Me and My Gin

Waiting

2007-08-19T22:09:00.000-07:00

So I'm now working Front of the House. Not full time, but 4 days a week (the other two are being spent in the kitchen still). It's a good start. The money is better and my kitchen shifts are at night ... I work solo at night, so it's me, my thoughts, the tickets and my prep, a good place to be.

Waiting is interesting work. I enjoy the challenge that comes with waiting tables and I have a whole lot more respect for waiters now that I am on that side of the table. People can be very harsh when it comes to judging waitstaff based on the smallest of things that are sometimes out of their control. If I get three tables seated at the same time, it's going to be a bit of a wait before we can get everything sorted out and your stuff is going to be a bit slow. But not many people have that awareness. Similarly, mistakes happen. I work hard to make sure that they aren't, but I'm not the one that resets my table - the busser does. I'm not the one that cooks the food - the cook does. Give us a break.

What has really bugged me is the fact that some people go out and are in a foul mood. Why bother? I hate waiting on tables that aren't at least in an okay mood. I don't want your sunshine raining on my parade.

And yet, I find myself becoming a decent waiter. I adapt who I am to each table, I am getting better at anticipating needs and I'm having a good time doing it. It's a rush to learn a new skill and see yourself get better at it.

The one thing that I keep learning, though, is that people will never fail to surprise you. This plays itself out in the tipping, for the most part. You would expect a very demanding table with a bunch of old folks that are very surly to tip poorly. 24%. A foreign group? $7 on a $39 bill. Pretty good. That table you had a great rapport with? 9%.

The other thing that strikes me is that the tips for breakfast can be paltry. If you find yourself ordering a breakfast that's less than $10, even a 20% tip doesn't mean that much, especially when I can easily spend the same amount of energy serving a cover that has 2-3 times the size of your check.

Just oatmeal and water, sir?

It's going to be a long morning.

So you want to do a dance event?

2007-07-12T20:23:00.000-07:00

Dr. Feelgood has been prodding me to put up a primer about what it takes to run an event, so I've spent a few weeks putting some thoughts down and seeing what I could come up with.

Everything here isn't essential ... this represents my philosophy of running events and there are other groups that do things differently; I take a more business minded view of things because, well, a while back I got a business degree, so that training tends to linger. Also, it's my butt on the line and I don't want to find myself losing money at the end of the day. That means I tend to run a very lean event organizer-wise because every person that is an organizer represents one less person that could be a paying customer, I like to touch many of the details of an event I run, and I have the skill sets to get many of the things done on my own (setting up sound equipment, website design, etc).

I tend to believe that's a smart philosophy because when you look at the actual liability you're on the line for when it comes to how much money you could lose, it's staggering. For an event on a national scale, depending on the scene, you're looking at a financial liability running anywhere from $10,000 to $25,000. I don't know very many people that can handle that sort of liability out of pocket. I certainly can't.

So, here we go in a somewhat particular order:

1) You need to ask yourself what your vision for an event is. You need to be passionate about it and not compromise you vision. Just think about the last time you went to, say, a concert where the music wasn't exactly what you liked but the band was playing with such passion that you got swept away. People respond to passion and love it.

2) The fewer the better. A lot of people tend to think that and event is a lot of work, and it is to a degree. During the actual event and in the weeks before, it's a good amount to handle. It's useful to have a housing coordinator, someone stuffing packets, etc, but in the 6 months leading up to the event, you don't really need a huge committee. At the most, maybe a few other people to provide input, but it can be much easier and quicker to just do it yourself. You don't have to worry about coordinating with multiple people and the resulting headaches (when do we meet, how do we agree on things, etc). So don't worry about getting too many coordinators or other people who do maybe two hours of work and then get into the event for free. The best way that someone can support your event is to pay for it. The only reason to bring in more parties would be to spread the financial risk of the event ... that's covered later. Additionally, it's best if you keep the organizers local. Unless the organizer has some sort of special connection to the scene, an out of town organizer with no experience in your scene will only create communication and logistical issues.

3) This is a business venture first and foremost. That means treat it like one. Don't give away a whole bunch of free passes to the event to your friends and don't try to leverage your friendship with someone to get them to do something that you should do as an organizer. If you're the kind of person that has a hard time saying "no," consider bringing on board someone that can.

4) Do a feasibility study. Crack open an excel spreadsheet and put down estimates for costs like the following: venues, instructors, sound equipment, promotional materials, food, T-shirts, flights, bands, research, paypal, wristbands, discounts, event insurance, extra transportation, packets and brochures. For your income, you'll have the packages that you sell over your website, door revenue, t-shirts, etc. Don't just do a back of the envelope calculation, look at other events in town and talk to other organizers to get estimates of all of your costs and revenue, including what you'll need for your deposits.

