For Christmas my old business partner and my soon to be mother in law gave me about $5,000,000. No, not in real dollars, but certainly in the knowledge that I am going to acquire and put into action when I have my own restaurant.
From C’s Mom I got a book by Joel Robuchon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joël_Robuchon) called “The Complete Robuchon.” I also (because I ordered online which saves you a lot of money) received Grant Achatz restaurant entitled book; “Alinea” You should check out his site at http://www.alinea-restaurant.com/.
Robuchon as you can see from the Wikipedia page is one of the heavies in the culinary world. Check out Chef Achatz at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_Achatz.
Robuchon is a book that I can work with right away. Alinea is one which I can look at now but am probably a couple years away from being able to use in any meaningful way other than to spur creativity.
Finally my old business partner came over the other day bearing a big wrapped Christmas present. I knew right away it was a book. As I opened the paper it took me about two pulls on the wrapping to realize that she got me the third book that I wanted for Christmas. Ferran Adria’s “A Day At El Bulli.” Check out Chef Adria at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferran_Adria. He is the number one chef in the world and as it says on the cover of his book each year they receive 2,000,000 requests for reservation for only 8,000 spots.
Needless to say I am excited to dive into my new books and to expand my ever growing knowledge base. What are you doing today in pursuit of your dreams?
As Chef Adria says in the book; “ A creative person tries to do what they don’t know how to do.”
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
Junior Sous Chef (file under proud to say)
It is with great pleasure that I am letting you know that I have officially been given the title of Junior Sous Chef! Me! Junior SOUS Chef!
I think that sometimes it is difficult for everyone that reads this to see that I am jumping up and down with excitement.
More than the title I am excited because this represents an acknowledgement of both the work that I have done and the work that I have left to do. It acknowledges the knowledge that I have acquired in the ALMOST year that I have been at this BUT ALSO puts a responsibility on me to live up to the current expectations upon me but also those of my very incredible Chefs that have gotten me to this point.
As such I would like to say thank you. Thank you to Director of Operations. Thank you to Executive Chef. Thank you to Sous Chef A. And all the rest that have helped me to live my dream. Have helped me to discover exactly what my life’s purpose was and how best to fulfill it.
To say that I am excited is only half true. I say half because I am also half nervous. However, as I have every other challenge and opportunity in my life, I accept it graciously and plan to exceed the demands and expectations that everyone may have. Especially my own. Which in the past have always been my downfall. But not this time.
Junior Sous Chef. ME!
I would also like to thank by name my good friend Jeff MacKeigan. For he was the one that convinced me that it was okay to dream and that he would help me get in the door. Jeff, THANK YOU FOR BEING A TRUE FRIEND.
As well I would like to thank C who in her tireless support has always believed that both my passions would at some point lead me to this day and the future day when I own my own restaurant.
Life is a very interesting sandbox. For you can truly build a castle or get wiped out by the ocean. Let me just tell you that it is far more fun to build the sandcastle.
Og Mandino once said; “I am here for a purpose and that purpose is to grow into a mountain, not to shrink to a grain of sand. Henceforth will I apply ALL my efforts to become the highest mountain of all and I will strain my potential until it cries for mercy.”
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
I think that sometimes it is difficult for everyone that reads this to see that I am jumping up and down with excitement.
More than the title I am excited because this represents an acknowledgement of both the work that I have done and the work that I have left to do. It acknowledges the knowledge that I have acquired in the ALMOST year that I have been at this BUT ALSO puts a responsibility on me to live up to the current expectations upon me but also those of my very incredible Chefs that have gotten me to this point.
As such I would like to say thank you. Thank you to Director of Operations. Thank you to Executive Chef. Thank you to Sous Chef A. And all the rest that have helped me to live my dream. Have helped me to discover exactly what my life’s purpose was and how best to fulfill it.
To say that I am excited is only half true. I say half because I am also half nervous. However, as I have every other challenge and opportunity in my life, I accept it graciously and plan to exceed the demands and expectations that everyone may have. Especially my own. Which in the past have always been my downfall. But not this time.
Junior Sous Chef. ME!
