So, after a brief introduction to the world of grocery store cooking, I decided it's not for me. Yes, I quit Whole Foods. Despite the excellent pay, awesome benefits, friendly people, ridiculously simple work, et cetera, it was just sort of lame--and by lame, I mean cafeteria hairnet lame. I made a thousand pounds of coleslaw and pasta salad. I roasted some sweet potatoes. I used a tilt skillet. It felt, once I had learned the locations of ingredients and equipment in the kitchen, like I had given up. Like I had signed my life over to the big corporate healthcare plan in the sky, and I would never have to bleed, sweat, or work a late night again.
I can't do that. I told them, Wednesday morning, that I am a cook.
And now, it seems like even that's in the past. I am now the sous-chef of Legume Bistro in Regent Square. I have a kitchen, not a station. I have a menu instead of a carbonized saute pan. There is also the nice salary issue, as well as the restaurant being closed a few weeks out of the year--so it's time to develop my vision of food, thirty covers at a time.
I've got to go come up with a few new dishes.