5) Choose a date. This involves not only finding a good date on a national calendar, but also on a local one. Check to see if there are any calendars just for your region (in the Pacific Northwest we have PNWSwing). If you think that the date you want might be too close, get in contact with the other organizers. In general you should leave at least two weeks between your event an any other similar event, but one month is better and 6 weeks would be ideal.

6) Develop a schedule. Lay out how far in advance you need to do things like marketing, getting bands, venues, a website, instructors, DJs, etc. For example, at ECBF last year I had these major categories on my schedule

* Marketing (4-5 months lead time)
* Bands (6 months lead time)
* Venues (6 months lead time)
* Web Site (5 months lead time)
* Instructors (7 months lead time)
* DJs (7 months lead time)
* Housing (3 months lead time)
* T-Shirts (don't cheap out on them ... American Apparel is great stuff and you'll still make money)
* Sound (3 months lead time - need to know band requirements)
* Registration Packets (1 month lead time)
* The Week Before
* Misc

Note: I've got the major categories like venues, instructors, DJs and bands laid out before marketing and the website. I believe that it is of paramount importance that you finalize any arrangements for these major categories before you start marketing an event ... if you can't get what you want, then what are you selling? And if you're not getting what you wanted, should you do it anyway?

7) You're going to need seed money. That's for deposits with venues, bands, paying for marketing materials, a website, etc. You'll also need it to take care of your DJs and instructors. At the bare minimum now I feel like organizers should pay for the flights for their instructors plus a minimum teaching fee and the flights for their DJs. Asking your employees to pay their way and compensating them later is alright for the first year or two, but after that you should be paying their way. If you can't cover the seed money, look at other organizations (local music society or dance society) or people you can bring into the process as partners. You'll need to create agreements with them on how to share the liability/profits from the event.

8) When marketing, take it upon yourself to send out flyers to other scenes, create your website, post on other boards, do anything you can to raise awareness of your event. This is not an expense to cut because if people don't know about your event, they won't come. Note: When you put it up on your website, you're making a promise about your an event ... If you put an instructor on your site, make sure you're going to get them there, etc.

9) In the week before, there's a lot of stuff that you need to have nailed down. By then your registration packets should have been printed and stuffed, your registration closed and your housing coordinator should be working on the assignments. You need to make sure you've got all of the essentials taken care of:

* Instructor payment packets (this includes teacher pay plus a daily stipend for each day they teach, preferably in cash)

* Check in lists

* Liability waiver forms

* Cash box and change

* Cash for bands

* DJ schedule

* Develop methods and procedures for all processes

* A "go box" that has EVERYTHING you need to run the event at the event, including copies of all contracts

* Paper/pens/tape for unforeseen signs

* Preprinted signs for the ones you know you need

* Your laptop that has records of everything that you did online just in case you missed something (I've had to use this in the past more often than I thought)

Note: This is a buttload of cash, usually ...I've found myself hitting the ATM every day for a week in order to get it all.

10) Methods and procedures. If you are having any sort of volunteers, you need to make sure that you have things specifically laid out so that there is no question of what to do and that your volunteers do each task the same way. Make a flowchart if you have to (I do). Think about checklists you need for getting things setup and torn down in every venue.

11) Don't count on getting more than 2 hours of sleep a night. Sure you might have brought in other people to coordinate certain venues or what not, but it's your baby. Make sure it's taken care of. (This is one downside to my approach to doing events).

12) Whenever there is cash involved, always have two people working with the cash and counting it. Make sure you also keep accurate tally sheets of what was sold at what night. If you're doing the event again it helps with forecasting your totals for next year.

13) Think through the little things. You've probably been to an event, so think about what you've liked and what you want in an event that could help. Maybe it's a better laid out packet or maybe it's better food at afterhours? Where are my instructors and DJs staying? How are they getting around? If you have bands, always, always have a cooler of beer (plus make sure to tip). They'll appreciate it. Think through each person's role in the event and ask yourself how you can make their lives better.

14) Make sure you're tracking all of your expenses and income. I track everything in quicken so at the end of the event I can tell you exactly how much the event made or lost. You don't have to use quicken, just some simple excel pages would work just fine.

15) There's no such thing as tracking too much information. I personally keep an excel file that includes: a projection of costs and revenue, a list of the boards I am posting on along with the threads about ECBF, a detailed list of expenses paid (along with when and what category they fall into – promo, food, bands, sound, etc), my comp list, volunteer list and schedule, DJ schedule, shirt order list, promo mailing addresses, lists of possible bands, lists of possible venues, and graphs comparing revenues on a year to year basis.

