Before Gisselle Huerta joined the team at Mint Mark, she had only a vague idea of what working in a restaurant kitchen entailed. Her second year of culinary school at Madison College coincided with the pandemic lockdown. Most classes were online, and while students did get to cook in person, the restaurant service element — normally a component of Madison College’s program — was missing. “I’m glad that I went to culinary school because I learned the basics,” says Huerta, “but working in [a restaurant] kitchen is a big difference, and you learn a lot that school doesn’t teach you.”
After completing an internship at Mint Mark, Huerta didn’t return to culinary school. Instead, she began working full time as a line cook at the eastside small plates restaurant. “I started as the fryer and then [went] to the plancha [flat-top grill], then making pastas and then garmo [garde manger],” Huerta says. Now, as sous chef, she works Mint Mark’s Friday Martini Luncheon and weekend brunch, overseeing a team with two other cooks…