Listening: Disarm you with a smile, and leave you like they left me here to wither in denial. The bitterness of one who's left alone.
What's my problem? I have a shitty new housemate.
There are several reasons why I haven't been able to blog lately. The first of which is the fact that I have just been really busy lately. I've been working six days a week, which is nothing new, but I have also been doing a lot in my "free time." In the mornings, I have been determined to not be in bed. I have been waking up, sometimes as early as eight or nine in the morning, and have been out and about. Normally, I'll get up and I'll grab a cup of coffee at The Bean or at the Even Keel Cafe, I'll head to my little spot on the docks, and I'll just read.
On my day off a week and a half ago, I volunteered for the Nantucket Film Festival. I wasn't planning on volunteering for more than that one day, but I kind of got roped into volunteering on a couple of mornings after that. I took tickets for the shorts program one morning at eight in the morning and ended up breaking down a huge tent on the beach at ten another morning.
At night, there have been other things going on. Seany Sous-sous' last day on the island was on Tuesday, so we all went out to The Chicken Box. Another night we all went drinking at Cambridge Street. So, it's pretty much been one thing after another.
Another reason that I haven't been writing as much is because we have a new housemate. Some of us call her Godzilla, I call her the graceless rhinoceros. She is probably one of the least considerate people that I have ever met. Normally, after work, if there wasn't anything going on, I would get my computer and go to the common room to bang out a blog before I went to sleep. Now, if she's in the common room, I don't even want to be in the house with her, so I end up going out, even if I don't want to.
My first experience with her is when I go to the fridge and the cap to my lemonade was loosened. I was like, "Who the fuck has been drinking my lemonade?!?" She said it was her and that she would buy me more. I was very quietly livid. If someone wants some lemonade, all they have to do is ask first. Say, "Hey, you mind if I get a glass of your lemonade? I kind of want to make a cocktail." I would say, "No problem. Knock yourself out." Second, my other female housemate bought me a box of Hot & Spicy Cheez-Its. She knew that I had been looking for them and that they had run out at the Grand Union grocery store. So, when she saw them at Stop & Shop, she picked them up for em and left me a cute little note. The next day, the Cheez-Its are open, and there's a note from the gracless rhinoceros on the counter that said, "I'll buy your more Cheez-Its." It took her more than a week to replace the lemonade and the Cheez-Its AND she bought the wrong brand lemonade. Fuckin' bag-a-douche!
Another thing that has been pissing me off is that she thinks she owns the house. She crashes in the common room on the hide-a-bed at ten o'clock in the evening with her boyfriend. Hmm... it's a COMMON ROOM! It's the only room with a TV! So the other three roomies and I had to just sort of hang out in our rooms with no TV to watch.
She has been complaining that her bed is too small, so she went into my room last night, before I had finished in the kitchen, and took the mattress from the bunk above me. She didn't ask me if she could go into my room, or if she could take the mattress. I have shit in my room that I love, namely my iPod and my computer. If she steals my food, who's to know that she won't steal anything else. Actually, she has....
The other female housemate shares a room with the graceless rhinoceros. She is a very personal person who keeps all of her things organized. She has a shelf of her own stuff in the fridge, and keeps her dry goods in a drawer in her room. She has no problem offering when she's consuming, but she makes very short money, and needs to make sure she's taken care of. The graceless rhinoceros has literally eaten this girl out of house and home. She went through this girl's drawers and took her food and now she can't find it. The roll of paper towels that she kept by her bed to kill bugs had been moved to the kitchen. Just last night, she had a friend over. They had bought some snacks to eat as they pre-gamed. All of a sudden her friend asks, "What happened to the chips?" The graceless rhinoceros and her boyfriend are in the common room eating the chips. Girl almost flipped the fuck out.
She even pissed off my roomie. He likes to watch TV late at night, and often just falls asleep on the couch. He's legit watching something, and she tells him to go to bed because she wants to hang out in the common room. What a fuckin' bitch.
Something has to be done and has to be done soon. We think that her boyfriend is going to get fired from the place he works at. If that's the case, one of two things might happen. Either they'll both leave the island, or she'll try to get him the prep job that's vacant here. That would mean that he moves in and we're all even more miserable.
Anyways, onto bigger and better things... I had this past Monday off. Jess and Carlos were down visiting Jess' parents at their vacation rental in Mashpee, MA, the next town over from Hyannis, where you catch the ferry to and from the island. So, I caught the ferry and hung out with them for the day. It was my first time off the island since I got here I have to say that it was quite nice being back on the mainland, knowing that I could just keep walking if I wanted to and I wouldn't run into the ocean within an hour.
It was also good hanging out with people who actually know me. They've put in the time and have gotten to know the real me. People here know the real me, but they're only really seeing one side of me. I'm not finding any connection or real kindred spirits. It's either work or party. There's no straight chillin' or just hanging out somewhere cool. With Jess and Carlos, I don't necessarily feel like I have to be all out there. We've already talked about petty shit and deep stuff, that now we can just talk about life as it's being lived.
Truth be told, we didn't do much when we hung out. I really didn't need to DO anything. I just wanted to be around two of my favorite people. We walked around Falmouth, had some lunch, did some shopping... As an added bonus, I got to have dinner with Jess' parents who are great people. Jess' dad took us out on his boat. We saw Bob Kraft's (owner of the New England Patriots) three houses.
My next day off is this Monday. I haven't figured out what I'm going to do with it, but more importantly, I also have Friday, the Fourth of July off. Now that is even more perplexing. I don't know a single soul in town, and I have the Fourth of July off. What am I going to do? Am I just going to go to the beach and then see the fireworks at night? Am I going to try to hang out with some of the servers (who I don't really know all that well) or see what they're doing? This is probably one of the more stressful Fourths in recent years.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Day 30: C's Win! C'S Win! C's Win!
Listening: Am I the weaker man, because I understand that love must be the master plan.
What's my problem? I have no ice cream or dumplings.
Has it really been six days since my last post? I can't believe that. It feels like so much less time. I've been busy that's for sure.
For the past few workdays, I have cooked the saute station. So now I'm responsible for the guinea hen, the fluke/flounder and the tuna dishes. Tonight, I also was responsible for the duck special. It's been educational and I have been rocking it pretty well from the get go. It makes me think that Marsoir was really right when he said that he saw me as more of a saute guy rather than a grill guy.
