“I’m not what I do. I do what I am.” Miles Davis
A lot has gone through my mind the last couple months. Pain has a way of making you introspective. It’s not like you’re going anywhere and when it’s manageable, you may find yourself looking straight into your heart where big thoughts live.
What is life? More like… What… Is life.
Keep asking. Keep learning, and then, teach it. Become immortal because by shareing the knowledge, your spirit lives on.
The Miles quote above kept going through my mind. My vocation or my calling I knew early on. It’s evolved but forms the core. Be it food, music or writing the same things play out. Looking back you notice patterns and for me it’s the above.
Improvisation has also been key and a great life skill to possess for any occasion. First leaned by playing jazz, there’s no such thing as a mistake. But then years later only this time regarding restaurants, Danny Meyer in his brilliant book Setting The Table called them “an opportunity to write a new ending.”
It’s all in the follow up.
Self expression is another recurring theme. Is it selfish to follow your passions? Meaningful and fulfilling is good, right? Immediate gratification is also palatable in my work- first to me and then to anyone in range that’s predisposed to tap their foot or lick their lips and savor a bite.
A lifelong pleasure junkie, my first fix was music, then cooking and later, writing. Travel, massage and long hot showers should be on the list as well. What does this have to do about publishing? For one, it’s why I have 3 manuscripts in the first place.
I wouldn’t have begun writing if I hadn’t come from a long line of voracious readers or had not co-written hundreds of songs or for that matter 1,000’s of menus…
You learn to turn a phrase.
There’s an art to menu writing aka “menu speak”. Making something sound interesting or delicious in as few words as possible, be it menu or song, is good practice for writing tight, succinct dialogue. Add that cadence and rhythms are my background and it beats sweating my ass off 60-70+ hours a week in a kitchen.
Those days are donski.
Besides knowing their craft inside and out, of the many other skills a chef needs to possess, among them is the ability to teach and mentor. Another skill, this one obtained playing in bands, is how to work with and (usually) respect other’s opinions.
Unless your politics goes against science or other inconvenient facts and accepted norms. Principles are like that.
But by liking people in general and being interested in other cultures you learn a lot. For instance, did you know that in France it’s bad form to cut the bottom tip (aka “nose”) off of a wedge of cheese? A grievance reserved mainly for children or Americans.
So while little publishing progress has been made (it is the end of the year after all) other progress has. Not being tied to a recliner and heating pad helps motivate and recalibrate, and the wisdom gleaned will exist moving forward as the sum total of the parts.
Chef/percussionist/writer/reprobate and lover of all things beautiful & delicious, Chef Alan Lake’s culinary career includes East Bank Club in Chicago; Sunset Marquis in W. Hollywood; Izakaya Hiwatta in Ichinomia Japan and legendary nightclub Purpur in Zurich, Switzerland. Working all around the world for over four decades, he's won numerous awards, professional competitions and distinctions. He’s the author of Home Cookin'- The Stories Behind The Food and The Garlic Manifesto- the history of garlic going back to 10,000-year-old Neolithic caves and contains facts, fiction, folklore, myths and legends (besides 100 recipes).
A lifelong musician that plays 70+ percussion instruments, he coined the term “Jazzfood” to describe his cooking style i.e. “solid technique coupled with tasteful improvisation.” He views his food as he does his music and writing and has been known to bust a pout if subpar in any way.
After being diagnosed with an illness or coming back from chronic pain the gratefulness one feels takes on in form of spreading kindness and supporting others. You have taught me so many lessons and for that I say thank you.
you’re too kind. the only lesson taught was not to cut the nose off the brie.
I thought it was the immortal words of Donny Hathaway
so did i. i went to our fave ghetto and it wasn’t on it. it is on marvin though right before the chorus on the link. do you know what tune it’s on?