16) What roles might you have for others? If you're not competent, get someone else. If you design a website that looks like crap and aren't familiar with it, find someone else to do it. Same with graphics, advertising, etc. The different roles I've used for ECBF have been: housing coordinator, chauffer, sound guy, workshop coordinator, graphics designer, web programmer, marketing coordinator, afterhours coordinator, packet coordinator, venue coordinator, DJ coordinator, band coordinator, etc. Think about what you can do and what you need to farm out. If you have to farm things out, think about how many roles you can assign to people. Each person that you allow entry for free is lost revenue. In the past, I've done 75% of the roles above by myself.

17) Relax. In the end it's all about having a good time. It's a lot of work, but try and schedule in a little bit of fun for yourself. For me, the most rewarding part has always been sitting down for a meal with the staff that have come to the event.

If you have any questions about how to run events in general, I'd be happy to share my experiences with you. Just email me at martin-at-lindychef-dot-com.

And finally, if you have to put the word "national" in your advertising, your event is going to look like a regional event that is overreaching for a national focus. Let your hard work, instructor and musical lineups do the speaking for you.

Don't be afraid of the sugar

2007-06-29T22:53:00.000-07:00

Sugar. It's the most under-utilized seasoning agent in any cook's pantry. I think it's because we've been so conditioned in the USA to think that sugar == sweet == dessert that we don't even think of the possibilities of using it in savory dishes.

Soup? I use it all of the time.
Sauce? Just today I used it to balance out a slightly acidic pasta sauce.
Meat? Sure. If you want some extra special caramelization, sugar is the way to go. Try dusting your scallops with sugar the next time you saute a batch.
Veg? Any tomato dish that has tomatoes that are slightly out of season would benefit from sugar.

The list goes on and on.

In the past six months I've gotten more and more used to the idea that sugar is an essential seasoning agent along with salt, acids, spices and bittering agents (careful! a little bitterness goes a long way). In the back of the house we doctor things up all of the time to make them taste better and I guarantee you that one of those things that you would never guess that we add is sugar.

Try it the next time you have something that is missing a certain roundness that salt, acid or spice can't bring it. You'll be surprised.

The Omnivore's Drunken Dilemma

2007-06-20T01:03:00.000-07:00

So if you've read Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, you'll understand just how much of our culture is based on corn. Most of the meat on your table is corn fed (with dramatic environmental and health consequences) along with the fact that processed food is filled with processed corn. It's a disturbing fact, which leads to the importance of eating sustainably.

This past weekend I was struck by the notion that maybe we need to drink sustainably too. Bottled water becoming passe is the new trend at upscale restaurants and, after visiting the Jack Daniel's distillery in Lynchburg, TN, I was struck by how the language Pollan used to describe food could also be applied to booze.

Pollan used the term "supermarket pastoral" to describe how many companies, mostly organics, use very wholesome images and language to make their products seem natural, sustainable and healthy when they might not be. Similarly, the pastoral images, folksy tone and emphasis on tradition tried to portray Jack Daniel's as a product that was associated with a small time distillery that was made in harmony with nature.

In fact they were trucking in #2 corn from over 10 states listed by my tour guide in order to feed the gigantic needs of a company that was rapidly scaling up production to meet overseas demand. Yes, there are corners you can't cut such as barrel aging and fermentation, but the scale and rate at which they were producing their booze was on an industrial scale.

Just goes to show the need to be suspicious of any marketing.

And as a marketing major, I should have known that.

I'm a better dancer than I thought ...

2007-06-13T21:59:00.000-07:00

So in relation to my post about dancing at competitions, someone has kindly posted video of the blues competition. This is the third of five, but shows of Karissa and I the best (I'm the guy with the obnoxious LED belt buckle). We got second place and won ... a pair of passes to the Emerald City Blues Festival. Well, that's one less freebie I have to give away.

In any case, this was the first time I've seen myself dancing on video in about five years. I suck a lot less.

Why service matters

2007-06-03T12:49:00.000-07:00

So the chef of Sitka and Spruce gets named as one of Food and Wine's 10 best for this year and I have to scratch my head. I wonder if the award is getting given out only for the food and not the whole restaurant experience.

Don't get me wrong, when I went there back in January of this year, the food was excellent. Thoughtful use of PacNW ingredients with an Italian finish, well seasoned and perfectly cooked. However, the service was atrocious. I know that they are going for casual service, but the degree of abandonment and lack of attention to detail displayed was unforgiveable. The servers stood behind the bar while our water bottle needed a refill multiple times over the course of the evening ... ostensibly the bottle was there so we could serve ourselves, but what happens when the pitifully small bottle needed refilling? And then there was the poor timing, unpolished flatware and the worst: the glassware, from Crate and Barrel or the like, that had not had its stickers removed. There was a layer of sticky residue on the bottom of the glasses that resulted from just dumping them into the dishwasher right after they were purchased.

My sister and I ended the meal half full ... we ended up getting burgers.