I have to say that my transition over to the saute station was extraordinarily smooth. I was shown once how to do what needed to be done and I just up and did it. Today, out of 44 meals we cooked tonight, 37 of them came from me. It was an incredibly imbalanced distribution, but I was able to make all of my pickups without any problems. I have to say that I like the saute station. I kind of wish it was more of my home station versus hot apps. But with the departure of one of the staff, it means that I'll have more time on hot apps and less time on saute. Oh well.
I actually had yesterday off. Originally, I intended to go and find the Stop & Shop and some other places that would be good to know about, but I kind of got sidetracked. I ended up volunteering for the Nantucket Film Festival that is taking place this weekend. I figured that the event happens only once a year, so I might as well take advantage of the opportunity to maybe meet some new people. So I worked from one o'clock until about half past six. I did everything from put together schwag bags to cutting ballots. I met some cool people, a girl going into her senior year of college and a massage therapist. I even woke up early this morning to do some more volunteering. I think that on Friday morning, I'm working one of the events.
After I finished working, I came home to drop off my stuff and grab my Celtics hat before heading to dinner at Straight Wharf. My friend Mikey was tending bar there, so I sat at the bar and had a few bites. I really wanted to try this black bass crudo, but it was on the dining room menu, and you can't order off of the dining room menu in the bar and vice versa. I have to say I was a bit disappointed, but I guess that just means that I'll have to go back sometime.
While I was at Straight Wharf, I ended up shit shooting with this couple who had each individually been to southeast Asia. One had been to the Philippines, and the other had been to Thailand. I picked their brains for a good half an hour before they had to leave to go home and I had to leave to go to Cap'n Toby's to see the game.
Cap'n Toby's was ELECTRIC. The place was packed and everyone was going wild. The sexy as hell Amazonian bartender was there, even though she wasn't working. She and her friend decided that they would dance on the bar at halftime. I have to say that I was pleased. As the game went on and the C's pulled away with an amazing lead, the crowd got more and more boisterous. There were chants of "Na na na na, hey hey hey, good bye!" and "We beat L.A." It was so much fun. The bar made green shots for when we finally won. I ended up taking shots against my better judgment.
When I got out of the bar, I really kind of missed being in Boston. I knew that some sort of shenanigans would be going on. People would be flipping over cars and starting fires. I kinda wanted to flip over a bicycle and start a fire in a trash can, but I decided not to. Instead, I just walked home and gloated to a guy from New York.
Anyhow, I'm tired as hell. I have to go to sleep. I'll leave you with a couple of pics.
The TVs I saw the C's win on.
Me shortly after the C's won
What's my problem? I have no ice cream or dumplings.
Has it really been six days since my last post? I can't believe that. It feels like so much less time. I've been busy that's for sure.
For the past few workdays, I have cooked the saute station. So now I'm responsible for the guinea hen, the fluke/flounder and the tuna dishes. Tonight, I also was responsible for the duck special. It's been educational and I have been rocking it pretty well from the get go. It makes me think that Marsoir was really right when he said that he saw me as more of a saute guy rather than a grill guy.
I have to say that my transition over to the saute station was extraordinarily smooth. I was shown once how to do what needed to be done and I just up and did it. Today, out of 44 meals we cooked tonight, 37 of them came from me. It was an incredibly imbalanced distribution, but I was able to make all of my pickups without any problems. I have to say that I like the saute station. I kind of wish it was more of my home station versus hot apps. But with the departure of one of the staff, it means that I'll have more time on hot apps and less time on saute. Oh well.
I actually had yesterday off. Originally, I intended to go and find the Stop & Shop and some other places that would be good to know about, but I kind of got sidetracked. I ended up volunteering for the Nantucket Film Festival that is taking place this weekend. I figured that the event happens only once a year, so I might as well take advantage of the opportunity to maybe meet some new people. So I worked from one o'clock until about half past six. I did everything from put together schwag bags to cutting ballots. I met some cool people, a girl going into her senior year of college and a massage therapist. I even woke up early this morning to do some more volunteering. I think that on Friday morning, I'm working one of the events.
After I finished working, I came home to drop off my stuff and grab my Celtics hat before heading to dinner at Straight Wharf. My friend Mikey was tending bar there, so I sat at the bar and had a few bites. I really wanted to try this black bass crudo, but it was on the dining room menu, and you can't order off of the dining room menu in the bar and vice versa. I have to say I was a bit disappointed, but I guess that just means that I'll have to go back sometime.
While I was at Straight Wharf, I ended up shit shooting with this couple who had each individually been to southeast Asia. One had been to the Philippines, and the other had been to Thailand. I picked their brains for a good half an hour before they had to leave to go home and I had to leave to go to Cap'n Toby's to see the game.
Cap'n Toby's was ELECTRIC. The place was packed and everyone was going wild. The sexy as hell Amazonian bartender was there, even though she wasn't working. She and her friend decided that they would dance on the bar at halftime. I have to say that I was pleased. As the game went on and the C's pulled away with an amazing lead, the crowd got more and more boisterous. There were chants of "Na na na na, hey hey hey, good bye!" and "We beat L.A." It was so much fun. The bar made green shots for when we finally won. I ended up taking shots against my better judgment.
When I got out of the bar, I really kind of missed being in Boston. I knew that some sort of shenanigans would be going on. People would be flipping over cars and starting fires. I kinda wanted to flip over a bicycle and start a fire in a trash can, but I decided not to. Instead, I just walked home and gloated to a guy from New York.
Anyhow, I'm tired as hell. I have to go to sleep. I'll leave you with a couple of pics.
The TVs I saw the C's win on.
Me shortly after the C's won
Friday, June 13, 2008
Day 24: Menu Change!
Listening: If I were a king, if I had everything, piece by piece, if I had you if I could give you your dreams.
What's my problem? Not a a thing.
Today, I had another fantastic day. I woke up early, went into town, got a coffee and a crumb cake, ran some errands and was back in time to prep for the menu change. This had to be the easiest menu change that I have ever been through. It was incredibly smooth. So, here, I'll just lay out the new menu and show you pics.
