I Got the Joy (file under Adventures in Kitchenland)

Barack Obama once said; “Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. And it will leave you unfulfilled.”

Ain’t that the truth? As we all are aware by now I have had numerous jobs which have left me unfulfilled and left wondering what the whole purpose of life is. As I have documented here, my decision to become a Chef and join a professional kitchen had less to do with money and a whole lot to do with defining my life for myself.

Today was my second full shift at The Club and I have to admit that beyond loving it I am ecstatic that I have found my place here.

Beyond the obvious benefits which I have outlined over the past couple of posts there are numerous culinary benefits to being at The Club. The ability to survive is much different that solely focusing your life on a buck. It is necessary to survive in order to dream. So I bear no guilt over my decision to join a stable and nurturing environment.

Oh and before I get to far… the specials that I developed did so well yesterday that they had to make some on the fly. (Note to self; always make sure that you prepare at least enough mise en place for 15 portions) In retrospect I have to admit that I think that the sun dried tomato ravioli with sun dried pesto was not an ideal pairing. A little overkill on the sun dried if you know what I mean. I think it was just the excitement of creating specials first day. I did get positive feed back from Sous Chef R and the club members seemed to enjoy it.

I was beside myself this morning. I could not sleep. I finally was able to close my eyes and get a rest at around 12:30 am. I awoke startled at 2:36 am and found myself considering whether or not to get up and work or try to get myself back to sleep. I opted for sleep as I felt that I should try to be as sharp as possible in the first few weeks. I woke up again at 4:45 am and decided to just get up and do a little research on the Internet.

I climbed into the shower at around 5:10 am and took a long soak after deciding that it was both too windy and cold for me to rollerblade. I will tomorrow though. In the shower, as for the hour before, I was extremely excited to be going to The Club. I look at it less as work or a job and much more as the daily steps toward the actualization of my dream. Did I mention in a stable and nurturing environment? (Rhetorical)

I arrived at The Club at around 6:10 and got changed right away. Played with the time clock for about ten minutes trying to figure out how the hell to punch in. There were instructions over the machine but they were about as useful as Chinese instructions from Ikea being translated by Maori Indian.

Finally, punching in, I went downstairs and started the grand circle of opening. Fryers, Salamander, Ovens, Stove, Grill, Heat Lamps, Hotline on, Cold Line filled with ice. Blanching pots on. Muffins, Sausage and Bacon in the convection. Make sure there is enough on station and then start prep for the day.

Rather than regaling you with the exciting world of prep, which to you is probably anathema, like a trip to the dentist, I will instead write of the things that were awesome.

First and foremost, I got to work on my butchery skills and broke down twenty pork tenderloins. The reason this is exciting to me is because to my view pork is easier to screw up than beef. I found myself playing with various knife positions, cuts and techniques that I have either learned directly or figured out on the fly today. All the while I was having a great conversation with Sous Chef R which was clearly designed to figure out where I was coming from and where I wanted to go to. He, like me, is a voracious reader and as such the conversation was all over the place. Segues that flowed naturally from conversations of musical likes to the Disclosure project. After breaking down the tenderloins I portioned them off and placed them in a deep half pan covering each layer with a towel. I also helped with a lot of other peoples prep today. No different than I normally would but it was clearly noticed and appreciated.

Slowly, I am beginning to remember faces and names. And there are a lot of faces and names to remember. And just like any other kitchen I have been in it is filled with characters, dreamers, misfits and people who just consider it a job. The difference in this kitchen is the way that I interrelated with them. Cautious but friendly. Calculated but calm. And by calculated I am not meaning in some neo- Machiavellian sense.

Sous Chef R asked me directly whether or not I would be interested in… get this… deep breathe… handling the patio. Cue the hairs on the back of my neck raising momentarily. My answer was the best that I could give… I am here to serve in any capacity that serves both the Club and this kitchen well. After that Sous Chef spoke to me about the virtues of the job. The only one of which I didn’t necessarily like was that it is an afternoon/evening job. That was the only drawback in that I felt it might interfere with the other things I am working on.

