Woke Up, Fell Out Of Bed (a day in the life file)

Hey Everybody. So I'm sitting here at the bar, as the guests chatter. I'm spotlit in the corner by the specials board which makes me feel like a decorative object, and I'm wondering when the heck it'll be late enough to have a beer. I've learned a lot of things in the five weeks that we've been open, and one of the more important things is that just because you feel like you ought to have a beer in your bar doesn't mean you really should. Wait it out. Hold on. Keep an eye on things. Drink some water, fool. 

I thought I'd write a post today about today. Or any other day. Because I have fallen into a routine. 

A few weeks back I was drinking beers and bitching with another restaurant owner/chef (as we are wont to do). That chef has some pretty successful Thai restaurants around the world, and with sharp and cynical insight he said something that perfectly summed up what it's like to run a restaurant. "It's like running on a treadmill, you just keep sweating and running and growling and you never go anywhere but there." He's right. Really. It's all very stationary.

Each morning I wake up and look at my numbers. If I'm feeling brave I break them down and try to figure out what they all mean. Then, there are calls to the accountant. And the lawyer, on occasion. Then I make menus if we're doing a special menu for someone. I cuddle with my dog for awhile, stare into my empty fridge, suck down some coffee and head to the restaurant. Usually won't see my house for another 12+ hours after that.

I'd forgotten how empty empty restaurants feel. It's eerie being downstairs in my dining room so I usually head up two flights of stairs to the kitchen, where I can hear the clop-clop-clop of the stone mortar making paste from herbs and spices. I am met with the smiles of my five cooks - and then I hang with them. Sometimes, I show them tricks, like how to make yogurt for the samosas. Sometimes, they show me tricks, like how to wrap a fish in a banana leaf. 

That's Nym. She makes really good salads, and has an incredibly sweet smile.

Next comes my favorite part of the day -- my trip to the market. I gossip with the fish monger gals at On Nut market, sticking my fingers inside the gills of sea creatures, smelling bags of crabmeat, and still staring with wonder as a coconut husk becomes shreds of coconut, like snow, and then how that becomes the thick, fatty, luxurious cream that drips from the stainless steel press. At the market I wander and wonder about what to cook. Sometimes its a free-range chicken soup with herbs. Today I bought some gelatin and made coconut panna cotta with crispy/sweet/salty candied peanuts. Sometimes I just leave it to my team. They are pretty good now.

Then I return to my shop with seafood and whatever else, peel off my sweaty tee-shirt, put on something with a collar, make a playlist perhaps, feed the ghost outside, look up at King Rama V's photo, and wonder how busy we'll get.

Then, I open the door. Showtime.

Comments

[Mil]

Looking at the time this was posted, I'm guessing that you were tapping this out as I was demolishing mind-bogglingly awesome gaeng hang lay behind you. So nice to eat somewhere where you can actually taste the ingredients, as well as the sum total. Props to you, sir. I'll be back, and the tamarind ribs have my name all over them.

[Jarrett]

Hi Mil,

Yep, I was sitting there at the bar hammering away whist you were eating. And Im really glad you liked it. Puts a smile on my face. Cheers.

[Alex]

"Meanwhile American Jarrett Wrisley, who runs Soul Food Mahanakorn and who has been cited in the press making pro-Thompson statements, has been arrested and charged with endangering national security by offering a dish called “nam prik two ways,” when, according to a statement by the CNC, “everyone knows that it should be offered only one way: by a real Thai, not some food geek from Pennsylvania.”

http://www.notthenation.com/pages/news/getnews.php?id=951

Good luck!
Can agree with the beer comment, I get myself a beer half an hour before closing as a reward for the kilometers run that evening.

[Jarrett]

I thought that article was pretty damn hilarious.

[Daniel Chia]

Hi Jarrett,

Congratulations on your new joint...!!!

Found you via an article on the BBC:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11572994

Welcome to the "other" side...

=)

daniel chia
ex-Club Shanghai

[Jarrett]

Hey Daniel. Long time no speak! Yup, its a whole new world over here....

[rebecca]

A treadmill it may be, but would you really swap it for anything else?

[Jarrett]

Not yet!

[Qua tang]

I like this site. go to the blog of me. thank you!

[Air Force Ones]

Dear, please remeber that don't miss your smile forever!

[mrigaa]

J, where's On Nut Market exactly? And is there one on Phra Khanong? Tell me please! I'm in need of a neighborhood market.

[Jarrett]

Hey There --

The On Nut market -- the best on the Sukhumvit line, as far as I know -- is opposite the Carrefour supermarket near BTS On Nut. Get off the train, walk back up Sukhumvit (towards downtown) 2 blocks, and take a right at the light. Its halfway up that street on the left hand side. Phra Khanong does have a fresh market, I think, but Ive never been. Too attached to my local to switch.  

[Brad Fallon]

Running on a treadmill i think is very rewarding if you look at the positive side of it. You may never have enough time for certain things but you should learn to balance everything.. At the end of the day, your life is very fruitful.

[Sofia Britts]

I've been thinking of a good business to start. Actually, I've been thinking about it hundred times and then, the idea that usually pops out in my mind is pizzeria. When I read your blog, I'm so inspired. I pictured myself cooking, going to the market, and make pizza. I think you have a great time in managing your business. Oh, I hope I could find a perfect time to start a business. If ever I'm ready, I'll borrow money from cash advance payday loans.