Hey guys!
I've been looking for a new medium to discuss food and drink. Well, here I am! Let me give a brief intro as to who I am and what I do.
My name is Matt, I am not a chef. I recently was given an offer to be part owner of the restaurant that I've worked at practically my whole life. I started out there almost nine years ago at the age of 15 as a dishwasher/ all around kitchen bitch. I got paid $5.00 per hour as a contract laborer, and had to work my way up to kitchen helper, then to lead cook (which I've been for quite some time now). After a year, I'd get a dollar raise, after an other year, I get a dollar raise, and so on... The restaurant is called Big Daddy's Ship Store and it's located right on the water of Grapevine Lake (Texas). Being on the water means exactly what you might think, catfish swimming around, seagulls, ducks, kids, boats, and of course a seasonal time to make money. When it cools down in the winter time, business slows and we have to become extremely creative and find ways to stay afloat. What we originally specialized in was burgers, and I mean lots of them. We've always hand made our 6oz patties and season them liberally with salt, pepper and garlic powder mixed to our own specific ratios and cooked on the flat top. We use a very fatty beef (73/27) which makes the beef super tender and greasy. As the years turned, Jon, the original owner, became more ambitious with his menu and created a whole outdoor kitchen where dinner specials are prepared on weekends. Anything from hand cut Rib-eye steaks to blackened Mahi Mahi and craw fish etoufee.
Anyways, this year will be different for me. I'll be self employed for the first time in my life and 50-50 owner of a successful restaurant that I've worked my way up from nothing to something. Oh, and did I mention my girlfriend and I just had our first child? Yep, it's gonna be a crazy year!.
