Restaurant

The Restaurant: Judah's
The Staff:

This is Jude. The restaurant is named after him. He is the head chef. He can be pretty bossy, and really is open to learning. He is only head chef because he owns the place.

This is Amie. She is sous chef, and the has more experience than the temperamental head chef. She is also functioning as kitchen manager. She shops for the chef, has the REAL knowledge and knows her way around the kitchen better than him.

Jason. He is a part of the kitchen clean up crew. He started on the bottom, but is being given some tasks of prep work. He really could be better at direction and the layout of the kitchen. He needs to improve before being given anymore tasks. Shows potential.

This is Lily. Well. She is clean up crew and that is about it. She has a bad attitude, and may just be too emotional to handle any further tasks. She is disgruntled at times. Like many of the clean up crew, if she hasn't already done time in the big house, she probably will someday.

One of Lily's disgruntled moments in the kitchen. Far too emotional.

If you have spent any time with Jude you would know that he has a passion for playing restaurant. For three years he has been saying he wants to be a cook/chef when he grows up. It wasn't until recently that he has decided that being a chef was not enough, that he also had to be owner of his own restaurant. It will don the name Judah's.
He spends a lot, and I mean a lot of time playing restaurant. Drawing up menu plans, fixing us food. Sometimes, I just can't play restaurant or be served fake food anymore. He really has a passion for it, so I am going to start taking him to cooking classes. Since I do not want to drop a fortune, I figured it would be also be a good idea to have him plan the menu and cook dinner for the family.
Last night he sat down with cookbooks and planned his menu. (he originally chose cheese blintzes, but I thought we should start small. For real. He did choose that.)
Appetizer: Berry Smoothie
Main Course: Meatloaf
Side: Salad (lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes. "Absolutely NO CARROTS", said the chef).
Side: Mashed Potatoes
Dessert: Peanut Butter Cookies

Jude planned the menu, went shopping for the ingredients that were not on hand in the kitchen (his sous chef took him) and he cooked with the help of his kitchen staff. When it was all said and done, he said, "Wow, cooking is hard work!". All in all he liked it and has booked every Sunday night as his cooking night.
I will encourage it as long as he wants to cook. Maybe he will have the same epiphany that Anthony Bourdain did with the Vichyssoise soup or the La Pyramide restaurant. Perhaps he will be the next Anthony Bourdain, minus the gluttony with drugs and alcohol and with the success. A mom can dream!