{"id":1181,"date":"2017-08-31T09:08:32","date_gmt":"2017-08-31T14:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nicholls.edu\/culinary\/?p=1181"},"modified":"2022-03-22T20:02:02","modified_gmt":"2022-03-22T20:02:02","slug":"thomas-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nicholls.edu\/culinary\/2017\/08\/31\/thomas-germany\/","title":{"rendered":"Thomas Ridgley &#8211; Externing at Hotel Spielweg in Munstertal, Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Thomas Ridgley<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Metairie, Louisiana<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Externing at Hotel Spielweg in Munstertal, Germany<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Everything about Germany\u2019s Black Forest is breathtaking, from the lush mountain views to the region\u2019s traditional, flavorful foods. I am here for the latter, supported by New Orleans chef and fellow Chef John Folse Culinary Institute alum Michael Gulotta to soak up a year\u2019s worth of culinary experience at the popular Hotel Spielweg in Munstertal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The deal was a no-brainer: Chef Gulotta would fund my externship in Germany in exchange for working three years in one of his kitchens upon my return. I had heard about Hotel Spielweg while eavesdropping on chefs\u2019 conversations at Chef John Besh\u2019s Restaurant August, my first job. Chef Besh had trained for several years under Chef Karl-Josef Fuchs, owner and head chef of Hotel Spielweg. Chef Gulotta, too, had spent some time in Europe and spoke favorably of the hotel\u2019s culinary experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At 22, living in the Black Forest mountains at the southernmost part of Germany near the French and Swiss borders and following in the footsteps of my mentors, I am the youngest to extern at Hotel Spielweg. Having no cell phone reception and limited Wi-Fi has allowed me to focus on learning traditional German dishes while surrounding myself with the beautiful scenery and discovering more about myself with each new experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This year, I am working on becoming a more skilled cook, valuing humility and learning to appreciate other cultures. When I get back to the States, I plan to work my way up in the restaurant industry and pass on my accrued culinary knowledge to other culinary students, just like my mentors did for me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thomas Ridgley Metairie, Louisiana Externing at Hotel Spielweg in Munstertal, Germany Everything about Germany\u2019s Black Forest is breathtaking, from the lush mountain views to the region\u2019s traditional, flavorful foods. I am here for the latter, supported by New Orleans chef and fellow Chef John Folse Culinary Institute alum Michael Gulotta to soak up a year\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3039,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Thomas Ridgley - Externing at Hotel Spielweg in Munstertal, Germany - Chef John Folse Culinary Institute<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nicholls.edu\/culinary\/2017\/08\/31\/thomas-germany\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thomas Ridgley - Externing at Hotel Spielweg in Munstertal, Germany - Chef John Folse Culinary Institute\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Thomas Ridgley Metairie, Louisiana Externing at Hotel Spielweg in Munstertal, Germany Everything about Germany\u2019s Black Forest is breathtaking, from the lush mountain views to the region\u2019s traditional, flavorful foods. 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