Well, 2020 was pretty fuckin wild now wasn’t it? Who would’ve guessed, right when I sign the dotted line to call myself a Chef/Owner, the world would have a very different path for me and the boys at Thr33’s Co.? But, you take what’s put in front of you and you run through that shit with hard work, the ability to adjust and be willing to do what needs to be done. So, ya, last year you could say was a little challenging. But it’s not going to deter me from making the most of what I got!

I’ve been away from writing much for Sauce/ on side, cause of, you know, the whole running and operating a restaurant during a pandemic, and this may schock some, but it isn’t as easy as one might think. And I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions. I’ve worked too many of them that I’m usually still cooking or scrubbing down my section with a beer at the pass. Yet, I wouldn’t trade those moments celebrating a date change for anything. Since New Year’s did pass us by recently, and if I were to make a version of a resolution, I would say that I’m going to try to write more. I think I’ve gotten a little better at writing coherent sentences and subsequent paragraphs people can follow along with. Or maybe I haven’t, either way, I’m not here to write a pulitzer. 

Then there’s the idea of doing a podcast. I tried my hand at doing one a while ago and I may come back to it, who knows. But it’s writing that is a growing passion of mine stemming out of my love of reading. Continuing to write and hone my literary skills the same way I do my knives is a challenge I want tackle, and also, Chef Adam Vettorel does an amazing job with his podcast “At The Pass” I highly suggest you listen to it. The conversations are amazing and it’s unreal how amazing, talented and grounded our culinary roster is. 

Writing is also quite therapeutic! And therapy don’t come cheap these days anymore. So I’ll put my thoughts and emotions onto the keyboard and if a couple of pals seem to enjoy it and are able to relate, well at least it’s for something. Sometimes I get anxious that I shouldn’t be as vocal as I am. But then I say, fuck it. This works for me, and I hope it’s at least mildly entertaining in the process.

Right now, Ontario is in another state of emergency because the Covid-19 numbers are the worst they’ve been since the first wave hit last march. Thr33’s Co. like many other restaurants, are back on our take-out grind. It’s been a hard road, for everyone. If you’re reading this and have followed me on my socials, especially Instagram, you know how vocal I’ve been about the discrepancies between the restaurant industry compared to most others. Straight up, it hasn’t been fair and it hasn’t been right. We, as an industry, have adjusted, audibled and pivoted every direction we could to make it as safe as possible for the guest while trying to simply have our doors open. Apparently, it hasn’t worked enough, as our doors to welcome people inside are still closed. Here’s hoping that a couple of posts down the road I’ll be writing something positive about finally getting back to being open!

With that being said, I say we’ve done pretty fucking good for opening a restaurant during this fucked up time. Ya, it’s been fucked, but we’ve done the best we fucking can! And I’m fucking proud of it :)

There are a lot of topics and issues to tackle and that I want to discuss within our industry. From mental health, how covid affects our industry and what our profession is going to look like after we get through this pandemic. Also, entering year two of opening up Thr33’s Co., it’ll be fun to record the crazy ups and downs. And you know what, as I’ve always said this is the best profession there is. The fact I get paid to cook and share my passion through the food I create, and a platform to be able to discuss it as well, is pretty special. 

The reason I want to do a series of blogs going forward (Chef: After Service) is because each post is going to be a medley of different things. They all might not align, I may sound like an old man yelling at the clouds or I could sound smart enough like I’m giving a dissertation. But it’s going to be what’s going on in the moment. And it could be quite interesting to see where that leads!

Currently I’m a part of the Canadian Restaurant Workers Coalition (https://crwcoalition.squarespace.com/) where our mission is to grow a healthier restaurant industry by:

• Permanently adapt the rules of EI to include precarious workers.
• Define and enforce fair work hours and wages
• Adequate health protections for restaurant workers

If this is something you agree with and feel should be implemented sign the petition by clicking here

Have a good service!