As I've gotten trained up in front of the house issues, these service issues bug the shit out of me. Today at a restaurant in Portland, my dining partner and I ordered a cured meat plate. It was perfunctorily dropped off; the server didn't mention what the meats were and I had to stop her to tell me what they were. She got the first one right and couldn't tell us what the other two were ... that's when I remembered what the other ones were supposed to be and I blurted them out (an aside, one of the items, supposedly a bit of lardo was actually pork belly).

The inattention continued. The drinks weren't refilled properly, the server was timid and shy and didn't really sense the timing of the table very well. If she had, she would have sold at least a couple more drinks and increased her check average (another aside: the menu was difficult to read in all lower case, single spaced courier ... my eyes hurt ... and it made me scratch my head too since the menu also was a weird mish mash. Pure Italian for the apps, but the a weird mash of Italian and other cuisines ... how did a bangers and mash get on the menu?)

The food was great, but the service was horrible. I've seen it time and time again at good restaurants and, honestly, I'm beginning to tire of it. I am in the industry, so I tip well, really well, and I rarely ever feel like I'm getting my money's worth. As a cook, I can't really afford to tip that well and still get god awful service. It almost seems like the servers feel entitled to their tips and the place they work at and we're doing them a favor by being there.

I'm not asking for much ... a little more attention to detail, reading the table better, product knowledge, basic shit that they should be doing already because, honestly, it's their job.

*sigh* if you like eating out, don't eat out with me unless you also like to be super critical and a bit catty. Sure it's fun, but sometimes you just want to have a great meal and not have to go to the busser station to mark your own flatware for dessert.

I take back what I said about competitions

2007-06-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

I still don't plan on having competitions at the Emerald City Blues Festival. I don't like how they break up the evening and, honestly, they're a bit faddish right now. Wait for it ...

But as far as what they can do personally for a dancer, that's a different story.

I used to think that they didn't have very much value and that I wasn't all that hot when it came to flashy dancing that was needed in comps. But I was in the final round of the blues competition at Andrew Slac's recent event and I happened to get paird up with Karissa.

Before we started dancing she whispered in my ear, "I want to do some solo blues." I think that was the key. I never do solo blues. So if I was going to go there, might as well just let it all out.

Trying to put how we danced into words, well, I just can't do it justice really. I was just filled with sheer joy, nothing was held back and we danced as close to perfect as I have ever danced with that much raucous energy. My heart was pounding and that grin was plastered to my face.

Where it came from, I'm not sure, but I've felt that for the past 3-4 years my dancing had plateaued. Maybe it's the cowboy boots, maybe it's the obnoxious pimp jewelry, maybe it's Karissa, maybe it's Steven doing the DJing. Doesn't matter, it just got kicked up a notch.

My dog is less of a man

2007-05-17T22:23:00.000-07:00

Cheeks became a eunuch yesterday. In some ways, I think he took it better than I did. Not in a stereotypical "Oooh, I sypmathize with you for losing your manhood," kind of way, either. In the weeks leading up to the operation I would never say he was getting neutered in front of him, but instead I said he was becoming a eunuch and teased him about it with a sing song voice. He seemed interested in what I had to say :) And afterwards? I found myself teasing him ... I can't help it. "Where'd your balls go, boy? Go find them!"

But the great thing about dogs is that they live in the present. Today doesn't matter, yesterday doesn't matter, any day before doesn't matter. Only now matters. So he continues walking along, sniffing with abandon at anything that seems interesting. Mmmm. Something must have died in that spot.

I also marvel at how he can be such a different dog. At home or hanging out at work, he is the most laid back dog you will ever meet, yet at doggie day care he's the opposite. I'm told by one the staffers that he's quickly becoming her favorite dog because he's still a bit goofy with his coordination and she can easily get him excited. It must be a funny combination to see ... I've experienced it a few times at the dog park, one memorable moment invovled him chasing me, missing a turn and slamming into my legs, causing us to tumble to the ground. I'm just glad he's not a yipper :)

It's better on a stick

2007-04-29T20:24:00.000-07:00

We need inspiration for some kid's menu items (no doubt that somewhere in the back of my head is Jon Stewart wryly holdip up Jimmy Dean's Pancake and Sausage on a stick). So today I'm working on the line and I'm hungry. I've just put out a family meal of pancakes, but that's not going to be enough. The sausage catches my eye. And I remember the bamboo skewers we have on the shelves along with my abortive attempts to make funnel cakes from pancake batter. Then the idea strikes. Sausage. Skewer. Dust with flour. Pancake batter. Fryer.

It's a breakfast corn dog with maple dipping sauce. And I can't help but think of Jimmy Dean as I eat each bite. And I feel a bit dirty.

But it's still good.

