Speak Up

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Are the wives doomed?

Tonight I got a comment from a lovely wife in need of our advice. I could email her myself but why not gather the genius of us all?

I have been a chef wife for 2 years- girlfriend for 8 before that. I told myself for 10 years that life would get better & we'd have more time together, but so far it hasn't happened. For about 9 years, I was 2nd, 3rd or 4th to various things. About a year ago he left me, saying he wasn't sure he wanted to be married (and I suspect he wanted to try out life with a new waitress he connected with. He came back a few months later, asked for forgiveness, I gave it & he has made a huge effort to make things work. But now I am questioning whether or not this life is worth it. I find myself not giving 100% to our marriage & it kills me. I love him dearly & he is one of my favorite people. I feel like we're doomed. Any advice? I'm tired of spending holidays, weekends and every night alone.

Food Is Love,
hilary


Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Hell's Kitchen Winner Wins My Husband! Sort of.

I have a culinary guilty pleasure that I'm not above admitting. Yes, I watch Hell's Kitchen. I know that it's the trailer park version of Top Chef, but I just can't help it. Where else can you see a completely irate chef smashing cod and calling hopeless chefs donkeys? It's absolutely ridiculous but I can't help myself. And this season has proved especially intriguing because the winner receives a one year contract with BLT Steak in NYC. Yep- the winner will be working with my husband. I'm not sure yet if the prized chef will take the job and money, or just the job. It was definitely cool seeing BLT in all of the episodes and I'm glad the company was able to get so much press. BLT already has one ex-reality star working for them. Cliff from Top Chef season 2 will actually be the chef above our Hell's Kitchen alum. Interesting class of the boob tube stars.

Erik watched with me occasionally but for the most part the last thing he wants to do after working 13 hours in a kitchen is watch other people working in a kitchen.

Hell's Kitchen season 9 recently wrapped and the winner is....THIS GUY.






Paul Niedermann from Davie, FL
Looks friendly, right? 

he wasn't my first pick- I like Will from Jersey City, NJ but you never can tell with 'reality' TV. 

Food is Love, 
Hilary 

Monday, September 19, 2011

Hamburglar

Ethics in the workplace isn't just a workshop you've been forced to attend. It also involves more than stealing post-its or reporting a coworker of pinching reams of paper. In the restaurant industry ethics comes down to things a bit bigger than post-its: people. Is it wrong to open a restaurant and take half the kitchen staff from your old job? On the one hand you are working to create a successful business and where else would you get the best cooks, but from your previous job? On the other hand it's unethical to recruit former coworkers. On the other, other hand (yeah things are getting freaky) how much responsibility is held by the person being recruited?

Have you or your chef walked into work to find half your cooks have jumped ship? Have you jumped ship yourself and was it worth it? Have you recruited your bosses employees and slept at night? 

I'm not sure where I stand on all of this. What about you?

Food is Love, 
Hilary 

Thursday, September 8, 2011

I'm Ready For My Closeup

Well, not at all actually. I was approached by yet another production company that wants to make a reality show focused on the glamour and intrigue of women married to chefs. The only thing is, they don't want wives married to famous chefs- so Mrs. Batali and Mrs. Vongerichten need not apply. They want women married to chef/restaurant owners who are attending galas and leading lives similar to the ladies on the Real Housewives. I've just emailed my contact at the company saying that I don't think such wives exist. But I could be wrong. In my experience, the women married to non-famous chefs are usually working women and mothers.

When I first started this blog in 2007 I was spending my weekend at restaurants and bars all over New York. Arm in arm with two other chef's girlfriends I was having the time of life and getting loads of PX treatment at some of the best places in the city. Four years and one baby later and I'm still spending my weekends at restaurants, it's just that those restaurants are kid friendly and dinner is around 5.

Are you a Jill Zarin? Or more of a Ramona? If you are out there reading this blog and want your Real Housewives style life shown in a reality show send me a comment or email and I'll forward your information along to the production company. This company by the way is the same company that puts on Iron Chef and Iron Chef America so they are no strangers to food shows.

Just remember if you become famous...it all started here

Food is Love,
hilary