Apps
Foie gras tasting: American Season foie gras creme brulee, foie gras & duck confit terrine & house cured foie gras with a plum & ginger compote $18
Pan roasted octopus with a warm fingerlin potato & orange salad & a chorizo emulsion $16.50
Seared day boat scallop with a shortrib & Nantucket mushroom ragout, corn veloute & arugala puree $16.50
Bartlett Farm tomatoes with baby beets, lemon peppered ricotta & basil in a chick pea dressing $14
Summer Squash bisque with a zucchini fritter, lobster & cilantro relish & chipotle crema $13.50
Salad of Bartlett Farm petite mixed greens, goat cheese, candied pecans & dates in a sherry vinaigrette $14
Cornmeal crusted oyster with avocado & grapefruit, petite mustard greens in a tomato & bacon dressing $16
Entrees
Grilled Wolfe Neck's Farm flat iron steak with potato puree, roasted bone marrow, pickled chanterelle mushrooms, point reyes blue cheese & watercress $37.50
Black vinegar braised pork cheek & miso glazed shrimp with a peach and cashew slaw & gingered shrimp essence $36.50
Nantucket flounder with spaghetti squash, pancetta & pine nuts & artichoke & tomato relish $33.50
"American Seasons fish & chips" potato wrapped rare yellow fin tuna with crushed English peas, tartare sauce vinaigrette & lemon confit $36.50
Creamed spinach & leek tart with black olive & a melange of summer vegetables $27.50
Chili glazed organic salmon with fried green tomatoes in a smokey crayfish butter $31.50
Crispy buttermilk breast of guinea hen with a corn bread cheddar pudding, vidalia onion soubise, black cherry & almond relish $33.50
And now some pics...
The octopus dish
The oyster dish
The scallop dish
The bisque
The tomato salad
The foie tasting
The tuna dish
The flounder dish
The salmon dish
The guinea hen dish
The spinach tart
The shrimp dish
The steak dish
Chef explaining the dishes for the tasting
Servers studying the menu during the tasting
Jo-jo, Seany sous sous & Pies during the tasting
The vultures dig in
What's my problem? Not a a thing.
Today, I had another fantastic day. I woke up early, went into town, got a coffee and a crumb cake, ran some errands and was back in time to prep for the menu change. This had to be the easiest menu change that I have ever been through. It was incredibly smooth. So, here, I'll just lay out the new menu and show you pics.
Apps
Foie gras tasting: American Season foie gras creme brulee, foie gras & duck confit terrine & house cured foie gras with a plum & ginger compote $18
Pan roasted octopus with a warm fingerlin potato & orange salad & a chorizo emulsion $16.50
Seared day boat scallop with a shortrib & Nantucket mushroom ragout, corn veloute & arugala puree $16.50
Bartlett Farm tomatoes with baby beets, lemon peppered ricotta & basil in a chick pea dressing $14
Summer Squash bisque with a zucchini fritter, lobster & cilantro relish & chipotle crema $13.50
Salad of Bartlett Farm petite mixed greens, goat cheese, candied pecans & dates in a sherry vinaigrette $14
Cornmeal crusted oyster with avocado & grapefruit, petite mustard greens in a tomato & bacon dressing $16
Entrees
Grilled Wolfe Neck's Farm flat iron steak with potato puree, roasted bone marrow, pickled chanterelle mushrooms, point reyes blue cheese & watercress $37.50
Black vinegar braised pork cheek & miso glazed shrimp with a peach and cashew slaw & gingered shrimp essence $36.50
Nantucket flounder with spaghetti squash, pancetta & pine nuts & artichoke & tomato relish $33.50
"American Seasons fish & chips" potato wrapped rare yellow fin tuna with crushed English peas, tartare sauce vinaigrette & lemon confit $36.50
Creamed spinach & leek tart with black olive & a melange of summer vegetables $27.50
Chili glazed organic salmon with fried green tomatoes in a smokey crayfish butter $31.50
Crispy buttermilk breast of guinea hen with a corn bread cheddar pudding, vidalia onion soubise, black cherry & almond relish $33.50
And now some pics...
The octopus dish
The oyster dish
The scallop dish
The bisque
The tomato salad
The foie tasting
The tuna dish
The flounder dish
The salmon dish
The guinea hen dish
The spinach tart
The shrimp dish
The steak dish
Chef explaining the dishes for the tasting
Servers studying the menu during the tasting
Jo-jo, Seany sous sous & Pies during the tasting
The vultures dig in
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Day 22: Heat & Sun
Listening: We're sharpening stones, walking on coals to improve your business acumen.
What's my problem? Laundry cost me $15.
I realize that my last post was kind of whiney. Yes, whiney. Since then, as it seems to go, I have hit a bit of an upswing. The day after I wrote the whiney blog, I was determined to make it work. I was determined to be a badass on the line. So, I woke up early, got some coffee, prepped my arse off, and made a badass staff meal with the help of Pies. It was poached striped bass over rice with stir fried veg and a ginger soy sauce. We had seventy some-odd people on the books, and I was ready.
Unfortunately, all of the reservations started at a quarter to seven and were done by half past eight. This means that there isn't an early pop and a second turn of the dining room. It means that we bend over and take an ass fucking. As we waited for tickets, I paced back and forth between my station like a cat stalking its prey. Everyone else abandoned their station for the cool of the cold apps station. Me, I just paced. Back and forth.
When the tickets started rolling in, I was ready. In they flooded. Luckily it was a good distributions between the cold apps station and myself. But I rocked it. I fucked shit up, kicked it while it was down and pissed on it while it lay there bleeding. I was fast and organized. I heard the calls. I processed the ways that the tickets were coming in and I attacked. I kept it together so well, that I was too fast putting out the first courses. Chef had to ask me to hang back a bit to let the other line cooks catch up on their board. It was great. I was even jumping over to cold apps to help put up apps when desserts were rolling in too.
After it was all said and done, we did about a hundred dinners in the span of an hour and a half. To top it all off, it was steaming hot in the kitchen. It had been about eighty five degrees out that day and even through prep, we were all sweating our collective balls off. But I rocked it nonetheless.
The next day was another slow day, and I, again, did well. So I strung together a few really good days. I've made a number of successful staff meals. So things a re definitely going better over these past three days.
