My Hero

Someone is always telling me that this is a tough business we are in; I generally reply that at least people come to see us because they want to, not because it's court ordered or something. And of course my job is quite enviable - walking around the dining room basking in the compliments, or sitting in front of this computer, updating the FaceBook page.  Kevin, on the other hand, really does work hard.  This man works really, really hard.  He walks through the kitchen door each morning by 7:15 and rarely sits down again - aside from maybe a two minute coffee break - until we walk out at the end of the day, which can be anywhere from 9:30 to 11:30 at night.  And he doesn't stop working the whole time he is here.  

We are talking about a 55 year old man, not a 25 or 35  year old youngster -  a man who hasn't missed a day for illness in forever.  He can work the pants off anyone.  And sometimes he has to.  Lately especially.

We are short help in the kitchen, primarily because of me and my mouth.  I was "disagreeable" to one of Kevin's staff on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend and he walked out of the kitchen, in the middle of service, never to return.  He was a valuable member of the staff, doing work that made Kevin's life much less stressful.  But the guy was clueless, pissed me off in the middle of  one of the  busiest nights so far this year, and I let him know it.  That was the end of the story.  So, since then of course, Kevin has had to pick up that slack.  Then one of our lunch line cooks came down with Lyme disease.  Erika has struggled for the past two weeks with this debilitating illness and has only just been back on track the past few days.  She lost about a week of work.  And who picked up her slack?  Kevin of course.  So now he's doing the work of three.  Then, last Friday, not only was Erika out, but the other lunch line cook called out as well!  What!!  How can we run a kitchen with no line cooks?  Was Kevin going to have to do the work of four?   Luckily - after many phone calls and rearranging of schedules -  sous-chef Kev came in to work Chris's line.  And wouldn't you know that that Friday was one of the busiest lunches we have had in quite awhile.  Of course, that should have been expected.

Every day my hero comes to work with plans and ambition - ideas and projects for food above and beyond what we see on the menu.  Sometimes he gets to do those things; sometimes he has to fill in the gaps where they occur.  Chris calls out again Thursday - Kevin gets on the line again, and his plans to make a new chicken dish for the menu are put aside.  (And frankly, I cannot remember the last time we were fully staffed in the kitchen, with BT employees...)

Of course he doesn't ever complain - he is a business owner and this is what they do.  Neither of us would ever behave otherwise.  There are rewards as well - customers coming into the kitchen to shake his hand and say "best steak I ever had", employees who succeed and become important cogs in the wheel, or when he simply discovers a new way to do the pork chop - these  and more are  rewards for his labors.  He really does love what he does.

Lucky for the rest of us, eh?