Hello my name is Charles Leonard Russ; I’m 25 and live in Colorado Springs Colorado. I live with my mother, step-father and my two half siblings. It has been my dream for a long time to enter the culinary world. I have been doing most of the cooking in my house for a little over 15 years now, and it always makes me happy to go into the kitchen with a new recipe and cook it up. The smells, textures, and; tastes there is nothing about cooking I don’t enjoy. I even have fun peeling potatoes. Just being in the kitchen is a joy for me. The thing’s that got me motivated to start cooking was my mom, she was always in the kitchen trying out stuff and she had me help and very soon I was doing the cooking. Then one night we sat down and on cable was Iron Chef. The battle was carp and watching them cook was just magical. It inspired me to try anything and I knew then that I wanted to cook! Not just as a something to do for my family, but as a career.

The reason I chose The Art’s Institute is because in truth is the only one I feel comfortable going to, there were a few choices down here in Colorado Springs, but I didn’t have as much faith that I would learn as much from them as I would at The Art’s Institute. When I watch shows like Iron Chef, and Chopped it amazes me how many of those outstanding cooks have all had training at Art’s Institute. It inspired and pushed me to look into your school, I was amazed at the sheer number of culinary programs you where offering. I’m so excited just to be in those kitchens and possibly learn from everything I can because The Art’s Institute is in my mind the only school for cooking I can see myself going to.

My culinary goal is to become a Chef. I don’t know what kind of chef because to be honest I don’t know what the different types of chefs are, but I want to run my own kitchen. Cook for people have a staff with me to produce the best food we possibly can and to pass on what I learned to everyone I meet as a chef. My goal is to meld together the clean delicate styling of Japanese cooking with vegetarian cooking to create something clean and beautiful but also healthy and delicious. I want to leave the school with a very firm grasp of the basic cooking skills so no matter where the world of food takes me I will be able to handle the challenges ahead.

My career goal is to open my own vegetarian restaurant and possibly become or compete on Iron Chef!! I want to open my restaurant because at least here in Colorado Springs you don’t see a vegetarian restaurant. All I have seen are vegetarian options which when I see them for the most part they look like glorified side dishes. My goal is to change that to open a real vegetarian restaurant that will give them whole meals that feel like more than just a side dish, but I want to incorporate the elegance of Japanese cooking so that the dinners can get a feeling that by coming here they are royalty. The reason I want to open this restaurant is my mother, she is unable to eat meat so we do vegetarian and she has been the wind under my wings my friend, teacher, inspiration so to me to open a restaurant where she can come eat and feel like it’s a meal not salad and side dishes is what I want. I want to do it for myself and my family which has supported me all this time, I want to give something back to them not open a restaurant for money and fame ,but to serve good honest food for people who love it.
So thank you for this opportunity to apply at your prodigious school, I hope to be accepted in The Art’s Institute culinary program. If you do accept me it would mean the world to me and a HUGE step in reaching my dreams.