Money can't buy love, but it can buy food and shelter.

When the Swedish Chef saw his first paycheck...

Here is a story about how there are too few cooks to go around to all the nice restaurants that have opened up in foodie-centric urban centers over the past five years or so.

Whether you call them aspirational or ambitious or chef-driven, these are the restaurants that lead the food world, and all of them report that hiring is a pain point. Up the scale from fast food or casual chains like Applebee’s, they range from seasonal cafes and wine bars to the priciest and most heralded establishments. Patrick O’Connell, the chef and owner at the Inn at Little Washington in Virginia, said even the prestigious Relais & Châteaux properties no longer attract enough talent; most of them now have a full-time recruiter on the payroll.

I went through culinary school, at not insignificant expense, and ended up running a kitchen for a year in a new restaurant, where part of my responsibilities were to staff it. The problem is kind of obvious and baked into the industry: long hours, few days off, supervisors/owners who will exploit you without blinking,  hard repetitive work, uncomfortable working conditions, co-workers who either 

1. don't really speak English 
2. have drug/mental issues 
3. can't do the work very well 
4. students/hobos who are just briefly passing through or 
5. all of the above.  

The #1 prime reason that allows the labor pool to stay shallow and muddy: low, low pay, usually not far from minimum wage.

It's easy to defend the industry by saying, "but that's the way it's always been!" True, it's always paid little and engages in a militaristic culture to engender loyalty and team work. However, everything around it has changed.

• Cities are a lot less livable for poor people with increasing income inequality. It's not that you can't have a "lifestyle" on a cook's pay in NYC as the NYT article says, but you literally can not both house and feed yourself at the same time on a cook's pay.
• Restaurant food is cheaper (accounting for inflation) and more ubiquitous than ever before. The price have not kept up, and the pressure on profits has to land somewhere.
• Quicker communication via the Internet and competition for a limited work force has made it nonsensical for a young cook to settle for bad pay and bad treatment.

This is a situation that can not continue unless something gives. NYC Restaurateur Danny Meyer recently announced that he will be banning tipping from his restaurants, and raise prices accordingly. Putting aside that the tradition of tipping is a boon to douche bags who like to lord over their servers and allows the industry to not pay their staff, it has also caused a huge differential in the pay between front and back of house in restaurants. It is illegal to share tips, but if it's part of the price of the meal, the restaurant can now move some of that money to the back of house. Servers will not have to grovel to customers, but work for who they are supposed to work for -- the restaurant. Any dim-wit who claims service will suffer because of this move is wrong. People do good work because a) they want to do good for their self-esteem and their team and b) they get paid for it. Sorry, Idiot Douche who won't get to determine a server's pay on the fly!

The current state of America's chefs and customers.

But it cuts to a bigger more problematic trend. Food is undervalued, there are too many restaurants, and the traditional foodways of previous generations have been eroded, perhaps past the point of return. I have friends who eat out every day, order delivery when they don't, purchase prepared foods to zap at home, and find cooking anything other than a bowl of cereal as too much of a hassle. My mom was a horrible cook, but bottom line she was a cook. Part of my motivation in attending culinary school was to cook professionally before I quickly burned out from the low pay, long hours and insane boss, but another part of me wanted to learn how to feed myself and my children, a knowledge base that was not communicated to me like it was from my great grandmother to my grandmother (who made the most knee-weakening matzoh brei imaginable.) 

The solution is  what Danny Meyer has figured out: raise the damn prices, pay people what they need and deserve, and accept potentially lower profits and/or go out of business. With fewer cheap restaurants to serve us, perhaps a few people will have to clear their ovens of stored stuff and figure out how to cook something beyond instant ramen.

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2786

In my mind this was a good eating week, but looking at the average, I could have been a little bit more conservative. Guess we'll see what the scale says next week to see how hard I need to push against this perception.