I would also like to thank by name my good friend Jeff MacKeigan. For he was the one that convinced me that it was okay to dream and that he would help me get in the door. Jeff, THANK YOU FOR BEING A TRUE FRIEND.
As well I would like to thank C who in her tireless support has always believed that both my passions would at some point lead me to this day and the future day when I own my own restaurant.
Life is a very interesting sandbox. For you can truly build a castle or get wiped out by the ocean. Let me just tell you that it is far more fun to build the sandcastle.
Og Mandino once said; “I am here for a purpose and that purpose is to grow into a mountain, not to shrink to a grain of sand. Henceforth will I apply ALL my efforts to become the highest mountain of all and I will strain my potential until it cries for mercy.”
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
Alain Ducasse (file under Are you f&^#’n kidding me?)
Prior to leaving Reservation I decided to put my feelers out to see if there was an opportunity out there for someone like me, even with the limited though incredible and intensive training that I had. One of the organizations that I sent a feeler to was Alain Ducasse (http://www.alain-ducasse.com/public_us/en_ce_moment/fr_encemoment.htm ). For those of you who don’t know who Alain Ducasse is check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alain_Ducasse .
At the time that I applied I had relatively little experience in the scheme of things and was really just taking a shot at the dark. Just as I had with Reservation. They advised me that they had no openings at the time but that they liked my energy and my back story and that they would keep me in mind.
In an interesting twist of fate I had a conversation with Sous Chef A over the holidays and he said that he thought (as I mentioned on the blog) that I should go somewhere with my knife bag in hand and get some work. In our last conversation he mentioned that I should go to Alain Ducasse.
Low and behold I get home the other day and I have an invitation to come and work for Alain Ducasse. After quite a bit of jumping up and down, spinning round and round and basically shaking my head I pinched myself to see if I was dreaming. I opened my eyes and sure enough the email I had was real enough and I WAS NOT DREAMING. Except that I am taking steps to live my dream every day.
Of course I considered it in earnest and decided that the coming year is to be filled with some pretty great experiences and that I didn’t want to put them on hold. I will be part of rolling out two menus. Getting married. Possibly moving to NYC. As such I decided that now was not an ideal time. However I did celebrate the fact that living your dream, being true to who you are and working towards it each and every day is a beautiful thing and the universe in all it wonderful serendipity will reward you for your efforts.
Alain Ducasse. Are you f&^#’n kidding me? Needless to say I have archived the conversation in my gmail.
Ovid once said; “Let your hook always be cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish.”
Are you dreaming big and inspired? WHY NOT?
A la prochaine
SDM
At the time that I applied I had relatively little experience in the scheme of things and was really just taking a shot at the dark. Just as I had with Reservation. They advised me that they had no openings at the time but that they liked my energy and my back story and that they would keep me in mind.
In an interesting twist of fate I had a conversation with Sous Chef A over the holidays and he said that he thought (as I mentioned on the blog) that I should go somewhere with my knife bag in hand and get some work. In our last conversation he mentioned that I should go to Alain Ducasse.
Low and behold I get home the other day and I have an invitation to come and work for Alain Ducasse. After quite a bit of jumping up and down, spinning round and round and basically shaking my head I pinched myself to see if I was dreaming. I opened my eyes and sure enough the email I had was real enough and I WAS NOT DREAMING. Except that I am taking steps to live my dream every day.
Of course I considered it in earnest and decided that the coming year is to be filled with some pretty great experiences and that I didn’t want to put them on hold. I will be part of rolling out two menus. Getting married. Possibly moving to NYC. As such I decided that now was not an ideal time. However I did celebrate the fact that living your dream, being true to who you are and working towards it each and every day is a beautiful thing and the universe in all it wonderful serendipity will reward you for your efforts.
Alain Ducasse. Are you f&^#’n kidding me? Needless to say I have archived the conversation in my gmail.
Ovid once said; “Let your hook always be cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish.”
Are you dreaming big and inspired? WHY NOT?
A la prochaine
SDM
My Birthday Dinner (file under my first Lobster for me dinner)
Spur of the moment last night after I was unable to find the ingredients I wanted for dinner I decided to break with the tradition of making C Lobster for both our anniversary and her birthday and thought I might treat myself.
