Years ago, when I was still relatively new to the restaurant industry, I was engaged in my usual Sunday routine of having dinner with three other bartenders who all worked in restaurants on the same street as mine. The four of us, and sometimes wait staff, bouncers, or hangers-on from our respective establishments all had Sundays off and all got together for drinks, dinner, and usually more drinks. In a moment of reflection, feeling like I was living the same week over and over again, I looked up from my steak and said “We need a hobby.” My friend Mike, the guy that gave me my first job tending bar, looked at me and said “We have a hobby. We go out to eat.”
Until then I had not thought at all about how much my coworkers at the restaurant, my friends in the industry, and I all obsessed about where we were going to eat this week. What would we have? If we mentioned to one another that we had eaten at a particular place we were barraged with questions. Everyone would want to know what was ordered. How was it? Why that and not the short ribs? Which dressing did you get on the dinner salad? Wine? Beer? How was the service? We could spend half an hour talking about a dinner the way baseball fans can rattle off stats from the 1960’s or relive a game from decade ago. It really was, and is, a hobby.
Now I am at Bleu and what had been a hobby among the coworkers of my youth is now full-blown obsession. You may have seen our print ad in Inside Columbia Magazine. Our management staff and culinary team standing together amidst food and wine. I’m in the back with a bottle of Petite Syrah. The ad says “A Family of Foodies.” It’s absolutely true. Never have I worked in a restaurant in which the staff is more excited about the food and drinks we serve. Our chef has a bin of plastic spoons for constantly tasting, trying out, and giving samples to the staff. We all eagerly taste whatever new concoction is being worked on. Never a hesitant “what’s this?” from anyone. Everybody just takes the spoon or fork excitedly. Short responses come like this: “Wow, what is that?” or just a nod from Chef and a “That’s served with the duck tonight.” My personal favorite was a night I walked into the kitchen in the middle of service and our chef handed me what appeared to be a chunk of thick cut bacon. No explanation. He studied my face as I chewed. My eyes must have signaled awareness of something new because before I could even ask he said “Yep. Lamb bacon.” Just a few weeks ago our pastry chef came behind the bar with a spoonful of a new crème brulee she’d been working on. As she was handing me the spoon she was also backing away. “What are you doing?” I asked. “I’m backing away because this is so good you’re going to slap me” she said laughing and clearly proud of her work.
I see this same enthusiasm in our guests. Believe it or not every one of us loves it when we see a guest at Bleu get excited about a dish. We love it when people order our favorite thing off the menu or, better yet, when they order the crazy thing Chef just got us to try five minutes ago. We love to see that same light in someone’s eyes that was in mine the first time I tasted lamb bacon. It’s not just the owners, servers, cooks, and bartenders at Bleu in the family of foodies. It’s you, too. It’s the chefs and wait staff at the restaurants next door, and up the street. Its all of us that share this same crazy obsession. My hobby is going out to eat. So is yours. Otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this. Welcome to the family. I hope to see you at dinner.