Hasta la vista, baby…..

susartandfood

Nov 29

There were ten people besides Richard and I seated at the dinner table at his house last night. It was to be our last turkey dinner out of the three we either went to or hosted during this Thanksgiving holiday. Myself, and the turkey population as a whole, breathed a collective sigh of relief when I bagged up most of the leftovers once dinner was over. I stood at the door as people left, and handed them bags of turkey with all the fixings, explaining this was their lucky day, they had won our drawing for a door prize.

I find with the political climate, well worldwide climate, currently brewing, keeping the conversation on an even keel during large get togethers can be a bit more of a challenge. We have both conservative and liberal minds at our tables, and so politics is definitely on the least desired discussion subject side of the chart. Also, I find sports can get things rolling, as well as even food these days. We got on vegan versus carnivore debate at one get together and I thought things were going to get ugly. When something comes up at a dinner table discussion I am very vehement about, I try to keep my mouth full and not to get my liberal lips flapping. Truth is people have a right to feel differently then you do (I know!), and you don't have to say everything you are thinking every minute of the day to feel heard. At any rate, we avoided most of the mine fields and a good time was had by all.

Whew. I am sitting here, feet up, computer on my lap, drinking a cup of coffee and thinking, "thank god almighty, I am free at last". What a couple of months I'm telling you Gertie. I feel like I have been rode hard and put up wet these days. Someone asked me other the day how I maintain my weight. If you catapult through life like I've been doing of late it's just a manner of holding on to the reins and watching the calories slough off behind you.

Life is an ebb and flow, at least mine always has been. Sometimes I'm so busy I can't find time to breathe, and at other times I've cruised through lulls in the festivities when there wasn't much on the agenda but attending to a stack of ironing or baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Probably the busiest time in my life was when Rick and I bought our restaurant. I've mentioned before ad nauseum, but I'll say again for those of you who need to catch up, Rick and I owned a restaurant between 2006 and 2008. Vino Vino was the name of our establishment, and unless you haven't connected the dots, we served fine Italian,food. Most restaurants don't survive the first two years. We, sadly were no exception. I recall that time in my life with mixed emotions. It definitely was a renaissance period for me, with a lot of new learning coming my way. I'd never owned, nor had I worked in a restaurant prior to that time, so all aspects of running such a business were completely alien to me. That being said, going into the project I had no concept whatsoever of the work involved in keeping such a business alive and flourishing on a daily basis. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not one to shy away from work. I'm a bit of a worker bee, truth be told, but even for a worker bee such as myself, this endeavor was a lot to take on.

Rick was the voice of experience, having previously owned a steak house in the Bay Area and worked in the restaurant business most of his life. With him at the helm, a team was hired. The kitchen staff came first, and included a head chef we imported from Maine, in addition to two sous chefs, and a dishwasher. The wait staff would not come together until closer to our grand opening when the building renovations were completed, a menu decided on, and vendors selected and engaged. Quite a process. Many hours were spent seated at tables inside the restaurant, blinds drawn, opening soon sign on the street, brainstorming ideas for menu selections, events, catering strategy, and room set up. I was in charge of decorations, a job more like a treat for me, because I do love to decorate. Rick handed me a corporate credit card and told me to "go to town". Since we were located on the main street, this was a fairly easy walk. As things came together, we hired a talented muralist from England living in our area, who came and turned the walls into a stroll down an Italian street. Colorful awnings were added, and all the touches that bring Italian cuisine to life.

We opened to a large and enthusiastic crowd of customers. The food, if I do say do myself, and apparently do because it is me sitting at the keyboard typing this, was wonderful. Our chef, though a bit of a diva, was a five star chef who produced beautiful plates of food out of our busy little kitchen. I wore many hats in those days. Aside from being catering manager, I could often be found behind the bar, pouring not imbibing, though there were those days it was highly tempting to do both. If we were short wait staff, I delivered entrees to tables. Each day but Sunday, which was really a work at home day, we were in the restaurant. Whenever you take on a life project such as this and invest your time and hard earned dollars, there are risks. Life never moves along in a single clean line without a few blips in the road. Our big blip occurred when the housing bubble burst in 2008. That event, truly was a death knoll for our sweet little establishment, and others in town. People were losing their houses left and right, money was short, and eating out at a mid-range dinner house was certainly not at the top of their list. As Arnold would say, "hasta la vista, baby".

Sometimes you are simply not dealt the cards to win the hand. That is life in general. Best thing to do is dust yourself off and begin again, or that is my philosophy. I have recreated myself from the ashes more than once, I assure you, and I am rarely not still delighted to find myself here every morning.

So, I guess busy is not so bad. I'm really not a put your feet up and eat bon bons kind of gal at heart anyhow, so best to keep moving upstream.

Have an excellent day, as it is full of possibilities, and enjoy the lovely crisp fall days, at least if you're on the west coast like I am.

Happy Hump Day!!!