A true restaurant story!
My Second letter to Mohammed and to all my dear FB friends...
Dear Mohammed,
Finally, I have a few moments to sit and to write to you my second letter.
It has been a bit hectic here, with much art to pack and canvases to stretch, and all these ideas running through my mind....
I must admit that I miss painting.
Cannot wait to finish with all the chores, and go back to standing in front of the easel and just painting.
Painting for hours... until the world disappears....
Until there are no more things to save or to mourn for....
until the clock disappears and it it time for dinner.....
Painting is my true passion- the rest is ways to stay connected.
Painting is FOR ME.
OK, back to our communication now:
In your letter to me, you said:
“Hi Tali,
Warm greeting!
Your outside look says that you are:
1 - A woman of letters
2 - Believe in absurdity
3 - Have a good sense of humor or witty
4 - Like living in a mess
5 - Sometimes make confusion between dream & illusion
6 - Finally a WOMAN trying to be a HUMAN BEING but ....
7 - Have a trust in others even when those others are strangers like me
I wander whether I can receive a reply from you to my 7 guesses or expectations !
Moin Mohammed : a poet & literary critic
Iraq - Babylon
Now, Mohammed my darling, I am sure that you can see why it took me a few days to get back to you. to gather my thoughts and my excitement....
I can spend a life time just trying to answer these seven questions, and only feel like I am peeling onion skins.... or taking down more and more books from a library shelf.
I will try to address your seven gems the best I can.
I AM A WOMAN OF LETTERS!
I take it in two ways- a woman of words- as in: words move me, words entice me, words make me cry, words touch me deeply, words have tremendous power to me, words takes me to my knees....
I remember my mother yelling at me, insulting me, and I remember bursting into tears, heart broken- I remember her saying: “What? What? why are you crying so much??? I have not even touched you?....”
But she did.
To me, words mean SO much....
Much more than a touch... much more than a slap....
Needless to say she was NOT a woman of words, and she spat them out (and in) of her mouth unfiltered.
The other way that I take your words to mean - is that I AM a woman of letters- as in writing letters.
I love letters (or emails).
It is such a great form of connecting with people.
It gives me an opportunity to write in a relaxed way, to contemplate ideas and to enter deeper levels of myself when I am inclined to do so.
So yes, I AM a woman of letters.
Next,
You say: 2 - Believe in absurdity....
I say: YES!!!
But where do I begin?.....
I have SO MUCH TO SAY....
So, I will do what I feel like, and that is to skip to the next question, and to come back to this one later.
Hey, I am SURE that you would not mind.... but wait, now I am remembering something.....
I actually did it in REAL life also.
About a million years ago, (it was actually only 23 years ago, but this is how long it feels), I had a restaurant, that I run with my partners.
It had an ambitious menu with a “NEW Cuisine”, where all the dishes were seasonal and innovative and decorated like paintings.
It was also expensive, but the food was a treat.
Gordon Ramsey, the British chef from Hell, would have said: “Fucking Hell!” - which in retrospect,- it actually was!
Back to my story:
I remember a busy night at my restaurant.
My chef was new.
The assistant chef was sick and did not show up,
The guy that was suppose to rinse the dishes, and pile them in and out of the dishwasher, did not show up for work.
So, it was just me, and my first husband Roni, and my beloved -NEW friend -chef, Hanoch in the kitchen that night.
The restaurant was PACKED!
Everybody seems to come together and sat at the same time.
The orders were coming in, faster than we could comply.
It was so absurd, that we started laughing.
Suddenly in a flash of lightning in my mind, I heard the question: “what will happen if you’ll allow yourself room to fuck up?”
It felt like a revelation....
I mean, we knew that we are fighting a loosing battle.
That there was NO WAY on earth that we will be able to make all these dishes perfect, warm, decorated and leaving at the same time to tables of eight or ten people.
So, in a moment of total madness, I declared it a lost battle.
I instructed my hostess to make sure that the people are happy and all liquored up.