I bought 3.42 kilograms for a ridiculously low price. Some Cava. The rest of the fixings and went to town on a dinner for myself. You see I always celebrate C’s birthday for a whole month and thought that making myself a dinner a few days early would not be such a bad thing. And man was it good. I’ve attached just a few pics from the dinner which I also shared with our roommate and his sister.
Picasso once said; “It takes a long time to grow young.” And I seem to be getting younger by the day.
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
I bought 3.42 kilograms for a ridiculously low price. Some Cava. The rest of the fixings and went to town on a dinner for myself. You see I always celebrate C’s birthday for a whole month and thought that making myself a dinner a few days early would not be such a bad thing. And man was it good. I’ve attached just a few pics from the dinner which I also shared with our roommate and his sister.
Picasso once said; “It takes a long time to grow young.” And I seem to be getting younger by the day.
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
Thursday, January 8, 2009
C and I's Wedding Nuptials
I am pleased to announce that C and I have decided that January 14, 2010 we will be getting married in Cuba. Stay tuned for more details.
“This is true love... you think this happens everyday?”
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
“This is true love... you think this happens everyday?”
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Fickle Finger of Fate (file under Transitions)
This past year has been a year of transition. So it is only fitting that my second post of the year is in fact a continuation of my “owner” post from last year resultant from a conversation that he and I had yesterday.
I believe in serendipity. The definition of serendipity according to Oxford is;
serendipity
/serrndippiti/
• noun the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.
— DERIVATIVES serendipitous adjective serendipitously adverb.
— ORIGIN from Serendip (a former name for Sri Lanka): coined by the English politician and writer Horace Walpole (1717-97), after The Three Princes of Serendip, a fairy tale in which the heroes were always making fortunate discoveries.
In a lot of ways my life has been one occurrence after another which would have to be termed serendipity. The meeting of my fiancé. My entrance into a professional kitchen. My beginning to write again about that very experience. Where I ended up in a kitchen then and now. All of them quite serendipitous.
You’ll recall that as a result of an ugly encounter with the owner of Without Reservation I became quite confused, angry, hurt but also motivated. Motivated to write. Motivated to consider where I was and what the future might hold.
When I left Reservation, the restaurant and its two satellites, were in a period of transition. One which would have required me to continue doing what I was doing with little commensurate benefit to me in the immediate term. This caused me to consider my lot in life, my current “station” if you will and what my options were. The result being that I left so that I could continue on my path toward personal greatness as defined by ME.
After the encounter with the owner at Without Reservation I was left considering the same things again. Though this time I came to realize that my options were extensive as I outlined. I could go to Europe. A Cruise Ship. Another restaurant in Toronto. Or New York City as if you can make it there you can make it anywhere. Cheesy Frank Sinatra reference aside, all of the above options were and still are true. However the one thing (perhaps out of anger or incongruous desires) I did not consider was sitting still and waiting to see what happened. Although, for the second time in my life I did not make a rash decision which would affect my future. I continued to go to work and do my job and thus allowed my work to speak for itself.
As I started this post I spoke about serendipity. One thing that drew me to this owner was the fact the he was a retired NHL goalie. In my youth I was a goalie. I practiced hard and loved it. I still love it and one day when I have some time and money I plan to don the equipment again that made me feel like a warrior of old. This spoke volumes to me and in conjunction with the Chef that I would be working under I felt that this was a message.
Yesterday, after giving myself time to cool down, I finally took the opportunity to speak with the owner about the incident. I was calm, self assured and ready for a dialogue. He and I went to the back room and had a great conversation. I let him know exactly how I felt and he did for me as well. I let him know what my desires were and where I wanted to go. I explained why I had moved to Without Reservation and what I saw coming down the pipe.
Without Reservation is in a period of transition. We are about to take the restaurant from where it is now to a higher level. We are going to start incorporating some of the techniques and skills that I have learned as well as some that I still need to learn to put out not better food, just different. More technical, more composed. More in line with what I eventually seek to do in my own restaurant.
