I would much rather have a not-best meal than a mentally drained chef
I had a meal in a restaurant the last night, the person serving (I think he was the restaurant owner) was telling a restaurant cook about how his food wasn't good, and a new employee on how "he runs a tight ship" to a new employee and telling him that he would rather the new employee leave than not follow exactly what he says
This has been running on my mind with a few events, namely Simon Willson's blog post on how Mr Beast works, Professor Ellie Anderson's cover of "The Burnout Society" and Why Marco Pierre white gave back his Michelin Stars
At it's core, phew, I get that the restaurant industry is very hard to run, cooking for so many people is probably very difficult, maintaining, running around
and the truth is I would pay more if I could afford to pay more
idk, at its core, I would, much rather the Chef, and the cooks and the waiter go back happily to their families, I mean, it's okay for you to make mistakes - and idk, if the food is a little bit off-taste, that's okay for me
In one of the local asian grocery stores I frequented, I remember the store owner's hanging their 8-10 year old kid's pokemon drawings, I loved them - they're line drawings, not the best drawings, but they made the grocery store more "human" to me, they weren't the "best" drawings, the store owner could've definitely put up expensive high-tier drawings to make the place more pretty, but…I am kinda glad he didn't
Things don't have to be "perfect" for me to enjoy them
Ellie Anderson's video above does go into how this "grind" ends up having an aftermath of depression, because of-course it will
idk, dude take your time, life is difficult, I get it, it's cool to take more time to cook your food, take 30 minutes more - it's okay, this restaurant is beautiful and I am honored to have you cooking for me and another person is serving me - thank you so so much for everything
I want you to go home happy to your kids, I want you to have a happy family and a good relationship and other hobbies beside being a chef, I want you to enjoy life, we're chill dude
Edit : 2024-09-19, typo correction "Things" not Thanks
xoxo - appreciate you