the changing of the guard

well, friends, i suppose this is where the road ends for me. my last day at marigold is in two days and i've been cleaning out my office and generally trying to put my affairs in order. i've been truly lucky to have been given the chance to work with joan and everyone else here over the last five years and definitely feel a little sadness mixed with my excitement as i move on to new adventures. in my time here, i've seen our little company grow by leaps and bounds, winning awards, gaining business and the respect and trust of clients all over northeast ohio, buying new vans, obtaining new and bigger venues, and moving to a brand-new space that i got to design and layout. i suppose i've seen a lot of changes, almost all for the better, since joan and i first met in a starbuck's back in the summer 2004. even as i go, though, i know that we will remain close and, in some way, a part of me will always be tied to marigold catering. i will miss so many of the people here, many of whom i consider to be my closest friends.

one of those friends, mike smith, a talented and intelligent chef and all-around great guy, will be taking over the kitchen as marigold's new executive chef. mike has been working as my executive sous chef for the last few years and, as i became increasingly busy with outside projects, has pretty much been running the show for the last year. i feel confident leaving the care of my kitchen and marigold's reputation in his competent hands.

thank you to everyone who has made my time at marigold so incredibly enjoyable and rewarding. i wish you all so much luck and success in the future and i'm somehow sure our paths will cross again.

market under glass, etc.

hey everybody! sorry it's been awhile since i've written, but we've been really busy here at marigold, leaving me little time to update the blog, do laundry, or sleep. i'm pretty sure that all kinds of newsworthy things have happened, but i can only recall a few at this moment. ben and greg's renegade lunch project is continuing to grow and gain notoriety, which is awesome. we just had a lunch to benefit the cleveland apl last week and already have confirmed locations for may through august. find out more at renegadelunch.blogspot.com. we'd love to have you join us! the picture to the left shows me and joanie at the helm of the taqueria station that we did at the cleveland foodbank market under glass benefit. our pals from spice of life catering co. were right next door and together we rocked out a bunch of food and fun. i personally have always loved events like this as they give you a chance to see a lot of f&b friends from other restaurants, etc. i'd like to give a special shout out to andy, the chef at university circle's incredibly awesome new restaurant, l'albatros, and to my old pal, brendan rea. together we conquered the absolut martini bar in the vip section and shared a whole bunch of laughs. anyway, i've got to run, but wanted to at least post something so it didn't seem like i'd abandoned the blog altogether. have a great spring!

saying good-bye to an old friend.

for those of you who may have missed this story today, a. lopresti and sons, one of cleveland's oldest local food distributors, closed it's doors after one hundred years in business. we've been working with lopresti for all 13 years of marigold's existence and were saddened to hear the news. it looks like things in this economy aren't getting any better yet and our hearts and thoughts go out to pat, ginnene, and everyone else at lopresti in this difficult time. as much as it should always be our mantra, there has never been a better time to support local companies and work together to make cleveland a good place to live, work, and own a business. let's all cross our fingers, roll up our sleeves, and hope that this year holds greater promise for this great nation of ours.

me on good company this morning!

hi everybody! if you're reading this and feeling super bored, feel free to check out my noodle kugel making performance on this morning's good company. wow, do i talk alot...

http://www.wkyc.com/video/default.aspx?maven_playerId=goodcompany&maven_referralObject=1050841500

a sheynem dank, park synagogue!

it seems that i have a new spring ritual. just as the robins return to northeastern ohio, i make a trip to cook in the kitchen at park synagogue east. last year, it was for the first episode we filmed of dinner:impossible and this year to cook a tasty kosher breakfast for twenty guests after the morning minyan. i joked to rabbi skoff that i was beginning to have traumatic memories of the kitchen, as every visit seemingly requires some amount of early morning mishegas. it was, though, a joke only and thanks to the help of my partner, joan, our senior event planner, phil, and the kind words of some of park's members, we've been selected to be a member of the catering panel for the synagogue (and the original park temple on mayfield, just fyi). we feel very fortunate to have this opportunity and can't wait to be able to offer fabulous marigold events in a conservative temple for the first time in our history. mazel tov!

my boys are growing up...

to celebrate fat tuesday, kate came up with the swell idea to have everyone pitch in a dish for a cajun-style potluck lunch. to fill out the festivities, we also decided to mix in a little midday baby shower for two of our kitchen boys. ryan and gary, who are shortly to become proud first-time fathers (separately, for the record). they got some swell gifts (ryan is pictured holding the onesy and gary's about to open a book of stories for children) and we finished out the luncheon with cake. at the time, the whole thing seemed like a pleasant enough time-killer in the middle of the working day, but i found myself feeling a little more deeply when i saw this picture. i've worked with both of these guys for years now and definitely feel a strong mix of pride, love, and even a little envy to see my good friends about to grow into good fathers. our best wishes to ryan and kelly and gary and kara as they welcome the little ones that will change them from young couples into new families. lechaim!

hey, it's those guys!

so, my first full day back turned into a particularly full fourteen hour day ending in a plated dinner for 25o guests at the crawford auto and aviation museum in university circle. nothing like jumping back in head-first, i suppose. the event was a great success and we used a little bit of our extra time to check out the museum's cool collection of vintage planes and cars...my personal favorite being the all stainless steel '66 lincoln continental convertible. i've always thought the rear suicide doors on this car were killer and nothing really warms a chef's heart like a lot of shiny stainless steel. sweet ride. pictured here are most of my kitchen boys posing for a quick group photo before the real work got underway. (top row l-r: gary, peter, commander michael smith, jason "the sensation", and ryan. bottom row l-r: gabriel and byron. not pictured: me, jakub, ben, chris, bigfoot, and the elves that we've imprisoned to help with our most labor intensive projects.) Anyhow, we had a good time producing a great event...about as enjoyable a first night back as i could have asked for.