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MONDAY COUNT: 2730

SLEPT: 10pm-6am, 8 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:30am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 10am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST: noon, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, beef patty, chicken soup, momma salad, health salad, pickles, 770 cal

DINNER: 6:15pm, flounder, asparagus,  poppa salad with dressing, 650 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7pm popcorn, +/- 400 cal

HUNGER SNACK: 8pm, almond butter & chocolate syrup, +/- 300 cal
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TUESDAY COUNT: 3180

SLEPT: 9:30pm-12am, 3am-5:30am 5hrs

AM SNACK: 5:45 am,  iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 7:15am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9:30am, fruit smoothie, 450 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, chicken meatballs, lentil curry, steamed string beans, pickles, 700 cal

PM SNACK: 5pm, momma salad 100 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, beef lomein,  poppa salad with dressing, +/- 1000 cal

HUNGER SNACK: 8pm, pocky x4, 760 cal, 8/10
-----

BIKE CREDIT: 730 cal
WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2680

SLEPT: 8:30pm-12am, 3am-6am 6.5 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 7:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

BIKE SNACK: 10:30am, homemade granola bar, 300 cal

LUNCH: 1:15pm, bacon, poppa salad, 440cal

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

PM SNACK:  5:30pm, cashews, 250 cal

DINNER: 8:30pm, assorted fancy Japanese food, +/- 1500 cal
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THURSDAY COUNT: 2780

SLEPT: 11:30pm-4am, 4.5 hours

AM SNACK: 4:30am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 10am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11:30am, Fage yogurt with honey, vanilla, almonds, 450 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, beef patty, momma salad, veggie straws, 760 cal

PM SNACK: 3pm, poppa salad, cheezits, 410 cal

DINNER: 5:30pm, scallops, risotto, brussel sprouts, cake, +/- 1000 cal
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FRIDAY COUNT:2560

SLEPT: 10pm-7am, 9 hrs

AM SNACK: 7:15am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST 1: 10am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10:30am, granola with whole milk, +/- 450 cal

LUNCH: 3:30pm, sardine & avocado on whole wheat toast, momma salad, pickle, 650 cal

DINNER: 7:30pm, hijiki tofu patty, shrimp tempura, cake, +/- 1000 cal

EVENING SNACK: 11:30pm, slice of pizza, +/- 300 cal

Requiem for a Corporate Beheamoth

Never Forget

I visited McDonalds over the weekend with my kids. Funny thing is, they didn't even particularly want to -- it was me who wanted something fast, easy, cheap and wouldn't cause any sass from the little ones. I had forgotten about some of the sweeping changes this downward trending corporate monolith has been making lately. Over the months was the cringeworthy, employee-abusing "Feel the Love" campaign, then came the sad self-concious series of behind-the-scene videos that tried to convince us that McDonalds actually does serve "real food", and never forget the unsettling "sexy" Hamburglar. 

But now they've gone and done what my daughter would have commanded them to do as of this past summer: breakfast all day. McDonalds resisted this for pretty much as long as the Egg McMuffin existed -- the McDonalds kitchen is a feat of modern efficiency and design, and to allow mass-production of such a uniform product, something like a poached egg and a burger could not be cooked on the same griddle temperature, and fries and hash browns could not be cooked at the same deep fry temp. But as they jam in an ever expanding and complicated menu into the same space, they now also have found a way to combine day parts.

Thing is, my kids didn't care today. They've lost interest in the Egg McMuffin - now that they can have it whenever, it's become a "whatever".  I ordered a "3rd Pounder Steakhouse" burger thing, and I was shocked -- even by McDonalds standards, this was not good. The burger was unnecessarily large, it missed the usual toppings and instead had a flavorless white cheese and mess of greasy cooked onions and mushrooms redolent of MSG. Whose idea of a "Steakhouse" is mushrooms and onions? I guess if you were a poor person who only splurged on the shittiest steaks who need to be smothered in mushrooms and onions to hide it's lack of flavor and toughness....