It's the economy, stupid

2007-04-06T22:40:00.000-07:00

I have to laugh whenever I see a new news item from the White House trying to convince people that the economy is stronger than ever. How are you supposed to convince and individual that things are great when consumer confidence is in the dumps? Is a press conference supposed to make the single mom working two dead end jobs feel better about her economic situation?

In fact, the White House has it right in many ways ... the economy is doing well, but why are so many people feeling like the economy has left them behind? Personally, I think that politicians' understanding of the economy is pathetic at best. If they truly understood how we could have such a great economy and yet so many more individuals feeling poorly about their future prospects (this is the first generation of Americans that is going to have a worse standard of living than their parents, after all), maybe they would be smarter about what needs to be done in this country.

So how the hell did we get here? The key is risk.

The Age of Corporate Risk

Go back 50 years ago. What was your employment situation? For many, you entered into a social contract with your employer. You would work for them for your career and in turn they would take care of you – a good job, health care, benefits, insurance and a pension when you retired. Your personal risk? Very little.

With companies making fat profits with little competition, both inside the US and ourside the US, there was an excess of wealth to go after employees. Companies could afford to take on these risks in order to attract employees, and if you looked at it, it was a pretty sweet deal in a lot of ways ... sure, you had to conform out the wazoo, but hey, you're being taken care of for life. Not too shabby.

The Quickening of the Business Cycle

Point your finger at globalization, computers, poor business decisions, etc, but the golden industrial era of the 50's and 60's started to die. The business cycle was rapidly becoming compressed as companies had to compete for business from new threats, sometimes threats that hadn't even existed a few years before. Companies also became more beholden to making profits for their shareholders as business information became more available (remember those neato Bloomberg terminals in the library?)

As a consequence, they had to shed costs. Downsizing, the shifting of pensions to 401(k)s, etc. Basically, businesses could no longer afford to subsidize the risk of their employees, so they left it up to the employees to sink or swim.

What does that mean to the individual employee? Health care? Premiums out the wazoo. A pension? Hah! Instead you get a 401(k) ... if you lose money, tough luck. Benefits? Good luck buddy. You might get them ... if you're able to stick around long enough for them to be come available to you. But then again, you might get laid off before then.

Basically, one of the consequences of businesses becoming more competitive was that a massive amount of risk was transferred from companies to the average American citizen. You screw up, well, that's your own damned fault.

The Age of Personal Risk

Not everything about having more risk is bad. It allows you more freedom to make your own choices (more risk more reward). It's what allows two geeks to create a company and, one year later, sell it for $1.65 billion.

However, people are also operating now without a safety net. No health care, no retirement, nothing to take care of them if even one thing goes wrong.

When you add up the net effects of all of these successes and all of these failures, sure, the economy is stronger ... more people are taking bigger risks and reaping bigger rewards but it's also leaving many people hurting, and those without the skillset to survive in this environment are doomed to low paying jobs with no upside.

Just look at the high growth jobs. Many of them are service-type jobs (cook, being one of them). It makes sense, though. As more people are taking these risks and spending more and more of their time on work, the less time they have to take care of the more mundane things and so you have service class rising up to meet those needs, be it a restaurant dinner or you need your dog walked. It's great that a lot of jobs are being created, but there's no upward mobility and to stay competitive these jobs can't offer health care, can't offer benefits. Basically they just barely offer a living wage, if that. You're flying on your own and if one thing screws up, be it a car accident, a sick child, a lost paycheck, you're in deep trouble.

Having more personal risk allows the overall economy to do better, but in this economy it also makes for more losers than winners, losers that have nowhere to turn when things are said and done.

What Are Our Political Solutions

I grew up in a Republican household, was a business major, and honestly, I'm sometimes surprised at just how liberal my ideas have become. But you can't ignore that without the business world to provide a social safety net, the government needs to step in. How?

National health care - we'd get more bang for the buck if we were taking care of people with a national health care system that focused on preventative care. People in service class jobs with no health care are often one illness away from losing their jobs. That's not acceptable.
A solvent social security system - there's many ways to do this, but privatization isn't one of them. Raise the retirement age (we're living a helluva lot longer now and many people work far longer), reduce benefits for people that already get other forms of income, etc.
Assistance for the working class - this comes in all sorts of forms, be it subsidized day care (to prevent having to make the choice between taking care of a child and going to a job), better metropolitan transportation systems, etc. Anything that assists the working class will leave us all better off.
Focus on developing businesses that can take advantage of the landscape – politicans need to abandon the notion that we're going to get back all of those manufacturing jobs. They're gone. They can be done better and cheaper overseas. Instead, you need to focus on things that you can compete on in the global economy – location, location, location. You're never going to be able to outsource a job that requires proximity to the customer and face to face contact. So increase small business loans, add tax credits for people that want to start up their own businesses. If you take away some of the risk there, you can bet that many more people will try and do well.

