My favorite part of owning a restaurant is getting to help out in the kitchen.  Not only because I love our kitchen team, but also because of how much diversity they bring to the table.   

On any given day, the kitchen stereo plays everything from indie rock to grindcore, doo-wop to zydeco, rockabilly to jazz flute. Someone will be making bechamel sauce next to another person eating a gas station burrito while they go back and forth reciting Hunter S. Thompson essays and SpongeBob SquarePants episodes. 

It's my happy place. 

I've decided that the reason my creativity has exploded these past few years is because I'm a part of a true melting pot.  Every day, I'm around people who aren't like me.  And what's even better?  They don't give a rip that we're not the same. In fact, they'd be mad if we all liked the same stuff. Because we all know that having different tastes makes life have more depth of flavor. 

(Forgive the cooking metaphor...I made chowder all day). 

Reader, I'm feeling really grateful tonight that I've found my place inside a group that's diverse.  If you're feeling lost or without creativity, consider exposing yourself (in the non-flasher way) to people and art and food and landscapes that don't match your interests. I come away from my days in the kitchen feeling alive and excited. 

And I owe it all to non-uniformity. 

I leave you with a picture of a cocktail one of our mixologists made for me today. If you don't have Mardi Gras plans in the coming week, consider stopping by my restaurant for a meal or drink, brought to you by the most eclectic people that I have ever had the privilege of working beside.  See you next Monday. -Em