“5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started My Restaurant,” With Chef Austin Simmons of TRIS

…not all diner feedback will be great. Critiques provide insight into the culinary experience, giving a different perspective. In the age of social media, everyone is a critic and it is important to learn how to recognize quality feedback and to not take anything personally.

Originally from Texas, Executive Chef Austin Simmons took to the toque at the tender age of eight. As a child growing up in Arlington, Texas, he bonded with his mother while they made dinner together after she arrived home from her first job of the day and before departing for her second.

Upon high school graduation, Simmons immediately pursued a culinary degree attending Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Austin. After graduating, he moved to Dallas in hopes of working at the famed Mansion on Turtle Creek. Turned away almost daily over the course of several weeks due to his lack of restaurant experience, his persistence finally paid off, and he was offered an internship.

It was there that Simmons found a reverence for fine dining and a respect of the skills and…