Free (file under like the wind)

Aldous Huxley once wrote; “There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self.” I have often referred to myself as a work in progress. Naturally the core of who I am is the same today as it was many years ago. But, over time, with maturity and an inward looking desire to improve I am constantly searching. Ultimately, to improve myself, but hopefully, everyone that knows me too.

That search has by and large left me free to explore areas of myself that are uncomfortable. It has caused me to come to grips with parts of me that I don’t like but also those that I do.

I feel today that I am freer than I have ever been in my life. And let me tell you, it is so liberating.

I didn’t write yesterday because I have had lots going on. Yesterday’s specials that I came up with were;

Pizza; Grilled Eggplant, Green Olives, Andouille Sausage and Asiago Cheese

Pasta; Roasted Red Pepper Cream Risotto with Red Peppers and Mushrooms.

For tomorrow I came up with;

Pesto Chicken, Mushroom, Red Onion and Red Pepper Pizza

Bowtie al’olio with black tiger shrimp, lemon confit, mushroom and red pepper.

I made Health in a Glass for the General Manager yesterday. It had Pineapple, Cantaloupe, Banana, Raspberries, Blueberry Yoghurt, Fresh Orange Juice, Ice and an egg. After a while she comes back in stating how delicious it was and that because it tasted so good it had to be jammed full of calories. I told her I didn’t know the caloric intake of the smoothie but that I would find out. I have since found out that a glass of my concoction had 184 calories (+ or -). Pretty darned good when you consider that for those 184 calories you are also getting 200% of your daily recommended Vitamin C as well as at least 80% of your potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, Calcium, Selenium, Iron, Vitamin 8, Folate, Vitamin B6, Niacin and Vitamin E.

In other words, HEALTH IN A GLASS is definitely the right name for the smoothies.

Today was a good day. Extremely busy. I was working on prep and daily specials until around 10:45 am. At that point we got swamped until around 1:30 pm. It was fun, challenging at points, but the attitude in the kitchen is light and it makes it easier to work when you are swamped.

There was a little bit of an issue getting food out today but I think it was because we got killed all at once. That and the person who I work with in the morning seemed to be a little off today. Possibly hungover, definitely tired.

I am absolutely appreciating the fact that I am free. A lot of which has to do with being in an environment which is extremely well suited to my needs. I go in and do more than is expected of me (as has always been the case). I have conquered many of my demons and leave any negativity at the door when I leave.

I have come to embrace fully the belief that today is today. Tomorrow is a new day. An opportunity to start fresh. AND IT FEELS GREAT.

So of course it is a beautiful 20 degrees outside and while I could sit here and regal you all with wonderful tales of the kitchen I’d like to get some Vitamin D.

Buddha once said; “To keep the body in good health is a duty, for otherwise we shall not be able to trim the lamp of wisdom, and keep our mind strong and clear. Water surrounds the lotus flower, but does not wet its petals.”

Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM

Happy Easter (file under Grateful Appreciation)

First and foremost, Happy Easter everyone. I hope that it is a day filled with family, joy and of course the beautiful sun. Get out and play for a while.

Since going out with my brother a couple of weeks ago I have been without my Ipod. But this morning I took my roommates and let me tell you, the ride is much quicker when I have some go get’m music playing. I can hardly wait to have my Ipod back. Hopefully today.

It was relatively slow today at work so I took the opportunity to beef up prep for the next few days, make two different Health in a Glass and created two specials for tomorrow. The prep I took care of included par cooking linguini and penne. Cooking two different kinds of rice. Portioning off my capellini for today’s special. Veg for tomorrow’s pasta special. I also made sure we had three trays of muffins ready to go.

Today’s Health in a Glass were;

1) Banana, Pineapple, Strawberry Yoghurt, Blackberry and Orange Juice, Ice and two eggs.
2) Pineapple, Raspberry, Blueberry, Banana, plain yoghurt, ice and 650 mls of Orange Juice.

Both were absolutely delicious. Today I ended up making enough for about fifteen people. By the time I get to work my muscles have been working quite a bit and I have noticed that the smoothie really perks me up and is a great way to start a day.

Today I was so hungry that I ended up making myself a beautiful breakfast wrap. In a whole wheat tortilla I put lettuce, tomato, mayo. I then sautéed green pepper, red pepper, red onion, mushroom and spinach with a little garlic. I added a couple of over easy eggs, some bacon and Swiss cheese, wrapped it all up and then grilled it for a moment. It was a two hander for sure. I could barely hold the thing. But it was so delicious. I am still full and I ate it approximately 6 hours ago at the time of writing.

