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By Ginny Downs
One mid-afternoon recently my curiosity about what interested Chef Andy Rose in Pursuing his Career was sat-isfied. It followed a series of other work experiences he had from east to west.
Speaking of his early years, he said he was born in 1956 and brought up in Wantagh, Long Island, “which was considered a small town, though it was bigger than Burlington. Basically it was living the suburban dream. Mom stayed at home and Dad was an engineer for a small firm on the island, producing electronics for part of an air-plane. My sister Amy is a year older than me. We walked to school.”
Andy‟s parents both attended New York City College. His sister went to college and became a horticulturist. “Right now she is manager of a plant nursery in Bristol, Vermont. Her son Matt White is a caregiver here,” he said. Andy was happy to say that his parents live nearby now in Williston.
“I met Michelle, my future wife-to-be, at Champlain College. We were both eighteen years old. Michelle worked in the hospitality field after we were married, often a front/person or cashier, depending on where we were living. She worked in Burlington as a bookkeeper for a firm that sold musical equipment to bands. It was called „The Mixing Board.‟ Michelle went back to school for a bachelor‟s degree in child care and is now teaching at the Pine Forest Children‟s Center, a day care Facility.”Their daughter, Sarah, will be a freshman at the University of Vermont this fall. She will be getting a business degree.
Andy, Michelle and Sarah live in the North End of Burlington. “It‟s next to Leddy Park,” Andy says. “There are a lot of trails, so we take our two well-trained dogs out for walks often on the bike path nearby.” Asked if he likes to run, he said that Michelle is the Runner. “I‟m more into cars and motorcycles,” he explained, though he was a sprinter during his high school years. “Michelle likes to run in half marathons and I like to watch.”
Though Andy was not interested in cooking as a little kid, he explained, “when I started to have some interest, there were no colleges offering courses that would prepare me for that. My parents were moving to Vermont that year. I went to Champlain College with a marketing major. I drove up on my motorcycle from Long Island. I had signed up for one year, then planned to transfer to the University of Vermont.” He arrived to find no dorm rooms at Champlain. “So I made one in an empty closet in the hallway. I had a hot plate and a wok from my mom and a cookbook so I could feed myself. Then I started feeding half the dorm! At this point I thought this could be very creative and maybe I can do this for a living,” Andy continued. “Then I thought about this school called the Culinary Institute of American in Hyde Park, New York which is right on the Hudson River, about an hour above New York City. After graduating, I ended up being an apprentice at the Woodstock Inn, in Vermont, back when they had giant Saturday night buffets and Sunday brunches. An unbelievable experience!”
From there Andy went to the Jackson Lake Lodge in the Wyoming Grand Tetons. He worked in the French kitchen of Domaine Chondon, makers of sparkling wine. Later Andy returned to New England, and worked for the Hideaway Lodge in New Hampshire. Andy then left New Hampshire to become the Executive Chef for the Windjammer Corporation in South Burlington, Vermont. He remained there for 20 years. There he met an em-ployee, Peter Stowe, who eventually left for another job. A few years later Peter called Andy to tell him the chef at Shelburne Bay Senior Living Community, had left, would he consider applying for the job? With very little contemplation Andy said yes and he has never regretted his decision.
“Peter is the chef who runs the kitchen, making sure the food preparation is going well and is in charge of the bank of cooks and dishwashers. I do more training, scheduling and ordering,” Andy explained. “We‟re al-ways inventing dishes, depending on the time of year. We‟re not restricted and we‟re used to it. Most places don‟t have that freedom.” he smiled and added, “sometimes we succeed and sometimes we don‟t!”
“My wife and daughter are both vegetarians, so that‟s how I cook at home. We have Chili a lot with a mari-nade and hot spices. We have a garden near our house. It makes a nice landscape. Right now we are en-joying sugar snap peas.” He adds, “Baking is pretty much an exact science, you need to follow a recipe, though you can make adjustments.”
I asked Andy how he and Peter were adjusting to the prospect of more diners to feed with the opening this year of the new building, his answer was positive. “We have no problem with delivering thirty five extra din-ners to the third floor of this building,” was his answer. “The distance to the new building is about the same.”
When I asked if he would consider giving talks on what it‟s like to be a chef as he did before I became a resi-dent here, his answer was equally prompt. “I‟d be happy to do it when the Great Room is available again.
Story written and edited by resident Ginny Downs, a University of Vermont graduate, who had a long career of writing for company magazines, Vermont Life and newspapers in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Look for Ginny’s next biography in the September Newsletter.
