Captain Morgan

So Sunday I enjoyed a nice and relaxing day off while passing along the idea with friends about where we are going to be on July 4th. That day, The Mad Chef should be cooking and enjoying time well spent with my peoples. Or at least I'll start cooking, get lost in some conversation, drift away and The Brain or my man Wes will end up finishing the meal. Uh, yeah, my bad fellas.

But anyway, I was also thinking about a former chef I used to work with. This particular chef I attempted to emulate in every way during my tenure at Passion Foods restaurants. His name is Ryan Morgan, who learned the ropes and ran through the gauntlet two years before I did. We enjoyed working side by side in the trenches on busy nights. It was always fun, even when we did exchange words I always knew to back down...he was my chef, but he was also taking me under his wing to show or challenge me in all the right ways when it came to cooking.

I digress as usual, I recieved a phone call from him 2 weeks ago saying to call him back. I got back to him and he sent me a text saying he needed to talk, that he was looking for good people. Ryan is about to open a restaurant at the Liaison Hotel on New Jersey Ave. on Capitol Hill. Now whatever position Ryan may be looking for me to fill, no doubt I wouldn't take it unless it was that of another Sous Chef.

But with that comes the responsibility of opening yet another restaurant in my short career. That would make 3 within 10 years...not bad I think. If this is what I am being offered, I have much to think about. Have I become too comfortable with having my Sundays off? Yeah, that would definatly change with it being a hotel. Not just Sundays, but Sunday brunch...YUCK! That has got to be the worst shift to have to work, I did it for years and I feel like it added an extra year on to my life.

Opening a restaurant isn't a joke or a game either people. When I worked at Zola, I put in 100 hours in my first week there...we werent open yet, and there wasn't any gas in the restaurant or Spy City Cafe. I would come in at 5am and get home around midnight, 7 days a week for my first month. Good if not great experience, but am I cut out for this/do I have the drive to do such a thing again??

I know how Chef Morgan works, I know what he would expect of me. That is why he is considering me, and I'm proud that my work has been up to his standard. It's a great thing to be looked for by other chefs around the city for your work ethic. Sometimes hard work does pay off I guess. Except on early Sunday mornings. Hells no.