In the end, we're going to have to end up taking care of each other in one form or another. If we don't provide a social safety net, we're going to be met which much higher costs down the line, be it in unpaid medical bills, bailing out the uninsured, paying more social security benefits , etc. Asking the individual citizens to bear much of the risk is why there is a widening income gap between rich and poor, why people are having declining living standards. It's cheaper to provide a safety net rather than pay for the consequences (and besides, it's the right thing to do).

Major League Eating

2007-03-15T23:19:00.000-07:00

Spike TV is now carrying coverage of the competitive "sport" known as Major League Eating. I can put some sort of diatribe here about how disgusting this is, how it is a metaphor for the gluttonous nation that America has become, but I think the pictures say it all.

The best food show you've never seen

2007-03-13T23:09:00.000-07:00

Unless you get an obscure HD channel called Mojo, you're not watching one of the best food TV shows out there. It's called After Hours with Daniel and the premise is pretty simple. Daniel Boulud hosts an afterhours party at a restaurant in NYC. He cooks one course, the restaurant prepares the rest and he invites luminaries of the restaurant scene plus some celebrities to round out the mix. They sit down together and the cameras roll. There's only been eight episodes, there probably won't be any more, and that's a shame, but what's there is fantastic.

For the episode at Daniel you had the following guest list:

Eric Ripert (a culinary god)
Jacques Pepin (another culinary god - we're polytheists)
Drew Nieporent (the owner of the Myriad Restaurant Group, one of the most successful in the country)
Ruth Reichl (former food editor of the NYT and the woman who wrote the most famous review in history of the janus-like nature of a previous incarnation of Le Cirque)
Jeffery Steingarten (judge on Iron Chef America and food author)
Dan Barber (owner of Blue Hill a farm AND restaurant)
Ariane Daguin (owner of D'Artagan)
Rocco Di Spirito (a former celebrity chef who famously crashed and burned on NBC's reality show The Restaurant)
The chefs from Balthazar
Tiki Barber
A few minor celebrities ... and with the list above, who the fuck cares who they are

Can you just imagine sitting around a table with these people. Wow.

Meet Cheeks

2007-03-12T17:26:00.000-07:00

This is Cheeks, a six month old whippet that has been spending the past few days with me. I adopted him this past weekend and he seems to be doing pretty well. Being a whippet, he's a bit of a couch potato when we're not outside. He likes to move from my futon to his crate to a large pillow I have laid out on the floor for him and then back again. He's still getting used to the hardwood floors, though. No traction whatsoever.

I hate the word decimate

2007-03-05T01:13:00.000-08:00

While I'm on a language-related rant, I hate the way the use of the word "decimate" has devolved. The original definition of the word means to reduce a population by one tenth (hence the prefix deci). However the word has come to mean to reduce a population by a large number and has generally been accepted as such. Yet for a stickler like me, when you hear that "deci" slip out, it's like fingers grating on a chalkboard.

You're a bartender, not a scientist

2007-03-05T00:53:00.000-08:00

I hate the pretension that goes into labels that bartenders have for themselves nowadays. Some examples:

Bar chef - The only chef is the one in the kitchen. The title chef means chief in French and is reserved for the guy that runs a kitchen. Period.
Mixologist - Last time I checked, the only "gists" I knew were people that had gone to school and gotten some sort of scientific degree.
Cocktail Stylist - Might as well be a hairdresser and totally excludes the world of mocktails.

Look, I don't object to those scholars of drink finding some sort of way of differentiating themselves and advertising the level of dedication they have to their craft (perhaps it's time for a "Master of Bartending" or "Master of Cocktails" degree, like we have Master of Wine or Master Sommelier or Master Chef), but there's a certain pretension in abandoning the term "bartender." A bartender is someone you chat with about your day, a fixture of the restaurant, someone that is familiar to you like no one else in the front of the house . The new titles have a certain distance to them that implies that the drink comes first, not the customer.

Personally I know that when I go into a bar I don't want to deal with a bar chef, mixologist or cocktail stylist. Half the time the drinks that I've had from aspiring "bar chefs" have not been memorable. There's a reason that the classic cocktails are classics. Just sit me at a bar where the bartender can make a great Tom & Jerry, Ramos fizz or rye Manhattan.

I've become one of those Americans ...

2007-02-27T00:26:00.000-08:00

It looks like I'm going to be adopting a little whippet by the name of "Cheeks," and this being America I want to make sure that my dog gets the proper amount of exercise. So, on those days when I just don't feel like I'll be able to give him the long walk that he needs, what do I do? Well, whippets love to chase fast moving objects (they can run up to 37 mph) and so I bought this:

That's right. I bought a kickass gas-powered RC truck that has a two speed automatic transmission (they make RC cars with transmissions?) and can go 40 mph.

I am so filled with self-loathing right now.