I was surprised how few kids were here. Lots of tourists who don't know any better, asking for mayonaise with their french fries. This was not the all-encompassing inevitable fast food of my youth, this was sad and strange. The food is trying to be all things to all people at all times but in the current setting, the things and the people have become much more diverse: to try to be all things today to compete with all these new options is to become nothing. The people are not from here, they are from somewhere else and they drink lots of coffee. My kids ate their nuggets, most of their fries, left behind the apple slices and apple juice, content to drink water from my bottle. 

The crappy toy just isn't enough anymore. I think we'll get pizza or hotdogs for lunch next time. And scrambled eggs and bacon at a local diner for breakfast, or as it has always been, at any time of day.

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2690

Decent eating week.

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MONDAY COUNT: 2550

SLEPT: 9pm-8am, 11 hrs

AM SNACK: 9am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 10:30am, fage yogurt with honey, vanilla, almonds, 450 cal

PM SNACK: 12:30pm, momma salad, 100 cal

LUNCH pt 1: 1:30pm, hotdog, 300 cal

LUNCH pt 2: 3pm, hotdog, diet coke, 300 cal

DINNER: 6pm, pork tenderloin, health salad, chests, +/- 800 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7pm popcorn, +/- 400 cal

HUNGER SNACK: 7:45pm, kind bar, 200 cal, 9/10
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TUESDAY COUNT: 2960

SLEPT: 10pm-7am, 9hrs

AM SNACK: 7:15 am,  iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 10:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11:45am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 1:45pm, chicken meatballs, mushroom curry, steamed string beans, 640 cal

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 6:45pm, flounder, asparagus,  poppa salad with dressing, 650 cal

HUNGER SNACK: 8pm, nutella, peanut butter & chocolate syrup, pringles, +/- 750 cal, 9/10
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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2810

SLEPT: 10pm-6am, 8 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 9am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11:45am, fruit smoothie, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, bacon, poppa salad, 440cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 9pm, pasta, perogies, ice cream, +/- 1450 cal
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BIKE CREDIT: 1100 cal
THURSDAY COUNT: 2570

SLEPT: 11:30pm-2:15am, 2.75 hours

AM SNACK: 3am, iced green tea

BIKE SNACK 1: 4am, kind bar, 150mg caffeine, 200 cal

BIKE SNACK 2: 6am, homemade granola bar, 300 cal

BREAKFAST: 10am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11:30am, Fage yogurt with honey, vanilla, almonds, 450 cal

LUNCH: 1:30pm, beef patty, chicken soup, poppa salad with dressing, 750 cal

PM SNACK: 3pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 5:45pm, ethiopian food, babka, +/- 1000 cal

EVENING HUNGER SNACK: 10pm, pringles, whiskey, +/- 500 cal

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FRIDAY COUNT:2560

SLEPT: 11pm-6:30am, 7.5 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:45am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST 1: 10am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

PM SNACK: noon, momma salad, 100 cal

LUNCH: 1:15pm, meatball sandwich, small salad, +/-700 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, poppa salad, 200 cal

DINNER: 5:30pm, chicken cutlet, mushrooms, mashed potato, hotdog, a little fries, ice cream +/- 1200 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, 4 pork dumplings, +/- 200 cal

I love you, Fatty Fatty

I've gone on here before about the absurdity of some people's continued obsession with "low fat" foods as a key to dietary balance. Between the processing it takes to make what was once relatively whole foods into fractionated "diet" food and the ill health brought on by the imbalance as well as trying to make up for the dearth of flavor and satisfaction created by removing fat (hello, Snackwells!), it's very satisfying to see trend pieces that tout an increase in the consumption of foods that retain it's fat.

