Chef in Brooklyn, New York

I'm a chef" I say. "Oh! What's your specialty?" they always ask. My "Specialty"...? I'm a chef, I said. My speciality is maintaing peace among a staff of professionals, immigrants, part-timers, waiting on my real job-ers, burnouts, disgruntles and people genuinely motivated by service. My speciality is knowing how to do everyone's job so they respect me but also at the blink of an eye I could be pulling their function as they are pulling that crumpled suit out of the closet, for the job search has begun yet again. My specialty is delivering high quality food in a timely manner within the constraints of archaic equipment, new fads, ancient techniques all while abiding by the unfair, unrealistic, ever-changing demands of the health department. My speciality is sleeping very little. Waking when a lot of people are going to bed. Never seeing the sunlight during the holidays. Working countless days in a row. Being the first in & the last to leave. My speciality is actually having fun in such a high demanding, stressful job. Taking pride in a job well done. Seeing doubt in people's eyes sometimes & somehow pulling it off. I'm a Chef, I said. That IS my specialty.