I told her to go out there, to tell them the truth, and to offer them ANYTHING to make them realize our predicament and to pacify them.
I thought to myself: “What would it cost me? a bottle of good scotch or vodka, or two? or three? but SO WHAT??”
If I was throwing a party for my friends, would I not buy bottles of drinks to offer to them?
Why should it be any different here?
What if I see them, NOT as customers, but as guests in my house?
What if I do NOT always have to be concerned about profit....????......
My idea sparked a new enthusiasm in my chef who was my best friend and co-conspirator in walking through life with joy.
We started laughing SO much, we fell to the floor.
As the orders were coming in, we usually hung them on the stainless Steel board, by order of “first come first served.”
But this time, we looked at an order that came first:
“Shrimp in blood orange and tarragon”
“Fillet Mignon with black pepper sauce and rosemary”
“Poached Salmon fillet, with steamed root vegetables and herbs”
“Hand made green pasta with pumpkin and roasted pine nuts”
“Fresh ravioli filled with crab meat and thyme”
the list went on and on and on......
So, in our laughter, we said: “Hell NO! let them wait!
And we kept on looking for smaller orders, ones that had only one or two items in them.
We started working with absolutely NO ORDER..... no reason.
We did WHAT we felt like....
WHEN we felt like.....
it was a MAD house .....
but also a house of FUN....
We were drinking in the kitchen- which we NEVER do...
and laughing like hyaenas.
(but still trying to do the VERY BEST food we can make)
The funny part?
I was hearing laughter from the dining room also!
People were having fun!
Nobody seemed to rush to go home.
People were “eating” the vibrations of fun we were putting into the food and they were HAPPY TOO!
At the end of the evening, when we got out of the messy kitchen, all dirty and heat flushed, we got a standing ovation from our packed restaurant.
It felt SO GOOD and we have made money too.
OK, this story went longer than I intended to, so I will continue with my thoughts in a third letter (or more).
It is fun to write to you my friend.
I hope my other friends are enjoying reading this too.
ALL MY BEST,
Tali
Dear Mohammed,
Finally, I have a few moments to sit and to write to you my second letter.
It has been a bit hectic here, with much art to pack and canvases to stretch, and all these ideas running through my mind....
I must admit that I miss painting.
Cannot wait to finish with all the chores, and go back to standing in front of the easel and just painting.
Painting for hours... until the world disappears....
Until there are no more things to save or to mourn for....
until the clock disappears and it it time for dinner.....
Painting is my true passion- the rest is ways to stay connected.
Painting is FOR ME.
OK, back to our communication now:
In your letter to me, you said:
“Hi Tali,
Warm greeting!
Your outside look says that you are:
1 - A woman of letters
2 - Believe in absurdity
3 - Have a good sense of humor or witty
4 - Like living in a mess
5 - Sometimes make confusion between dream & illusion
6 - Finally a WOMAN trying to be a HUMAN BEING but ....
7 - Have a trust in others even when those others are strangers like me
I wander whether I can receive a reply from you to my 7 guesses or expectations !
Moin Mohammed : a poet & literary critic
Iraq - Babylon
Now, Mohammed my darling, I am sure that you can see why it took me a few days to get back to you. to gather my thoughts and my excitement....
I can spend a life time just trying to answer these seven questions, and only feel like I am peeling onion skins.... or taking down more and more books from a library shelf.
I will try to address your seven gems the best I can.
I AM A WOMAN OF LETTERS!
I take it in two ways- a woman of words- as in: words move me, words entice me, words make me cry, words touch me deeply, words have tremendous power to me, words takes me to my knees....
I remember my mother yelling at me, insulting me, and I remember bursting into tears, heart broken- I remember her saying: “What? What? why are you crying so much??? I have not even touched you?....”
But she did.
To me, words mean SO much....
Much more than a touch... much more than a slap....
Needless to say she was NOT a woman of words, and she spat them out (and in) of her mouth unfiltered.
