Can’t Stand the Heat, Get to Litigation

When Chelsea J. Clark finished high school, she sought to become a chef.

“My family thought I was crazy, but it turned out to be the greatest learning experience for many different reasons. I learned to adjust to a different culture. I learned so much about teamwork, and what I’m cut out to do and not cut out to do,” she says with a laugh.

The civil litigator at Bruner Powell Wall & Mullins in Columbia signed up with Tante Marie School of Cookery in Surrey, England. “For a time, it was the kind of place you’d send your daughter—kind of like a finishing school, because in the ’50s they taught flower arranging in addition to cooking. But by the time I got there, it was a real culinary academy and they trained a lot of the chefs who worked in the royal kitchens—real traditional, old-school French and English cuisine.”

Set in an old Edwardian mansion with classmates from New Zealand, England, Spain, Scotland and more, it was the kind of unique experience Clark was looking for. While she didn’t experience the screaming commonly dramatized on TV, Clark still got her fair share of criticism. “They’re harsh in judging you—on things like how finely your parsley is chopped, what your workstation looks like, how you work with others. It’s kind of like a bootcamp on how to be efficient and polite,” she says.

While the pressure didn’t get to her, the physical demands did. So she chose law instead, and opted to cook as a hobby. So will we be seeing Clark on The Great British Bake Off?

“I think my life has enough stress in litigation without adding that to the mix,” she says. “I still make a mean bechamel on occasion, but I use a lot more shortcuts in my day-to-day life. I don’t make mayonnaise by hand, and I’ll use black pepper in a white sauce. … I love to cook for people, but I don’t get the chance very often.”

And she’s better suited to Iron Chef, anyway.

“My least favorite part of the school was menu planning. I’m much more the ‘fly by the seat of my pants, put me in a kitchen with a bunch of ingredients and see what comes out’ kind of cook. That works well with being a litigator, because you’re handed a set of facts to see if you can creatively work out of it. That’s served me well.”