The Blind Dinner part II 2007

The first Blind dinner happened shortly after I arrived in PA, about two months I guess. It was a daunting task, all consuming, took my fears of a new job and sent them through the roof. Not to mention it was the first time done at the restaurant. No one knew what to do or what to expect, how customers would react, how the blind center would be involved.
Looking back on it, the first time worked. I had a different staff that didn't know me and two of whom where culinary trained. The main concern was on the person guiding our blindfolded clientele. To which this person did very little. I was so worried about how the food would be perceived coinciding with the wines, yet there was no way to present food for "newly" blind customers that could truly match the over all challenge of the night. I did what I could and put out "easy" to eat food and interesting flavor combinations that I'm sure some may still look back on.
The matching of the food to the wine and the perception of the quality concerning the food was quickly overcome with the sheer joy and laughter of, what seemed to be children, people playing in the dark. Everyone was having a great time.

This year was different in some ways. One, the speaker was a wine salesman, and he walked everyone through the wines they were tasting. This is a good thing. He talked to everyone and kept them focused and kept them searching for the flavors and feelings traveling through their bodies into their brains.

At the same time, everyone was more focused. The food was acting in their mouths.

I've been making two to three menus a week for the past month. Whether it be for weekly wine flights, the regular three menus (that needed to be changed to two), or last weeks wine dinner. I didn't have much life in me to focus on the Blind Dinner nor to finish the menu three days prior.

When it came down to pulling everything together....well, there went a possible five day work week in the past four months.

(I deleted a large paragraph)
Doesn't matter. "If you want something done right, do it yourself". I have little patience to teach. I do as much as i can with my own mind and hands mainly because if i mess it up I know what I did and have an idea of how to try to fix it.
The Blind Dinner didn't work out that way. (deleted again)
I do as much as I can. When push comes to shove and I need the help...guess what? I didn't teach them everything in the world of cooking in the past 11.5 months I've been there. Some things work out, some don't. I've given too much time to accept the ones that don't work.

The guest don't know what goes on behind the scenes, they don't want to and shouldn't have to. They all enjoyed themselves, from what I heard. I took some pictures and videos, but when I couldn't take the personal disappointment i felt, I left.

The feeling of heartbreak was the only way to describe it. I should have slept less, I should have tested items more, I should have been more specific in my instructions, I should have paid less attention to everything else going on that month, I should have had so and so help me, I should have......everything. But I couldn't.

Everyone was happy except me. and that is a selfish point. I always want the customers to be happy. Weather they know the quality and effort or not, they only need to be happy at the end of a meal.