families and then some…..
We all have a family..or should I say families….. Church is like a family, fellowship is like a family. When you are marry, your wife or husband’s family then becomes your family as well. But there is a new family that I recently discovered….co-workers. I guess you have to really love your job that you would consider your co-workers as one of your many families. I love my job, and we are always helping each other out when there is a need. Last Wednesday when my girlfriend came to visit me at work, my co-worker asked me, “where is your girlfriend’? Of course they asked me in Spanish. I said she left already, but I did introduce her to one of our servers. They said that servers are not part of the family, the kitchen guys and girl are (there is only one girl in the entire kitchen, and I am the only Asian). I told them that next time when she comes to visit, I will be sure to introduce her to them.
I eat Mexican foods with them, listen to Spanish musics, trying to learn Spanish as well. The only thing that I have not done is taking shots with them. I did have a beer with them on on my first day training there. I always joke with them that I am now 10% Mexican, because I eat Mexican food, and listen and speak a little bit of my broken Spanish. But somehow they all guaranteed that I can be fluent in about 3 months. I have already learned a lot of vocabularies, so at least I can understand what they need. On the same token, I have been teaching them English. Although they don’t speak well, but they can all understand you.
Restaurant is fun, if you like it. Before I decided to go into culinary, a friend of my once told me that her family used to own a restaurant. Some of her childhood were spent in a office of the restaurant. She didn’t really like that feeling where families spending holidays together, but she just sat in the office watching her parents serving other families. Interestingly enough, her parents even suggested to me not to go into restaurant business. Because there is no day and night, you are always working and will never spend enough time with your own family. However, like I said on the previous post, the restaurant that I want to open will only operate 4 and half days. Crazy idea, you bet it is. I want to have a family and have kids and pets. I want to spend time with them as well. Like my sharing before, God first, relationship.family second, then 3rd will be the job.
I think I have an idea on what my restaurant will look like…. Its going to be a 40 to 50 seats restaurant. The idea is that I can have me in the kitchen plus one more guy/girl and a dish washer, perhaps a par time on the weekends. Then I can have 2 or 3 servers in the front plus a busser and a food runner. It will be causal dining, and I will try to make everything from scratch and fresh. If one dish has sold out, then its sold one. Come back next time if you really want to try it. There will be a daily special plus a daily soup, on top of the menu. The menu will be ranging from Asian to Italian to French to American, probably 3 dishes each. The menu will change every 3 months so that I can use the freshest and seasonal ingredients. The price range, well, I will figure it out then. Since the dollar value will be different.
Am I crazy for just opening for 4 and half days, you bet. But I want to have fun when I am at work. You might be wondering if I want my wife to work with me. Well, its up to her. She can help out or she can have a job of her own that she enjoys. Whatever she enjoys the most, because I cannot force anyone to enjoy something that I enjoy doing it. Once again, I don’t want to be married to the restaurant. Because you can’t share feelings, or express your caring and loving to a physical building.
There is a special event that I am doing next Saturday, girlfriend mom’s birthday. I have decided to spoiled them a little bit. Since I don’t do this kind of thing often. Here is the menu….
Heineken beer bread to start with.
Appetizer: Jumbo scallop with jumbo shrimps served with herb butter sauce.
Entree: Half lobster with rack of of lamb, served with mushrooms and gorzongola cheese sauce and seasonal vegetables. (Yes, I will be killing live lobsters in half! )
Desserts: not sure at this point, since they are not huge dessert fans. But it can be worked out.
Here is the part that will make a lot of you jealous. Since my girlfriend cannot have too much seafood; therefore, I told her that I would make her a special appetizer. She will let me know what she likes to eat, and I will use my own creation to make that appetizer for her. My point is that every customers that walk into the door may have a special concerns or dietary needs. I think as a chef we should be thinking about that concerns with the customers, because that is where the creativity comes in, right?
Alright, that is it for now…getting late, and I should sleep early….or try to sleep early…..