New York

Woke up early this morning to some big bumps care of Poseidon but all has returned to normal and sleep should come easily tonight. Duck confit pasta with broccolini for lunch today. With plenty of leftovers to keep me fed, dinner tried out the veal breast that I cooked in the circulator. With roasted shitakes, sherry and polenta-not going to win a James Beard but it keeps the crew smiling. Should be pulling into Sag around 10 AM tomorrow and it's straight to the farmers market....

Day 2

Got a goodnights sleep last night minus the fact that I had to be up at 6 to do my watch, but all that consists of is listening to Howard Stern and playing with my phone. The weather is absolutely gorgeous and if it stays this way all the way to Sag I will be very happy. Lunch was Mahi with tamarind that turned out pretty good, and dinner I am going to use up my 48 hour sous vide chuck flap. Cook, eat and sleep that's about all I have to do on the high seas.

Dinner

The two trips we have done to the Bahamas are overnight crossings. It's just starting to sink in that I won't be stepping on dry land for three days. The highlight is i have an awesome watch schedule, 6-10 both AM and Pm, a lot better than the 2-6AM shift i had before. I know a couple of people who are en route to the med, I do not envy them one bit right now. Dinner tonight made me happy-Shrimp, Sopresatta, Sun-dried tomatoes, Arugula.

Sent from my iPhone

Next Stop New York

Today we got under way to begin our 3 day crossing to Sag Harbor. Poseidon has blessed us with beautiful weather and looks like we may have a fairly uneventful passage. The boss was supposed to be on vacation till mid-July but that got cancelled so it's straight to work when we arrive. I was hoping to have some Hamptons fun, but we'll put that on the backburner for now. Very excited to be going to see some new scenery and to be so close to Manhattan. The hurricane season is supposed to be a good one so might get some good surf and I can get some practice in for Morocco. Ready for a summer of good produce and good food!!!!

Hard to find a decent tomato in Florida but I can get Lychee's from peoples backyards

Veal Breast

After the "tour de bar" yesterday I was very unmotivated to spend anytime in the Florida heat. Instead I decided to get some work done and stuffed a veal breast. Since we are on the boat and all the meals are eaten outside I don't want to take an already rich protein and make it richer. Cooked down fennel, shallot, garlic and buzzed it with coriander, fennel seed, parsley, dill, chervil, tarragon, lemon zest and marcona almonds. Broke the breast down into 3 pieces and cooking it overnight at 140 for 10 hours, or my required amount of sleep. Hopefully won't wake up to any more boat fires.

Accidents Do Happen

I was under the impression that with yachts they have so much safety equipment accidents are few and far between. Imagine the "oh sh*t" moment I had this morning when I looked out the galley window and saw an 80 ft yacht engulfed in smoke. They were actually very lucky to have had this happen approaching the Rybovich boatyard rather than in the middle of the ocean. Knock on wood our boat stays flame free.

The Pork Belly post worked and so now I will unleash a fury of posts. I have had a few other chefs on board from other boats, even bigger boats and they are jealous of my galley. The only thing I am missing is a walk in but I have plenty of space and it keeps me happy.

Pork belly Sandwich for lunch

Time For A Change

On arrival of my new IPHONE(Probably will be happiest day of my life) I am going to try and start documenting my life on the boat more. With summer here the boat will be moving up to Sag Harbor and I will have a lot more to rant and rave about since the boat will be in full swing. Very excited to get out of Florida and up to NY and hopefully with my new toy it will motivate me to get some info up on the intraweb. But don't come looking for gossip regarding the bosses.....Stay Tuned

Pool Side

Kitchen

Living the Good Life

I am in the middle of having an epiphany as I am sipping on single malt scotch, smoking a cigar and sitting in a thousand dollar a night beach bungalow listening to the waves ripple against the shore. I am a cook for God's sake and somehow I found myself here, is it because of talent? NO, it was pure luck and my life has been filled with these lucky moments and it makes me wonder what I did to deserve so much. It's so hard to be happy for what I have when I see the Bahamians, the Colombians, the Malaysians, etc when I just got lucky enough to be born into an amazing family in the US of A. I guess part of me is proud that I can actually make that comparison because there are plenty of people out there who are born into a sense of entitlement rather than enlightenment. My father would tell me it's all part of God's plan but why did God choose for me to be so lucky and others so less fortunate. Other people would say it's just a roll of the dice and this is where I wound up, regardless I (and everyone else reading this) am so extremely lucky and we don't take enough time out of everyday to reflect on that. As my time winds down on this island and I move forward I may be starting an even more exciting opportunity at the end of the month (details to follow) and it just seems too good to be true. I used to strive to be an eccentric person ala Hunter S Thompson and disappear into the desert with a trunk full of mushrooms and LSD and write gibberish and be called an icon, but all that gets you is an early suicide just so you can live up to that persona you created. So for now I'll stick with my Braised Pork Belly and Duck Confit cause it's done me pretty well so far.

The End is Near

New Year's is over and done the 9 courses went over well and no big surprise the Pork Belly and the Foie courses were the two favorites. It started raining at 11:59 and by that point dessert was out and I was a couple of beers deep. I had my girl Rita in the kitchen cooking breakfast which meant I got to stay up till 3 and "sleep in" till 830. Tomorrow there will only be four guests here for dinner and my vacation is going to start. When I came down here it was unclear whether I was going to be able to stay long-term, but for the time being the answer is no. So I will be packing my bags and heading back stateside but not before some serious fishing and time in the sand. Hopefully I will be coming back in March but we will have to put this on hold till then. The new chef arrives on Sunday and I will hang out till Friday and hopefully be able to come back with a suntan. I will be working on my new position as the bar consultant which means I will be sitting by the pool making new cocktails to put on the drink list. I already started by infusing rum with ginger, lime and lemongrass and making a dark and stormy, which was pretty delicious. It is going to be very strange being here more as a guest than a co-worker but after working for almost 21 days straight 14+ hours a day I will enjoy every second of it.