When I started working at [restaurant deleted] back in July, I fell in love. I fell in love with the people, the food, the atmosphere, the experience, the building - everything and everyone. I still feel that way. I'm telling you, it's a magical place.
But I can also tell you, the MAIN reason I fell in love is because of Chef [name deleted]. I know amazing food when I taste it, I know perfection when I experience it, and I know a hard worker when I see one. My grandfather was Chief Civil Engineer at Camp Pendleton here in Fallbrook back in 1948. He built 20 acres single-handedly off Alvarado St between Frolic Way (the road he paved and named) and Emilia Ln which are still in the family. He worked on the property morning and night in between working all day as a civil engineer, carving out reservoirs, building houses, barns and bomb shelters, planting trees and plants that grew every fruit and vegetable from A to Z. He wasn't just a hard-working man, he was a genius - brilliant - and he was my example...that this is the kind of man you want in your life, as a woman.
And so, I don't talk about it much because [choosing a pseudonym: Bernard] is very private, and, because it's a delicate situation, working under him as a pizza cook and falling in love with him at the same time. But, that's how I fell in love - I get to make the best pizzas in town at the best restaurant in town for the best chef in town (and the best restaurant owner in town; [owner's name deleted] is another brilliant, hard-working family man, and so I have nothing but respect for him as well). Chef Bernard works six days a week, morning til night, and even goes into the restaurant on his "day off" to make sure everything's running smoothly. When he's on the job, he's executing his menu flawlessly, beautifully, and quickly, dancing to music in the kitchen and having a good time, loving what he does.
Sure, some things stress him out when they don't go the way they should, and some people get on his nerves when they don't perform at his level of expectation. But that's just because he knows exactly how things should be and how they need to be executed, and you better be on board, because he's the one steering the ship. The chef at any restaurant is never the "easiest" person to work with; my former boss at [let's say Pizza Hut], where I worked on and off for a decade, used to say, "If you don't hate me, I'm not doing my job!" It makes me laugh a little when Chef Bernard is tough on his crew and they have a hard time with it, because Bernard's not even as hardcore as that former Navy hardass, Harry Marsh, whom I used to call "Mr. Harsh" behind his back...and yet, to whom I'll always be grateful for whipping my ass into shape as one of the best pizza-makers around.
So, speaking of gratitude, I burst at the seams with it most days at [the restaurant], thanking God for landing me there, because that place, like I said, is magical. I'm even sad any time a waitress or a cook leaves, because those crew members have become like family to me, every single one of them. When you become a cook and you're good at what you do and you have the privilege of being at the restaurant all the time, and you end up at a place like [this restaurant], you can find a hell of a lot of things to be grateful for. [This restaurant] just blows it out of the water (to continue the Navy analogies, lol).
And Chef Bernard simply blows me away, every day, and I was dying to tell the world.
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