Public health authorities have long urged Americans to cut back on foods high in saturated fat like butter, meat and whole milk. But a new report on dietary-fat consumption suggests that the public is increasingly eating more, not less, of these foods.
The new report, which was published last week by the Credit Suisse Research Institute, found that sales of butter in the United States rose 14 percent last year and climbed another 6 percent in the first three months of 2015. Sales of whole milk rose 11 percent in the first half of this year, while skim milk purchases fell 14 percent. The report also predicted that consumption of red meat and eggs would climb in the coming years.
The trends reflect what appears to be a shift away from processed foods and toward those that are considered more wholesome, even when they contain saturated fat and other macronutrients that were once vilified as unhealthy, such as dietary cholesterol, said Stefano Natella, the Global Head for Equity Research at Credit Suisse and an author of the new report.
“I think this is part of a trend toward more natural foods — more organic, unprocessed and simple foods,” he said. “All these foods have a natural characteristic attached to them. Full-fat milk sounds a lot more natural to people than 2 percent or skim milk. Cows don’t produce skim milk. You have to process it to take out the fat.”

Regardless, when you get down to it, regardless of what macronutrient is vilified or celebrated, the cornerstone of any shift in nutritional thinking needs to be "all things in moderation". We shouldn't start slamming pints of heavy cream and start banning any and all sugar from our diets; we should perhaps make small changes, see how we feel as individuals, and slowly change our own diets accordingly.

Despite the rant below criticizing the federal school lunch program, I'm grateful there IS a school lunch program, happy people in government are actively doing something, and Michelle Obama is fantastic. OK?

But of course, when it comes to BIGG GUBBERMINT, such nuanced and micro-tweaks are impossible when trying to feed almost every single child 5 to 10 times a week in a school cafeteria.

MORE than 30 million children trundle through school cafeteria lines every day in the United States and thanks to the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which took effect in 2012, they are no longer served greasy pizza, salty French fries and sauced up chicken wings. Meals must now be lower in fat, calories and sodium and contain lean proteins, more fruits and vegetables and whole grains. And kids from coast to coast are wrinkling their noses.
Food and nutrition directors at school districts nationwide say that their trash cans are overflowing while their cash register receipts are diminishing as children either toss out the healthier meals or opt to brown-bag it. While no one argues that the solution is to scrap the law and go back to feeding children junk, there’s been a movement to relax a few of the guidelines as Congress considers whether to reauthorize the legislation, particularly mandates for 100 percent whole grains and extremely low sodium levels, so school meals will be a bit more palatable and reflective of culinary traditions.
“Other than mandating more fruits and vegetables, the new regulations haven’t really changed anything except force manufacturers to re-engineer products” so they meet the guidelines but not children’s taste expectations, said Bertrand Weber, director of culinary and nutrition services at the Minneapolis Public Schools. “Now kids get whole grain doughnuts — whoop-de-do.”

The guidelines of the school lunch program is not keeping up with current nutritional thinking. They're cutting fat, cutting salt, cutting sugar -- three things kids love, and adding things kids hate -- fruits & veg. What they SHOULD be doing is using their economic power to get higher quality whole ingredients, amping up the good fats and flavor and reducing portion size. Paying for on site from-scratch cooking rather than pre-fabricated space-meals from a central commissary will be more expensive, but the kids will like it more, it will taste better and be fresher, and in the end serve it's purpose -- feed our kids good, not save a buck or allow Big Food untold profits. 

Fat is good for food, for flavor, for health, for kids. Anecdotally speaking, too many women (and, uh, "metrosexual" men) of my generation seem to conflate healthy eating, low-fat food and femininity itself. I hope my daughter (and my son) figure out for themselves what foods make them healthy and happy before a profiteering harpy like Susan Powter comes along and messes it up for everyone.

Never forget.

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2593

Not a bad week, not a good week. Livin' it.

