WHY MY NEW JOB IS AWESOME:
At 9:30am my boss and I are hovering over three open containers of sushi, a dish with soy glazed sea eel, a plate of bara sushi rice and the bag of peas that inspired all the rest of these purchases. Papers in hand, we are discussing the wording for a document I'm preparing that outlines the proper technique for dicing a bell pepper.
Three hours later, I am in a meeting, sampling $100 worth of salads and sandwiches picked up from a local market. We are debating the merits of one pasta shape over another, what makes a Waldorf appealing (or not), which cuisines qualify as "hot" and according to whom.
Six hours later I am at a meeting at Steelhead Diner, a brand new Pike Place restaurant. We order the following: all but one of the side items on the menu, three appetizers, three salads, and three entrees. Just to see if I can, here's what I believe we are eating: A Caesar salad, a house salad (served in a hollowed bowl of iceberg with a thousand island type dressing, loaded with sprouts, egg, bacon, blue cheese (let's call it a trumped up Cobb)), an organic baby green salad with your typical spiced nuts and cranberries. Beet tartare (heavy to the horseradish), a beef carpaccio, spring rolls. A pulled pork sandwich, Kasu Cod, Risotto. Hominy cakes (deep fried cream of wheat triangles), red beans and rice, smothered collard greens, french fries with cheese curds and gravy, arugula pesto fettuccine, asparagus, I feel like I'm missing one...Fear not, we won't pass on dessert. Apple pan dowdy with cinnamon ice cream, Meyer lemon cake, pecan chocolate pie, and lavender creme brulee. And then two bottles of wine because good god, why not?
This is amazing...until it gets grotesque. There are plenty of leftovers, which I have no desire to look at ever ever again.
WHY MY NEW JOB IS IRONIC:
I left San Francisco, where I had my own office with a couch, two computers, plants, and almost ALMOST a full Bay view. My salary was enough to easily get by on. I had flexible hours. My co-workers were low key and respectful of space.
As of Monday I joined the ranks of Cube monkeys everywhere. I'm not technically making any money (still have yet to see any employment paperwork although supposedly I'll be having a regular, albeit small, salary), I get to the office at 7:00am (which requires getting in the car at 6:40am) and usually leave around 6:00pm unless, like last night, we have dinner until 10:30. I work with three men who have been known to swear like sailors, hum, whistle, drum on their desks (all while taking a call on speaker phone) and generally just hover in and out of all six of the cubes which are on top of each other.
Yet yet...
I LOVE IT. I absolutely love it. And I would do it for free. I get to debate ideas, plausibility, ingredients, suppliers, write operating procedures, eat. Everything I eat is justified as "research". I think perhaps it could get old but I think I'm more likely to die of cholesterol induced heart disease before that happens.
So, I'll have to be diligent about exercising, which I've been pretty good about. I've been running around Greenlake after work before I go home. That's just dazzling right now, all the apple and cherry trees are blooming and their blossoms are littering the street and flying about in the breeze. Pink and white little snow flurries everywhere. And I'll have to learn that NOT eating everything in front of me is okay-- even required, if I am to live through this experience. It comes in fits and starts. My first two days there was no food, the second two was non-stop. I'll begin to understand the balance. But already, after only four days I get why chef's finish their shifts and want nothing more than a bag of Fritos and a cigarette. I'll either end up hating food or get fat as a whale.
Either way, it won't be for nothing.
No comments:
Post a Comment