Today was my day off. The first half of it was spent doing laundry. I've been here for twenty two days and I hadn't done it. Luckily, there was a newly found laundymat much closer than the one that the guys had been going to over the past few weeks. I pretty much just had to carry mu laundry about fifteen minutes. The laundrymat was right on one of the wharfs. You'd never know it was there if there wasn't a little twelve by two inch sign sticking out from the building. So from noon until two, I did my laundry. While I waited for my laundry, I hung out on the docks, rocked out to my iPod and read my book. It was bright and sunny, you couldn't have asked for better sitting and reading weather.
The shit thing about doing laundry is that it's three bucks for a wash and three bucks for a dry. It took me fifteen dollars to do all of my laundry, and when I get back to my place, there was nowhere really to hang all of the stuff that I would normally hang dry. I tried in my closet, but not enough air got in. I tried on the shower curtain rod, but it was so fragile, that it couldn't hold much of my stuff without falling. It was kind of a bummer.
After I got back from laundry, the intern and I went out with our bikes. My destination was to get to a beach. He was just sort of along for the ride. I started out by going to Something Natural to pick up some snacks, but once we got going, we quickly got lost. We had to stop and look at the map three or four times.
While we were staring at the map at one point, a SUV pulled over and I heard a "ZEN!!! Hey, ZEN!!!" Out of the passenger side of the car popped my friend Brooke, one of the servers at the restaurant. She had seen us and asked her friend st stop, so we took that opportunity to ask some directions. We got directions to both Surfside Beach and Bartlett Farms.
We had no real intentions of going to Bartlett Farms, but we knew we were on Bartlett Road and we saw some fields of produce. We just didn't know how to get to the farm store. So, we got directions and headed over there first. For part of the way, I had to walk my bike on a dirt road. When I say dirt road, what I mean is part packed dried mud and part loose sand. It was kind of a bummer that I couldn't just ride through it. But, when we got there, we found a pretty nice farm market. It was a lot like Wilson Farms in Lexington, but it was probably a third of the size. Luckily, I was finally able to find some good fruit there. I picked up a couple of nectarines and a San Pelligrino Limonata. Oh so refreshing.
We sat for a while before heading back on the road to get to Surfside. The intern is kind of a kid, impatient. He's nineteen. I guess he's allowed to be impatient. It's the age of impatience. So, whereas I had actually planned to go to the beach that Papi told me to go to which is right beyond Surfside, the intern wanted to just stay at Surfside.
I was rather surprised by the sand there. I expected it to be a lot more like the sand and shore on Crane's beach. I expected it be a whole lot more pebbley. I wasn't white sand by any means but it was nice sand. And unlike Crane's Beach, there weren't rocks where the water hit the shore. It was nice sand. We stayed there for a few hours. The intern was dumb and didn't bring anything with him. He had no book, no iPod, no notebook. No nothing. Just a towel and some water. Dumbass. I was set. I had my Crazy Creek chair, a towel, my book and my iPod. Sucks to be him. We got there around four or so and only stayed until six. He wanted to bounce back home. Truth be told, all of the talent was leaving the beach and it was starting to get chilly, but I could have sat out there in the sun for another hour easily.
Tonight, the C's lost. It's okay. I want the Lakers to win one more game so that we can get the trophy in Boston. My confidence in the big three hasn't been shaken. Speaking of this, Chef said that we all have to start wearing hats in the kitchen in case the health inspector comes in. Pies isn't a big hat wearer, much like me. So really, the two of us were the only ones forced into wearing them. The only hat I brought with me is my ratty Airwalk hat, the one that's fraying at the bill. I didn't think that Chef would want me wearing that on the line, so I went out and bought myself a bright green Celtics hat. I have to say that I didn't think I would like wearing the hat right away, but I bought a really comfortable hat. Pies, on the other hand, had to return his hat because he figured out that it was digging into his ear.
Anyhow, that's been my time over the past few days. Here are some more pics for you of the island.
A Wharf at Night
Bird Poser
Surfside Beach
Surfside Beach the Other Way
My Bunk
C's, Bitches!
What's my problem? Laundry cost me $15.
I realize that my last post was kind of whiney. Yes, whiney. Since then, as it seems to go, I have hit a bit of an upswing. The day after I wrote the whiney blog, I was determined to make it work. I was determined to be a badass on the line. So, I woke up early, got some coffee, prepped my arse off, and made a badass staff meal with the help of Pies. It was poached striped bass over rice with stir fried veg and a ginger soy sauce. We had seventy some-odd people on the books, and I was ready.
Unfortunately, all of the reservations started at a quarter to seven and were done by half past eight. This means that there isn't an early pop and a second turn of the dining room. It means that we bend over and take an ass fucking. As we waited for tickets, I paced back and forth between my station like a cat stalking its prey. Everyone else abandoned their station for the cool of the cold apps station. Me, I just paced. Back and forth.
When the tickets started rolling in, I was ready. In they flooded. Luckily it was a good distributions between the cold apps station and myself. But I rocked it. I fucked shit up, kicked it while it was down and pissed on it while it lay there bleeding. I was fast and organized. I heard the calls. I processed the ways that the tickets were coming in and I attacked. I kept it together so well, that I was too fast putting out the first courses. Chef had to ask me to hang back a bit to let the other line cooks catch up on their board. It was great. I was even jumping over to cold apps to help put up apps when desserts were rolling in too.
After it was all said and done, we did about a hundred dinners in the span of an hour and a half. To top it all off, it was steaming hot in the kitchen. It had been about eighty five degrees out that day and even through prep, we were all sweating our collective balls off. But I rocked it nonetheless.
The next day was another slow day, and I, again, did well. So I strung together a few really good days. I've made a number of successful staff meals. So things a re definitely going better over these past three days.
Today was my day off. The first half of it was spent doing laundry. I've been here for twenty two days and I hadn't done it. Luckily, there was a newly found laundymat much closer than the one that the guys had been going to over the past few weeks. I pretty much just had to carry mu laundry about fifteen minutes. The laundrymat was right on one of the wharfs. You'd never know it was there if there wasn't a little twelve by two inch sign sticking out from the building. So from noon until two, I did my laundry. While I waited for my laundry, I hung out on the docks, rocked out to my iPod and read my book. It was bright and sunny, you couldn't have asked for better sitting and reading weather.