The other way that I take your words to mean - is that I AM a woman of letters- as in writing letters.
I love letters (or emails).
It is such a great form of connecting with people.
It gives me an opportunity to write in a relaxed way, to contemplate ideas and to enter deeper levels of myself when I am inclined to do so.
So yes, I AM a woman of letters.
Next,
You say: 2 - Believe in absurdity....
I say: YES!!!
But where do I begin?.....
I have SO MUCH TO SAY....
So, I will do what I feel like, and that is to skip to the next question, and to come back to this one later.
Hey, I am SURE that you would not mind.... but wait, now I am remembering something.....
I actually did it in REAL life also.
About a million years ago, (it was actually only 23 years ago, but this is how long it feels), I had a restaurant, that I run with my partners.
It had an ambitious menu with a “NEW Cuisine”, where all the dishes were seasonal and innovative and decorated like paintings.
It was also expensive, but the food was a treat.
Gordon Ramsey, the British chef from Hell, would have said: “Fucking Hell!” - which in retrospect,- it actually was!
Back to my story:
I remember a busy night at my restaurant.
My chef was new.
The assistant chef was sick and did not show up,
The guy that was suppose to rinse the dishes, and pile them in and out of the dishwasher, did not show up for work.
So, it was just me, and my first husband Roni, and my beloved -NEW friend -chef, Hanoch in the kitchen that night.
The restaurant was PACKED!
Everybody seems to come together and sat at the same time.
The orders were coming in, faster than we could comply.
It was so absurd, that we started laughing.
Suddenly in a flash of lightning in my mind, I heard the question: “what will happen if you’ll allow yourself room to fuck up?”
It felt like a revelation....
I mean, we knew that we are fighting a loosing battle.
That there was NO WAY on earth that we will be able to make all these dishes perfect, warm, decorated and leaving at the same time to tables of eight or ten people.
So, in a moment of total madness, I declared it a lost battle.
I instructed my hostess to make sure that the people are happy and all liquored up.
I told her to go out there, to tell them the truth, and to offer them ANYTHING to make them realize our predicament and to pacify them.
I thought to myself: “What would it cost me? a bottle of good scotch or vodka, or two? or three? but SO WHAT??”
If I was throwing a party for my friends, would I not buy bottles of drinks to offer to them?
Why should it be any different here?
What if I see them, NOT as customers, but as guests in my house?
What if I do NOT always have to be concerned about profit....????......
My idea sparked a new enthusiasm in my chef who was my best friend and co-conspirator in walking through life with joy.
We started laughing SO much, we fell to the floor.
As the orders were coming in, we usually hung them on the stainless Steel board, by order of “first come first served.”
But this time, we looked at an order that came first:
“Shrimp in blood orange and tarragon”
“Fillet Mignon with black pepper sauce and rosemary”
“Poached Salmon fillet, with steamed root vegetables and herbs”
“Hand made green pasta with pumpkin and roasted pine nuts”
“Fresh ravioli filled with crab meat and thyme”
the list went on and on and on......
So, in our laughter, we said: “Hell NO! let them wait!
And we kept on looking for smaller orders, ones that had only one or two items in them.
We started working with absolutely NO ORDER..... no reason.
We did WHAT we felt like....
WHEN we felt like.....
it was a MAD house .....
but also a house of FUN....
We were drinking in the kitchen- which we NEVER do...
and laughing like hyaenas.
(but still trying to do the VERY BEST food we can make)
The funny part?
I was hearing laughter from the dining room also!
People were having fun!
Nobody seemed to rush to go home.
People were “eating” the vibrations of fun we were putting into the food and they were HAPPY TOO!
At the end of the evening, when we got out of the messy kitchen, all dirty and heat flushed, we got a standing ovation from our packed restaurant.
It felt SO GOOD and we have made money too.
OK, this story went longer than I intended to, so I will continue with my thoughts in a third letter (or more).
It is fun to write to you my friend.
I hope my other friends are enjoying reading this too.
ALL MY BEST,
Tali
