Joanna Butturini is pleased to serve you

Joanna Butturini is in the running as one of six finalists for the Manawatu Hospitality top sous chef.
The soon-to-be 19 year old is used to the heat in the kitchen, and is unfazed by the attention.
It was business as usual when I caught up with Joanna who was pressing a crisp pleat into one of the tools of the trade her chef's jacket.
Joanna was home from Palmerston North for the weekend, staying with her mother Sylvia Klenner.
She is sous chef at the Gallery Restaurant in Palmerston North. And with the title comes the responsibility of managing the kitchen and at times the politics, when her boss leaves her in charge.
The former Stratford High School student said she always knew she wanted to be a chef, and when she left school aged 17, she headed for Palmerston North Ucol to learn her trade.
But she was too young for a student loan to pay fees and for a living allowance. She would have had to take out a loan.
So the headstrong Joanna washed dishes at Caf? Cuba and worked her way up to junior chef.
And yes it was unbelievably hard, Joanna said, as she worked the 18 months to put herself through her studies without help from the government.
Now she's worked her way to sous chef, Joanna has learned how to handle the heat in the kitchen.
"It all depends how you handle your kitchen, how you cope with other people and your time management."
In her spare time the a la carte chef bakes slices and she's old school in her food preferences.
"I love my vegetables and fruit."
For a chef, the plated food is in the taste, and if you made it look good, then it was going to taste better.
Joanna cooks for 70-90 people and she said she is satisfied with what she serves because she worked on the menu with the boss.
"I love my job and in the next five years I'll be in my own business."
On the way Joanna planned to take a business management degree so that she won't have to buy an accountant.
And what does a chef read? "I'm reading Gordon Ramsay's autobiography. He had an amazing life which explains why he is a determined and sometimes brash man."
And don't think compliments will impress this Taranaki chef.
"If you listen to what the customer has to say, then you can make the changes because it is what the customer wants."
Joanna has listened to the wisdom imparted from her boss. "He said, we don't pay you, the customer does."
However, the opinionated outspoken chef said, "I'm always learning."