Soulja

Sunday...

Has this week gone by too fast? Is my birthday only 2 days away? It's summer time already? Keeping my head down in the kitchen from dawn to dusk has me forgetting all sorts of things. Note to self: take vacation. LOL, not yet...

Random side note, we are beginning to use organic produce all over the menu, which rocks. It is a belief of Barton, and one that I have believed since the early days, that if you use great product you do not have to do that much to it before it hits the plate. You know, simplicity in cooking...well, the catch is that to cook simply, you need fresh, flavorful ingredients. And that's what we're really focusing on here.

For example, if we buy our radishes from a farmer in Pennsylvania that exclusively grows them and maybe 3 other fruits and vegetables on his farm, chances are all four of those products are unlike anything you find in your local supermarket. I mean, I love how Whole Foods across the street has signs about local this and local that and yada yada yada. Then you look at the chives from Peru or the citrus fruits from Japan or the apples grown in Korea...just read closer, it's comical.

Anyways, I digress as usual. These radishes that we are using we serve simply raw on a plate with this butter from Path Valley Farms in Willow, Pennsylvania, that is unlike any I have ever had. It is a deep golden yellow and almost tastes like Parmesan cheese. We take a little spoon of the butter and sprinkle it was some nice sea salt, and that's the dish. It is an awesome snack too...but not one that can be eaten all the time obviously!

Barton let the other chef take off around 4pm today, which means my half day cannot be too far behind. Barton and I cleaned for a few hours, until everyone in Glover Park decided to come into Blue Ridge to eat. The rush tonite was only an hour long, but once it started it didn't seem to end, but the kitchen held together extremely well.

Eventually I rolled, and I stayed out a little too late with my friend Nicholas Sharpe, got in around 3:30 in the morning and had to be here at 9am. Now it's midnight and I am just getting home...one of these days I will learn to head straight home after work.

Time to go grab a drink! Or call my sponsor, or something...I'm tired, people. But gotta soldier on!