and suddenly it is the end of September.
Crisp mornings, frost on my nose, on my prized petals, on the tips of kale. I have tomatoes, ginger gold apples and seckel pears ripening in my storage room (i gathered them two weeks ago, just in case of a sudden winter snap) and they are there, ripening, and attracting a few of the remaining fruit flies- I look at my little pile of fruit, my jars of pickles, and my bulk bins of herbs and mushrooms and wonder-- will it be enough? It's hard tellin' not knowin' i guess.. But we always get through the winter- and why should this one be any different?
Kismet has been promising a move since spring of this year-- and TRUST me, I've been working on it!
Sometimes it feels like the weeks move more quickly than i can believe, and as summer gives to autumn, already i have next summer menus in mind while booking solid with weddings for 2010!
These last few weeks have been particularly full with transition- Mathew and I served our second collaboration dinner last Monday ("fall") and we have been working on up-coming menus and themes for dinners to come- and in the midst, i have been making the way for kismet's new home-- it's all so complicated though- so many hoops to jump, loops to untangle, and cliffs to fall off of- and then there is the every morning waking to the questions within my own head-
does Montpelier want kismet to move downtown? what next? how? when? what if...? & there are definitely moments that i stop and look at everything (my desk overflowing, my children wanting my attention, order forms, bills to pay, menus to write, email full, phone ringing, dog scratching herself raw, leaves changing, car falling apart, line of brunch customers out the door, fruit ripening in the pantry, meat curing) and ME in the middle of it all- and I am suddenly very overwhelmed-- how do i take ALL OF THIS and make MORE?
in this industry there is a strange life that happens behind doors- in walk-in's, in meetings, in the middle of the night- there is this constant scraping the bottom to make enough for everyone- then there is what happens out on the floor- the abundance, the fluidity, the grace and charm- I have always been intrigued by the paradox of the restaurant ecosystem- and yet have always gotten a thrill when it all would come together, and the sounds of laughter and conversation mixed with glasses toasting, silver on porcelain, and music fills a room. I love to see people enjoy food- and most of all, i love LOVE love to cook that food that people enjoy. But how do i keep it simple in the midst of it getting more complex?
in ways, i look forward to the lights dimming for the winter skies; kismet is cozy and bright, the lines are shorter or non-existent, and there is more time for introspection. But there is also the awareness that this slowing down is an opportunity to organize and be prepared for the spotlights of the new spring..
& what do you want this winter to be?
tell me what you think-
