1 More Week...Hopefully.

Today was very exciting. We had a meeting and I met everyone from the restaurant. The entire Kitchen team. It's was great to finally meet everyone. The feeling was light and happy. I think everyone of us were really excited and glad to be apart of Abode. I personally can't wait to get into the kitchen. I think it's a wonderful idea to have a dinner together before we open. Next Thursday we are all meeting up for dinner and drinks. It's going to be fun. I think if we are all sorta friends, the kitchen will work together a lot better.

I think by next weekend we should be able to get in and start organizing where all the equipment should go. Labelling and just work out our space. It's going to be great. Just waiting for the health department to ok the kitchen.

There is a dry opening planned where we can invite friends and family to the restaurant. The grand opening is still scheduled for April 7th. Pressure is on!!! All my friends have already started asking me about "getting on the list" for the opening. I think I've created a lot buzz within the few friends I have here. My landlords Kelly & Patrick are so excited about it. We've become really good friends. Roger wants to bring Wendy & also his sisters. There are others but I'm not going to list everyone!

The interior design of the restaurant is amazing. The furniture and decor are all natural material. I think the chairs and tables are all handmade. They cost a fortune and I'm so glad the investors are really serious about this restaurant and want the best all the way thru.

At the meeting, Chef talked about the high expectations since our restaurant is almost classified as super fine dining! It makes me nervous but at the same time very excited. I am nervous because I don't have alot of experience in the kitchen but I am excited to see how much I can push myself to succeed. I want to be able to meet the expectations of Chef and I want the restaurant to be known for the entire meal. I mean most restaurant reviews talk about the highlight of a meal...usually the entree or the dessert stands out. Our goal is for the entire meal to stand out and be balanced. I want to make sure the dessert is going to be as fabulous as the main course. I do not want to disappoint Chef in any way. This will be the pressure I put on myself to make sure I succeed.

To add to the pressure, the James Beard Foundation has a newsletter which will talk about the opening of Abode as well. The PR firm hired to promote the restaurant is one of the best. They are sending out press release packages, etc. Therefore, the pressure is starting to stress me out and I'm not even in the kitchen yet!! People who knows me well knows how anal I can get with making things as perfect as possible. I think my chefs at school knows how much pressure I put on myself for everything I make to be 100% perfect. At least this anal side of me will aid me with making sure I can live up to the standard of Chef.

We worked out the lunch menu and I'm dying to learn the steps to making the entire dinner menu. Lunch menu is stemmed from Dinner...just to start and make it easier for us. I don't know the Petit Fours or the pre-desserts yet. I'm sure Chef will let us know very soon. She also told us that the tasting menu will be different everyday which means that the dessert for the tasting menu will be different everyday. Which means a HUGE challenge for us. I'm really excited about that! Where is there a job that will push your creativity to the limit? I still can't believe that I am part of something so special.