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The Sunday brunch rush aboard the Queen Mary was already in full swing. Servers weaved through narrow galleyways. The pastry station buzzed with trays of fruit tarts and flour-dusted prep tables. And at the center of it all stood a young cook in full uniform: wide-eyed, energized, and completely hooked.
“I was like a kid in the candy store,” says Chef Miguel Olmedo. “I was experimenting, eating, tasting, cooking, asking questions—just totally submerged 100 percent into the culinary world.”
That shift didn’t just kick off a day of brunch service. It launched a career. One that would span fine dining, sushi, 7,000-guest banquets, and award-winning barbecue, and eventually lead Chef Miguel to the classroom as a Chef Instructor at Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts.
Chef Miguel’s story is proof that one unexpected opportunity can open the door to something bigger, especially if you stay curious and keep saying yes.
Chef Miguel Olmedo representing Escoffier with decades of culinary experience behind him.
The Queen Mary: Where It All Began
Before the fine dining menus and barbecue awards, before culinary school and teaching, Miguel’s love for food started in family kitchens. He remembers his grandparents and aunts cooking for hours, layering flavors, building dishes from scratch, and serving meals that brought everyone together.
“The food was so fresh, so good. And that stayed with me,” he says.
So when he stepped into the kitchen of the Queen Mary for a Sunday brunch shift during his first kitchen job, those memories came rushing back. And it didn’t take long for the pace and energy to pull him in.
“I felt overwhelmed, but with excitement,” Chef Miguel says. “There was a lot of lingo and language I didn’t know, and I had to learn the hard way.”
The Queen Mary, an iconic ocean liner turned hotel docked in Long Beach, California, became Chef Miguel’s proving ground. At 6-foot-2, he had to duck through tight galleyways and hunch over low prep tables. He hadn’t been to culinary school yet, so every knife cut and station was a lesson in real time.
“I didn’t even know to tuck my fingers,” he says. “I had a lot of nicks and cuts from those early days.”
Still, he kept showing up. Over seven years, Miguel worked his way through every station on the ship—from banquets and garde manger to hot kitchen—and eventually found his stride in Sir Winston’s, the Queen Mary’s four-star fine dining restaurant. A favorite among Hollywood celebrities looking for a hidden gem close to the city, it drew big names like actor Don Johnson, who came through the kitchen one evening in the late ’80s. Around the same time, Miguel also helped prepare lunch for President Ronald Reagan and his security team during a campaign stop.
Following Curiosity Across Kitchens
From the moment he stepped into his first kitchen, Miguel kept saying yes—to new stations, new techniques, and new flavors.
After the Queen Mary, he transferred to the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim in search of new experiences. There, he dove deeper into banquets and seafood-forward California cuisine, working in a semi-formal restaurant where dishes like grilled swordfish and seared scallops went out in high volume.
But it was his next stop, at the Sheraton in Long Beach, that sparked something entirely new: a love for sushi.
The hotel had a neighboring Japanese kitchen, and Miguel couldn’t stay away. “I was always going over there and watching them roll sushi—and eating it, tasting it, getting my hands on it,” he says. “So I learned the art of how to cook the rice, the knife cuts, the rolling, the presentation. That’s where my love just exploded for sushi.”
By day, he was breaking down large cuts of meats and preparing banquet classics. By night, he was immersing himself in a completely different culinary world: precise, delicate, minimalist, and deeply technique-driven.
That duality captures Miguel’s approach to cooking: every experience is a chance to grow. He never limited himself to one style or station. He learned by doing, watching, asking questions, and then doing it all again.
For months, he juggled two jobs across the street from each other.
“I would work at the Sheraton from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Then I’d walk across the street, clock in at 11:30, and work through the graveyard shift until two o’clock the next day,” he says.
Though officially hired for an on-call part-time graveyard shift, it quickly became a near full-time role over the next six months, sustained by 50-minute power naps. When asked how he powered through that schedule, Miguel doesn’t sugarcoat it. “When you’re young, you feel invincible. You have this energy and this power, the stamina. You just keep going nonstop. And you’re so submerged into the industry. The only thing that keeps you going is, we’ve got to get this job done.”
