i think i smell a rat.

marigold's corporate world headquarters and evil lair are located at 3901 lakeside avenue in cleveland. that makes us part of the st. clair/superior development corporation's domain and we're happy to be here. asian town is right next door to us and so, each year, scsdc does a special public art project which corresponds to the chinese zodiac. local businesses can sponsor an animal sculpture which is designed by a local artist and installed in front of their (the business')building. proceeds from the sponsoring and auction of the animal sculptures goes to fund art programs in area schools. pretty cool, huh? this year is the year of the rat. i have to admit that i was a little disappointed to have missed the year of the pig last year, but oh well, rats, albeit not especially food service friends, are still cute in their own way (you know...the way they carry disease and invade your home, etc.). ours, shown in the picture above with mason, mike, ben, pete, and jason is pretty cool and is painted with fiery colors and the chinese symbol for...well, i have no idea. i suppose i'll have to find that out. anyway, i got a kick out of the above picture. i was sitting in laguardia airport leaving new york and feeling kind of down about various personal and professional things and more than a little hung-over from the james beard chef's night out the previous evening. this picture came through and cheered me up instantly. i know that it's become a really common theme in this blog, but i'll say it one more time: working with my best friends and personal band of brothers makes me one of the luckiest cooks in town. extra points to jason for giving the rat such a sweet and tender kiss.

back to the blogosphere

so, i've noticed that my last post is dated may 19, 2008...over a month ago. it's certainly been a while since i've written anything here which is a sure sign that i've been busy. between shooting dinner:impossible and surviving may and june, our busiest months of the year at marigold, i haven't had much time to blog...though not for want of topics and events! the picture to the left is of a super-fun event experience from a couple of weeks back. ben at our sister company, spice of life, does these awesome plated landscape dinners at the farms from which he gets all of his local food. after the dinner at muddyfork farm in wooster, we all camped out overnight (that's ben's hammock tied to my truck), made a fire, drank a few beers, and played some acoustic guitar. the next day, ryan, ben, and i drove down to columbus together to see the raconteurs. we ate, drank, stayed at my favorite hotel, and saw one of the best shows i've seen in a while. i'm so lucky to get to work with people who i consider to be my best friends, it makes work fun and i think, personally, that a fun environment makes us better at what we do. definitely, one of the best roadtrips of my life.