A Ray of Hope

A Ray of Hope

After suffering an unexpected health crisis, Georgianna Chuaunsu utilized her drive towards a future in cuisine as motivation to get back her mobility. Now, after studying with Chef Kristi Descher at the Falling Rabbit in Atlanta, GA, she has a job as a line chef and is well on her way to making her dreams come true. We sat down with this passionate young woman to discuss food as culture, her journey, gender disparities in the industry, and the program. 

How did you originally become interested in the culinary arts? 

I’ve always liked food. It was one of the things that I thought I was really good at. I had an innate passion for it. I figured if I was going to do a job, dealing with that stress, then I wanted to do something I cared about. 

You say you felt you were good at it, how did you discover this gift?

I grew up in the Philippines and we had people who worked for us cooking– my dad, who could cook, was always busy working and my mom couldn’t cook. When our cooks left, I volunteered to take over. The first couple meals were questionable- rare chicken at best. Lots of, um let say, ‘interesting’ flavors and combinations. It was just, ‘everything into the pot.’ From there, I learned and grew on my own from watching cooking shows. I became more intentional about it. 

The Philippines has such a rich food history and culture. Is that the type of cuisine you like to focus on? 

I’m actually Chinese Filipino, which means I’m 100% Chinese, but I was born and raised in the Philippines. We have a sort of fusion. We combine a Cantanese style of Chinese food with Filipino food. When I started cooking for my family, I learned to lean a bit more towards the Chinese style with a little bit of Filipino here and there. That’s the flavor profile me and my family like– we are more used to this fusion. When I tried to go full Cantanese, they weren’t the happiest. I started to infuse the two together. 

A lot of seasoned chefs discuss food as a map of culture and intersectional identity. It’s interesting that you were engaging in this conversation instinctually from such a young age. 

For sure! I used to live in Maui, Hawaii, and I only moved here to Atlanta like a year ago. We had just moved to America from the Philippines and were missing food and really homesick. It was in the time of the pandemic, so we couldn’t go and visit. There were dishes I started finding ways to make to bring us a sense of comfort and familiarity. It brought us a sense of home in a difficult time. 

Atlanta is becoming a pretty world-renowned food city, what was it like moving there? 

When I came here, I got so inspired. Any kind of food I can think of is available. I’ve learned so many new types of food; middle eastern, legit Hispanic food. They have amazing east, southeast, and South Asian food. I finally got to have some good-ass ramen! I’d been craving it for so long. I ate it and felt ecstatic, all those happy hormones came at once. 

How did you start pursuing your formal food education? 

I started in a more traditional culinary school and wasn’t a fan of it. I was looking for alternatives and my dad found CASA. I thought it seemed pretty cool, because it was so hands-on. 

What was your initial perception of the program? 

I was so impressed with how accommodating everyone was. At the time I was struggling with some physical limitations in my upper body; my hands and arms weren’t working well. I could barely zip up my pants. I called CASA and told them my situation like, ‘Is there anything I could do for now?’ I explained I was in recovery and asked if I could reserve a spot, and they waited for a year for me. They were very helpful. They very much wanted me to get the most out of the program. 

I wasn’t aware of any of that, was this lack of mobility due to an injury? 

The official diagnosis was bilateral wrist extensor tendonitis. Tendonitis is generally in the wrists or fingers, and it came out of nowhere. One day, it just started hurting then kept getting worse and worse and worse. We were on Maui with limited medical help, kind of freaking out. I was thinking about my future. It was a real low point. Eventually I figured out how to get myself to a good base point– through a lot of physical therapy and occupational therapy. It was really difficult, but my motivation was my future. I wanted a future where I could do what I loved. At that point, everything I liked doing depended on the wellbeing of my hands. I was like, ‘I want to keep doing what I love.’ I was in college online, and my hands were so bad I could barely finish a class. I needed some form of a goal to keep going through all that pain. 

And now, are you to a point that with continued maintenance you have a handle on your health and mobility? 

Yes, I continue doing my prescribed exercises, but don’t have to go in anymore. It will be a part of my life for the foreseeable future. Learning how to maintain a level of mobility was such a ray of hope. This hit around the pandemic, all the doctors were hard to reach. There was limited help. Then trying to figure out the American health care system– it’s so difficult and complicated. 

Tell us about your mentor and where you externed. 

I was with Chef Kristi Descher at the Falling Rabbit here in Atlanta. Chef Kristi is such an amazing person, she was so personable. She really wants her students to succeed. We are both female Asians, and had an even deeper connection. Our connection helped me through the program. To this day, her door is open to me. 

And you got a job at the restaurant right after graduating, right? 

Yea, I’m working at the Falling Rabbit, it’s an amazing place to start out. Because of this program I was able to go from having no experience to working immediately. I had cooking skills but no restaurant experience, and you can’t get a job to get experience without experience. The fact that I could start off at a place like this opens up so many opportunities for me. I’ve grown and improved so much. I run my own part of the line and am able to work all parts of the line. Some more than others, but I’m getting there!

You touched on this briefly, but kitchens can still be pretty male-dominated spaces, do you think having a woman as a mentor was helpful? 

Yes! Not only with Chef Kristi helping me, but there was another female chef there who was also super experienced. Everyone respected her and she gave me great advice about working as a female in the restaurant industry. One of the first things she told me was, ‘Don’t be embarrassed or push yourself too hard to prove yourself to the guys. Don’t be afraid to ask for help physically.’ That was especially helpful with my health issues. I’ve definitely taken that advice to heart; I have all the guys doing the heavy lifting for me! I’ll do anything else, but they lift the stuff. Working smart is all about knowing your strengths and weaknesses. I don’t want to be babied, but let’s figure out what’s fair and what’s best for service and most efficient. 

Do you have any advice for students entering the program? 

Keep asking questions. Ask as many questions as you need to. Try things. Dip your toes into as many things as you can. That’s the beauty of CASA, you can try things and discover more questions and have access to the right people to answer them. You can gain so much from that. 

And finally, I want to ask, do you have any advice for people who are worried their physical ability level could impact their dream of working in the culinary arts?

There are many roles in the food industry. I am currently a line chef, and I am very fortunate to have been able to have gotten my health back in working condition enough to handle this kind of physical pressure. I know that it’s not gonna be like that for everyone. A line chef is not the only opportunity in the food industry. My mentor and I talked about more accessible positions within the industry. Private cheffing is something I’ve thought about a lot– depending on the type of private chef you are, you can work on your own time in your own way. There are options for lots of different types of bodies.