A Jack of All Trades in the Big City
After months of pulling double shifts in California and saving all he could, Chef Miguel made the leap to New York. He had always wanted to live out of state, and when he moved, he arrived with no winter gear, no job lined up, and no idea what to expect.
But soon after, he landed a role at the New York Hilton and Towers. There, he became a roundsman—someone who works every station in the kitchen, learning each one inside and out.
“A lot of people want to just concentrate on one area, but that puts blinders on you,” Chef Miguel says. “When you become a roundsman, you become a jack of all trades, and that makes you more valuable.”
At the Hilton, he rotated through banquets, soups, garde manger, butchering, sauté, fine dining, and casual service, absorbing something new at every turn. The scale was staggering: 3,000 breakfasts, 7,000 lunches and dinners. And that wasn’t for a holiday rush. That was a regular day.
He even catered for celebrities from time to time. During Comedy Central’s roast of actor Danny Aiello, which was held at the Hilton, Chef Miguel’s team cooked for Aiello, actress Lucy Lawless, and a roomful of VIPs.
Working at that pace meant no shortcuts. Systems had to be tight, timing had to be precise, and every plate had to be consistent.
“You learn to be fast without cutting corners,” he says. “And you learn how to stay organized when the pressure’s on.”
Those lessons stuck.
“It gives you more experience, and you’re also able to pass on knowledge to the future generation,” he says. “That’s what my journey has been about, all the way to where I am now.”
Guiding the next generation of chefs, one dish at a time.
From Brisket Blunder to Barbecue Recognition
After a series of roles on both coasts, Miguel found himself in Texas. He’d been sent by his company to help staff a struggling property, and before long, they offered him a permanent position. New state, new kitchen, new menu, and, soon enough, a new challenge.
In 2000, he was asked to prepare a barbecue banquet for 150 people aboard a boat out on the lake. The menu included brisket, ribs, sausage, and chicken—classic Texas fare. But coming from California, Miguel’s version of “barbecue” looked a little different.
“Even my family, when they talk about [barbecue], they mean burgers and hot dogs,” he says.
He pauses.
“That’s not barbecue.”
Miguel had never smoked a brisket before. He figured it was like any other roast—just throw it on the smoker for a couple hours and call it done.
So that’s exactly what he did.
He smoked the brisket for just two hours.
‘It was inedible. They couldn’t chew it,” he recalls. Even worse, they were out on the lake, not in a restaurant, so there was no fixing it.
Back in the kitchen, his executive chef let him have it: “He said, ‘New York, you can’t cook brisket.’ I had to say, ‘First of all, I’m from Southern California.’ But still, he wasn’t wrong.”
Instead of brushing off the mistake, Miguel took it personally, and turned it into fuel. He dove headfirst into the world of barbecue, learning everything he could about woods, rubs, smoke, time, temperature, and regional traditions. He talked to pitmasters. He visited legendary joints. He tested recipes and kept refining the brisket that had once flopped so hard.
Eventually, that same dedication paid off in a big way. In 2003, Better Homes & Gardens visited the restaurant where Miguel was Executive Chef, looking to feature standout barbecue chefs and recipes. They ended up naming him one of the top 10 chefs in the country for barbecue and featured one of his recipes in the magazine.
“I was shocked,” he says. “Why me? I’m not a pitmaster. But I tried to learn everything I could, and I kept showing up. That mistake really lit a fire under me.”
How Miguel Brought It All Back to the Classroom
After years spent in fast-paced kitchens and high-pressure roles, Chef Miguel found himself drawn to a different kind of challenge: teaching.
Throughout his career, he’d mentored countless cooks, from prep staff to breakfast line cooks and banquet teams. Eventually, he realized he wanted to make that part of the job his full-time focus. So when a former pastry chef-turned-instructor invited him to teach at Escoffier, he said yes.
Escoffier Chef Instructor Miguel Olmedo demonstrates how to skin a piece of salmon using only his hand to do so.
