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August 24, 2005

There Goes My Flag

Well folks, SillyNessa, grabbed the big yellow flag off my waist and now I get
to answer her interview questions.
1. What kind of restaurant do you hope to open?
I have not quite decided on the entire direction that my future restaurant is
going to go in, but I do have the name of the place. My restaurant is going to
be called "The Stolen Olive." Olives have been a family-sized passion my
entire life. As a kid I would open up a can of black olives and after fitting
one on the tip of each finger, then I could divulge myself into my favorite
snack.
During the summer of 1984, I went and spent two months with my aunt, my uncle
and my cousin, Jace (who was 10 months old at the time) in New Orleans. We ate
at Taco Bell on a regular basis and my aunt would always pay for me to get
extra olives on my enchirito and beefy tostada. On one occasion, Jace, spilt
something and I got up to go get some more napkins. When I came back to the
table, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MY OLIVES WAS GONE. Little thief.
Luckily there is a thing called karma and 6 years later, my baby cousin,
Jantzen, was born. He was also born with a passion for olives and quickly
learned to steal his brother's olives. And, yes I am ashamed to admit it...
But by the time Jantzen was 2, Jace was 9 and I was 18, I had learned that the
only way I was going to get any of that soft black treat was to steal them
from the baby.
During family get-togethers, there are always olives and some pushing and
shoving readily ensues. I am not quite sure what the entire concept of my
restaurant is going to end up being, but I do know that there will be Olives,
Olives, and Olives.
2. Would you be happy just being a chef in a diner or would it need to be a
four-star joint?
I don't think I would be unhappy in a diner. I don't think I would be unhappy
in a four-star joint. I, do, however know that I do not want to be part of a
chain where as the chef, I would have no creative input into the nationwide
standardized menu.
In my mind I usually see something shabby-chic, gourmet, cafe with a regular
lunch and dinner menu and a separate coffee and dessert bar. I see specialty
items such as a sugar-free version of all the desserts and maybe even
gluten-free stuff if we still need it. I see wireless internet, couches and
fireplaces. I see a completely interactive website with online ordering. I see
waitstaff with handheld computers for taking orders. I see a custom-painted
delivery car for catering orders (I wasted too many miles and way too much gas
delivering catering orders for McAlister's that I was never reimbursed for.)
And, as of right now... I see all this in the Houston - metropolitan area,
maybe Katy or Sugar Land. I love how those two areas of town put so much into
the aesthetics of the roads and landscaping. Lush green grass, tall trees,
flowers blooming.. And of course a misting system to keep the customers cool
outside on the patio, during the two seasons of Houston... Summer and
February.
3. Do you ever regret not using your degree from Baylor?
Hmm, good question. Do I miss teaching? Sometimes. Do I miss the paperwork and
redtape? Not in a million years. Do I miss the teenagers who called me names
and accused me of being a racist on a daily basis? No. Do I miss the good
students who were the inspiration that made me hold on for the three years?
Yes.
Regardless if I want to admit it, I'm a teacher. I always have been. I would
go spend the summers with my grandparents and I would set up a classroom in
their living room, and I was the meanest 3yr old teacher you ever saw. I had
all kinds of educational toys and puzzles. We did math flashcards, US puzzles
with the states & capitals, and we learned the Preamble to the Constitution.
That is something I will never forget, and when it came time in 5th grade and
9th grade and 12th grade to memorize all the capitals for all of the states...
I already knew them.
When I was working at CTC in "TheArmpitOfHell", we set up a training room and I created
worksheets and textbooks to teach our employees how to use Outlook and Excel,
to help become more efficient in their jobs. And the few times I get people,
at my new job, asking me to help them or show them how to do something on the
computer... I finally feel like my time here was worth while that day, week,
month, months.
I have tossed around the idea of finding a job in human resources, employee
training or something along those lines to help finish financing my culinary
career. If I could schedule all my classes on two days a week (all day long)
and then maybe have a training position where I was able to travel for maybe
two or three days a week. That sounds like so much fun. I love computers but I
miss the human interaction that I just don't get in my current position. Maybe
that is why I have turned to blogging.
I want to go out and work for a few years, and I have actually seriously
thought about returning to a culinary school and teaching when I get older and
closer to retirement age. I have always wanted to have my own cooking show on
FoodNetwork. If I could have something like GoodEats or 30-Minute Meals, an
educational show where I am actually teaching. That would be a dream come
true.
4. Life in Dallas...Describe it in five words. Use your mouse to select the area
after each word to read the explanations.
Complacent - the drivers. It seems like no one in this town has anywhere to
go, or if they do have somewhere to go, they have 14 hours to get there.
Nothing like Houston, "home", where if you go under-80 you will get run over.
It frustrates me to no end to have to maneuver around what looks to be
traffic, only to get up to the front of the line and see that its just some
complacent dork driving around with no clue that 1) he's not the only person
on the road; 2) he's holding up traffic for 14 miles and not even going the
speed limit; and 3) there are NO cars anywhere in front of him for as far as
the eye can see.
Contradictory - this sort of ties in with the last word. I'm not talking about
the people, but more about the image of the town. You see DFW, you see
freeways and traffic and more places to eat and shop than you could ever look
at. You look at it from afar and you see a "big city." But the people are so
laid back here, not in a hurry, that they think they are just in a small town
with a couple million people in it getting in their way.
Frou-Frou - this also ties into the previous word. Frou-Frou, Dallasites seem
to think they have to put on an image for the rest of the world. There are
more 700K houses and more bankruptcies in Dallas than anywhere else in Texas.
Everything is expensive and showy.
NOT "TheArmpitOfHell" - For any of you who have known me longer than I have had this blog,
you know that, in my mind, this is the biggest complement I could give any
place. As I proved in my post yesterday... I am perfectly capable of going to
"TheArmpitOfHell" for a weekend and having a good time, see family, get some rest and
recharge myself for what's next. "TheArmpitOfHell" is bass-akwards in so many ways and so
annoying in many many more. It is a place that I will always go back to, it is
where my family is and where they have been since 1945. It is ok to go visit,
but it isn't a place I could ever truly call "home."
5. Do you believe that a dream is a wish your heart makes?
I believe that dreams are the medium in which God talks to us. To lead us to
where we should be. Some things we dream of ... Like me going to culinary
school... Would have never happened had God not put that desire (and sometimes
even just the thought) in our hearts. The problem is, learning when and where
and how we are going to turn that dream into a reality, is not always on our
time tables, but on the time table of someone much more powerful than I.

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at August 24, 2005 02:00 PM

Comments

Posted by: SillyNessa at August 24, 2005 02:24 PM

Posted by: SoozieQ at August 24, 2005 06:57 PM

Posted by: BerryGirl at August 24, 2005 09:55 PM

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