Macon Magazine

go to other schools and spent exorbitant amounts of money, and the consensus was to stay here and do this program. If I wanted to learn, I'd learn. They had the tools I needed. What's one cooking tip you learned at Helms College that readers would find helpful? Learning the concept of mise en place, which means "everything in its place." Before you start cooking, get everything that you're going to need for the whole recipe ready in one place and in order. The less you have to move or think while cooking, the better your dish is going to come out. If you can master mise en place, you can do an afternoon's worth of cooking in 40 minutes. Who or what inspires you to create your dishes? I draw on a lot of things I saw my grandmothers do. I like everything I eat, so I draw inspiration from a variety of areas, including a lot of international cuisine. I read a lot of cookbooks. What is a favorite dish of your grandmother's to prepare? These sugar cookies of my MeMaw's. I also love her scratch biscuits. She's still with us, so I still get to have her cooking from time to time. What is your go-to comfort food? I have a really big sweet tooth! I love candy. Where is your favorite place to dine in Macon? I love La Bella Morelia. They have great tacos! I like Piedmont Brewery. I like Fresh Air Barbeque. I love barbecue in general. I think a barbecue sandwich is just about the perfect food. Bombay Curry — it's an Indian restaurant in Bloomfield Village. Why stay in Macon to work? After learning about the history of Macon, the river and ecosystem, the small farms here, the music history — there's absolutely no reason for me to go anywhere else! People here are more and more looking for an interesting dining experience and to try things that they haven't tried before. And Dovetail is absolutely the best place I've ever worked! Charlotte Ethridge OWNER/CHEF, HARP AND BOWL LA BISTRO How did you get started in the culinary field? I had cancer. I was changing my diet and looking for things that would build my immune system and make a healthier diet, and that's kind of what led me to wanting to open up a restaurant. Most restaurants weren't healthy, so I wanted to do a restaurant that would put more nutrition in the body. That's why you chose culinary as a career? It is. There were so many people with cancer and AIDS and sickness, and they weren't able to make those foods for themselves. You know, when you have chemo, you're so weak, you can't make a gallon of juice yourself, or you have mouth sores and can't eat a five-pound bag of carrots, but you can drink that. What were you doing before you went to Helms College? I was studying and training with Donna Gates — that owns Body Ecology — on how you could incorporate foods with healing the body. Tell me about your experience at Helms College. It was fabulous! I learned so much, way beyond what I dreamed I would learn. To have them be so professional and push us so hard — that made us so successful. They really weren't playing around. They had you in there to teach you how to run a company. Why did you choose Helms College over other culinary schools? They had the bistro that was run by the students, so I felt I would get more experience cooking for a restaurant and having hands on with that than somewhere else just doing book work. FEBRUARY/MARCH 2023 | maconmagazine.com 109

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