gentry is a 18-year-old high school graduate, who is very passionate about cooking. He’s been into cooking for the last 6 years of his life and the person that inspires him is his uncle. Mr. Gentry explained how the food his uncle would prepare was unbelievable and that’s why he looks ‘up to him in that aspect’.
“Who most inspired me to become a chef was my uncle, who is also a chef in Boston at the moment.”
Landon Gentry
Landon cooks for his family and he says his best dish is his chicken fettuccine alfredo in which he prepared from scratch. It is very rare for me to find young teens so inspired and passionate about something like this. However, being that he is very young he does get unmotivated, but what keeps him from giving up is reminding himself how much cooking makes him happy. I can relate to that completely. Sometimes I don’t think writing is for me, but then I pick up a piece of paper and pen, and then I think otherwise. That’s exactly how Mr. Gentry feels when he’s in the kitchen.
The actions he has taken so far to progress in his chef career was to apply to various culinary and technical schools to study Culinary Arts. He actually was rewarded for taking 4 years of Culinary Arts in high school and passed the serve safe test. He participated in a cooking competition in 2019 or 2020 at Johnson and Wales and won first place.
As previously stated, Landon’s uncle is his inspiration. Because he knows how hard being a chef is and his uncle works very hard that he barely has time for family. Mr. Gentry expressed how much of a great uncle he has and hopes to be even half as good of a chef as he is.
There were times when they would cook side by side. Like the time when his uncle came to visit and together they made homemade chili with chorizo and beef, in which they fed to the entire family.
“He’s always been such a great uncle and I hope I can be even half as good of a chef as he is and I’ll be happy!”
Landon Gentry
The advice Landon’s uncle has given him and will always live by is, “Always be patient and don’t be afraid to mess up, because the more you mess up, the more you learn.”
I believe this is amazing advice because everyone is afraid to mess up, when they should realize that it’s okay. You will always need a rough draft before the final copy– Chloe Traeger.
Meal Prepared by: Landon Gentry ;Fish Tacos
One of Landon Gentry’s long term goals is to work himself up to the level of executive chef and serve food that is known in many different places. I did ask if he would ever open up a restaurant and he states that he only would like to co own and deal with the kitchen side of things rather than all business. Which is understandable because food is his passion. You wouldn’t want anything to kill your passion because it stresses you out. You want to be able to enjoy your job and be happy.
Landon Gentry is one the most passionate and talented teenagers, that I have ever known. I wish him so much good luck and good fortune on his journey. I hope that he continues to do things that makes him happy so that he can be successful and live his dream to be like his uncle.
Rikky’s Blog 