The Mother of all Day
Mother’s Day is a mixed blessing at the café. Speaking for me personally, the day evokes a sadness in me because my mother died of cancer 10 years ago. She never knew of the café nor of how much she inspired our menu. Once the doors open at 8am, I have no time to be sad, however. Customers pour in and we don’t slow down until closing time at 8pm. Mother’s Day is challenging for all restaurants. No day is busier that this day. The ordering of food is tricky because you need to have enough of everything without over ordering. At noon, not only are we serving breakfast, but suddenly orders for sandwiches, salads, soup and much more start coming in. during the peak of breakfast, the kitchen needs to get ready for lunch and just as lunch is winding down around 4pm, it’s time to turn the line over for dinner. The transitions are tricky and makes any 3 meal a day establishment envy those which only do dinner.
This year we were fortunate to get our fresh Chinook salmon in for Mother’s Day. We also bought smoked salmon out of which we made omelettes with Gruyere cheese and crustless quiche custards.
On the second Mother’s Day at the Café I had worked from 5:30am to 3PM without knowing it. From start we were full, cranking out food at break neck speed. When the evening crew arrived I stepped away and went outside to walk around the block and try to calm my racing heart. As I neared 3rd avenue I ran into Joanna who lived half a block away. She must have seen something on my face to offer me her house and a glass of wine as a respite from the day. Such empathy comes like refreshing rain to a desert. We sat and talked, I enjoyed TWO glasses of wine. I don’t know why that short break did such a good job of restoring me. It may have been the wine, the soft, comfortable chair in which I sat, but my guess it was that someone cared, Joanna offered me such a give that day that I will always be grateful. I strolled downhill to the café to continue working through the evening and night with a new calm, a regular heartbeat and restored faith in those who pay attention to us.
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