Some people talk about how Valentine’s Day has become such an obnoxious holiday. The cards, candy, flowers, spa packages... what makes this a special day other than the fact that we are taught from a young age to give cards and hugs to loved ones? I still remember picking out boxes of tear-apart cardboard Valentines with a Garfield or Spiderman theme, struggling over whether to give my 7 year old crush Joey the one with a funny joke or the one with hearts. What message was I trying to send?! I remember thinking, if I didn’t make the right move, I would destined to be alone every Valentine’s Day for the rest of my life! Or, to be less dramatic, Joey would make fun of me on the playground for revealing my young love.
As it turns out, I will never be alone on Valentine’s Day. I will never be sitting at home alone on the couch watching sitcoms with a Valentine theme, eating chocolates given out by a co-worker. I will be cooking for two tops.
This year I haven’t spoken the words Valentine’s Day together, all I have talked about is Valentine’s Weekend. Weekend! A whole weekend! Take that, Hallmark! I am in the middle of this three day heart shaped gastronomic extravaganza at work. Over Friday and Saturday of this weekend, my co-workers and I have dished up over a thousand plates of food. Today is Sunday, THE day, and we will be dishing up close to 600 plates before the night is through. I am drinking my morning coffee and contemplating this extraordinary number, becoming aware of the fact that today is the holiday where men and women take their partners out to dinner. Our waiting list for reservations could keep another restaurant in business this weekend.
I often hear people say that we should express love to our partners and friends every day, not simply on Valentine’s Day. I agree wholeheartedly. After discussing this on the line during prep on Friday, I became curious about who these people are. Why are they coming in on Valentine’s Day and not every other day? Who do they think they are? Standing at the computer screen, I opened the reservation program to find out. I was overjoyed to see that our guests ranged from first timers just looking for something special to people who have come in over 50 times. Most of our guests had eaten with us before.
It made me that much more excited to share our special menu with our guests. It seemed more familial, not simply a bunch of strangers looking for a show. So bring it two tops, (and that weird occasional three top, whatever your story may be). We’re ready and excited to feed you.
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