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.
