Before I left for San Francisco I shredded up the inner parts of the cabbage that we have left over from one of the garnishes and set it upstairs to ferment while I was gone. When I got back I had a successful batch of sauerkraut. I made choucroute out of it and we ate it for staff with pomme puree and left over blood pudding. I’m going to make a bigger batch this week.

I have internet today but I haven’t had it in a week so I’m posting all my blogs that I haven’t been able to post. Hopefully the internet will stay strong so I can post once every day or two instead of this crazy bombardment.

I had a bad attitude at work today. I felt like I’ve seen shit and I have my own ideas. I forgot that I’m just still learning how to cook and that I should be honored to be taken under the wing. Mistake. I have the regret. Thank god I have a clean slate on Monday. I just have to try and be better everyday and not be afraid to make mistakes. Again I’m really sorry.

When I was at Coi it was super cool that they filtered and carbonated their own water. I loved drinking glasses of sparking water during service to cleanse my palate, fucking fancy. When I arrived back at Boneta they had just gotten their water system installed. I’m not sure if it is the same water company at both places, or if there is lots of companies. The company provides the bottles and dishwasher racks for them. Its really beautiful.

My first day back at Boneta I was lucky enough to accompany Jeremie to a party to raise money for Haiti. Lots of chefs volunteered and it was interesting to see how each team would put out their coarse and how they would organize themselves. Our coarse was so smooth, it was quiet on the line and the plates looked beautiful. Ours was cauliflower puree, cauli florets sauteed with mitake mushrooms, blood pudding (Jeremie’s grandmother’s recipe), fresh local scallops, mustard micro green and red wine jus. There was also a rock star serving crew.

Earlier at the restaurant:
“Do you have the mise en place for the party for ‘aiti tonight?”
“Party of 80 tonight!? No one told me about an 80.”
“No, the party for ‘aiti.”

I’ve been stuggling to get settled these last few days. I arrived back in town and decided to stay with Bryan in his bachelor until I could find a place. I was supposed to go back to the place on Broadway and Main that I was at before, but some shit went down and I lost the place. Bryans place is small but it has all the books I need to keep busy. I love staying there and reading all day. Kyle and I decided that we would share a one bedroom because it is the Olympics ane all the rent is jacked up, We searched for 2 days straight and couldn’t find something that felt like we weren’t getting ripped off. Then on the 3rd day I noticed on Facebook that Boner had his place up for sublet. I cooked with him for so long at Chow so we know eachother pretty good. His place was affordable and available for 3 months, so we took it. He has been cooking on a private yacht for most of the year, and he is going to continue to be away. So we finally got a place, but it only has internet sometimes. Then we ran around having meetings about jobs. I started Boneta on Wednesday and Kyle starts at Voya next week. We will both be working the graveyard shift for the Olympics. I’m with Scott Dicks 12am-12pm. I’m going to see the flip side of life and avoid the crowds.

We got a good deal on a nice motel this time around in Portland. It was clean and comfortable and green. Recycled products and water saving everything. They give you a cup of colored chalk to write on the head board with and the room comes with everything you could need, even 2 sets of ear plugs. It was still an old cheaply made motel but it was decorated crazy with blue lights and mirrors. In the morning at the 11:00 check out time they play loud music along the outside walkway by everyones rooms to get people moving. The restaurant attached was kinda cool too, good for breakfast. The Jupiter was right across from Le Pigeon so we just stumbled there after our dinner the night before. There was a band playing in the lounge after we checked in and a communal fire pit outside attached to the lounge. In the morning after breakfast we went vintage shopping because there were a lot of vintage stores all around the motel. After that we kept driving to Vancouver.

In Portland Kyle and I went to Le Pigeon finally. It was great. Small kitchen, cool cooks, really good food, lots of foie. For dessert we had foie profiteroles, filled with foie ice cream, with foie caramel, and powdered foie. They were super good. It’s hard to write posts on the road.

Coi is in the stripper district, there are strip clubs lining the streets. In the alleys between the strip clubs you can find some of the best cocktails in the city as well as the funniest old dive bars. I found Jake from www.cherriesandclay.com and we went out for cocktails. Some of our favorite places to drink that we have discovered in San Fran:

1. 15 Romolo

Great cocktails, good music, just a room with tables. When I was there on a Saturday night the place was packed and people were dancing. When I was there on a Sunday night it was not to busy and some guys had set up a poker table on one side and were gambling pretty hard. Lots of industry people hang out here.

2. Bourbon and Branch

Speakeasy where you need a nightly password to enter. No cameras allowed.

3. Specs

Located in a nook that you could easily walk right by if you weren’t carful. Has been open for 42 years and looks like it has been open for 42 years. Dark, full of junk, old man behind the bar, giant wheel of fontina cheese sitting on the bar. “You want some cheese?” the old barman asks.
“Yes please sir.” we reply.
He cuts us off a wedge, and passes us a large stack of saltines to eat it with. Great place to drink Anchor Steam and whiskey.

4. Bamboo Hut

$2 Pabst, florescent lights, good music, tiki decorations.

5. Le po

In China town, lots of red lights and trashed up chinese lanterns. Live punk rock in the basement.