8.4.26 | Our Way

This job, at least the way we do it, does not leave much room for life outside the restaurant to go wrong. 

A month ago, our dog Jellybean rolled around in, ate up, or somehow got into something foul she found in the woods. She wound up smelly, in trouble, in a cone, with an IV. She had to do a five-day stint at the vet’s. Becca and I were distraught. We visited every day and tried to get her to eat. I cooked a Michelin style meal of boiled chicken with no fats, salts, or seasonings. (Finally putting my degree to good use.)

It was a tough week. She got out, she had new expensive food, new expensive medicine and new expensive ailments. And two frazzled parents.

No matter how life outside of work is going, at work business has to continue as usual. We have to smile, we have to show up, we have to try to cook the best food we can and we have to keep trying to do the best we can all around. Not always easy, but I feel like, besides opening late one or two days and closing early one or two days to pick up, transport, or get home to our doggie, we did pretty good.

This gives me mixed feelings about running my own restaurant. What I put myself through and what my wife puts herself through. On the one hand I can say, “My dog took a copperhead to the face this morning, we had an emergency vet situation, she is fine, but we won't be opening the doors until 6 pm today.” (True story.) A corporate restaurant doesn't allow for that; you can't up and change hours, you can't set your own vacation times. I couldn't cook the food I want. There would be a lot more restrictions. There would be a lot more money and time as well, but as of right now I want my creativity and individuality. And I want to do it my way. Or our way.

Fast forward four weeks to present day. Jellybean has aged quite a bit after her stint in the five star luxury vet hotel. Her arthritis doesn't allow her to take flying leaps off the front steps of the house any more. She needs more rest, the vet says, a full eight hours of sleep at night and about ten during the day. She now prefers to bark at the deer in the yard, the squirrels, the people riding their bikes, the delivery guys, the mail lady, chipmunks, crows, and skinks from inside the house, resting on her pile of pillows and fleeces, rather than going outside the house to do her barking and sound the alarms. She still considers herself the sheriff of Union Run, but she's hung up her pistols for a while.

This week, surprise surprise, she had to take another three day stay at the vet. Why she never gets sick on a day we're off I don't know, but it's only ever on the weekends when it's an emergency and an overnight stay. During her time away, Becca put her anxious energy into building Jellybean a new set of stairs for the front porch. The new stairs are nice long steps with a less steep angle to help with her hips. (Jellybean's not Becca's.)

We had to open up late two days in a row. Sure enough we got complaints. Despite the signs on the doors, people still came in through the emergency exit to ask if they could come in. People contacted us on social media to give us their opinions on which hours we should and shouldn’t be open. Thank you so much for reaching out, we'll take it into consideration. When we finally did open, the cherry on top of our cake was the AC unit above the bar starting to pour water out of the fins onto the bartop.

And then the front door fell off its hinges.

I need a vacation. Jellybean needs a vacation. Becca needs a vacation. It's almost here, it's right around the corner, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I am going towards it … It's not always this hectic. I mean most of the time it is, but not always. C'est la vie.

I will say, I think Becca and I and our entire staff have held it together pretty well. Becca and Jellybean and I aren't the only ones going through life—our staff are, our guests are, the people you pass by on the street are. Holding together, putting one foot in front of the other is a challenge, but if you're doing that, that's pretty good. I think, despite our weird hours and weird life, we put out good food and we gave good service. We stuck to our core goals and we trudged through with smiles on. 

I think the work helps. I enjoy working with food and working with people who enjoy working with food. I like hearing Becca laughing in the dining room with the guests and enjoying her time talking to our regulars. 

Well, right up until she’s on the floor hammering a pin into the hinge while one of our guests holds the front door up. (Thanks, Jeff!)

Nolite te bastardes carborundorum!

—Matt