04.08.07
My First Birthday
Well, it was actually my thirty-first birthday, but it was my first one as a chef. I mentioned how only the night before, I had started the wheels turning on quite the practical joke, so I figured that I was due for some serious harassment myself.
I arrived at the regular time, but to stay true to my word, I went into the office first to drop off some flowers for Jackie. She and I had a good laugh about the joke, and she liked the flowers as well. It was while I was talking to her that Joy asked, “What’s that on your hand?…”
 I didn’t have a cut, I just had to try one on! |
“That’s my Bacon Band-Aid,” I replied. It was one of the great gifts my wife had given me earlier that day, and was one I had been wanting for quite some time. Yes, they are Band-Aids that look just like strips of bacon. The perfect gift for any chef with an unhealthy obsession with pork products.
They all wished me a happy birthday, and I walked on to the kitchen where I clocked in, and Amy greeted me with some cookies for my special day, and Jay and Edwin were also kind enough to wish me a happy birthday as well. All in all, this was as nice a birthday as I could have asked for or expected.
Throughout my set-up process for the evening I was interrupted by servers coming back into the kitchen and asking me, “Is today your birthday?”
“Yes it is,” would come the reply from me.
“Happy Birthday! How old are you?”
“How old do you think I am?…”
 Personally, I don’t think I look a day over 34… |
I like setting myself up in this way if only because it is the only accurate way to know if I am looking old. Most of the guesses were pretty much right on the money give or take a year or two. God bless the one person who guessed 27, and curses to the one who guessed 36…
We all enjoyed a simple and quite tasty family meal of assorted leftovers from around the kitchen, and I was just about to put the last touches on my Friday night prep when someone behind me suddenly began to sing “Happy Birthday”.
“That’s odd,” I thought to myself as I continued to walk towards the sheet pan rack.
Then it sounded like 3 people singing.
“Hey, wait a minute… today is MY birthday…”
Now the whole kitchen seemed to be singing together.
“Maybe I should turn around…”
 Look closely. It’s a little-known secret that the Carvel Santa Claus and “Fudgie the Whale” cakes are made in the same mold. |
Yes, there was a cake being carried into the kitchen by the entire front of the house crew. Complete with five candles and “Happy Berthday (sic) Matt” scrawled in blue frosting across top. But this was not just any old cake. It was a Carvel ice cream cake. Ice cream and frosting together in one cake. If ever there were an enemy of the American Heart Association, this would be it. That’s what makes them so damn good.
We pretty much plowed through the block of ice cream (I made sure Brian had an extra piece), and with all of our collective tongues now a bluish shade of green thanks to the frosting, we cleaned up and got ready for the crush of a Friday night to descend upon us.
But before that could happen, Veronica came back into the kitchen and handed me a very nice bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon.
“Happy Birthday Matt!” she smiled.
I really was at a loss for words at this point. Where was the practical joke to be played on me? The extra clean-up work, the finger full of frosting in my ear, the dirty spoon slid down the back of my shirt? I really expected to be taken to town, and instead I was treated to one of the nicest birthdays I have ever had. Here I was in the midst of some incredible kindness, and all I could think about was when the other shoe would drop. But it never did.
I guess the joke was on me after all…
But all the same - I just want to publicly say to everyone involved “thank you!” for such a wonderful birthday. It really goes to show how much of a family we can all become in a restaurant, and you made me feel like a part of that. Now of course, I just have to learn whose birthday is coming up next, so I can get them an ice cream cake. Gotta get me another piece of that!
Stumble it!
Boutros said,
April 9, 2007 at 6:48 am
The very words “Fudgie the Whale” crack me up to no end.
Brilynn said,
April 9, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Happy Birthday!
A friend of my mine was joking around and one day told me “I hope you work with jerks”. Clearly, this isn’t the case for you! And what do I need to do to get a fudgie cake???
Matt said,
April 12, 2007 at 10:52 am
Boutros - Get your mind out of the gutter girl!
Brilynn - Thank you so much for the birthday wishes. Yes, it is true that the people I work with and for are great. As for getting a fudgie cake, I am sure Boutros would love to help you out, if she ever stops laughing.