I argued with myself over the last paragraph for about a minute there. Unsure as to whether or not to include you in the brain farts that I am having in that regard. However, as you can see, I decided, as usual, not to censor myself and share completely.

So what are the pluses in my mind to taking the assignment?

Best ingredients available in the city. Whatever I can dream up they will bring in.

Menu freedom and control (with oversight of course)

Being outside in the summer on beautiful Lake Ontario

Direct interaction with Club Members which I excel at

So with that said; when the conversation comes up directly as to whether or not I would like to do that this summer. I am almost certain that I will say yes. Also in speaking with Sous Chef R, he made it clear that he felt it was ideal for me, as I don’t need to have my hand held or to be coddled. The conversation, to my mind, was a recognition, and not, as was the case at Reservation, that they have no one else to do the job. It is an extremely nice feeling.

From that we segued into various ingredients I might like to work with. Price/Cost structures. Member wants and needs versus realities. It was quite refreshing as I mentioned earlier.

Thus, from all this, do you get the feeling that I finally found a place that I can grow? I DO!

I am excited, thrilled, ecstatic and could use a thesaurus or that big brain of mine to give you twenty more words to describe the euphoric feeling that I have right now, but instead I will say this; I feel that I have joined a place that will allow me to grow, to be nurtured, to nurture and to fulfill greatest dream in life (next to starting a family with my loving, gorgeous, talented, funny, elegant and dreaming fiancé C, that of becoming a great chef. But first, I need to cook (and practice starting a family), A LOT!

Oscar Wilde once said; “I put all my genius into my life; I put only my talent into my works.”

Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM

Politics (file under No, not going back… just considerations)

Machiavelli once wrote; “The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.” How true?

When I was working at Reservation there was a fair amount of politics. The politics that existed between the front of the house and the back of the house. The politics that occurred between the entire front of the house. That of the back of the house. That of suppliers. Customers, etc. Politics abounds everywhere.

One of the things that always occurs to me is that in our society we exist largely in a meritocracy. I say largely because in theory we exist only in a meritocracy. Though both you and I know that this is far from true in any meaningful sense. Although it is a great idea to cling to.

At Reservation, there was an excessive amount of politics. There were those that were the elite and were treated as such. Then there were the plebes and then the slaves. As I look back at it now, though a good experience, I was nothing more than a slave. Please understand that this is nothing more than an observation. I was a willing participant and allowed myself to be taken advantage of. What that says about me is a whole different matter.

Now, at Without Reservation, I am watching as the ugly face of politics is trying to unseat the very real progress that I have made. The disconnect between the front of house and back of house is a little less so than it was at Reservation. However, the politics at Without Reservation seem somehow more vitriolic. More designed to instill pain and suffering and in my opinion it is because of a complete lack of understanding as to how a kitchen runs.

There are always going to be differences between colleagues for any number of reasons that are too many to list here but I am considering each and every one of them. As I am getting older I am able (for perhaps the first time in my life) to remove myself from the rabble rousing and saber rattling. For the most part because engaging in the politics of the workplace does absolutely nothing to help me, to advance my career or to help me get to where I am going. As a point of personal privilege here I would also like to say that I don’t consider what I am doing as a career. I think it is a personal choice that I have made to bring happiness, joy, satisfaction and the like into my life.

My fervent desire is that I see the political issues lesson as time goes forward. My belief is that they probably won’t. However, knowing this arms me with a massive amount of knowledge and leaves me the ability to formulate my next move. A lot like chess or war really. What would Sun Tzu say?

At any rate, as I consider this, I know that I am becoming something closer to what I have always longed to be. And though we are all political animals (in the Animal Farm Napoleon kind of way) I think that my lack of participation in the entanglements of politics is actually making me a better person.

Orwell wrote in Animal Farm; "All that year the animals worked like slaves. But they were happy in their work; they grudged no effort or sacrifice, well aware that everything they did was for the benefit of themselves and those of their kind who would come after them, and not for a pack of idle, thieving human beings."

Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM

And some days (file under Train Wreck)

They just are. That’s the way it goes sometimes. But tomorrow is another day.

Machiavelli once wrote; “Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage.”

Keep on trucking. Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM