One Man’s Journey from State Prison to a Revered San Francisco Restaurant
September 18, 2024 at 09:15PMIn 1995 the age of 16, Michael Thomas killed 14-year-old Gabriel Alcazar Jr. and was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison. While incarcerated, Thomas fell in love with baking as part of his work in the prison kitchen but at first, he never dreamed he’d be able to cook and bake on the outside. Today, he’s honing personal recipes and working four days a week as a prep cook at Flour + Water in San Francisco’s Mission District. You must make time for this beautiful and deeply moving essay about what can happen when someone chooses to see the best in us.
Thomas, 45, is keen on memorizing every single new ingredient that he’s working with, many of which have Italian names, like teleme and crescenza cheeses and Taggiasca olives. That’s largely because Thomas didn’t have those ingredients at the chow hall in Corcoran State Prison.
An inmate in the California prison system for nearly 30 years of his life, he was used to cooking with hamburger meat and white rice as part of the chow hall crew. But 17 years into his sentence, he realized his newfound passion for baking and made it his goal to pursue that aspiration upon his release.
A month into his new job, Thomas is humbled at the opportunity to work four days a week at such an esteemed restaurant as Flour + Water. Because now, he’s cooking as a free man.
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2024/09/18/one-mans-journey-from-state-prison-to-a-revered-san-francisco-restaurant/
via IFTTT
Watch