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BIKE CREDIT: 1140
MONDAY COUNT: 2110

SLEPT: 8:30pm-6am, 9.5 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:30 am, iced black chai tea

BREAKFAST 1: 9:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

BIKE SNACK: 1:30pm, homemade granola bar, 320 cal

BIKE SNACK: 2:40pm, homemade granola bar, 320 cal

BIKE LUNCH: 3:45pm, subway veggie patty hero, corn chips, diet coke, 750 cal


DINNER: 6:30pm, mahi mahi, roasted asparagus, poppa salad, 650 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm popcorn, +/- 400 cal

HUNGER SNACK: 8pm, kind bar, 200 cal, 9/10
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TUESDAY COUNT: 2820

SLEPT: 9:30pm-6:15am, 8.75hrs

AM SNACK: 6:30 am,  iced black chai tea

BREAKFAST: 9:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10:45am, fruit smoothie, 450 cal

LUNCH: 1:30pm, sardines and avocado on whole wheat toast, chicken soup, momma salad, pickles, 720 cal

PM SNACK: 3:45pm. cheezits, 210 cal

DINNER: 6:45pm, French Bread Pizzas,  poppa salad with dressing, 1080 cal

HUNGER SNACK: 8pm, kind bar, 200 cal, 8/10
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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2795

SLEPT: 9:30pm-6am, 8.5 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15am, iced black chai tea

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, 2 sausage patties of indeterminate animal and 4 mini pancakes, +/- 200 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

LUNCH: 1:30pm, grilled chicken, poppa salad, 700cal

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 8pm, burrito, diet coke, ice cream, +/- 1425 cal
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BIKE CREDIT: 735 cal
THURSDAY COUNT: 2560

SLEPT: 11:30pm-6:45am, 7.25 hours

AM SNACK: 7am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10:15am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

BIKE SNACK: 11:45am, homemade granola bar, 325 cal

LUNCH: 1:45pm, cheezits, poppa salad with dressing, 410 cal

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, kind bar, 200 cal

PM SNACK: 5pm, 1 slice streetza, +/- 500 cal

PM SNACK: 8pm, watermelon +/- 400 cal

DINNER: 9:30pm, instant ramen, 850 cal
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FRIDAY COUNT: 2680

SLEPT: 11:30pm-6:30pm, 10am-1:30pm, 10.5 hours
An active night with not the deepest sleep, good thing I had no where to go but sleep in the morning.

AM SNACK: 1: 7am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST 1: 9am, corn muffin, bacon, +/- 500 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 2:15pm, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

LUNCH: 3:30pm, grilled pork tenderloin on toast, momma salad, 780 cal

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, kind bar, 200 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, bigos, potato pancake, peanut butter pie & ice cream +/- 1000 cal

Pause

Started feeling a little run down early in the week, ended up spending a lot of time on the couch and sleeping by mid and late week. Eating didn't go to hell, but found it hard to eat vegetables and healthier, lower-density foods. Decided to just not write, no blog or journal, just focused on kids and the ones closest to me. Will return refreshed next week.

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MONDAY COUNT: 2620

SLEPT: 11:30pm-4am, 4:30am-7am, 7 hrs

AM SNACK: 7:15 am, iced black chai tea

BREAKFAST1: 9am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST2: 10am, Fage with almonds, honey, vanilla, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2pm, falafel, health salad, pickles, chicken soup, 650 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 7pm, flounder, roasted asparagus, poppa salad, 650 cal

HUNGER SNACK: 7:30pm, popcorn, +/- 400 cal, hunger 8/10
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TUESDAY COUNT: 2730

SLEPT: 9pm-5am, 8hrs

AM SNACK: 5:15 am,  iced black chai tea

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10:45am, Steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2:15pm, chicken meatballs, steamed string beans,lentil curry, pickles, 700 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, momma salad, 100 cal

DINNER: 7pm, beef patty, nutella, pringles, kind bar, 1320 cal
Not feeling well, skipped salad, just ate what felt palatable in the moment.
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WEDNESDAY COUNT:2295

SLEPT: 9pm-6:30am, 9.5 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:45am, iced black chai tea

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, vegetarian dim sum, +/- 900cal

PM SNACK: 2:45pm, momma salad, cheezits,  310 cal

DINNER: 8pm, burrito, diet coke, +/- 925 cal