Okay, not really. The damned thing is a lot of fun ...

Come on, Mark Burnett

2007-02-23T00:15:00.000-08:00

I love the TV show Survivor. I'm a fan, to the point where I watch reruns of previous seasons on the Versus TV network.

Why would I be a fan of such dreck? Of the bane of our modern existence, reality TV? Because Survivor is such an illustration of human nature. You're surprised that someone stabbed you in the back? Well duh. It also brings out the best in people, with Ian's bowing out of Survivor: Pulau to regain Tom's respect as being one of the classiest moments in the history of the game.

In any case, it's fascinating to watch how quickly paranoia spreads, how quickly someone will flip sides in order to protect themselves. It's a valuable lesson for anyone in a people related business to see how, if there is discord and strife within a team, things will fall apart quickly. Provide them with an external foe, something to strive for, and harmony will reign.

That being said, they violated a major tenet of the show this season with giving one team a luxury environment (well, relative one) for their camp. The adversity of living in the jungle just adds to the discord of the show, not to mention the fact that the easy life seems to have given one team a huge advantage. Might have worked for the Apprentice this season, but not Survivor.

I want raw dairy

2007-02-21T05:10:00.000-08:00

It tastes better. It's better for you. It supports sustainable agriculture. It's better for the planet, etc. All of that is well and good.

But the real reason that I want to have raw dairy, dairy that's not pasteurized or homogenized is this: On Jacques Pepin's show I just watched him whip a 1/4 cup of cream into soft peaks in about 5 seconds. Unreal.

Crush

2007-02-20T00:32:00.000-08:00

I had a very poor meal last Friday night at Crush. I had been looking forward to going there for a year and a few friends accompanied me to the restaurant. We had to wait 15 minutes for our table, normally not a big deal, but with the fact that they have absolutely no space for a waiting area bugged me as we had to constantly move out of the way whenever a party entered/left the restaurant (hint: reverse the hinges on the front door). As we waited I was able to look into the kitchen and saw that the staff was very relaxed and not too rushed, even though the restaurant was full, and that the chef was at the pass. Anyway, when we were seated the wait wasn't really acknowledged, and that bugged me the most.It took a long while to get service once we sat down and we ended up ordering the tasting menu. That's where things went bad. The courses:

First Course - Sunchoke soup with truffle oil. My prejudice for truffle oil aside, the soup was good, however two of the bowls had some large bits of green herbage stuck to the sides. Not a good sign since the soup had to be touched by at least the line cook, the chef and the waiter before getting to our table and yet they still served it. I made a point of telling the waiter about the dirty dishes at the end of the course. Not that big of a deal, except ...
Second Course - Yes, the salad course (bibb lettuce with a creamy herb dressing and prosciutto chip) had dirty edges on the plates as well. They had obviously been wiped down, yet the very sides of my dish had some dressing on them. The ribs on the bibb lettuce were turning brown and the salad had no seasoning. As a cook I felt bad about doing this, but I had to ask for salt in order to give the dish some flavor. As I finished the dish I noticed a fruit fly buzzing around my plate. In summer this would not be that big of a deal, but it's winter. I'm left to wondering how they have fruit flies in the restaurant in winter.
Third Course - Seared sea bass with creamed root veg and caviar sauce. This dish was the best of the savory dishes and I had no complaints. The sea bass had super crispy skin and the caviar sauce had a nice bit of saltiness.
Fourth Course - The famous short ribs with mashers and root veg. It was great except it was garnished with truffle oil which was totally unnecessary.
Fifth Course - The desserts were the most successful part of the evening. The spiced rum cake with the candied citrus was fantastic; the candied citrus managed to retain a wonderful sourness that worked well with the richness of the cake. There was also a great chocolate bombe (very decadent) and I had the mini donuts with the cinnamon sauce.

Overall, I felt like the mistakes were pretty bad and the rest of the meal just couldn't make up for them ... dirty dishware is something that every member of the team should be on the lookout for and it felt sloppy when three different pairs of hands let dirty dishes get to the table. And to have the first thing you learn in culinary school, proper seasoning of your dish, be neglected in a salad that was made with old greens was just sloppy.

After getting named one of the 10 best in F&W, I was expecting more, at least getting the basics right, but the impression I got is that the restaurant was coasting. To me it doesn't matter that we came in on a Friday night and had this experience; no matter when a customer comes they should get a great experience. They seemed to have enough staff in the kitchen to handle the rush, but FOH seemed to be dragging (we had long waits to order, for example).

I know I shouldn't completely judge a place on just one visit, but since I'm just a line cook, I can't really afford to make another one, especially when the first one was so off.

