Vol. 6, No. 7 | How To Have The Perfect Event

Hey Everyone,

January seemed to stretch on for awhile, but February is flying by. That has nothing to do with nothing. Here’s what I’ve been thinking about this week:

• Nothing bothers me more than these Wayne's World Uber Eats commercials. Yes, I've always thought Wayne's World was ridiculously lame, but it's more than that. I was watching the Superbowl when the first commercial aired. It started off with: eat local…support local restaurants. I was very curious to see who was sponsoring the commercial and when I found out it was UberEats, I was pretty disgusted (this is strong). So…not only were they creating an enormous financial strain for restaurants, they decided to use that money on creating lame commercials pretending to support restaurants? Ughh. Anger, anger anger. The concept of UberEats is great in theory, but the cost to restaurants just can’t be overlooked. I'm not saying boycott Uber Eats because I really don’t know what that would mean as the pandemic stretches on. However, be aware. And when you can, pop on over and pick up take out instead of ordering it in through a food delivery app (because all of the large apps have the same practices).

• I just remembered that Cardio B was in those lame commercials, which reminded me that last Saturday I got sucked into watching an interview with Lil Uzi Vert and Fat Joe (it’s the strangest way I’ve ever spent a Saturday morning). Uzi mentioned that the secret to his success is that he's always on time. This resonated with me deeply. So much so, that the massive pink diamond in the middle of his forehead no longer seemed strange.

• In addition to being on time, I’d say that the secret to my success is spreadsheets. I’m very much a creative, but I also love spreadsheets. For this one dinner in Jamaica, I have about 10 spreadsheets. Well, technically one spreadsheet with 10 tabs. I’d be lost without them and I love budgets and schedules as much as I love decorating a table. Planning and overplanning allow me to make time for the creative and to not panic when something goes wrong. And with an event, something will ALWAYS go wrong. But if you have a solid plan, then it's easy to adapt.

• While I'm a planner, I don't believe in perfection. I fully embrace simplicity and what the Japanese would refer to as wabi sabi - embracing and finding beauty in the imperfections. I'm much more focused on the way things feel. Are people taken care of? That's what I want to come through when I do anything. So if all the forks disappeared or one was slightly different than the other, I don't get caught up in that. If you really care about people having a good time, that will always come through. A good time isn't defined by the right silverware. 

• Speaking of Jamaica, I’m traveling next week, but I'll have an interview with Parnass Savant co-owner of authentic Thai restaurant, Talat Market. I’d planned to talk with him about Thai iced tea but ended up chatting with him for about an hour about take-out, transitioning from a pop-up to a brick and mortar, and some other things. In the middle of the interview, a homeless man showed up...ten minutes after I said one of the things that no one tells you about running a restaurant is the interaction between homeless people. That may or may not make it into the interview.

• After my interview with Parnass, I was working on the menu for Holy Sip. After I was done, I realized how many Thai/Asian ideas seeped into my concepts. I think it was the conversation, but maybe it's because as Scotley mentioned, Jamaican food is so easy to mix with Asian food. Either way, it was also a reminder that you don't always have to travel to get experiences and be inspired.

Hope you’re all really well.

Shannon