Now in his ninth year at the school, Chef Miguel brings decades of hands-on experience (and a whole lot of heart) to the next generation of culinarians. He teaches foundational culinary courses, walking students through knife skills, classic sauces, stocks, proteins, and the building blocks of classic cuisine. But his lessons go far beyond technique.
His goal? Build confidence. Teach grit. Normalize mistakes.
“You’re going to be in foundation courses. You’re going to make mistakes. We expect you to,” he tells his students. “If you don’t make a mistake, you’re not going to learn. Make those mistakes now, so when you’re out in the industry, you don’t make them later.”
He’s the first to say that the most important thing is not to shut down when something goes wrong.
“Grab the bull by the horns and dive in,” he says. “Learn what went wrong, figure out how to fix it, and move forward.”
For students in their twenties, he encourages full immersion. Now’s the time to absorb everything. Learn the basics. Build a recipe library. Practice your cuts. Make the mistakes and grow from them.
Miguel brings real-world experience into every lesson.
But Chef Miguel’s encouragement doesn’t stop there. He’s a firm believer that it’s never too late to enter the kitchen.
In your thirties? “You’re more focused, more serious about what you want,” he says. “You’ve gotten through the restless years, and now you’re more settled in your vision.”
In your fifties? “We see students in their fifties all the time. Some are ex-military. Some are semi-retired. For them, it’s not a hobby, it’s a passion they’ve held for years. Now that they have the space and time, they can finally go after it.”
No matter your age or background, Miguel’s advice stays the same: show up, do the work, and stay hungry to learn.
He also encourages students to seek out jobs that stretch them.
“If you really have the passion—which you should—find a workplace that’s going to teach you different stations,” he says. “It makes you more valuable, stronger, and more adaptable.”
While he’s all for fine dining and small restaurant experience, Chef Miguel advises students not to stay in one place too long.
“Learn from it. But don’t stay there forever,” he says. “Move around every two or three years to gain more experience.”
The Long Game: Finding Balance in a Demanding Industry
These days, Chef Miguel is still doing what he’s always done: staying curious and showing up with intention. But he’s also learned the importance of balance, especially after years spent in high-pressure kitchens.
He makes time to move—hiking, biking, running when he can—not just for health, but to stay strong enough to keep teaching with focus and energy.
“The key to handling stress in this industry is taking care of yourself: mind, body, and spirit,” he says.
Escoffier Chef Instructor Miguel Olmedo mixes fun with skill when he teaches, like when he tournees a potato blindfolded behind his back.
He also carves out time to explore the restaurant world outside the classroom. Chef Miguel regularly visits both fine dining spots and casual neighborhood kitchens, paying attention to presentation, ingredients, and evolving styles.
“Go see what’s happening now,” he tells his students. “Taste what other chefs are doing. That way, when I come back to teach, I’m not just teaching what was relevant ten years ago. I’m refreshed, I’m stronger, and I can give students insight into what’s happening now—and where the industry is heading next.”
It’s just another way he leads by example: staying inspired, staying engaged, and always making room to grow.
A Message for Aspiring Chefs
‘You never know how far you can go if you don’t try.” Miguel says. It’s a simple piece of advice, but one that shaped his entire career.
From novice cook on the Queen Mary to award-winning chef and respected educator, Miguel’s journey wasn’t mapped out in advance. It was built step by step through curiosity, persistence, and a willingness to grow.
“They always say you choose the profession. I think the profession chose me because that’s the path that I’ve taken without me looking forward to forcing myself into it,” he says. “It kind of just fell into place.”
That lived experience is what makes Miguel such a powerful presence in the classroom. He understands that culinary careers don’t always follow a straight line, and that’s okay. Whether his students are 18 or 58, just starting out or pivoting mid-career, he meets them where they are and encourages them to keep moving forward.
“I aspire to inspire,” he says with a laugh.
For future culinarians, Miguel’s story is both a roadmap and a reminder: you don’t need a perfect plan. Just the courage to begin.
If you’ve ever thought about stepping into the kitchen, explore more about Escoffier’s culinary programs or contact us today for more information.