The shit thing about doing laundry is that it's three bucks for a wash and three bucks for a dry. It took me fifteen dollars to do all of my laundry, and when I get back to my place, there was nowhere really to hang all of the stuff that I would normally hang dry. I tried in my closet, but not enough air got in. I tried on the shower curtain rod, but it was so fragile, that it couldn't hold much of my stuff without falling. It was kind of a bummer.
After I got back from laundry, the intern and I went out with our bikes. My destination was to get to a beach. He was just sort of along for the ride. I started out by going to Something Natural to pick up some snacks, but once we got going, we quickly got lost. We had to stop and look at the map three or four times.
While we were staring at the map at one point, a SUV pulled over and I heard a "ZEN!!! Hey, ZEN!!!" Out of the passenger side of the car popped my friend Brooke, one of the servers at the restaurant. She had seen us and asked her friend st stop, so we took that opportunity to ask some directions. We got directions to both Surfside Beach and Bartlett Farms.
We had no real intentions of going to Bartlett Farms, but we knew we were on Bartlett Road and we saw some fields of produce. We just didn't know how to get to the farm store. So, we got directions and headed over there first. For part of the way, I had to walk my bike on a dirt road. When I say dirt road, what I mean is part packed dried mud and part loose sand. It was kind of a bummer that I couldn't just ride through it. But, when we got there, we found a pretty nice farm market. It was a lot like Wilson Farms in Lexington, but it was probably a third of the size. Luckily, I was finally able to find some good fruit there. I picked up a couple of nectarines and a San Pelligrino Limonata. Oh so refreshing.
We sat for a while before heading back on the road to get to Surfside. The intern is kind of a kid, impatient. He's nineteen. I guess he's allowed to be impatient. It's the age of impatience. So, whereas I had actually planned to go to the beach that Papi told me to go to which is right beyond Surfside, the intern wanted to just stay at Surfside.
I was rather surprised by the sand there. I expected it to be a lot more like the sand and shore on Crane's beach. I expected it be a whole lot more pebbley. I wasn't white sand by any means but it was nice sand. And unlike Crane's Beach, there weren't rocks where the water hit the shore. It was nice sand. We stayed there for a few hours. The intern was dumb and didn't bring anything with him. He had no book, no iPod, no notebook. No nothing. Just a towel and some water. Dumbass. I was set. I had my Crazy Creek chair, a towel, my book and my iPod. Sucks to be him. We got there around four or so and only stayed until six. He wanted to bounce back home. Truth be told, all of the talent was leaving the beach and it was starting to get chilly, but I could have sat out there in the sun for another hour easily.
Tonight, the C's lost. It's okay. I want the Lakers to win one more game so that we can get the trophy in Boston. My confidence in the big three hasn't been shaken. Speaking of this, Chef said that we all have to start wearing hats in the kitchen in case the health inspector comes in. Pies isn't a big hat wearer, much like me. So really, the two of us were the only ones forced into wearing them. The only hat I brought with me is my ratty Airwalk hat, the one that's fraying at the bill. I didn't think that Chef would want me wearing that on the line, so I went out and bought myself a bright green Celtics hat. I have to say that I didn't think I would like wearing the hat right away, but I bought a really comfortable hat. Pies, on the other hand, had to return his hat because he figured out that it was digging into his ear.
Anyhow, that's been my time over the past few days. Here are some more pics for you of the island.
A Wharf at Night
Bird Poser
Surfside Beach
Surfside Beach the Other Way
My Bunk
C's, Bitches!
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Day 18: The Cold Black Sea
Listening: What if I got it wrong? And no poet or song could put right what I got wrong or make you feel I belong?
What's my problem? I'm still not settled.
The beach can be a bit eerie at night. The light color of the sand bumps up against the black ocean, which becomes an even blacker horizon. The black horizon slowly fades to gray as you look higher into the moon illuminated sky. I know this, because I went to the beach today after work. I didn't feel like just staying in, and I didn't feel like going out to drink. So, I went to the beach.
The world is a funny place without the ambient glow of the cityscape. It's like once you've got civilization to your back, there's just an empty blackness. There's no next streetlight or corner. There's no airplanes making landings across the bay. There's just blackness.
It's funny. Over these past few years, I have surrounded myself with all of these great people, both professionally and personally. Now that I'm out here, I don't get the illumination that they provide me. I don't constantly see how they might see me when I am doubting myself. It's just kind of a black horizon.
I'm not doing nearly as well as I thought I would be doing. And to make it worse, there's no one really here to lean on. I guess that this has been a bit of a reality check for me. I'm not as good of a cook as I thought I was yet. I don't learn as fast as I thought I did.
After a mere eighteen days, half of me wants to pack it in and go home, and the other half is saying it's just the beginning. Just ride it out. The half of me that wants to pack it in is saying that it's not the new kitchen and methodologies that are making him want to go, but it's the comforts of home and friends that are drawing him back. He wants his own room, his little computer desk, his full sized bed, and his speakers for his music.
The half that wants to suck it up and stay thinks that though his learning curve isn't as fast as it was in Cambridge restaurants, he could still learn here, whether it's slower or not. He thinks that he'll go through this shit wherever he decides to move. If he doesn't step out of his comfort zone now, he'll never go anywhere.
Regardless, I'm locked in for six months, so I'm going to have to try to make it work. So we'll see how it all goes. I had a talk with Gabriel Frasca at Cap'n Toby's after watching the Celtics win against the Lakers. He said that working the summer in Nantucket is like working the Saturday before Valentine's Day for two months straight. Yeesh. It's gonna be interesting.
What's my problem? I'm still not settled.
The beach can be a bit eerie at night. The light color of the sand bumps up against the black ocean, which becomes an even blacker horizon. The black horizon slowly fades to gray as you look higher into the moon illuminated sky. I know this, because I went to the beach today after work. I didn't feel like just staying in, and I didn't feel like going out to drink. So, I went to the beach.
The world is a funny place without the ambient glow of the cityscape. It's like once you've got civilization to your back, there's just an empty blackness. There's no next streetlight or corner. There's no airplanes making landings across the bay. There's just blackness.
