FIRST!

After literally minutes of debating about this in my head, I've decided to take this on as a way to get some of my thoughts out there.  I'm going to be taking on a bunch of different subjects but mostly about my thoughts on food, cooking, restaurants and how my work effects more then I ever thought.  I first got into cooking when I was 20, hated college and didn't have a ton of direction in my life.  I was taken on as a low risk employee with a French restaurant in my hometown of Ellicott City, MD.  When I first started, I got addicted to the social aspects of the kitchen life; lots of laughs, hard work, that feeling of being part of a team.  I went to culinary school and moved around a little, when I resettled in Baltimore, what I was addicted to changed.  I realized that as much as I loved and still love the social-ness, I love the work; I love the challenge; I love the reward.  And they are all linked in with each other, the work is a challenge and the challenge is a reward.  I have always had a tough time with motivation, I've learned over time that the more challenging something is the more motivation to get the task done and to get it done right, well, and quickly.  This profession has done nothing but throw more and more challenges at me.  It keeps me coming back day in and day out.  It takes a very special personality to be a chef, let alone a cook.

When I was first promoted to sous chef in Baltimore, I was very naive in my approach to being a manager.  I thought that I needed to be something other then myself.  I thought that I needed to be a hard ass and a yeller.  I lost my center very quickly.  I forgot what got me to where I was and what is going to get me where I want to be.  I lost connection with friends that meant the world to me, I lost my family.  Its taken a long time for me to work to get any of that back.  I still feel like I'm a stranger to people who I used to be so close with.  I haven't seen or spoken to one of my best friends in 6 years.  These are the things that you go through when you are in the restaurant world 24 hrs a day 7 days a week.  Now as I work to get my center back and more balance in my life, my career is taking a different turn.  I will continue to be a dedicated chef with a solitary focus on being the best one that I can.  But, my personal life and my life outside of work is going to be more of a focus then it has been.  I have so many great things going for me in my personal life right now.  I am getting reconnected with my LFCNY friends that I almost lost in my last move, Philly, and I am living a wonderful home life with Christina in a great homey apartment in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn; our two kittens, Funny and Missy, are an unending source of entertainment, joy and laughs.

I guess this is where we get started.  And now that we have, I want to talk about Buttermilk Channel.  We went last night for a late dinner.  I got there a little before Christina and walked in to a great space.  The bar was full and so was the wait list.  I was quoted an hour and gave them my number and we went to go find a bar to get a drink in.  A couple of doors down was a place called Palo Cortado.  We walked in and immediately I was a little put off by the lighting, the amount of staff vs. the amount of guests.  There was one bartender, three servers, a runner and one cook working a small cold station that was open to the dinning room; there were three tables and a couple of people at the bar.  Not a good start... The room was so dark that I had to use the votive candle to read the very confusing wine list.  The way that the list was structured was incredibly frustrating and confusing.  All of the wines, whether by the bottle or by the glass were listed together and in no real order.  The glass offerings were interspersed through out and it wasn't clear what wines were by the glass because the prices were placed so far way that your eye couldn't follow all the way across.  Thankfully we only had to sit there for about 20 mins.  The host from Buttermilk Channel called and said they were ready for us.  We were sat at a table that was approximately 6 inches away from the next.  It felt a little like we were thrown in with them to create a 4 top.  That was quickly forgotten as we got into the menu and the meal.  I have been looking at the menu for a while and have heard nothing but great things about  the fried chicken and it didn't disappoint.  Christina had the Squash and Sweet Potato Soup that was very good.  Nice spice to it in the background, the croutons on the top were great for crunch, overall very good.  For her main course she had the Lamb and Romaine Salad with roasted cauliflower and more of the croutons from the soup, I didn't try this as I was too into my Chicken and Waffles.  I had the Delicata Squash Tart with homemade buttermilk ricotta cheese, nice crust, the ricotta was really good, a very subtle sour note.  We shared the Maple and Bacon Almonds and the Pickle Pot.  This was the only mis-step in the evening; the almonds were too maple-y and you couldn't taste the bacon at all, and the pickle pot was just that, pickles, I would have liked a couple of different veg in there, some carrots, cauliflower, beets, etc.  We didn't have any room left for dessert, so no comments on that; although a couple of the items looked really good.  Just a little more motivation to go back and check the place out again.  We had a great time, good food, the cocktail list looked great, and its really easy to get to and from; G and F trains are only two blocks away.  I am definitely looking forward to going back.

Thanks for reading the first post.  I know that its kind of all over the place but, I think that its a good start.