This new Space of Mine

 Stretching it out, quite early in the morning here. Woke up at 1:30 am after crashing last night directly after work. I had intended to take a short nap and then get up to cook dinner and finish a few things around the house, but my body had other plans. I must have been worn out! Feeling great this morning and starting my day off to an early beginning. I spent almost a full hour with intense stretching and then did a light work out. I am now finishing up some laundry that got postponed by my long nap last evening. Household tasks are never done it seems.What is today? Thursday? Yep. It is going to be my busiest day of the week but I love the rush that it brings. All of the People are back, filling the Two Towers after their long holiday breaks and vacations and this is where we start kicking ass and taking names! I am going to need my dancing shoes on for this day, as the last month has been quiet a leisurely pace. I know it's going to be a fun but busy service today.

I guess now is a good a time as any to throw in a short update on my career progress mentioned in my bio over there to the left. New look to the page now, so its hidden in the flip out tab to the left. Nifty. Let's see...when I left off here I was at the hotel primarily working full service breakfast and large catering events. From that location, I moved to the large Corporate location across the state line in a transfer and went from breakfast for 170 rooms a day to over 450. Needless to say, it was quite a change, but my Chef there was amazing and helped me develop and scale my skills to the larger demands, as well as taking the time to help me hone and perfect my techniques and base knowledge of core principles in managing heat and ingredient manipulation. Our large events became even more diverse and I spent a lot of time doing detail work for the multi-course plated lunches, dinners and celebrations.

Then life happened.

That simple phrase is so loaded with import and difference. I, at some point, will address and elaborate on those three years, but for now, that time and space shall rest in the quiet, till I find my own thoughts and words to express it accurately and with integrity. It largely remains a mystery to both me and those who surround me.

One day, at the beginning of last year, I received a call from an old friend I had cooked with in the past. He wanted to know if I was still slinging knives and  pouding plates in a kitchen. I told him that I was and still enjoying it and asked what was on his mind? He explained that he had found an opportunity in a large operation for a locally based international company that involved running eight inclusive restaurants in a new built campus. Daily demands at the present of opening was to be scaled for 2,000 occupants with an ongoing project over the next four years to encompass six more buildings and approximately 16,000 clients to feed and entertain on a daily basis, not including on site and off site catering.

Here was the kicker. 

The schedule was to be Monday through Friday, no evenings or weekends, except in the case of special events, which were staffed on a voluntary basis.

"Banker's hours" for a culinary position are the Holy Grail. Better yet, they are a Unicorn and almost completely unheard of, especially given my intermediate skills and relative inexperience compared to those who chose this life from an early age.

Was I interested?

Um..hell, yes!

Over the next month, I went through the process and vetting of acquiring a position with this company. It was rather rigorous, as the work that they do on location is of a sensitive and classified/proprietary nature. Having received and held my clearances in the Navy, I was not worried from a security standpoint, but worried how my slight four years of experience would hold up to scrutiny. Each door, though, kept opening and I found myself at my final interview with the Executive Chef that I currently report to. I had an entire notebook of questions, as well as my portfolio with me, but we never got that far.  After a brief blunder where he mistook me for an investment banker there on business due to my dress,  and some small talk, he simply mentioned a figure and benefits and asked me if I would like to start that Monday. I found out later that any questions he might have had about me personally or professionally were intimately address in the file he had in front of him and had perused and discussed with others.

So I got the job.

It has been an exciting and education adventure ever since. This next month will mark my one year anniversary with the Company and ground breaking construction has commenced on the second Two Towers to be completed in roughly 18 months. We have eight different restaurants and concepts in the current Two Towers, menus changing every week, as well as catering and party facilities for 3,000 plus. Each restaurant has its own kitchen and staff, as well as a massive Main Kitchen for support. The catering facility another kitchen as well and every single piece of equipment is brand new and state of the art in the culinary world. Some of them I had never even seen before. I have been here since the building opened and have taken part in the research, testing, implementation and opening of three of the restaurants here. We have no budget limitations on ingredient purchases and our menus and recipes are only limited to our creativity and imagination, within nutritional reasoning. We even have a service that comes in and replaces out knives each week.

Did I mention that I work Monday through Friday, with the rare evening event or weekend? :)

Needless to say, I am thrilled, ecstatic, overwhelmed and enthused!

I am so thankful to my friend for thinking of me when this opportunity presented itself. He truly did make a call that changed my quality of life. I had the groundwork and skills laid in place over the last years of working my way up in a completely new career field and when I was almost ready, the chance appeared and I grabbed for it.

So that is what fills my days now and I couldn't be more happy. (Well, I could, but involves a very large sailboat and open ocean) As long as this keeps bringing a smile to my face, a rush to my mind and teaching me new things about myself and others, I will stay with it. It has been an interesting ride so far, this safari into the Culinary World and I will ride the tiger till the next adventure presents itself. It fulfills and exceeds my expectations, both in compensation, benefits and opportunities for personal growth. It is not without its challenges, but it gets me out of bed every morning with a spring in my step, a mind full of possibility and the drive to succeed.

I call that a good thing.

Now, I am going to fold some clothes, cut my hair, take a shower and shave and get ready to tackle this day. I hope your day is full of promise to. Life can be glorious. Make today magnificent.

daemon