Long day at the restaurant, 14.75 hours to be exact. Wow, an 8 hour work day, now that would be cool! L faded during the day and we closed for an hour to collect ourselves, down some Manhattan Specials, then do it again. Staffing issues were abound, and L fired a kitchen guy we were trying out on the spot...which is fine, it's his business; but, when I confronted him in private about it ("so, now that we fired the trainee, what's out game plan for tomorrow?"), he tried to lay into me and some of the other guys. When I confronted him with his own logic, he didn't seem to appreciate it, and got a bit yelly. It was weird, but I'm glad I found that little piece of Brooklyn my mom instilled in me that allowed me to yell back without losing my shit. I'm tired. Looking forward Sunday and the Grand Snickle Dinner. Which may be home cooked or may be at Broadway East, depending on my sleep requirements...
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, organic chex with the organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5
LUNCH: 4pm, a few quickly eaten slices of pizza, water, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
RESTAURANT HAZE: 5-midnight, a small slice of Sicilian, a Manhattan Special, a few glasses of latte di mendorla, a few glasses of water, a rootbeer, a small amount of beer near the end, 1.25 bowl, hunger ?/5
EARLY MORNING WATERING: 1:30am, quart o' agua
Friday, April 10
Thursday, April 9
Passover 2
Spent the first half of the day at the restaurant, and we got creamed with too much business, due to the good weather, I assume. From 12:30 until when I had to leave at 4 for B's family's seder, it was slammed, all pistons turning, and we were understaffed and underprepped for the large quantity of service. Need to get to sleep early tonight, I imagine I could be coming into an unhappy hornet's nest tomorrow.
The seder was megafun, really enjoy B's side of the family, lucky to have mostly cool inlaws who love the lives they lead.
BREAKFAST: 9:15am, small bowl of ygurt, honey, vanilla, nuts, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
RESTAURANT HAZE: 1-4pm, 2 small cold slices, a little water, bottle of rootbeer, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM DRINK: 4:45pm, apple cider, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
SEDER: 6-9pm, various cookies and homemade macaroons, matzoh and maror, gefilte fish, matzo ball soup, turkey with ratatouille and asparagus, sip on wine, water, seltzer, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
The homemade macaroons had a crazy amount of soul to them, so much than the stuff out of the air-tight can.
The seder was megafun, really enjoy B's side of the family, lucky to have mostly cool inlaws who love the lives they lead.
BREAKFAST: 9:15am, small bowl of ygurt, honey, vanilla, nuts, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
RESTAURANT HAZE: 1-4pm, 2 small cold slices, a little water, bottle of rootbeer, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM DRINK: 4:45pm, apple cider, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
SEDER: 6-9pm, various cookies and homemade macaroons, matzoh and maror, gefilte fish, matzo ball soup, turkey with ratatouille and asparagus, sip on wine, water, seltzer, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
The homemade macaroons had a crazy amount of soul to them, so much than the stuff out of the air-tight can.
Wednesday, April 8
Passover 1
School in the morning, then picked up a rental car and kicked it with the old lady for a few hours before bearing Passover traffic down to New Jersey Land. Go dowwwwn, NJ Turnpike, way down in Monmouth county....tell the traffic, let my rental gooooo!
BREAKFAST: 8am, 2 street donuts, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM TASTING: 11am, 4 tastes of wine, 7 kinds of cheese, hunk of bread, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 1pm, spoonful of homemade icecream, snippet of homemade chocochip cookie dough, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 3pm, another hunk o' cookie dough, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Too good for words. Must save some for cookies this Sunday for the HVM.
PM SNACK: 5:15pm, slice of "Brooklyn Style Pizza", .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
We got to the seder in deep dark NJ a little early despite bad traffic (because I'm crazy like that), so me and B just road down to the local mall and found a slice joint, which had an odd Passover menu. We skipped that and had slices, which billed it self as 'brick oven' -- it was not -- and "a taste of Brooklyn" -- it really was not.
SEDER: 6:30-9:30pm, shot of slivovitz, gefilte fish, meat balls, matzoh ball soup, chicken, spinach kugel, matzo farfel, salad, matzoh w/ maror and horse radish, water, diet sprite, chocolate covered coconut macaroon, chocolate covered matzoh, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
I would have eaten more if it wasn't for that slice. The farfel went down a storm -- people just don't eat shmaltz anymore, and that dish is nothing if not a delivery system for chicken fat -- it's hard to make it bad if you use the real stuff. It was really nice to be with people who had strong fond memories of my parents (and my aunts and uncles who also have passed). Food wasn't bad, some of it was clearly store bought, some of it c been tweaked, but that doesn't matter, it had a lot of soul and a lot of love in everything from the food, to the presentation to the service to the desert. No complaints here. But next year I want to tackle this seder's central traditional app, a Viennese meatball in a sweet tomato sauce which can be kicked up several notches with just a few adjustments....
BREAKFAST: 8am, 2 street donuts, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM TASTING: 11am, 4 tastes of wine, 7 kinds of cheese, hunk of bread, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 1pm, spoonful of homemade icecream, snippet of homemade chocochip cookie dough, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 3pm, another hunk o' cookie dough, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Too good for words. Must save some for cookies this Sunday for the HVM.
PM SNACK: 5:15pm, slice of "Brooklyn Style Pizza", .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
We got to the seder in deep dark NJ a little early despite bad traffic (because I'm crazy like that), so me and B just road down to the local mall and found a slice joint, which had an odd Passover menu. We skipped that and had slices, which billed it self as 'brick oven' -- it was not -- and "a taste of Brooklyn" -- it really was not.
SEDER: 6:30-9:30pm, shot of slivovitz, gefilte fish, meat balls, matzoh ball soup, chicken, spinach kugel, matzo farfel, salad, matzoh w/ maror and horse radish, water, diet sprite, chocolate covered coconut macaroon, chocolate covered matzoh, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
I would have eaten more if it wasn't for that slice. The farfel went down a storm -- people just don't eat shmaltz anymore, and that dish is nothing if not a delivery system for chicken fat -- it's hard to make it bad if you use the real stuff. It was really nice to be with people who had strong fond memories of my parents (and my aunts and uncles who also have passed). Food wasn't bad, some of it was clearly store bought, some of it c been tweaked, but that doesn't matter, it had a lot of soul and a lot of love in everything from the food, to the presentation to the service to the desert. No complaints here. But next year I want to tackle this seder's central traditional app, a Viennese meatball in a sweet tomato sauce which can be kicked up several notches with just a few adjustments....
Tuesday, April 7
Short day
Mellow day at the restaurant, lot of prep in the morning and afternoon, service was pretty chill, send a bunch of people home early, ended calmly and was able to get out of there before 11pm. Only 13.5 hours, a short day! Looking forward to passover with other Wildmans in the wilds of Joisey, and passing around my farfel.
BREAKFAST: 7:30am, glass of apple cider, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 3pm, 2 slices, chicory salad, cream soda, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 7pm meat ball, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 9pm, half slice of bacon avocado pizza, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNORT: 10pm, half a beer
EVENING SNACK: 11:30pm, 1 scoop of homemade ice cream with homemade rumbled chocolate chip cookie dough, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
BREAKFAST: 7:30am, glass of apple cider, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 3pm, 2 slices, chicory salad, cream soda, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 7pm meat ball, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 9pm, half slice of bacon avocado pizza, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNORT: 10pm, half a beer
EVENING SNACK: 11:30pm, 1 scoop of homemade ice cream with homemade rumbled chocolate chip cookie dough, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Monday, April 6
Dark Circles
I did 83 hours at the restaurant last week. Woke up with dark circles under my eyes, tried hard not to fall asleep in class, had a wonderful vegan lunch with HVS and the HVM, spent too many hours with L at the restaurant, then too many hours banging out work on the home computer. Getting to sleep early, going to take a protective nyquil and sleep like the dead.
BREAKFAST: 6:30am, organic chex with good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5
AM SNACK: 10am, cart pound cake, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
SNICKLE LUNCH: 1pm, seitan, brussel sprouts, rice with chickpeas, choco-coconut-hazelnut ice cream, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACKS: 3-5pm, hamburger, hotdog, beer tasting, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
A film crew was using the restaurant as a holding area so I got to eat out of their shitty commisary truck.
DINNER: 8pm, momma style salad, pint of pork fried rice, quart o' water, gatoraide, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4.5
BREAKFAST: 6:30am, organic chex with good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5
AM SNACK: 10am, cart pound cake, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
SNICKLE LUNCH: 1pm, seitan, brussel sprouts, rice with chickpeas, choco-coconut-hazelnut ice cream, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACKS: 3-5pm, hamburger, hotdog, beer tasting, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
A film crew was using the restaurant as a holding area so I got to eat out of their shitty commisary truck.
DINNER: 8pm, momma style salad, pint of pork fried rice, quart o' water, gatoraide, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4.5
Sunday, April 5
And on the Seventh Day, He Ate Pizza Again
Got to bed around 4pm, but got up around 10, looking forward to a day with B after an 80 hour work week. Did some chores, food shopping, made matzo farfel for the seders this week, and made some pizzas for B and a couple and their daughter this evening.
BREAKFAST: 10am, snippet of chocolate chip cookie dough, bowl of baby carrots. 1bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 11:30am, big piece of chocoalte babka from Russ & Daughters, .5 bwol, hunger 4/5
PM TASTING: 3pm. bits of matzo farfel
PM WATERING 3:30pm, half a bottle o water
PM TASTING: 4-5:30pm, wine reduction, sliced sopresetta, a cookie, .25 bowl
DINNER: 6pm, little slices of 3 homemade pizzas, a little matzo farfel, vanilla custard ice cream, 1 chocolate chip cookie, half glass of wine, bottle of gatorade, 1.25 bowl, hunger 3/5
B's friends and their charming little girl came over for dinner. I brought home one dough from the restaurant, but I was so wacked out of my skull, I didn't think that ONE medium dough might not feed 4 people, it's really more for 2. So I improvised, made three mini pies, cut the first two into 8ths. The first was a standard margarita, the second was a white with sopressetta and a little black pepper, like L likes it. I realized then that it wasn't enough food, so I gave a mid-meal tasting course of the matzo farfel I made, which is delicious simply to the fact tat it's full of chicken fat and chicken stock. The last pizza, if I was going to be tiny on portion, well, wasn't going to go out being tiny on flavor, so I popped my head in the fridge rooting for toppings. After dismissing B's tepid fat-free ricotta, I ended up thinly slicing a plum tomato onto a bed of fresh moz, unfroze three frozen shrimp, chopped them and put them on the pie, finished with fresh garlic, oregano, olive oil and the shrimp all covered in pecorino. Baked to a golden crisp, the shrimp came out surprisingly perfect. My only regret is that I reduced a bottle of old white wine in the fridge today, I should have splashed some on the pizza to see what it would do...
BREAKFAST: 10am, snippet of chocolate chip cookie dough, bowl of baby carrots. 1bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 11:30am, big piece of chocoalte babka from Russ & Daughters, .5 bwol, hunger 4/5
PM TASTING: 3pm. bits of matzo farfel
PM WATERING 3:30pm, half a bottle o water
PM TASTING: 4-5:30pm, wine reduction, sliced sopresetta, a cookie, .25 bowl
DINNER: 6pm, little slices of 3 homemade pizzas, a little matzo farfel, vanilla custard ice cream, 1 chocolate chip cookie, half glass of wine, bottle of gatorade, 1.25 bowl, hunger 3/5
B's friends and their charming little girl came over for dinner. I brought home one dough from the restaurant, but I was so wacked out of my skull, I didn't think that ONE medium dough might not feed 4 people, it's really more for 2. So I improvised, made three mini pies, cut the first two into 8ths. The first was a standard margarita, the second was a white with sopressetta and a little black pepper, like L likes it. I realized then that it wasn't enough food, so I gave a mid-meal tasting course of the matzo farfel I made, which is delicious simply to the fact tat it's full of chicken fat and chicken stock. The last pizza, if I was going to be tiny on portion, well, wasn't going to go out being tiny on flavor, so I popped my head in the fridge rooting for toppings. After dismissing B's tepid fat-free ricotta, I ended up thinly slicing a plum tomato onto a bed of fresh moz, unfroze three frozen shrimp, chopped them and put them on the pie, finished with fresh garlic, oregano, olive oil and the shrimp all covered in pecorino. Baked to a golden crisp, the shrimp came out surprisingly perfect. My only regret is that I reduced a bottle of old white wine in the fridge today, I should have splashed some on the pizza to see what it would do...
Getting a little better
Cranked out pizzas all day, it started around 12:30 and did not stop until around 10pm. We did our best at prep in the morning and got it down mostly, but once it started rolling, all I really did was expedite, make the hot apps in cast iron pans in the pizza oven, guide L with our (non)system for tickets, deal with various issues that came up in the dining room, and try to suck down a bit of energy/food along the way. Afterward, went for a drink on the promenade with a fellow kitchen worker to unwind for a few hours and go over the past week in detail, as well as geek out talking about pizza.
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, I can't remember, I may not have eaten anything after only 4 hours of sleep
RESTAURANT DAZE: 10am-midnight, 2 Manhattan Specials, various small quantities of pizzas, a few snippets of salad, water, a beer, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
POST DAZE BEER: 12:30, maybe a pint and a half of Brooklyn Local 2
POST BEER DAZE: 2:30am, 2 cheese burgers and a small fries, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Drunk, tired, missing home and my parents, indulged in a sinful thing, the only thing open and on the way home that wasn't Chinese, a McDonalds. Makes me miss my grandmother. People really eat this stuff on a regular basis?
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, I can't remember, I may not have eaten anything after only 4 hours of sleep
RESTAURANT DAZE: 10am-midnight, 2 Manhattan Specials, various small quantities of pizzas, a few snippets of salad, water, a beer, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
POST DAZE BEER: 12:30, maybe a pint and a half of Brooklyn Local 2
POST BEER DAZE: 2:30am, 2 cheese burgers and a small fries, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Drunk, tired, missing home and my parents, indulged in a sinful thing, the only thing open and on the way home that wasn't Chinese, a McDonalds. Makes me miss my grandmother. People really eat this stuff on a regular basis?
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