newports on the southside!!

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I am a whore...I mean aren't we all in some way or another...i sell my services to an owner and in exchange for a pittance of a salary..give everything to the  birth, growth and existence of their dream...their restaurant...I have adopted their dream as my own...transferred their ideas to my staff..and then sat back in the kitchen to watch them bathe in their adoration...in their success...I have also watched dreams dash...bank accounts dwindle...marriages crumble...partnerships dissolve...I have had great owners...down in the trenches...there with an icy drink...pat on the back..thanks a lot owners...owners who stuck money in my pocket...pulled me out into the dining room to receive the accolades of grateful clients...and i have had pimps...sweet talkers that tell you one thing...and spend the rest of the time chopping at you with an axe...whittling away at your vision..changing the deal...destroying your staff...Ive had bounced checks and bold faced liars..ive had mid night runners...you know show up in the morning to a "closed for renovation sign" and a disconnected cell phone...i wish i could tell you that the good ones succeeded and the bad ones failed...but we all know that's the not the truth..the truth is there simply is no real exacting formula for what makes a restaurant a success...some have great menus...some great location..some have great staffs....and some have the package.. a little bit of all of the above...i would have bet my life on some and have been utterly flabbergasted by others...the successes and the failures...but... i chose this life...i sat in those early meetings with a guy that i knew I'd have trouble with...saw my shortcomings or his or hers...and yet i shook their hands...took their deals.. because... i am a whore for this profession...I'll do almost anything for another chance at another restaurant...like an old line guy said to me once..."chef your like a hooker on the south side...giving it all for a pack of newports!!!"...of course that is a gentle paraphrasing....so in the words of an owner that falls right in the middle..."next"

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