👋 Hey there! I'm Zach I've spent nearly 20 years working my way through professional kitchens, from line cook to Lead Line Cook and ultimately Kitchen Manager. Today, I manage kitchen operations, people, quality, training, inventory, food costs, sanitation, and the countless moving parts that keep a kitchen running.
While my career has taken me further into culinary leadership, my interest in technology and development hasn't gone anywhere. I'm still an aspiring developer, learning and experimenting whenever I have the time. Programming is something I genuinely enjoy, and I intend to keep developing those skills regardless of where my professional path ultimately leads.
My interests have always lived at the intersection of creativity, problem solving, technology, and learning. Whether I'm building something with code, figuring out a better system in the kitchen, researching mythology, or learning something simply because I want to understand it, I'm happiest when I'm learning something new.
My professional career has been built in the restaurant industry, where I've developed a strong foundation in leadership, organization, problem solving, and operational management.
As a Kitchen Manager, my responsibilities include:
👥 Staff leadership, training, and development
📋 Kitchen organization and operational systems
🥩 Food quality, consistency, and portion control
🧼 Sanitation and food safety
📦 Inventory management and purchasing
💰 Food cost and waste control
⏱️ Scheduling, workflow, and productivity
🔧 Troubleshooting and problem solving
📈 Maintaining standards while working within real world constraints
Working in a professional kitchen has taught me that good systems matter. A kitchen is essentially a fast moving production environment where communication, efficiency, consistency, and adaptability determine whether everything works or falls apart.
Those lessons carry over surprisingly well into programming.
I'm still working toward becoming a professional developer, although development is currently a personal pursuit rather than my primary career path. I'm particularly interested in:
- Full stack web development
- JavaScript and modern web technologies
- Game development
- Pixel art and creative technology
- Artificial intelligence
- Automation and useful software
- Building tools that solve real problems
I have experience with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, JSON, Git, and other technologies, and I'm continuing to expand my knowledge at my own pace.
My long term goal isn't necessarily to abandon the culinary world for technology. I'm interested in where the two worlds overlap.
My curiosity extends well beyond technology. I'm particularly interested in Germanic and Norse mythology, comparative mythology, linguistics, history, folklore, and the ways cultures preserve, reinterpret, and transform their traditions. I don't have a formal academic position or degree in these fields. My approach is that of an independent scholar: studying primary sources, academic research, historical context, linguistic evidence, and competing interpretations because I genuinely want to understand the subject. I'm a lifelong learner with a deep respect for wisdom, logic, tradition, and the pursuit of knowledge. I have an unhinged hunger for knowledge, for lack of better words.
When I'm not working or studying, I'm usually doing something creative or technical.
My interests include:
🎸 Electric guitar and metal
🎮 Gaming
💻 Computers and technology
🍳 Cooking
🪵 Whittling, carving, and woodburning
🎨 Pixel art and digital creativity
🧙 Comparative mythology and folklore
✍️ Writing
🧩 Programming and game development
I’m always open to connecting with fellow developers, mentors, and collaborators.
- ⚡ Fun Fact: After 18 years of cooking professionally, I've prepared an absurd amount of food. I obviously haven't kept a running tally of every plate I've cooked, but based on the volume I've worked with over the years, my career estimates are somewhere around: 🌮 300,000+ tacos 🍔 100,000+ burgers 🥩 25,000+ steaks 🍳 Countless thousands of other dishes, sides, and meals
🗨️ Favorite Quote:
"Moderately wise a man should be,
not too crafty or clever.
A learned man's heart,
whose learning is deep,
seldom sings with joy."
~ Hávamál Stanzas 54 to 56
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