Meet Caryl Chinn | Culinary Consulting

We had the good fortune of connecting with Caryl Chinn and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Caryl, alright, let’s jump in with a deep one – what’s you’re definition for success?
Fairly early in my career I read an article that described how the definition of success had evolved with each generation. For the Boomers it was longevity / seniority – successful people stayed with a company for a long time and earned more seniority, had a pension, retired with the gold watch, etc. Then the Me Generation of the 80’s came along and it was all about money – successful people made a lot of money and would leave one company for another to make more money. Ostentatious displays of wealth equaled success. For my generation, Gen X, the definition of success changed again to “are you happy?” Because if you weren’t happy, it didn’t matter how long you had been with the company, or how much money you earned – you weren’t successful unless you were happy. So you saw more mid-life career changes, and work places evolving (cue the bean bag chairs and arcade game lounges of the 90’s) I would argue the Millennials have tweaked this to include “are you doing good”” so the successful career now includes a social good component. Long story short – I love my work and what I do, so I consider myself to be successful!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
In both my personal and professional life, I have come to realize how important relationships are. It truly takes work to cultivate and nurture them, I would say a big part of my success is due to investing in these relationships (and conversely, knowing which ones to walk away from) So I’d say one of the things I’m most proud of is the network I have built, and being a great connector. It inspires me to see people I’ve introduced go on to form their own successful collaborations.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Being a professional foodie, naturally my favorite way to show friends LA involves a lot of eating! I have a group of close friends and we sneak to the San Gabriel Valley (SGV) on weekdays for dim sum lunches. We’ve been to so many and eaten so much, we dubbed ourselves the Dumpling Mafia! LA is blessed with such a rich Mexican culinary scene, it’s impossible to list all the various spots, but I’ve done outings with chef friends to Mariscos Jalisco, Guisados, Coni Seafood, and more. The Wednesday Farmers Market in Santa Monica is such an amazing experience. You’ll see the city’s best chefs shopping for their restaurants, and just a mind-blowing variety of fresh produce of whatever’s in season. The street art in LA is a “museum” all of its own! Lately I find myself mapping out a tour of some of the well known spots where locals and visitors alike come to take selfies and enjoy the scene. It’s become one of my favorite ways to show people a different side of LA.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have two figures who were extremely influential in my success: Dan Walker hired me for my first job out of college. He was then the VP of HR at The Gap, and recruited me to work in the HR Department at the Corporate HQ of The Gap. It was my first corporate job, but also he was the one who asked me the “what do you want to be when you grow up” question that started me on my path to a career in the culinary industry. Jeremiah Tower was the first chef I ever worked for. Formerly of Chez Panisse, he had opened Stars Restaurant in San Francisco – there’s a great documentary on him called The Last Magnificent which Anthony Bourdain produced. He introduced me to so many people and things in the culinary world, and just working for him opened so many doors. Nearly 30 years later, I am in touch with both of them to this day!

Website: http://www.carylchinn.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carylchinn/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carylchinn/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarylChinn
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carylchinn