Feeling like I should be an Octopus!

With all the excitement brewing around here about the taste of Bethesda, the overwhelming buzz about the Drive-By BBQ truck and the great reviews we have been receiving  I am begining to feel I should have been born an octopus.  Besides their overall good looking exterior they have a huge advantage with their eight arms.  It would be spectacular for me to have eight arms, maybe then I could juggle all that I have to do to get ready for these events, keep the BBQ buzz and run a very busy (thankfully) restaurant.  Besides all that, I would have more people coming to the restaurant just to check out the freakshow of me with eight arms.  Not that I wish for any deformation but in my mind it sounds great.  I am getting ready for taste of Bethesda, whichwe have rented double the amount of tent size this year and are doing double the amount of food and the majority of this food has to be prepared by me.  I can’t pull my already busy kitchen guys out of the kitchen to make 400 caramel apples and 400 chocolate covered figs.  I was invited to bring the BBQ truck to Sugarloaf Mountain Winery’s annual “Stomp” Festival, which is great, but I have no one to drive it, so that one falls on me as well.  Plus I usually open the restaurant on Saturday and help to get all the specials done and get everything ready for a busy Saturday night.  Typically I get Sunday off but I have to drive the truck again for the second day of the festival.  All through next week I have to begin the prep for Taste of Bethesda, and god forbid I forget something.  Of course one of my head Chefs went ahead and had a baby (congrats Keswick) on Wednesday so he is out for a week.  Did he really have to pick this week?  Obviously I am kidding about that, but now his duties fall on the kitchen and on me.  On top of this my partners would like me to never leave the restaurant, which is a great compliment, but come on, I need to see my family at some point.  Now that I think about it, my eight octopus arms are filling up quick.  I remember when I imported wine, I had a great customer base and spent a lot of time doing nothing (don’t tell my ex employers).  Now I think to myself “what was I thinking, am I f–king stupid, leaving that gig”.  I do realize that all these complaints are based solely on being busy, and I should not complain.  I am very thankful for this business, I do pay my bills on time, no company ever comes looking for us on the due date and we stay completley current with all our vendors.  I have been a part of restaurants that didn’t work like that in the past and I never want to go there again.  So lets not look at this as a complaint but more like a exhale on my part, a cleasing of the mind, one of my typical rants.  How does Gordan Ramsey, Mario Batalli and all these other restaurant gods do this with 20 different restaurants?  I can’t think about that, it gives me a headache  and at the same time it fills my heart with jealousy.  I guess that is why they have big time tv shows and I drive a BBQ truck, somewhere I made a wrong turn.  Oh well, wrong turn or not it is the path I am driving now so I guess I will just make the best of it. But seriously if any body has any pull at The Food Network  hook a brotha up!  I did do a commercial for the Taste of Bethesda yesterday and I do have to say it was day time emmy quality.  Thanks for reading my rant, love you guys.

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