Will every software guy in the audience who's ever thought about cashing in the badge and putting on a chef's coat raise your hand? Wow, a lot of you, great! Some of you aren't so sure... You there in the front, did you read Kitchen Confidential? Yeah? Did that help push you out the door or keep you in front of the keyboard? OK, keep them up there. Now, keep them raised if you've actually done it. Alright, not so many.

Michael Natkin still has his hand up, though. We came across his blog Herbivoracious this week and it's a great mix of vegetarian restaurant reviews and recipes and a journal of his internship at Cafe Flora. He's on a leave of absence from Adobe while he interns at the cafe--maybe headed back to work on After Effects part-time when kid #2 arrives, maybe not.

For the past few years I've been trying to summon the courage to really switch careers but it was hard to walk away. So finally the idea of an internship seemed like the best way to get experience and see how much I really love the day-to-day hard work (which so far I do).

What is the day-to-day work? Prep and pantry with some salad station by the end of week one (five shifts). Aside from a few-month stint in a California monastery twenty years ago, it's his first time working in a professional kitchen, so not a bad start. He has been cooking since he was seventeen and has always considered food a hobby.

We emailed him about taking the plunge and being a vegetarian.

I talked to a few folks through various connections. One of the big factors was that I'm a veg and really didn't want to learn to handle meat. So Cafe Flora was top of my list, and Janine who is the head chef there has been *unbelievably great* about allowing me to intern. In fact everyone there has been amazing, very patiently walking me through each prep job so I know how to do it right, and giving me pointers on how to do it fast.

Alright, Mal Michael, good luck with the new gig. We'll keep an eye on the blog and let you know when we finally dump this Seattlest thing and sign on with a fire house.