More Than A Paycheck: Why Work Matters

April 24, 2020 / The Black Hat Baker / 1 Comment

Hello there, friends and neighbors. Hopefully you are all keeping safe and well, and that la vida casa isn’t getting to you too much.

Since the layoffs started, I’ve been trying to reach out to my culinary friends however I can just to check up on them. It really is the cruelest irony- we’re folks who “never have enough time” and now…. we’re kinda drowning in it.

Of course, it’s not just “what shall I do with all my free time” that’s got former kitchen workers in a froth… but it’s also not just the financial worries of being unemployed/laid off, though God knows that’s more than enough.

What I’m finding even more among not just culinary people, but ANYONE who’s been working in a given field their whole lives and suddenly finds themselves “non-essential” is the need to get back to work for work’s sake.

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5 Dumb Things You Don’t Need To Buy For Your Kitchen

April 18, 2020April 18, 2020 / The Black Hat Baker / 2 Comments

Good afternoon, friends and neighbors!

Staying home for an extended period has gotten a pretty wide assortment of interests out of people. Some folks are getting VERY into home exercise, home improvement projects, shaving their heads, or falling down conspiracy theory rabbit holes that Junji Ito would pass on as too twisted.

Most beautiful of all of them, I think, is “I’ve got all this time at home now, I’m gonna learn to cook and bake better!”

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The God of Hospitality

April 12, 2020 / The Black Hat Baker / 1 Comment

Good evening, friends and neighbors! Sorry this blog is a day late- I was a little tied up for the same reason there wasn’t a “Whiskey and Jellybeans” yesterday. Namely, finally celebrating Passover with my family!

I did take the opportunity to do a little writing and thinking on the subject though. So let’s start with a seriously impolitic question today.

What god do you worship?

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Having Talent is No Excuse

April 4, 2020April 4, 2020 / The Black Hat Baker / Leave a comment

Good evening, friends and neighbors.

The worlds of food and classical music don’t always intersect- beyond the artistry and passion of their respective devotees, that is. When my wife (a piano teacher) and I discuss our work with each other, one of us is usually on “home turf.” I’m a professional baker and she loves to cook, or she’s expounding on an obscure piece of music and I know a couple big names. That’s marriage for you, though- we don’t “complete” each other, but we do find ways to be complete together.

In that sense, we often discuss ideas like discipline, teaching methods, leadership (in the context of our workplaces,) and the artistic aspects of what we’ve built our lives around.

And one thing that we agree on wholeheartedly is that talent doesn’t mean a damn thing.

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4 Reasons Why EVERY Industry Should Be Hiring Kitchen People

March 28, 2020March 28, 2020 / The Black Hat Baker / Leave a comment

Good evening, friends and neighbors.

Honestly, so much of this week as felt like people trying to find the slowest possible way to rip off a Band-Aid.

As I write this, work at the bakery is slowly becoming more dire. Our staff AND wholesale contracts are dwindling, and it won’t be long before I receive a call that- arguably- should have been weeks ago. A call saying I should stay home for the time being, and perhaps find other work.

I wouldn’t be alone, to be sure. An enormous chunk of the current record unemployment claims are culinary and service staff, trying to figure out where to go next.

Fortunately, whether we all realize it or not, our experience in the kitchen has drilled an assortment of hard and soft skills into our minds- and those who used to look down on “burger flippers” would be wise to hire us while they can.