For tomorrows specials I created a Pizza Al Arrabiata with Andouille sausage, mushroom and green pepper. For the Al Arrabiata Sauce I first soaked the chili flake in water for about an hour. I took a large pot, put in olive oil and some crushed garlic. I then added some onion and sweated it down. Added some red wine to deglaze the pot. I then added grape and Roma tomatoes. I let that cook down for about ten or fifteen minutes and then added some parsley and basil. Took it off the heat and then blitzed it with an immersion blender.

The pasta is a Penne Primavera.

I would say I did about thirty or forty covers all day at work. Two of which were the Seafood Carbonara. Before it went out I asked the floor manager to do a quality check to let me know how the member enjoyed it. He came back a few moments later and said that they were thrilled and that it was absolutely delicious. I explained to him that I will be asking for quality checks everyday so that I can start to ascertain what the member likes and dislikes are.

I also prepared a fourteen ounce striploin today with a peppercorn jus served (in this case) with French fries and daily vegetables Usually I would do mash but they wanted fries. I also asked for a quality check on this item. The steak was to be cooked medium and for some reason I find this to be one of the harder temperatures to cook. About fifteen minutes later the server came back ad assured me that the member was happy as a clam.

Have I mentioned at all this week how much I love this job? How much I love waking up before the sun and serving people food that starts their day in a great and wholesome way? It is a pleasure and an honour.

So, I hope that you all have had as eventful and fabulous a day as I have. I hope it gets better. I am about to call the love of my life and send her some love on this Sunny Easter Sunday. Make sure you tell the people you love that you love them today.

Buddha once said; “Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.” Have you found your work yet?

Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM

In that Vain (file under How’s that working out for you)

As I mentioned before I started at The Club, I went out and bought myself a treat, Rollerblades. I did this for two reasons; One, I haven’t had a pair in years and I’m certain that anyone that knows me well can attest that at some point between the ages of twelve and twenty four that they believed my feet were in fact Rollerblades. The other reason is that I am currently saving up for C and I’s wedding and it made sense to me that I spend two months of travel up front so that I could spend that money saved on the wedding.

As it turns out I live about 8 kms away from work. A big change from the twenty that I used to. Which would take between an hour and an hour and half of travel. To get to work this morning took approximately twenty minutes. A five minute improvement from my first time getting there on my blades. Most of it is on a downgrade on the way there so it is pretty easy. On the way back it takes me about double the time because of wind and going up grade.

I have already felt the reward of my body being back on blades. There is a bigger spring in my step and certainly in my spirit. It is my goal to be as fit as I was at 16 by the time of our wedding. This has included doing sit ups and pushups and now cardio with the Rollerblading to work.

It feels good. Damn good. Have you treated yourself to something recently that makes you feel as good?

Buddha once said; “Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.”

Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM

21… Again (file under a year of renewal)

As many of you know I just celebrated my birthday and I am 21…. Again. Or so it feels and seems anyway. The past year (which I will broaden on during my one year anniversary of my blog) has been to say the least… Amazing.

I recall that Bill Clinton once said; “Success is not the measure of a man but a triumph over those who choose to hold him back.”

I have been triumphant this past year. I have come to know the meaning of life (in a personal sense and yes even a universal one but for that you’ll have to wait for the book or at least a dinner).

This year seemed a little less significant as a birthday. Perhaps because it is one of those odd years past thirty and before forty that seems to matter just a little bit less. The birthday that is. Not the year.

I am grateful to all those that came out to my party and had a good time. It was, as usual, a truly spectacular moment in time, surrounded by friends and families. For those that missed it, I have a feeling that next years is going to be, well, quite a milestone, in more ways than one. I look forward to the year ahead. To the challenges. The triumphs. The continuation of my dream and the legacy that I’ve begun.

So hold onto your hats. 2009 is going to be quite a year. I welcome it. Embracing fully, for the first time in my life, the complete meaning of life and my reason for being on this earth.

Buddha once said; “Meditation brings wisdom; lack of mediation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what hold you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.”

Are you dreaming big and inspired? START TODAY! You’ll be amazed where it will lead you.

