Do what you love, Love what you do

My eyes are still stinging from opening them 5 hours after closing them, kind of like how I just unlocked the same doors I locked in about the same time frame. But I don't know what's scarier, my schedule or the fact that I don't mind it.

You know that feeling you get when you learn that something is good for you and you smile knowing you've been doing it all along. That's the feeling I get when Rt 105 and 25 collide and I'm due east. It's a feeling that is just inherently good and sound.
It helps too, to know that I have managed to involve myself in something I believe in, that I can stand behind, and be proud of...The North Fork region, the kitchen I manage, the obsession with all things local, and my team here, who just happen to believe in all those same things.

So much so, that even when customers at the kitchen ask me, "Are you here everyday?" or "Do you work 24hrs a day?" or my personal favorite, (sorry Mike) "Is this your restaurant?" it feels kind of great!

Not to say that we are all working in this delusional cloud of utopia or anything, trust me. At time I am convinced you MUST be crazy to be in this business. But for the most part, really, we love what we do and we do what we love. And it just so happens to be at Love Lane Kitchen. That this team has assembled in this one kitchen, I've come to realize, is kind of awesome. Characters include but are in no way limited to - Jenni (General Manager), Kim (Assistant Manager/Server), Steph (Catering Director), Ben (Executive Chef), and Cory (Cory is just Cory.) Oh, and Mike, (the omnipresent owner).

Chef Ben runs the kitchen with the kind of detached aloofness that can send a to-do lister into a freaking frenzy. (Present company included, however, I am trying to quit and have been sober now for a little over a year thankyouverymuch). But Ben takes not making lists to a holy level. His"whatever/who cares" mantra can be easily mistaken for being jaded, detached, or even uninspired.

That is, until you get to know Ben... or taste his food.

It is then that you realize it's just uncomplicated. Easy even. Think of it as turning down Rt. 25 off 105 heading east. It's just something good.

Lots of Love

If I had to answer "no" one more time when asked, "Are you still writing?" I may have lost it...okay, okay, I also happened to have promised Jen Lew that I would hold up my end of a deal that we would both contribute to our blogs. (This is attempt number 2.) So. Here we go.

The thing is, I love to eat, I love to drink, I love to travel and I love to write. I love my job, (Managing Love Lane Kitchen in Mattituck, NY.) I love the North Fork, I love coffee and silly dancing and my sisters cat, Mel, whom is currently eating my yogurt. So, where to start? So much pressure! What do I call it? Do I write about food, do I write about wine? What about the North Fork. Maybe I'll call it "My Fork" well, that's taken. And thanks to Lettie Teague, so is "Fork Life." I was here first, Lettie!

I just love too many things! Where to start? Food? Yeah, just what the world needs, another self proclaimed foodie critiquing five star restaurants in NYC as if they have any credentials to do so. Yes, that means you, yelp.com'ers. Just how often do you even go out to dinner, anyway? Ok, wine? I've studied wine, and drink a lot of wine, and I'm the wine director for Love Lane Kitchen, and I worked at a vineyard for almost 4 years. I, I, I. See what I mean? Ok...what about traveling adventures? And now I'm overwhelmed.

Well, all this hemming and hawing didn't work with Jen Lew, who told me to quit whining and making lame ass excuses and just write. I already feel better. She is going to hate this lay out. I know it. She'll yell at me for it later when I get to work, from her stool where she sits... perched... watching... waiting. Always ready with her witty comments and outspoken ways.

Then, we'll eat some sushi and drink too much Sake, because it's Tuesday and that's what we do on Tuesdays on Lave Lane at Love Lane Kitchen.