Bent

This business of mine can be a literal meat grinder, as you know from reading and re-reading my posts. Weakness is not accepted and we expect a lot from everyone. Sacrifice, perfection, passion, blood, sweat and tears are the norm. And little thought is given to what we may be imposing on people and what the long term repercussions may be. But....the world is turning in someways and I think the things we went through when we first started out are no longer acceptable to the young ones coming into the business. Millennials or hipsters or whatever....they are changing the face of reality and in the end it is going to be incumbent on us older folk to adjust to this paradigm shift. But my opinion and my experience as an older guy is not without merit...my grey hair is a testament to being in the trenches....so maybe listen to what I have to say for a bit, it might help.

This article The Way It Is came across my field of vision and I was struck by a couple of things in it. I feel bad for this guy...not only is he going through some shit with his health, but his issues may be exacerbated by a greater issue...as I see it, his all consuming need to be all consumed. His obsession with bourbon, collection of specific guitars, meticulousness on the plate...they are all a reflection of his personality and I'm sure his success is partially achieved by these character traits, but holy hell Hannah, how is this healthy? Is his "mania" making his condition worse? I'm not a doctor so how the hell do I know but I can't imagine it being good for him.

The idea that you have to be mad to be a genius may very well be true and completely foreign to me personally. I have found, I think, a balance in my life. I have no burning desire to be the best of anything....I'm not committed to the idea that good enough is not good enough. It is good enough and besides I think my good enough is pretty darn good. On top of that, I have other things I am interested in. And sometimes I actually don't want to do a god damn thing. The mania surrounding knowing everything about something holds no interest for me. It's admirable in some ways that this guy knows as much as he does and I'm sure his food is very good....but so what? A case of being defined by what you do? I asked my daughter the other night what was the first thing she thought of when thinking of me and she said silly. I like that. I like that a lot. It works for me. While I identify as a chef it's not my whole life.

Far from me shooting someone else down for their desire to be viewed in a certain way, to each his own I say, but if I can make a comment...I do find that these "extreme" personalities are the ones that have difficulty with acceptance, with plurality. Like atheists that look down on you for being religious, they just can't accept differing points of view. I can just see this guy looking down his nose at you for ordering a Jack Daniels shot while in his presence. He wouldn't be able to help himself. What do you mean JD? What you want is a pouring of vintage hand drawn, free range cask aged, organic sour mash poured through a 75 year old pair of cotton skivvies to give you a true taste of the smokey goodness in your hand blown whiskey glass. Actually what I want is another shot and for you to shut the fuck up before I decide on having a rye rage right on your ass.

So this fine cook continues to live in a world of absolutes, where he will create 25 iterations of one dish to achieve "perfection". I know I'm not wired that way so I can't even imagine what it is like to be inside his head. Nor would I pay the kind of money this guy needs to have this all make sense. Sorry man. And by no stretch is this confined to the world of food but it does seem to be more prevalent as we Instagram our dinner and turn cooks into celebrities. I think it's crazy but there you have it.

I think back to the chefs that I have worked for....a crazy group of people to be sure but I don't recall the all consuming obsessive types. Maybe I steered away from them and gravitated towards people that more closely reflected my views...taking the whole picture approach and appreciating that there was life beyond those swinging doors and that stinking hot line. But again...maybe the industry has been fed for the past ten years by the cult of celebrity and the extreme personalities have been drawn in to this world. Whatever the reason, my generation of cooks do get a chuckle from the attention seeking celebrity wannabes and what they do to food for the sake of their "art". I'm sure Alinea in Chicago is quite good and I'm also sure that the people there take it way too serious for my liking. The desire to break bread with a friend, family or a lover is far more important than the food in front of me and whether or not it is locally sourced from the navels of virgins...get stuffed man. And don't get me started on tweezers and liquid nitrogen.

That is all for today my loyal readers...hello to the Philippines

Ciao
D