I had the opportunity a couple of days ago (Friday) to cook lunch for the owner. I asked if I could make the dish the way that I wanted and he said for sure. So I took some truffle oil, cream, sun dried pesto, Portobello mushrooms, shallots and white wine and whipped up a sauce for mushroom ravioli. I new it was fantastic. I knew it because it was something that I would eat over and over and over again. After a few minutes he came back into the kitchen and told me it was fantastic and that we should make it as a special.
By my desire to be recognized and my daily grind to be a professional I had asserted that I could cook and moreover that I could improvise quickly. It also came up in the conversation that we had yesterday in which he said that he would like to see me get to where I want to go and that he would do anything he could in order to help me get there. He said he didn’t get into the business to be a pain in the ass owner but rather because he wanted to employ people who knew their jobs and would execute them well thus making it unnecessary for him to be a pain in the ass owner.
He asked if I wanted to go to culinary school and I explained that what I had learned in the past year could not be learned in five years at culinary school. I explained that currently his kitchen was my culinary school and that as I recognize the transition that is ongoing that although I could go to anyone of the places previously mentioned I would rather stay with my Chef and with him and see where this rabbit hole leads. Again he made it clear that he was in my corner and that this coming year would definitely be exciting.
That said, I believe that I still have lots to offer Without Reservation. That in this coming year it has a lot to offer me and as long as those two things remain true I will be happy to stay.
I believe that 2009 has started off with a lot of promise. An exponentially larger than ever in my past amount of hope. And the same amount of work. I look forward to the challenges, opportunities and obstacles of the coming year. I’m sure that you look forward to reading them. As much as I do writing them.
T.S Elliot once wrote; “For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice.”
C.S. Lewis once wrote; “The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.” Yes but some of us do it more purposefully. AND I AM ONE OF THOSE!
I wish you all success and joy, happiness and the ability to overcome your fears to reach for the stars and live each day in pursuit of your dreams.
Dream big and inspired! For if not… What’s the point?
A la prochaine
SDM
I believe in serendipity. The definition of serendipity according to Oxford is;
serendipity
/serrndippiti/
• noun the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.
— DERIVATIVES serendipitous adjective serendipitously adverb.
— ORIGIN from Serendip (a former name for Sri Lanka): coined by the English politician and writer Horace Walpole (1717-97), after The Three Princes of Serendip, a fairy tale in which the heroes were always making fortunate discoveries.
In a lot of ways my life has been one occurrence after another which would have to be termed serendipity. The meeting of my fiancé. My entrance into a professional kitchen. My beginning to write again about that very experience. Where I ended up in a kitchen then and now. All of them quite serendipitous.
You’ll recall that as a result of an ugly encounter with the owner of Without Reservation I became quite confused, angry, hurt but also motivated. Motivated to write. Motivated to consider where I was and what the future might hold.
When I left Reservation, the restaurant and its two satellites, were in a period of transition. One which would have required me to continue doing what I was doing with little commensurate benefit to me in the immediate term. This caused me to consider my lot in life, my current “station” if you will and what my options were. The result being that I left so that I could continue on my path toward personal greatness as defined by ME.
After the encounter with the owner at Without Reservation I was left considering the same things again. Though this time I came to realize that my options were extensive as I outlined. I could go to Europe. A Cruise Ship. Another restaurant in Toronto. Or New York City as if you can make it there you can make it anywhere. Cheesy Frank Sinatra reference aside, all of the above options were and still are true. However the one thing (perhaps out of anger or incongruous desires) I did not consider was sitting still and waiting to see what happened. Although, for the second time in my life I did not make a rash decision which would affect my future. I continued to go to work and do my job and thus allowed my work to speak for itself.
As I started this post I spoke about serendipity. One thing that drew me to this owner was the fact the he was a retired NHL goalie. In my youth I was a goalie. I practiced hard and loved it. I still love it and one day when I have some time and money I plan to don the equipment again that made me feel like a warrior of old. This spoke volumes to me and in conjunction with the Chef that I would be working under I felt that this was a message.
