Sorry it has been a while since I have written in the blog. Its been a hectic few weeks here in Bray. I have really settled into a routine here. Wake up, go to work, come home, go to sleep….repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. To be honest, I kind of enjoy it. Since I have little to no personal life here, it works. The majority of my free time is spent at the local pub having a few pints and a plate of meat and veg. I am looking forward to returning back home to a little bit of uncertainty. Uncertainty about a job, where I am going to live, how long I am going to live there, things of the sort.
I have come to realize here why I love the restaurant industry. The fact that it is unpredictable. I love the idea that tomorrows service is not going to be the same as yesterdays service. I love the fact that decisions need to be made on the second in the heat of the moment. I enjoy the feeling of getting through a service when the dishwasher breaks, the hoods are down, and your a man short. Being a cook, a plumber, an electrician, and then walking into the dining room and resolving a conflict. This is what drives me to be in this industry.
Here at The Fat Duck, it is not like that. Everything is set to a specific standard here. Much to the credit of The Duck, they have eliminated the majority of chance through their cooking methods and such. The variables have been eliminated and marks have been placed on consistency. This is what Blumenthal wants. Consistency. I cant blame him one bit, it is the mark of a great chef, and certainly the mark of an amazing restaurant.
The problem that I have with this system however is that it lacks excitement. It lacks the rush that one gets in the heat of battle because nothing changes. I don’t know exactly what to make of it in the grand scheme of things.
