¬ I recently heard the concept that when we remember, we are actually only remembering the last time we remembered the memory. No other time in my life do I remember as often as my time in Chicago at the restaurant Alinea.

We, Maida and myself, recently watched ‘Love, Charlie ( the rise and fall of Charlie Trotter )’ and while I never ate there it sparked a lot of reflection of my time in Chicago down the road at 1723 N Halsted, where I worked Nov 2010-March 2012.

I have worked in restaurants for the majority of my life. My first job was at Michaels kitchen in Taos as a bus boy around the age of 14 which was owned by my mothers side of the family and where my fathers side of the family worked. My tia Lula ( Dolores ) has been working in the kitchen there for 54 years. In the following 5 years I worked in other places in town, competed in regional culinary competitions and took culinary arts throughout high-school. I didn’t really know t...