Well I did it again! Just over a year ago I wrote about
reflection and what the last two years had been. Five months before that I
attempted to put a notebook on my bedside table and write my thoughts. Well I
got to it a little earlier this time and only left it for two months, that is if
it make it to the internet or remains yet another unfinished piece.
The last
year has been a whirlwind. February started the year off in a promising way. I
returned to work from disability and took off, devoting a lot of time and
effort to becoming a better chef, leader and also getting the position I
wanted. Things were great, I was getting the feedback I wanted and making
positive change with that feedback. Then things took a different turn my health
kicked up again and I got dark and frustrated. It reflected in my work and
although progress made I knew I couldn’t be what I wanted to be in the that
environment and it was time for a change. I left Cactus after three wonderful
years of intense personal and career growth and learning. I consider my time at
Cactus to be probably the most influential on who I am in the workplace. So if
any of my former Cactus family is reading this, thank you for supporting,
teaching and being more than just a colleague.
With
anywhere to go, I heard from a former Cactus friend that he was taking over as Executive
Chef of a local pub close to my house. Well having enjoyed working with him in
the past I offered my help in turning the place around and signed on. I won’t
dwell on this time here much because I don’t have many positive things to say.
So instead I will say I look back on this time as an aggressive learning experience.
Now here I was, sitting at home at 28 without a job. Not a great place. Luckily
for me my industry is about 30000 jobs short so I was back at work in a week at
a local Cloverdale legend, The Vault.
Spending
the better part of the last 4 years working in corporate kitchens, coming to
the Vault was a breath of fresh mountain air. Listening to music during prep,
making specials, having some afterhours ‘wobblys’ with the staff and on top of
it all a little 90 seat restaurant, this is where I needed to be. The Vault was
the first time in my culinary career I was not spending time being developed
but rather teaching myself and learning from the environment. I put aside the
leadership and business management books and picked up my cookbooks. I made
specials, I scrubbed down equipment and mopped floors. I sat and talked with
the chef about things we could improve, we brainstormed and had fun. I stayed
after work so I could hear what opinions the rest of the restaurant staff had
about the way we worked. It was magical. It says a lot about an establishment
in this industry when the average employee was there for three plus years. I
don’t have enough good things to say about the wonderful people who embraced me
family at The Vault, but as good as it was a phone call two weeks before I
started had put an end to my time at The Vault. Which brings me to now, at 9 feet
over a mile high in the Monashee Mountain Range.
In the
final week of my notice at the pub, of which we don’t talk, I got a phone call
from my cousin Cory. Cory and his long-time girlfriend Cathy own an adventure
tourism company up at Silverstar Mountain up in Vernon BC. One of the
adventures is a sleigh ride dinner tour to a cabin the woods restaurant for 30
people. Cory and Cathy had struggled in the last years with their chefs being disrespectful,
disobedient and really giving a care for what they did. So this year, after finally getting their
liquor licence, they were looking to elevate their business. Well at the time
the phone call was a blessing as I had nothing serious going on and was excited
to see what I could bring to them. I took a week to think it through and agreed
to do at least a year and if I enjoyed it and found success I would stay for
more years. So in November my buddy Brandon graciously agreed to drive me and
my stuff and make a business trip of it. To quickly brush over some slow time,
the first weeks were mostly spent helping my aunt and uncle, who also live up
here, to move and setting up meetings with suppliers. To get a better picture
of what kind of work I was in for I will say this. A thing I don’t think many
people who are reading will have truly appreciated is having running water at
work. Everyday me or my server will deliver by snowmobile 400 gallons of fresh
water to our tanks at the cabin. There
was a lot of work to make this kitchen into one that I could alone turn out 66 guests
a day.
Although we
are family and there is an inherit trust, this business was specifically Cathy’s
baby and having owned a small business of my own before I know all to well how
difficult it is bringing change and handing over responsibility to anyone other
than yourself. We struggled to move towards a new menu that was cost effective
and easier to execute for our style well still maintaining the feel of The Wild
Horseman’s Cabin. I struggled not having
the same resources I was used to and also having to create a new network of
suppliers and other vendors. But in the end we got off our feet and we were over
the struggle, right? Nope, not even close! The thing about running a restaurant
where your guests only means of getting to you is horse drawn sleigh is that
you are no longer the only one who dictates your hours of operation. I joke with
Cathy about this thing that was developed at the turn of the 20th
century called the automobile, she doesn’t like these jokes. Yep Mother Nature
is our true boss, she holds the real sway, and let me tell you she has been a fickle
bitch this year. Another unfortunate thing about a business in the winter is
that it is just that, in the winter. When you only have at the very most 150
days to make your profits for the year, than every day you shut down means more
than twice what it normally does, and let me tell you it is never fun. That
being said there isn’t much you can do about the weather other than complain,
which we do. A wise women I know used to say, “life sucks, than you die.” As a kid
I used to think that it was a pretty morbidly dark thing to say but the older
the get I think there more to it. Sure life will suck and yes inevitably die
but there is a lot more just those two things and that ‘lot more’ is what need
to focus on and make the most of. Who knows if my interpretation is right or
maybe she just had enough of my shit that day. But when your restaurant is
closed because it snowed too much and window from you bed looks out onto the
ski hill, it would seem pretty unfair of me to wallow and not go splash some
fresh pow. Who knows what kind of innovative ideas it may spark.
To close
tonight off I’ll explain the reason I finally took the time to put pen to paper.
Tomorrow I food blogger coming to visit the restaurant and maybe right a piece.
Although the experiences this year have been nothing but an air pump of compliments,
closed eyed chewing, and insane offers to my ego, I still stress. So thank you,
I’m not going to tag her here encase she hates me… AHHH.., for getting me out
of my Netflix, Disney plus, and amazon filled nights and back to my paper. Before
I sign off I want to say thanks for the taking the time to read and too remind you that inside all the
shit and stress filled days, there is something positive to look at and I guarantee
it will be much more enjoyable. And you know the stress and shit never seems to
really just disappear so when your ready go back to it, maybe it will be just a
little easier to deal with now.
To Auntie Karina, Your courage and smile through the
darkness will always be my push to venture into what scares me and rewards me.