A la prochaine

SDM

Without Reservation (file under what we’re calling the new place)

New beginnings. It is always quite scary when you change from one thing to another. There are so many expectations, some of which may be true and others which are largely imagined but nonetheless they have an affect on the way that you operate. At least they do for me. We are going to call the new place Without Reservation.

My first day I was basically there to learn what was going on. Learn the culture of the kitchen. Make a few dishes and watch how the line operates. I ended up, quite ironically, making Kobe burgers my first day. I say ironically of course because of my experience on the grill over the summer. These burgers however do not come in a box pre made and do contain some very expensive and tasty ingredients. Of course Kobe for those of you who don’t know can go to (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_beef). However, most of what is consumed in this country is not in fact Kobe. More often than not we get the highbred version of Kobe which has been crossed with Angus. Still good but not quite the same as the legendary stroked and coddled beef that is super expensive and I might add super tasty. At any rate it was a great first experience for me and it really helped to set the tone for the coming weeks.

The people that I am working with are a rag tag crew of high powered mutants. There are five of us in total. Four males. One female. There is Head Chef, a towering friendly giant and the man responsible for getting me to start my journey on a new path of discovery. In a lot of ways he is like me and we are going to have a great working relationship. Then there is the kitchen veteran. He reminded me right away of L from Reservation. He is just like L in that he is the kitchen father, the machine, capable of jumping buildings in a single bound and producing food at an alarming rate without even thinking. I think we are going to call him Yoda. He is from British Guyana, been cooking for 36 years, 36 YEARS. I wasn’t even born yet. He is the epitome of what it means to come to this country to work hard and get what you desire for your children. I love him already. Working with him for the past couple of days he has assured me that I will do just fine. I’m glad to because he really helped to alleviate some of my fears. Yoda immediately understood me and what I was trying to do and in some weird magical way I think he decided if I was crazy enough to do it he was crazy enough to help me get there.

Then there is A, she comes in in the morning and handles all the deliveries and sets up the Garde station. She is funny and although unassuming can be loud when she needs to be. We’ve only spoken minimally and I can’t really say much more about her yet.

D, well, what can I say about D. He too is a workhorse. He is the evening Garde and just about everything else. A young Spanish chap who after a few beers told me that he had no direction in life and kind of pissed away his early twenties. But then he came to cooking and everything has changed.

The controlling owner is a former NHL, Stanley Cup winning, Goalie. I mention this because I believe in signals from the universe. I used to play hockey in my youth and was in fact a goalie. He is friendly but cautious and you can tell that he is currently, just like everyone else, wondering how to weather the recession storm clouds that are mounting, quite blackly, in the distance. I’m not too concerned as I think that we should be able to weather it quite well. Canada is after all a resource rich nation and I don’t think that the worlds appetite is just going to up and disappear for our oil, wood, uranium, zinc, copper, etc, etc, etc.

The front of house is predominantly women. Eye Candy. I can’t remember all of their names but after having laughed and spoken with them I think that we’ll all get along just fine.

The first day I learned the basic culture of the kitchen. Expectations. Workflow. And what it feels like to get in the weeds quickly. I was working the grill station right away and the grill is about the busiest station in the restaurant. I held my own but only because I had Head Chef watching over my shoulder and helping when needed. At the grill station you need to call the read the orders, call them out and then execute. It truly is a ballet. A fine tuned chorus of the machine spitting out chits and the teams reaction to them. That first day we ended up doing about eighty lunches. Not busy by their experience but for my first time it was enough to make me think that I might be out of my element.

However, after that first rush. And it truly was a rush. Both in terms of orders and the blood flowing through my veins. Going out for a smoke with Yoda I told him I felt a little out of sorts and he looked at me and told me that I had nothing to worry about. So did Head Chef.

Having popped my line cherry in a meaningful way I am now left to consider it. To figure out how to make the workflow better, pound out orders more quickly and organize the entire kitchen. From the outside it may seem that it is kind of easy. But I would have to say that that was a rather naïve thought. Not to say that I won’t get to the point where it is relatively easy but currently I find myself working hard to try and get the rhythm of it down. But for a guy who only worked the line once (this day) I think I did alright.

Buddha once said; “There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth...not going all the way, and not starting.” I certainly have put myself in the position that I am going all the way and I certainly have started. It is exhilarating, scary, exciting and beautiful.

I’m also reminded of what Seneca said; “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.”

Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM