Staff lunch is serious business, especially for those of us for whom this meal is the one real meal of the day. This one South American busser, a short little guy with a pronounced overbite and a slightly unnerving permanent grin always eats seconds and thirds, no matter what. Financially, this meal makes a big difference. It's fuel for the car, so to speak.
Friday in the restaurant went smoother than expected, with L only getting shouty in spots. We had two pizza men working the oven during the day, one whose days are probably numbered, another who started yesterday (from whom I'm getting good vibes). Hopefully tomorrow can go as smooth as today. After work tomorrow, a mega ride to sunrise! Then Sunday with the B and minipeazle!
BREAKFAST: I fergot
PM SNACK: 1pm, snippet of pizza
PM SNACK: 3pm, meatball
LUNCH: 4pm, half a medium pie with bacon and tomato, 1.25 bowl
Staff lunch were egg and pepper heros, and there was no way I could eat that, so I made myself a pizza, gave half of it to the hungrier side of the staff.
RESTAURANT HAZE: 7pm - 11pm, small sliver of Sicilian, scoop of chocolate gelato, bite of pizza, sprite, 2 glasses of mandorla, a little lemonade, pint of water, 1 bowl, hunger ?/5
AM WATERING: 1am, quart o' water
Saturday, April 25
Friday, April 24
An easier way?
Tired. Class all morning, restaurant all day and night. Trying out a slew of new staff in front and back of house. Two pizzamen, one didn't make it through the afternoon, though the dishwasher/porter seems to be working out. L busting heads a little bit, mostly towards the end of the night, we were all a little crispy. Now the crush starts, then my weekend. There has got to be an easier way to lose weight.
BREAKFAST: 8am, blueberry muffin, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 4pm, pasta in cream sauce with peas, fruit tart, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACKS: 7-10pm, a couple of prosciutto balls, a couple of slices, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM WATERING: 12:15am, quart of water
AM SNACK: 12:45am, handful of cashews
BREAKFAST: 8am, blueberry muffin, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 4pm, pasta in cream sauce with peas, fruit tart, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACKS: 7-10pm, a couple of prosciutto balls, a couple of slices, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM WATERING: 12:15am, quart of water
AM SNACK: 12:45am, handful of cashews
Wednesday, April 22
We're either coming or going.
Class in the morning, a meeting with a career advisor at school, lunch with the B, 3 hours of chaos at the restaurant, a birthing class tour of the hospital where we'll be hatching the first member of our infant army, dinner at nice restaurant after, home.
Seeing three babies in the nursery, freshly born, was an eye opener. I don't like being in hospitals, and really don't like them since my parents passed -- it's where you go to die. The birthing room we were shown reminded me of the private room my mother was in -- she didn't like her hospital rooms, but the private room, with some wood panelling, she felt like it was somewhere where she could entertain guests without feeling too...hospital-ly and down. The room was nice, a thin slice of human kindness in a sterile desert.
Anyway, seeing those babies coming in in the same position my parents going out: totally unconscious, helpless, wearing diapers, hooked up to beeping machines, surrounded by loved ones with all thoughts on them. I instantly missed my parents something awful.
BREAKFAST: 8am, chocolate muffin, Manhattan Special, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
The Special got me buzzing, nice and awake for class.
LUNCH: 1pm, a few pickles, pastrami on rye, half a brownie, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Lunch at Eisenberg's with the B. All I can say is....oy. I want to like this place, but the food is crappadicka. The pastrami was clearly pre-sliced on a mechanical slice and heated up in a microwave. The pickles were sitting around awhile and the brownie was strictly Lil' Debbie.
RESTAURANT SNACK: 4pm, 1 slice of Sicilian, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 8:30pm, hummus and bread, a little salad, lamb shishkebab with potato and rice, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Dinner at Turkish Kitchen with the B after the birthing class left out early.
Seeing three babies in the nursery, freshly born, was an eye opener. I don't like being in hospitals, and really don't like them since my parents passed -- it's where you go to die. The birthing room we were shown reminded me of the private room my mother was in -- she didn't like her hospital rooms, but the private room, with some wood panelling, she felt like it was somewhere where she could entertain guests without feeling too...hospital-ly and down. The room was nice, a thin slice of human kindness in a sterile desert.
Anyway, seeing those babies coming in in the same position my parents going out: totally unconscious, helpless, wearing diapers, hooked up to beeping machines, surrounded by loved ones with all thoughts on them. I instantly missed my parents something awful.
BREAKFAST: 8am, chocolate muffin, Manhattan Special, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
The Special got me buzzing, nice and awake for class.
LUNCH: 1pm, a few pickles, pastrami on rye, half a brownie, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Lunch at Eisenberg's with the B. All I can say is....oy. I want to like this place, but the food is crappadicka. The pastrami was clearly pre-sliced on a mechanical slice and heated up in a microwave. The pickles were sitting around awhile and the brownie was strictly Lil' Debbie.
RESTAURANT SNACK: 4pm, 1 slice of Sicilian, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 8:30pm, hummus and bread, a little salad, lamb shishkebab with potato and rice, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Dinner at Turkish Kitchen with the B after the birthing class left out early.
85%
Despite having a lot of prep to catch up on, things went relatively smoothly today at the restaurant. Why, I actually enjoyed 85% of it...there are still many things wrong with the place, but I'm digging it. HVS and HVM stopped by, was nice, though I wish I could have come out and eaten with them.
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, organic cheerios with the good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 3:30pm, steak and onion sandwich, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACKS: 5pm-9pm, glass of mandorla, a meat ball, a few cucumber slices .5 bowl
PM SNACK: 10pm, slice of pizza, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 11:30pm, baby carrots and peanut butter, . 25 bowl, hunger 4/5
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, organic cheerios with the good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 3:30pm, steak and onion sandwich, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACKS: 5pm-9pm, glass of mandorla, a meat ball, a few cucumber slices .5 bowl
PM SNACK: 10pm, slice of pizza, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 11:30pm, baby carrots and peanut butter, . 25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Monday, April 20
I love good milk
Had class this morning and fell asleep a little during it. Had a wonderful lunch at HVS headquarters with the HVM -- supposed to go for an enervating bike ride but due to sheets of rain, we poked into a movie, in which I dozed off. After, the HVS and I yogasized but my body was just overtired and I found myself in child's seat more than usual, and shivasana did not come soon enough.
Had a meeting over a nice dinner with L and his daughters, I had the satisfaction of running through the entire list of our main issues. L seemed to connect with a lot of them, but not totally responsive to all of them. I did my thing, my conscience is clear.
BREAKFAST: 7:15am, organic cheerios with the good milk, .5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Tried a new brand of organic unhomogenized whole milk, Thistle from upstate, damn tasty.
AM SNACK: 10am, apple fritter, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
SNICKLELUNCH: 12:45pm, rice with seaweed, salad with lemon and tamari pumpkin seeds, mashed sweet potato, mint chip non-dairy dessert, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
The HVS made a sweet lunch, her best yet. The salad was perfectly dressed, the sweet potato was surprisingly moderate in its sweetness, and the rice was well salted, so that when it mixed with other things in the mouth, it just complimented everything well.
DINNER: 10pm, onion au gratin soup, cod with potato and chorizo, a bite of banana ricotta tart, water, a couple of pieces of bread, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Dinner with L and his daughters at Balthazar.
Had a meeting over a nice dinner with L and his daughters, I had the satisfaction of running through the entire list of our main issues. L seemed to connect with a lot of them, but not totally responsive to all of them. I did my thing, my conscience is clear.
BREAKFAST: 7:15am, organic cheerios with the good milk, .5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Tried a new brand of organic unhomogenized whole milk, Thistle from upstate, damn tasty.
AM SNACK: 10am, apple fritter, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
SNICKLELUNCH: 12:45pm, rice with seaweed, salad with lemon and tamari pumpkin seeds, mashed sweet potato, mint chip non-dairy dessert, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
The HVS made a sweet lunch, her best yet. The salad was perfectly dressed, the sweet potato was surprisingly moderate in its sweetness, and the rice was well salted, so that when it mixed with other things in the mouth, it just complimented everything well.
DINNER: 10pm, onion au gratin soup, cod with potato and chorizo, a bite of banana ricotta tart, water, a couple of pieces of bread, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Dinner with L and his daughters at Balthazar.
Sunday, April 19
Mandlen
My weight this morning was 215.2. When I set out to start losing weight more than a year ago, I was 235. My original goal was to lose 20 pounds, and for the last 6 months or so, I was stable at around 223, which was fine, but the last few weeks at the restaurant have driven me to eat less, and eat crappier. I need to work on that, but physically, I feel good and have my health, mostly -- not enough sleep and a linger cough, but that's pretty much restaurant life. I'm experiencing the grind....and I look forward to jumping tracks to the grind of a new lil' bebe.
I got in at 4am, after working 14.5 hours in the restaurant then riding about 30 miles round trip to Coney Island for hot dogs and some listening to the waves. The day at the restaurant started on a high note, then slowly slipped away inch by inch until coming to a complete crashing by the end. Friday was long, and nobody got enough sleep to start on Saturday. We open at 12 instead of 11:30 on Saturday, but its still not enough time to prep. L and his family were late by an hour, and by the time they arrived, I had everyone in and prepping, moving along well, got L in a good-ish mood. Then service started, we weren't finished with prep by a long shot, and we got slammed with too many customers, a system where only 1 pizza is made at a time, kept on running out of stuff, prepping to order, L started getting yelly at everyone, and on top of it, for some odd reason the air conditioning decided to not function and the temp in both the dining room and kitchen rose close to 90. We broke for lunch and closed the restaurant for an hour and a half. I had the guys do some prepping, but the dishes were backed up and as it turned out, even with a dishwasher, there wasn't enough dishes -- we had to serve on paper plates at one point in the night! We cancelled delivery, but L took an order for 17 pizzas anyway -- at 8:30pm, at the height of the rush! Things spiralled downwards, with the refrigeration in the back failing because of the excessive heat. Between moving food between units, suffering a lazy dishwasher and a delivery person who was sent back there to help but didn't do shit, L withdrawing and losing his energy and focus, the heat rising, my guys prepping and never catching up, and just wanting to hide in the cold walk-in refrigerated room and drink lemonade until it all just stopped.
The highlight of the evening was the HVS and a small gaggle of folks from my prior career stopped in to show support, that was really cool. I just things were more in control so I could spent more time with them.
BREAKFAST: 1pm, 2 small donuts, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 2pm, mixed gluten, mashed taro treasure boxes, spinach dumpling, sticky rice, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 6:30pm, 5 pieces homemade french toast, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Didn't eat pizza today, but busted out some focaccia out of the freezer from the last pizza place I worked and made an awesome batch of french toast, dead simple: batter of milk, egg, sugar, vanilla bean, cinnamon, pinch of salt, soaked the slices for 5 minutes, fried in butter, sprinkled with powdered sugar, hit the spot. Needed more salt.
DINNER: 8:45pm, shrimp soup with mandlen, bagel with hummus and a little tabouli, grape gatorade, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Took out some homemade chicken stock, added a dose of salt and curry, and lightly poached a handful of shrimp in it -- it's so easy to overcook shrimp, so difficult to undercook them. Added a handful of soup mandlen, which I picked up at the Streitz store around passover. They are small egg-based light and fluffy soup nuggets. I had them often at summer camp as a kid, everyone dug them, never saw them again until now.
I got in at 4am, after working 14.5 hours in the restaurant then riding about 30 miles round trip to Coney Island for hot dogs and some listening to the waves. The day at the restaurant started on a high note, then slowly slipped away inch by inch until coming to a complete crashing by the end. Friday was long, and nobody got enough sleep to start on Saturday. We open at 12 instead of 11:30 on Saturday, but its still not enough time to prep. L and his family were late by an hour, and by the time they arrived, I had everyone in and prepping, moving along well, got L in a good-ish mood. Then service started, we weren't finished with prep by a long shot, and we got slammed with too many customers, a system where only 1 pizza is made at a time, kept on running out of stuff, prepping to order, L started getting yelly at everyone, and on top of it, for some odd reason the air conditioning decided to not function and the temp in both the dining room and kitchen rose close to 90. We broke for lunch and closed the restaurant for an hour and a half. I had the guys do some prepping, but the dishes were backed up and as it turned out, even with a dishwasher, there wasn't enough dishes -- we had to serve on paper plates at one point in the night! We cancelled delivery, but L took an order for 17 pizzas anyway -- at 8:30pm, at the height of the rush! Things spiralled downwards, with the refrigeration in the back failing because of the excessive heat. Between moving food between units, suffering a lazy dishwasher and a delivery person who was sent back there to help but didn't do shit, L withdrawing and losing his energy and focus, the heat rising, my guys prepping and never catching up, and just wanting to hide in the cold walk-in refrigerated room and drink lemonade until it all just stopped.
The highlight of the evening was the HVS and a small gaggle of folks from my prior career stopped in to show support, that was really cool. I just things were more in control so I could spent more time with them.
BREAKFAST: 1pm, 2 small donuts, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 2pm, mixed gluten, mashed taro treasure boxes, spinach dumpling, sticky rice, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 6:30pm, 5 pieces homemade french toast, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Didn't eat pizza today, but busted out some focaccia out of the freezer from the last pizza place I worked and made an awesome batch of french toast, dead simple: batter of milk, egg, sugar, vanilla bean, cinnamon, pinch of salt, soaked the slices for 5 minutes, fried in butter, sprinkled with powdered sugar, hit the spot. Needed more salt.
DINNER: 8:45pm, shrimp soup with mandlen, bagel with hummus and a little tabouli, grape gatorade, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Took out some homemade chicken stock, added a dose of salt and curry, and lightly poached a handful of shrimp in it -- it's so easy to overcook shrimp, so difficult to undercook them. Added a handful of soup mandlen, which I picked up at the Streitz store around passover. They are small egg-based light and fluffy soup nuggets. I had them often at summer camp as a kid, everyone dug them, never saw them again until now.
Burnt
Holy crap, I'm crispy. Will write some stories tomorrowish.
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, bottle of gatoraide, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Mmmmm purple. Breakfast of champions.
LUNCH: 4pm, hamburger, potato chips, water, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5
RESTAURANT HAZE 4:30pm-midnight, small slice of sicilian, multiple glasses of lemonaide and mandorla, a few bites of another slice, a sprite, water, a bite of gelato, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5
DINNER: 2am, 2 hotdogs with kraut and onion, fries, 1 beer, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
At Nathan's in Coney Island, rode bikes with a fellow kitchen worker after. Well needed, haven't ridden a little distance in sooooo long....
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, bottle of gatoraide, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Mmmmm purple. Breakfast of champions.
LUNCH: 4pm, hamburger, potato chips, water, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5
RESTAURANT HAZE 4:30pm-midnight, small slice of sicilian, multiple glasses of lemonaide and mandorla, a few bites of another slice, a sprite, water, a bite of gelato, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5
DINNER: 2am, 2 hotdogs with kraut and onion, fries, 1 beer, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
At Nathan's in Coney Island, rode bikes with a fellow kitchen worker after. Well needed, haven't ridden a little distance in sooooo long....
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