Eat or Be Eaten

I'm usually not the type of person to stay awake much past 9:30pm. It seems like I have this internal clock that tells my body it's time to shut down, and fight as I might, it's a lot of work to keep me awake. My life is centered around a steady routine: up by 5:30am, to work by 7:45am, leave work around 4:30pm, bed by 9:30pm. So being awake until 1am this past morning was a enormous shift from the "normal".

Last night I rolled into JAROblue around 6:05pm and quickly walked to the kitchen. Tables were already filling up as I arrived, and I knew that I was in for a good night. Upon arrival into the kitchen, I was promptly shown downstairs to the underbelly and given kitchen appropriate clothing. Before I had arrived, Jonas (the head chef) had found me a chef's jacket and pants that actually fit (the last time I was in, I was swimming in my jacket and tugging at my pants to keep them from riding too high!)


Kitchen culture is one that is entirely different from any other working environment that I know of. The majority of cooks are men, and being a woman in a kitchen can be a test of wills and a chance to grow a proverbial set of balls. Jokes are continually being made at someone elses expense, and failing to sling your own insults will make you the butt of every joke made. It's a game. One of wits and fast reaction times. It's very primal in it's mentality - eat or be eaten. The only way you win is to outwit the next guy. The kitchen staff at JAROblue were no different. Half the night, between making ravioli and croissants, I just laughed at the absurdity of the entire situation.


Between watching the ticker go off every 30 seconds with new bills and avoiding people as they rushed past to grab food and wine, I got to make ravioli, cheddar croissants, crackers, watch how sausage was made and eat a broken piece of chocolate cake with a spoonful of caramel sauce. That's my kind of Friday evening. Bigger than this though, I was also able to watch how a cohesive kitchen team works together, both individually and en masse to get meals out the window and onto the tables of salivating clients. There are a lot of moving parts in a kitchen and having them all come together is essential to good business and good food. Jonas and his team were a well oiled machine.


I had an awesome evening which was finished with a glass of red wine, a toast to friendship and a great big smile. I can't think of a better way to end a day. Tonight I will go to bed early. My body has already told me that 9:30pm is drawing near.