Trying to get a new dog

2007-02-06T00:24:00.000-08:00

So I've decided to get a new dog, and a whippet seems to be a great fit for my living situation, so I've been going through the adoption process for the past five months. Things have begun to get a bit frustrating after a breeder that I sent a depost to returned it, saying that my apartment was too small for a puppy. For a pup, I can understand, but I am beginning to get frustrated with other breeders with older dogs that I'm calling that say that they don't want to sell me a dog because I've got a small apartment and I work 40 hours a week.

It's not like I haven't had a dog before. I have. It's not like I don't understand the commitment involved. I'm planning on giving the dog vigorous exersice an hour each day. I've got a dog walker lined up. And if I have to take my dog to work, I work in a dog friendly environment. I want to get an RC car so on those days I feel like having a rest, I can take the dog to a field and let them run around chasing the RC car. I am anal to the point of ridiculousness when it comes to researching something and understanding what's involved before I get started. I wouldn't have even considered getting a dog if I couldn't afford one, physically, financially or emotionally.

Finally watching Top Chef Season 2

2007-02-01T17:58:00.000-08:00

So I haven't been watching Top Chef Season 2 because I wanted to TiVo the whole season and watch it back to back. Now that it's over, I'm starting to watch it.

Like the first season, the first rounds of peiosdes deal with the themes of teamwork and food for the masses rather than fine dining, which I think is great. The show isn't Top Fine Dining Chef, but simply Top Chef and in order to win you've got to have a great knowledge of both blue collar food and gourmet food. It amazes me that every season you have these fine dining cooks bitch and moan about being asked to cook blue collar food. My favorite episode so far was the TGIFriday's episode. Not everyone can afford to eat at a fine dining restaurant and to see them whine about having to cook food for a turn and burn operation is priceless.

Classically trained chefs love classic peasant food. TGIFriday's is modern peasant food.

Countercounterculture

2007-01-24T15:50:00.000-08:00

Living in the part of Seattle that I live in, the uniform of choice seems to be pretty emo, sometimes goth, with generous peircings and tattoos ... counterculture to mainstream America. However ever since I moved here I've found that I've enjoyed being a bit countercounterculture. Cowboy boots and jeans seem to work quite well for me. No pickup truck, though. Yet.

I love Mexican food

2007-01-21T18:40:00.000-08:00

Or maybe I should call it "faux Mexican food." It seems like lately, every family meal I make, every meal I have, I end up with something that's Mexican. Whether it's taking the skin off a pork belly to make tacos al chincharones or making mole verde, I am just drawn to how homey, how comforting the food is, especially when, with the addition of condiments like sour cream and lime, you can create a wonderful counterpoint of flavors and textures.

On Sunday mornings I usually end up making a salsa. As I go through the motions of setting up the line, I'll grill up some vegetables (one onion, three jalapenos, some tomatoes or tomatillios) and grab a bunch of cilantro, then head to the blender, usually adding just a bit of water, salt and maybe some seasoning with chipotle powder or some cider vinegar. It usually ends up being a bout a 9 pan's worth of salsa, but it makes for great meals the rest of the week or a nice special. Eggs benedict with a green chile hollandaise on top of bacon and masa cornbread? Yum.

Some thoughts on the Saveur 100

2007-01-16T06:45:00.001-08:00

Every year Saveur magazine publishes its list of top 100 food items. When I get the issue, I like to open it up and look at what I think is right on, what's off the mark, and what's just plain behind the times.

Right On
#28 Asia's soul food - Philippine food is definitely teh awesome.
#32 Manners, schmanners - Eating food from the pan is the way to go. In home kitchens, plates aren't kept hot, so your food cools down when you plate it. Straight from the pan, it's piping hot.
#36 North America's new food capital - Though I've never been, I 'd have to say damned straight on this one. I'm fascinated by the street food culture of Mexico and Mexico City would be a damned good place to experience it.
#57 Childhood favorite updated - Cacao reserve by Hershey's is awesome with single region bars and high cocoa butter content just rocks.
#69 Proof that good things come in small packages - The White Castle burger. I miss sliders.

Off the Mark
#4 Canned peas - You've got to be fucking kidding me.
#19 Hot sauce from Austin Grand Prize Hot Sauce - I make damned good stuff in my kitchen all of the time.
#100 End pieces - So, so ... The end pieces of roasts and what not are well done and crap, the end peice of a Parmesan wedge is good only for soup, the end piece of a very crusty bread is just too tough for my taste.

Just Plain Behind the Times
#5 Chipotle chiles go mainstream - Wow. I think this flavoring is already beyond mainstream and was tired sometime last year.
# 30 The return of the thinking person's cocktail - The cocktail renaissance has been in full swing for years now. Only now they're realizing that gin is better than vodka?
#84 Dessert for dinner - Yes, there are a bunch of high profile dessert only restaurants opening, but if you looked closely, you'd see a number of hihg quality dessert only places out there.