Day 21: Tuesday & Cherries

These socks are so darn cute! I love the little cherries on them. As I got a massage today the masseuse says, "Do you know that it says Tuesday on your socks? And that it's actually Tuesday today?" I laughed and explained my blogging adventure to her. 

This was such an interesting day for me! I went to a massage, had lunch with Kate (who I haven't seen in forever and it was SO NICE to catch up), and then I went to Starbucks for a free drink that someone gave me, and then picked up one of the boys that I nanny from school to take him to an interview. The interview is what made my day really interesting! This particular boy that I nanny has a serious penchant for cooking. He enjoys cooking, watches all the cooking shows, and aspires to be a chef when he's older. It is so neat to watch a passion come alive in a kid. So because of his passion he set up an interview with the Executive Chef of one of the top rated restaurants in Calgary. He did this all himself. Today was the interview and I was asked to accompany him while he interviewed this gentleman. Therefore, I got to hear all about cooking from the perspective of someone who is also just as passionate about it as the boy I nanny. The restaurant where he is the executive chef is called Rouge. It's in Inglewood and was actually voted one of the top 100 restaurants in the world. No joke - they are like number 60, which is amazing! The chef's name is Michael and he was quite honestly, an extremely nice guy. He was patient as a 12 year old figured out which of his list of questions he wanted to ask, and patient while he wrote down his answers. He graciously allowed us to film his answers so that they could be referred back to later. And then my favourite part -- he gave us a tour of the restaurant. 

We started the tour in the kitchen, which was quite small as kitchens in restaurants go, but this particular restaurant is in A.E. Cross' old house, and as such is quite small. In the kitchen we were given a sample of freshly made Honey Ice Cream to try. It was delicious! Then down to the basement of the house we went. We saw the fridge, freezer, dry store room, etc. In the fridge they had a pig leg that had been sitting in a huge bucket with salt for 8 months, that would next week be taken out and hung to dry for 12 more months, in order to make prosciutto. That's commitment, folks! Rouge is an interesting place because they are also all about sustainability. They grow most of their own vegetables and those that they don't all come from local farms. The meat they buy is also local. It is an extremely expensive restaurant to eat at, but you know that all of the products are top quality and fresh.

My favourite part of the tour was seeing the wine cellar. I love wine. A lot. The wine cellar is located inside A.E. Cross' original giant safe, in the basement. Apparently he too stored some liquor in there. It was interesting to see how they've had to make do with a fairly small space and have turned it into such a thriving place. It was also interesting to hear how someone came about finding their passion, and how they've decided to live it out. Michael gave great advice for someone wanting to be a chef, and I know that it was taken to heart by an eager boy with big dreams. 

How great of him to be so kind to someone so young and to encourage another person in following their passions into a career. Too often we, sometimes unknowingly, stomp on dreams of young people by discounting their thoughts and words, or by not giving them the time of day at all. It was refreshing to see someone encourage and share their experiences with someone younger. He may never know what a difference he possibly made in the life of that child. I hope we all stop to think about youth and children and the difference we can make in their lives by just listening and being willing to share with them, rather than withholding information. 

I think in general people need to approach life more often than we do with an attitude of "what can I do for you?" instead of "what can you do for me?"

xo