It's funny. Over these past few years, I have surrounded myself with all of these great people, both professionally and personally. Now that I'm out here, I don't get the illumination that they provide me. I don't constantly see how they might see me when I am doubting myself. It's just kind of a black horizon.
I'm not doing nearly as well as I thought I would be doing. And to make it worse, there's no one really here to lean on. I guess that this has been a bit of a reality check for me. I'm not as good of a cook as I thought I was yet. I don't learn as fast as I thought I did.
After a mere eighteen days, half of me wants to pack it in and go home, and the other half is saying it's just the beginning. Just ride it out. The half of me that wants to pack it in is saying that it's not the new kitchen and methodologies that are making him want to go, but it's the comforts of home and friends that are drawing him back. He wants his own room, his little computer desk, his full sized bed, and his speakers for his music.
The half that wants to suck it up and stay thinks that though his learning curve isn't as fast as it was in Cambridge restaurants, he could still learn here, whether it's slower or not. He thinks that he'll go through this shit wherever he decides to move. If he doesn't step out of his comfort zone now, he'll never go anywhere.
Regardless, I'm locked in for six months, so I'm going to have to try to make it work. So we'll see how it all goes. I had a talk with Gabriel Frasca at Cap'n Toby's after watching the Celtics win against the Lakers. He said that working the summer in Nantucket is like working the Saturday before Valentine's Day for two months straight. Yeesh. It's gonna be interesting.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Day 16: My Blueberry Nights
Listening: Nobody looked me in the eye. Tried to fly to the moon. Only made it to the sky. I was looking, looking for... I couldn't find a friend. Searching for a clear connection, without a digital send.
What's my problem? Shooting 1 for 3 on sunny days off.
My schedule got changed around this week. I was supposed to have Saturday off, and I was supposed to train on the grill this week. Due to some people being sick, and probably due to my lackluster performance on my first two shifts on hot apps alone, I'm just on hot apps for the remainder of the schedule this week. It made me mildly insecure that I'm also training one of the interns on hot apps. I know that it's probably a necessary evil for this restaurant given that there will be three interns, four cooks, and Chef once Sean, the current sous leaves.
I guess it makes me feel kind of like a schmuck to know that someone who is still in school may be doing the job that I do. I'm looking for a better way to explain it. I want to be badass. Someone still in school, I don't think has the ability to really be a badass. Maybe I'm just full of myself and my bruised ego from these past couple of weeks is still on the mend. Still, I want to own it. Maybe I'm not meant to own it here, because Chef does eventually want me to be on rounds. It makes sense, but I still want to go in and rock it out... on a busy night.
On my day off today, it has been raining. Rain, rain, go away. Come back again on a day that I am prepping some really big project. I planned on going to the laundrymat today, but it kind of sucks walking too and from the place in the rain with a load of clothes. I figure that I have enough clothes to get me through until my next day off.
I'm here at "The Bean," a coffee house downtown, just chilling out while it pours outside. There's a strange contingency of high school kids who dress funny and don't seem to shower. One guy was here on my last day off. Right now he's eating sugar in the raw out of the packet at the table next to me. He's wearing the same long sweater coat, dingy striped button-down shirt, a wooden whistle around his neck, and corduroy pants that are too big for him. His corduroy pants are held up by suspenders, and it's hiked up so high that strangely enough, he's got camel-toe. Fucking weird. He and his pals go behind the counter all of the time and they never seem to buy anything. I'm glad that the cafe is relatively full with people other than these high school kids. The aroma really is quite unpleasant.
It seems like there are two things that I do when I'm not working. One is drink with the other cooks, and the other is plink around on my computer. Last night, I went to the Chicken Box for the second time since I hit the island. The first time, the guys wanted to hear this hippie band called Entrain. They sucked. They broke out into a fucking drum circle at one point. I wanted to shoot myself, but instead I took another sip of my Newcastle. This time, it was a kind of funk band called Miss Fairchild. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. They were really very good. When I walked in, they broke out into a cover of Terence Trent D'Arby's "Wishing Well." I was nearly sold on that alone. Then, I heard them play some of their own songs which were good, followed by a cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up." When They started playing Curtis, they had me, hook, line, and sinker. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. The fisherman metaphor may make me seem like a cliched islander. Anyways, they're coming back to "the box" in July, so I'm going to try to go and see them then.
But, yeah, every night after service there's drinking. Everyone sits out behind the restaurant, at the foot of the stairs to my apartment and next to the walk-in and drinks all of the beers they want. The guys I work with drink and drink and drink and drink. I try to cap myself off at two or three, but it's hard to extricate oneself from the group. Jo-jo used to sneak off to call his now ex-girlfriend, and they would all ask, "Where's Jo-jo?" It's hard, because I want to bond and be a part of their little crew, but there has to be something else to do besides drinking in the back alley. It's not like back home where I would go out with Marsoir and John and we would sit at Noir and crack on people. I actually wish they were here right now so we could crack on these high school kids. I know. It's mean. I hope that once the summer sets in and the rain goes away, I can just go and sit on the docks with my iPod on, or maybe even just go find some late night eats. If it's a choice between drinking by the walk-in, drinking at the bar, drinking at "the box" or sitting at home plinking on my computer all summer long, it'll be a long six months for me.
Speaking of plinking on my computer during my time off, I couldn't seem to sleep the other night, so I ended up watching a movie online. I decided to watch Wong Kar Wai's "My Blueberry Nights." When I decided to watch it, all I knew about the movie, really, was that Norah Jones was in it. I didn't even know that it was a Wong Kar Wai film. I have to say that I really enjoyed it. Norah Jones plays a heartbroken girl who at one point holds down two jobs to deal with her broken heart inspired insomnia. It was a detail that hit pretty close to home. I was that person once.
In the movie, Jude Law is telling Norah Jones that while at the end of the night, there's no more apple pie or cheesecake, and that the peach cobbler and chocolate mousse pie is nearly gone, but at the end of the night, there's always a whole blueberry pie left. He tells her, "There's nothing wrong with the blueberry pie. Just... people make other choices. You can't blame the blueberry pie, just... no one wants it." When I heard that, I thought to myself, "Wow. I can totally dig and appreciate that." There are days in your life where you are the blueberry pie. Some people have more blueberry pie days than others. I guess the challenge is to find a group of blueberry lovers, no?
