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.