Yesterday, after giving myself time to cool down, I finally took the opportunity to speak with the owner about the incident. I was calm, self assured and ready for a dialogue. He and I went to the back room and had a great conversation. I let him know exactly how I felt and he did for me as well. I let him know what my desires were and where I wanted to go. I explained why I had moved to Without Reservation and what I saw coming down the pipe.
Without Reservation is in a period of transition. We are about to take the restaurant from where it is now to a higher level. We are going to start incorporating some of the techniques and skills that I have learned as well as some that I still need to learn to put out not better food, just different. More technical, more composed. More in line with what I eventually seek to do in my own restaurant.
I had the opportunity a couple of days ago (Friday) to cook lunch for the owner. I asked if I could make the dish the way that I wanted and he said for sure. So I took some truffle oil, cream, sun dried pesto, Portobello mushrooms, shallots and white wine and whipped up a sauce for mushroom ravioli. I new it was fantastic. I knew it because it was something that I would eat over and over and over again. After a few minutes he came back into the kitchen and told me it was fantastic and that we should make it as a special.
By my desire to be recognized and my daily grind to be a professional I had asserted that I could cook and moreover that I could improvise quickly. It also came up in the conversation that we had yesterday in which he said that he would like to see me get to where I want to go and that he would do anything he could in order to help me get there. He said he didn’t get into the business to be a pain in the ass owner but rather because he wanted to employ people who knew their jobs and would execute them well thus making it unnecessary for him to be a pain in the ass owner.
He asked if I wanted to go to culinary school and I explained that what I had learned in the past year could not be learned in five years at culinary school. I explained that currently his kitchen was my culinary school and that as I recognize the transition that is ongoing that although I could go to anyone of the places previously mentioned I would rather stay with my Chef and with him and see where this rabbit hole leads. Again he made it clear that he was in my corner and that this coming year would definitely be exciting.
That said, I believe that I still have lots to offer Without Reservation. That in this coming year it has a lot to offer me and as long as those two things remain true I will be happy to stay.
I believe that 2009 has started off with a lot of promise. An exponentially larger than ever in my past amount of hope. And the same amount of work. I look forward to the challenges, opportunities and obstacles of the coming year. I’m sure that you look forward to reading them. As much as I do writing them.
T.S Elliot once wrote; “For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice.”
C.S. Lewis once wrote; “The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.” Yes but some of us do it more purposefully. AND I AM ONE OF THOSE!
I wish you all success and joy, happiness and the ability to overcome your fears to reach for the stars and live each day in pursuit of your dreams.
Dream big and inspired! For if not… What’s the point?
A la prochaine
SDM
Happy New Year (file under well… Happy New Year)
I hope for all of you that 2009 is the best year of your life. That it is filled with joy, happiness, success and fun. Further that it is the year in which you awaken your souls desires and begin to fulfill your life’s purpose with renewed vigour.
Don’t feel the need to make resolutions either. Rather be resolute that you will fulfill your needs to the best of your abilities. Set yourself up for success. Dream. Live. Fly and reach for the stars. I can assure you that I will be.
It is going to be an exciting year. A year which will see the future unfold beautifully, elegantly and purposefully.
I hope you all experience the same pleasure from 2009 that I will and hold on to your hats because I can assure you that this year is going to be the best of my life. And so too do I hope yours.
Edith Lovejoy Pierce once wrote; “We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.”
Write my friends.
Dream big. Inspired. And live each day to the fullest for you never know when our flame is going to be extinguished.
DREAM!
A la prochaine
SDM
Don’t feel the need to make resolutions either. Rather be resolute that you will fulfill your needs to the best of your abilities. Set yourself up for success. Dream. Live. Fly and reach for the stars. I can assure you that I will be.
It is going to be an exciting year. A year which will see the future unfold beautifully, elegantly and purposefully.
I hope you all experience the same pleasure from 2009 that I will and hold on to your hats because I can assure you that this year is going to be the best of my life. And so too do I hope yours.
Edith Lovejoy Pierce once wrote; “We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.”
Write my friends.
Dream big. Inspired. And live each day to the fullest for you never know when our flame is going to be extinguished.
DREAM!
A la prochaine
SDM
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
