My Last Supper (file under Morbid Fascination)

I used to say all the time that I was going to die at a young age. No more do I think this way but I used to and as such this is a topic that I have considered more than once in my life.

I think, as with everything else, with age, and experience and hopefully a modicum of wisdom, this answer changes, at least in part.

So there are elements of the question that are relatively easy for me to answer and others that are not. The who would be there is relatively easy for me;

My beautiful, talented and intelligent fiancé would be there, of course. As would my family and hers. The guest list would also include Hunter S. Thompson, Bob Marley, Plato, Winston Churchill, Ernest Hemingway, Nero, Jimi Hendrix, Beethoven, Marco Pierre White, My friend Aarik (you know you’d want to be there), John F. Kennedy, Tesla, Walt Whitman, Einstein, Billy the Kid, Walt Disney, Henry Kissinger, Queen Elizabeth II, James Carvel, Edgar Allen Poe, Malcolm X, Bill Clinton, Jean – Michel Basquiat and Leonardo Da Vinci. Imagine the conversation at that party.

The music I would most like to hear would include special guest performances by Bach, specifically playing Air on the G, Mozart, Liszt, The Roots, Bob Marley, Dizzy Gillespie, Mos Def, Lauryn Hill, the reunion of Public Enemy, Queen, The Rolling Stones, Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder.

The place for me would be one of the world’s great (by me definition) libraries. Search Google images for the following which are in no particular order;

El Escorial Library, San Lorenzo, Spain

Library of the Benedictine Monastery of Admont, Austria

New York Public Library, New York, USA

Russian National Library, St. Petersburg

Trinity College Library, AKA, The Long Room, Dublin, Ireland

Vatican Library, Vatican City, Rome

Pierpont Morgan Library, NY, NY, USA

Just to name a few and believe me there are many, many more.

As to the who I would have prepare my dinner; Apicius, Bacchus, Careme, Escoffier, Eric Ripert and Raymond Blanc.
So, what would we have;

Foie gras, caviar, oysters, lobster and all manner of seafood. We would then have a roman truffle. We would then have a roast pick, hip of beef and either squab or pheasant. For dessert there would be an array of petit fours. As well there would be a delectable chocolate mouse and a beautiful cheese course. We would all be drinking to match the food we were eating but I would make sure to include a bottle of the best scotch I have ever had (Oceana in New York) , a Macallan from 1975. I also had a great blended scotch there which was quite rare but have never found it again. There would also be Veuve Clicquot flowing as would a Petrus ‘ 46 and believe it or not a cheap but great wine Cadidato (widely available at the LCBO).

That is my answer today, tomorrow some of it would be completely different, but for now, I think it stands.

What about you? What would your last meal be? Who would be there? Who would make it? What music would there be? Where would it be? Fun question.

Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM

To be Perfectly Frank (file under ARE YOU SERIOUS)

I understand that as an owner of a restaurant right now you might be a little bit concerned. Moreover I understand that there are things that you need to consider when you are an owner. But when you are TOO hands on it is damaging not just to the restaurant but also to the people that work in it. ESPECIALLY when you are wrong.

Today, after a relatively slow lunch I made myself my lunch and went out to the restaurant to eat it. The owner (who is taking off for Las Vegas tomorrow) came up to me and made a comment about hours, labour cost and something else. He then proceeded to start having an EXTREMELY inappropriate conversation with me while Chef was absent (because he could, after all he is an owner).

He spoke about the way the kitchen was run today from a labour perspective and then started bitching about labour last week. At first I tried to disengage myself from the conversation as it certainly was not one to be had without Chef. So I put down my food (my appetite now suitably ruined) and tried to speak with him about his concerns as he would not let go. He then proceeded to ask me a question and upon hearing my answer, in as much, called me a liar. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Now we have stepped outside the realm of professional conversation and lodged a personal attack. When I tried to assuage his concerns he proceeded to start flaring at me and refused to listen to what I had to say. In fact it would not have mattered whether it was Chef or I, the response would have been the same.

He then proceeded to diminish not just my character but also my professionalism. At this point I ended the conversation as I had any number of choice words to express my absolute DISGUST with his lack of professionalism and his personal attacks on me. To be perfectly frank I do not need to be called a liar by anyone OR have my professionalism attacked.

I spent most of this year studying under two great Canadian Chefs. One who was one of the youngest Executive Chefs in Canadian Chef History and the other who has worked with the likes of Heston Blumenthal. As I write this I am still seething and if the conversation was happening now would register my disgust in any number of choice ways. As it is, if my character and professionalism are in question, perhaps I should go back to the level that I started at instead of working for basically amounts to a steakhouse.

I am actively going to have conversations in the coming weeks with Chef and other Chefs and friends I have in the industry AS I AM CERTAIN that my character and my professionalism are in HIGH DEMAND and would be appreciated just about anywhere I walk through the door.

In an odd twist of fate I had to go to Reservation today to drop of some things for the Pastry Chef and another colleague. I happened to run into Director of Operations and we spoke briefly about the new job and what is going on. He asked about C and after I mentioned that I might go down to NYC for work to which he said; “You will have no problem finding work down there.”

I am reminded of a quote from Bob Marley; “The stone that the builder refuse is most often the stone he should use.” I AM SEETHING WITH ANGER but as I write am becoming more composed.

Voltaire once said; “Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well”

Mother Teresa once said; “There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.”

Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM