Feeding My Passion

Tomorrow I start my new job working for John, so today I’m headed into Chicago to try a couple of places I’ve been hearing about for a while, but just haven’t had a chance to go yet. TAC Quick gets very high marks from foodies for their authentic Thai food. They have a “secret” Thai menu and yes, I’ll be asking for it. But I’m not a machochist heat-wise, so I’m going to keep it in the medium range.

The second place I’m going, and luckily it’s a short trip from TAC Quick, is Cho Sun Ok, a Korean joint with a menu that looks authentic and delicious. What sets them apart in Chicago is that at the end of the meal, they take the panchan (little side dishes that come standard with each Korean meal, like kimchi and pickled bean sprouts, spinach salad, etc.), and use them to make fried rice for you! Supposedly Korean places in LA do this as well. I’ve had Korean food before in Columbia, Missouri, where I when to school, and it was delicious. I put Korean fried chicken on the menu at the Buddha, and after the tasting for John and the others at Port 412 during  my demo, I have little doubt that it will be on Tulips’ menu as well.

I’ll tell you all about the food tonight. I have to be in bed fairly early since I’m meeting Chef Tom at Port 412 at 7:30a for breakfast, and then he, John, Brandon, and I are going to spend the day together talking business. Even talking business with these guys should make for a fun day.

Chef Cameron (a truly learned, experienced, and passionate Certified Executive Chef, and a good friend) and I are teaching a vegetarian cooking class at Whole Foods in Chicago on 3 Aug at the Halstead location. This will be our third class, the first two being Thai food (right up my alley) and ceviche respectively. We’ve had a lot of fun with the classes, met some nice people, made some money, and I always enjoy going into the city, probably my favorite in the US (sorry SF!). I enjoy teaching and I love passing along my enthusiasm for food, so I actually started teaching before I went professional.  Read more »

I’m starting to work for John at Port 412 and Tulips even earlier than I had anticipated, which is wonderful. This Wednesday, the management team (John, Tom, Brandon, and…wait for it…me!) are going to find a secluded place to talk business and relax. Brandon wants to go golfing, which is not exactly my idea of relaxing since I royally suck at it (just ask my friend and former college apartment-mate, Charles). Read more »

I mention ice cream not only because I love it and it has a lot of nostalgic value for me, but also because we’re going to be carrying ice cream, or at least its Italian cousin, gelato. John and I are hoping Palazollo’s, a great gelato/sorbetto company in Fennville, MI, will work with us to create an exclusive flavor for Tulips.  They already make a ton of flavors, and we used some of Asian-appropriate ones at the Buddha: Chinese green tea, mango, fresh ginger, and toasted coconut. We had a devil of a time dealing with the gelatos at the Buddha, mostly because they have to be stored at a slightly higher temperature than ice cream which calls for a separate freezer to hold them, and our freezers were very temperamental (no pun intended), so we lost entire 3 gallon buckets at a time. Hopefully John will see the necessity to have good and appropriate refrigeration for them.

The caramel ice cream (ok, soup) Read more »

I made a delicious salted caramel ice cream with praline yesterday (from David Lebovitz of course). Actually there are a couple things not quite right with that statement. First, I started on the ice cream Wednesday night by making the praline and the custard, and then refrigerating all of it overnight (yes, even the praline. It was a simple praline, just sugar and salt, and my apartment is so warm that it would have sweat itself into a puddle before I got to making the ice cream.).

Then I made the ice cream the next day. Or I should say I tried to make the ice cream. Read more »

I rode my bike to Union Pier (from Three Oaks where I live) to try and help Milda with her computer. It was the hottest day of the year so far, 92 and kinda humid, so perspiration was abundant, but it felt great. I couldn’t do anything for Milda, but since she owns and runs Milda’s Corner Market, which also has a great deli, she fed me the most delicious bacon buns. Now I know why people have been raving about them on her Facebook page. And then her gyro was an incredibly scrumptious and messy treat, weighing in at 3 pounds or something like that.

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Anyone who’s spent anytime around me over the last couple of years knows I’m already a huge fan of David Lebovitz’s chocolate almond buttercrunch toffee. And when I make it, anyone who’s around me is too. Making it is very easy and very impressive. Anytime you can take a very short list of very simple ingredients – sugar, butter, vanilla, chocolate, and almonds in this case – and turn them into something truly delicious and beautiful, I think it’s as close as it gets to performing magic in the kitchen.

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After a cool and very rainy spring, summer has arrived with a vengence. It will be about 92 with lots of humidity today, so it’s a perfect day for a nice bike ride, time at the beach, and just chillin’ out. And since this is one of my 3 days off this week (yay) I have packed my schedule with all 3 things.

First I’m headed to Union Pier (on bike) to help someone fix their computer, and then I’ll go to the beach, probably one in Union Pier, ride back home, recover and maybe some yoga after all that riding.

Going to sleep well tonight!

About being cranky on the front desk and snapping at someone: it’s so tempting to let loose or even just give what you’re getting from a guest/client/customer, but someone will spread bad news or pass along a bad experience so fast, no matter how much they were responsible for it, that it can ruin you very quickly.

My mother just reminded me of that, which is something she learned from one of her previous bosses who was amazing at customer service. Read more »

While it may not seem like a coincidence after such a crazy-ass weekend at the front desk and then working 3 days in a row of the front desk and baking thing, which is exhausting, mostly because it completely screws up my sleep schedule and I start getting a wee bit cranky at the front desk (never a good thing), I gave my 2-week notice early Sunday morning before I went home after baking. Sorry, that was a long sentence, but I don’t think it was a run-on.

Anyway, I wrote 3 nice letters, Read more »