I guess I'm still looking for my people out here. I'm still looking for my kindred spirits.
(an aside, a guy I really wanted to kick in the balls last night at "the box" for being a kind of a drunk, show-off-y douche just walked in. I still want to kick him in the balls. I know. I should really stop being so aggro.)
Anyhow, I'm still looking for kindred spirits. There's a new server at the restaurant who seems nice. She's a total southern belle, but without the excess of makeup. She seems to be down on her luck, as her housing when she got to the island fell through. I saw her walking to work with all of her stuff on her back as I was heading into town. I offered to help her carry her things, but she said she had been carrying them so long, that she could manage the last two blocks. She didn't go into how her housing fell through, because she said, "If I got into it, I might start crying." It's the first time since I got here that I wanted to give anyone a hug. I didn't though, because she barely knows me. I know I should have just grabbed her bags from her and walked her to the restaurant. But I'm not that forward. Anyhow, I hope everything turns out alright for her. She seems like a nice person.
But that's all I have to say for now. Tonight I'm going to grab a burger somewhere and then go watch the new Indiana Jones movie at the one movie theater in town. It's half past five, and I want to see the show at half past nine. I figure I can go eat at eight then. I got two and a half hours to kill before dinner then. Who knows what I'll do. I'll probably end up just closing this place down and heading over to the theater to grab a bite. I hope you all on the mainland are doing well and I miss you all dearly.
What's my problem? Shooting 1 for 3 on sunny days off.
My schedule got changed around this week. I was supposed to have Saturday off, and I was supposed to train on the grill this week. Due to some people being sick, and probably due to my lackluster performance on my first two shifts on hot apps alone, I'm just on hot apps for the remainder of the schedule this week. It made me mildly insecure that I'm also training one of the interns on hot apps. I know that it's probably a necessary evil for this restaurant given that there will be three interns, four cooks, and Chef once Sean, the current sous leaves.
I guess it makes me feel kind of like a schmuck to know that someone who is still in school may be doing the job that I do. I'm looking for a better way to explain it. I want to be badass. Someone still in school, I don't think has the ability to really be a badass. Maybe I'm just full of myself and my bruised ego from these past couple of weeks is still on the mend. Still, I want to own it. Maybe I'm not meant to own it here, because Chef does eventually want me to be on rounds. It makes sense, but I still want to go in and rock it out... on a busy night.
On my day off today, it has been raining. Rain, rain, go away. Come back again on a day that I am prepping some really big project. I planned on going to the laundrymat today, but it kind of sucks walking too and from the place in the rain with a load of clothes. I figure that I have enough clothes to get me through until my next day off.
I'm here at "The Bean," a coffee house downtown, just chilling out while it pours outside. There's a strange contingency of high school kids who dress funny and don't seem to shower. One guy was here on my last day off. Right now he's eating sugar in the raw out of the packet at the table next to me. He's wearing the same long sweater coat, dingy striped button-down shirt, a wooden whistle around his neck, and corduroy pants that are too big for him. His corduroy pants are held up by suspenders, and it's hiked up so high that strangely enough, he's got camel-toe. Fucking weird. He and his pals go behind the counter all of the time and they never seem to buy anything. I'm glad that the cafe is relatively full with people other than these high school kids. The aroma really is quite unpleasant.
It seems like there are two things that I do when I'm not working. One is drink with the other cooks, and the other is plink around on my computer. Last night, I went to the Chicken Box for the second time since I hit the island. The first time, the guys wanted to hear this hippie band called Entrain. They sucked. They broke out into a fucking drum circle at one point. I wanted to shoot myself, but instead I took another sip of my Newcastle. This time, it was a kind of funk band called Miss Fairchild. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. They were really very good. When I walked in, they broke out into a cover of Terence Trent D'Arby's "Wishing Well." I was nearly sold on that alone. Then, I heard them play some of their own songs which were good, followed by a cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up." When They started playing Curtis, they had me, hook, line, and sinker. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. The fisherman metaphor may make me seem like a cliched islander. Anyways, they're coming back to "the box" in July, so I'm going to try to go and see them then.
But, yeah, every night after service there's drinking. Everyone sits out behind the restaurant, at the foot of the stairs to my apartment and next to the walk-in and drinks all of the beers they want. The guys I work with drink and drink and drink and drink. I try to cap myself off at two or three, but it's hard to extricate oneself from the group. Jo-jo used to sneak off to call his now ex-girlfriend, and they would all ask, "Where's Jo-jo?" It's hard, because I want to bond and be a part of their little crew, but there has to be something else to do besides drinking in the back alley. It's not like back home where I would go out with Marsoir and John and we would sit at Noir and crack on people. I actually wish they were here right now so we could crack on these high school kids. I know. It's mean. I hope that once the summer sets in and the rain goes away, I can just go and sit on the docks with my iPod on, or maybe even just go find some late night eats. If it's a choice between drinking by the walk-in, drinking at the bar, drinking at "the box" or sitting at home plinking on my computer all summer long, it'll be a long six months for me.
Speaking of plinking on my computer during my time off, I couldn't seem to sleep the other night, so I ended up watching a movie online. I decided to watch Wong Kar Wai's "My Blueberry Nights." When I decided to watch it, all I knew about the movie, really, was that Norah Jones was in it. I didn't even know that it was a Wong Kar Wai film. I have to say that I really enjoyed it. Norah Jones plays a heartbroken girl who at one point holds down two jobs to deal with her broken heart inspired insomnia. It was a detail that hit pretty close to home. I was that person once.
In the movie, Jude Law is telling Norah Jones that while at the end of the night, there's no more apple pie or cheesecake, and that the peach cobbler and chocolate mousse pie is nearly gone, but at the end of the night, there's always a whole blueberry pie left. He tells her, "There's nothing wrong with the blueberry pie. Just... people make other choices. You can't blame the blueberry pie, just... no one wants it." When I heard that, I thought to myself, "Wow. I can totally dig and appreciate that." There are days in your life where you are the blueberry pie. Some people have more blueberry pie days than others. I guess the challenge is to find a group of blueberry lovers, no?
