Coolest. Knife. Ever
So, I was named employee of the quarter for back of the house staff. I don't really look at the award as having any meaning. It's chosen by a guy that has furry tendencies. What's meaningful is the cash prize that comes along with it! I was thinking about just using it for paying bills, but then I saw my new favorite knife.
Ohhh, yeah, baby, a folding deba, the AG Russell Honcho (from
AG Russell). As a cook, I'm always asked to help out at a friend's house with the cooking (okay, sometimes I volunteer too). But when I'm cooking in a friend's kitchen, what's the one good tool that I want that I never seem to have? That's right, a good knife. Why? Because most of you non-cooking types have shitty knives that are dull as fuck and will maim anyone that tries to use them (or you have ginsu knives, which I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole). It's a pain to carry your knife roll around, and you never really know when you'll be asked to help out. The solution? A pocket chef's knife. I swear, once I get this, I'll be carrying it everywhere.
Infrequency and Death
Forgive me, but the Beaujolais nouveau is in season now and I'm ripping into a bottle ... drunken posting always has its dangers.
Since I have figured out the direction I want to go in the restaurant biz, I've found less and less need to post in this blog. In a way, this blog was a tool for me to sort out the direction I was going in the restaurant business, and I appreciate all of you that came along for the journey, but now, I will be posting even more infrequently, only when something really important or interesting strikes me. You can expect some really interesting stuff at the beginning of March when I go to NYC for a restaurant trade show and check out some restaurants, but once I find that job in NYC, I think it will spell the death of the blog. Which is fine and natural.
Speaking of death. In a recent episode of my favorite podcasts,
The Restaurant Guys, they talked about heritage turkeys and it got me to thinking that I want to reconnect with the meat that I eat in a more visceral way. I have killed fish and lobster to eat, but I've never really taken the life of a mammal. I understand where my meat comes from, but I want to develop that greater that comes from the understanding of killing an animal, butchering it, cooking it and eating it. I keep on coming back to the French Laundry cookbook where Keller talks about killing rabbits ... with that in mind, I am going to try to find a rabbit farm in the next month or so and go out and actually kill a cute little bunny to eat.
I think the reason that I chose the rabbit is that it's cheap and, more importantly, its cute. Killing a pig, deer or cow I think, though difficult, could be easy, or rather, easier to do than to kill a comparatively cute animal. We keep bunnies as pets. Perfect for making fricassee.
Sometimes, I'm such an asshole. But I eat well.
Smoke Break
Ever since college, I've had a certain affection towards nicotine. Cigars, pipes, cigarettes - I had them all. I have to admit, I didn't smoke because I needed nicotine or a stress reliever or anything like that. Instead it was more like trying on an accessory to a lifestyle. I loved the trappings of of the foodie lifestyle and, since I hung my identity on it, I naturally embraced the accessories. Cigars, major accessory. After a good meal, there was always time to enjoy a scotch and a cigar.
Moving from the IT world to the world of a cook, things go decidedly downscale. Instead of cigars, you smoke Parliment lights. Instead of a scotch, you might enjoy a High Life (the champange of beers). The best part is, there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, sometimes, it's better than the cigar and scotch.
However, where it goes wrong is when the nicotine becomes part of your life, not in "I'm an addict" sort of way (because anyone who ever smoked regularly is an addict in some way, shape or form) but instead, more of "It's part of my daily life" kind of way. Now admittely, for a line cook, this is a useful tool. After all, what better excuse for a break is there than, "I'm going outside for a smoke?"
The break is worth it. But the rest of it? Not so much. My fingers reek, my clothes smell, I'm left with a foul taste in my mouth, I'm wasting money on cigarettes. And I'm left with this lingering feeling of "why the fuck do I want to do this?" So I cut back, stop buying, and now, when the occasional stressors just become too much, I'll bum a smoke. And what happens? Since I'm using them less and less, my system doesn't tolerate the toxins, to the point where I'll get dizzy spells.
That is definitely not worth it.
Not to say I'll stop completely. The next time I'm out at a bar with a friend who has a pack and we're in the process of getting sloshed, more than likely I'll bum one. Cigarettes and beer? They're just like peas and carrots.
