Benjamin Snyder AKA: Jammin'

Before.

After.

And how he got this way.

Several times in my Culinary life I've been a participant in an age old practice of "pie-ing", whenever a valued member of a team that has been with the team long enough, he or she was given a grand send off. This send off could be: a cake, presents, shots, a night out drinking with co-workers, a free dinner in the restaurant, antique-ing (a water battle followed by a dousing of flour), or in this case (video doesn't show the approach) me hiding everyone behind an extra sheet of paneling. When dropped, everyone comes out of the wood work to give Jamin' a farewell pie-ing.

Some comments from Jammin' "That may have been a bit much, I couldn't breath at one point", and " I can't get the smell of sour milk out of my nose".

Jammin' is heading off to Bob Jones university to further his Culinary future (then hopefully to the CIA for more learning), he's already way ahead of the pack though. When I hired him he was fresh out of Burger King as an ass kicking record holding Whopper maker. I put him in the dish pit well over a year ago and he kept asking me for a chance at pantry... after a week I had to ask him to slow down. I couldn't get entrees started before he would have the entire tables first course sent out the door.

I moved him onto Saute with no problems then let him settle in to Grill for the summer, I figured he would need to get used to the heat. The south gets pretty warm.

I plan on working for Jammin' some day. He's one of those people you meet in your life that's meant to be doing what he's doing. He will master every part of cooking at some point, if only because he wants to. I'm not even sure if he enjoys it or not, I think he does, he smiles after a good ass-handing so he must.

I wish I knew what he knows now about food when I was his age.

Good luck buddy, and you know to keep in touch.