I guess I'm still looking for my people out here. I'm still looking for my kindred spirits.
(an aside, a guy I really wanted to kick in the balls last night at "the box" for being a kind of a drunk, show-off-y douche just walked in. I still want to kick him in the balls. I know. I should really stop being so aggro.)
Anyhow, I'm still looking for kindred spirits. There's a new server at the restaurant who seems nice. She's a total southern belle, but without the excess of makeup. She seems to be down on her luck, as her housing when she got to the island fell through. I saw her walking to work with all of her stuff on her back as I was heading into town. I offered to help her carry her things, but she said she had been carrying them so long, that she could manage the last two blocks. She didn't go into how her housing fell through, because she said, "If I got into it, I might start crying." It's the first time since I got here that I wanted to give anyone a hug. I didn't though, because she barely knows me. I know I should have just grabbed her bags from her and walked her to the restaurant. But I'm not that forward. Anyhow, I hope everything turns out alright for her. She seems like a nice person.
But that's all I have to say for now. Tonight I'm going to grab a burger somewhere and then go watch the new Indiana Jones movie at the one movie theater in town. It's half past five, and I want to see the show at half past nine. I figure I can go eat at eight then. I got two and a half hours to kill before dinner then. Who knows what I'll do. I'll probably end up just closing this place down and heading over to the theater to grab a bite. I hope you all on the mainland are doing well and I miss you all dearly.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Day 14: How ZEN!!! Got His Groove Back
Listening: And hear me call, oh soft-spoken whispering now. Well, a thing or two I have to say here. Tonight let's go all the way then.
What's my problem? Everyone's sick.
So I finally found my groove on the hot apps station. FINALLY! Yesterday, I was supposed to be trailing on the grill station, but it was just as well that I didn't. Pies, the guy who was supposed to train me on the grill, went home sick with some sort of stomach bug. So, I got pushed back onto hot apps. I prepped grill for the most part, but ended up working the hot apps. During prep, Chef also showed me hot to bone out a whole pig's head. It was awesome. I got so amped off of it. So when I hit my station for the night, I rocked it. It wasn't really all that busy, but I didn't kill anything, all my plates looked nice, and I just felt comfortable. It was a good thing.
In other news, everyone here has been getting sick. There are only three of us out of eight haven't gotten sick. It's going around and I'm not having any of it. Three guys got days off because of it. One guy went to the doctor. It's pretty fucked up. Some people have the stomach bug, and others have a congestion flu-like bug. None of that for me, I tell you.
Back in Boston, I was a big late night, after service snacker. I used to eat dumplings at home or I used to go to Chinatown for fried rice or other stuff. Here on the island, there is nothing. Last night I was famished because I made tuna salad sandwiches for staff meal. If you know anything about me, you know I don't really like tuna salad. So I ended up eating salad and Cheez-its for dinner. I walked all around town after we finished scrubbing down and I couldn't find a single place that would serve me anything but booze. So I came home and ate frosted mini-wheats and more Cheez-its. It SUCKED!
It has occurred to me that I've been pretty manic since I've come to the island. I have huge ups and downs. I miss my home and my friends. Then I walk along the beach and it's sunny, and everything is good. Then I have a shitty night on the line and everything sucks. And then I bone out a pig's head and everything is great. I feel like I'm on a roller coaster. I don't think that I've ever been like this. To be honest, it's kind of scary. I'm hoping that in a month or two I'll have evened my keel and that I'll have chilled into everything. Time will tell.
Anyhow, that's all I have to say for now. Tomorrow, I'm training an intern on hot apps. Fun, fun, fun. I just got my legs under me and I have to train someone else. That's so fuct. Oh well. Time to relax. I'm hoping to get up early tomorrow to get some ice cream at Soupy's (one of the bartenders) ice cream shop and some frosted mini-wheats at the grocery store. Soupy get's his ice cream from Gifford's in Maine. I'm psyched. Ups and downs, ups and downs.
What's my problem? Everyone's sick.
So I finally found my groove on the hot apps station. FINALLY! Yesterday, I was supposed to be trailing on the grill station, but it was just as well that I didn't. Pies, the guy who was supposed to train me on the grill, went home sick with some sort of stomach bug. So, I got pushed back onto hot apps. I prepped grill for the most part, but ended up working the hot apps. During prep, Chef also showed me hot to bone out a whole pig's head. It was awesome. I got so amped off of it. So when I hit my station for the night, I rocked it. It wasn't really all that busy, but I didn't kill anything, all my plates looked nice, and I just felt comfortable. It was a good thing.
In other news, everyone here has been getting sick. There are only three of us out of eight haven't gotten sick. It's going around and I'm not having any of it. Three guys got days off because of it. One guy went to the doctor. It's pretty fucked up. Some people have the stomach bug, and others have a congestion flu-like bug. None of that for me, I tell you.
Back in Boston, I was a big late night, after service snacker. I used to eat dumplings at home or I used to go to Chinatown for fried rice or other stuff. Here on the island, there is nothing. Last night I was famished because I made tuna salad sandwiches for staff meal. If you know anything about me, you know I don't really like tuna salad. So I ended up eating salad and Cheez-its for dinner. I walked all around town after we finished scrubbing down and I couldn't find a single place that would serve me anything but booze. So I came home and ate frosted mini-wheats and more Cheez-its. It SUCKED!
It has occurred to me that I've been pretty manic since I've come to the island. I have huge ups and downs. I miss my home and my friends. Then I walk along the beach and it's sunny, and everything is good. Then I have a shitty night on the line and everything sucks. And then I bone out a pig's head and everything is great. I feel like I'm on a roller coaster. I don't think that I've ever been like this. To be honest, it's kind of scary. I'm hoping that in a month or two I'll have evened my keel and that I'll have chilled into everything. Time will tell.
Anyhow, that's all I have to say for now. Tomorrow, I'm training an intern on hot apps. Fun, fun, fun. I just got my legs under me and I have to train someone else. That's so fuct. Oh well. Time to relax. I'm hoping to get up early tomorrow to get some ice cream at Soupy's (one of the bartenders) ice cream shop and some frosted mini-wheats at the grocery store. Soupy get's his ice cream from Gifford's in Maine. I'm psyched. Ups and downs, ups and downs.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
