Tom Cole:  

Life I left for Northern California the summer after graduation. I spent the first 2 winters working at a ski resort, with my summers spent at a camp for Stanford Alumni and their families.I apprenticed under a German Chef for 14 months, and then spent 18 months under a Dutch baker, learning and honing my culinary skills.For the next 8 years I split my time:8 months in Tahoe and the other 4 in Davis, CA.In 1986, the company asked me to open a new account in Santa Cruz. After a couple of years, the company had me open up similar accounts in San Francisco. I was to then head off to Bakersfield, when I decided to leave the company and stick around in Santa Cruz. I spent the next couple of years doing a bunch of fun stuff(tour director, bus driver,school food program director,and even managing both a french pastry shop and a mexican restaurant) I jumped back into the corporate world for another 5 years,thinking that was what I was supposed to do.Ha! I woke up on the morning of my 40th bir...Expand for more