Activated
On Sunday morning, as I was catching some extra Zzzz’s, Anne and Miles watched this short documentary about Sally Schmitt. Sally and Don Schmitt, opened The French Laundry restaurant in 1978, and ran it for 16 years before selling it to Thomas Keller.
Anne and I, along with a few friends, enjoyed the fanciest lunch of our lives a number of years ago at TFL. It is an experience I hope to never forget a single detail of, as the entire visit was just so delicious. I am embarrassed to say that at the time of our visit, I didn’t know a thing about Sally Schmitt and her formidable talents in the kitchen and life. In the short documentary she has nothing but kind things to say about Thomas Keller, but how is it possible that I heard nothing before, during or after our meal there about how Sally and Don forged the path of TFL? Regardless, I’m thrilled that Ben Proudfoot made such a wonderful piece of art highlighting her incredible life and restaurant, and I’ll never again think of TFL without thinking of Sally Schmitt and family.
Miles enjoyed the documentary so much, that they came running in to wake me up and tell me all about how incredible it was to cook food that was picked right from your garden. They told me all about the movie, and were brimming over with ideas on things we should cook that day. As I wiped the sleep from my eyes and prepared my brain for the day with some fresh coffee, they went over menu ideas, and different ingredients we could use to make soup. I promised them we’d cook something together, and late Sunday afternoon, kid-chef dreams came true. It’s not that we’ve never cooked together before, because oh my have we made some kitchen messes together in our days, but this was the first one where Miles’s ideas were taking the lead. Miles seemed so incredibly activated by the idea of cooking for others, that our one dish turned in to four, and were it not for my lack of desire to wash more dishes, could have turned in to a ten course feast.
Miles picked out produce from our kitchen, and got out their cutting board and knife. They asked for their apron and a pot and got themselves chopping things up, and using kitchen scissors to cut green onions right in to the pot. We made a stock together for the soup and got it simmering, while Miles conjured up their next recipes for special drinks and fresh cut apple slices to go along with the soup. If I’d have been up for it, there would have been two other soup options and a salad to go with the meal, but I had already made tomato rice and collard greens with pork roast, and so our kid-chef was agreeable to a four course feast instead of seven.
It was such a joy and honor to see their knife skills in action, and to be first hand witness to the pride beaming from them as they pulled together their vision for our Sunday night meal. All through dinner we talked about what kind of family restaurant we could open, and how Miles would like a big chef’s hat and a name tag that reads, “Executive Chef: Miles Kitzelmann”. We discussed how I would be their Sous, and Anne would be in charge of restaurant operations and finances. A food truck idea was floated around, but we all settled on a brick-and-mortar location for more spacial flexability.
While we’d never pin down our kid’s dreams at age six with the realities of running a food business, it was so incredible to experience how deeply that 20 minute documentary wound it’s way around Miles’s heart and mind. I don’t think Anne or I foresee a Kitzelmann family restaurant on the horizon, but we maybe-just-maybe might do a school fundraiser for a night to give it a whirl.
Imagine with me: we fling open the doors to our backyard, fire up the grill, turn on the overhead, twinkling bistro lights as the sun sets, and amp up the good vibes mojo with some righteous tunes. We have Miles serve drinks (such as the fresh sparkling limeade with basil sugar rim pictured above from Chef Miles’s Sunday evening menu) and take customers orders while Anne and I cook, grill, and plate up the food. Chef Miles can “approve” the plated dishes and add final garnishes before the meals land on the dining tables. All proceeds could go to their public school fundraising campaign, and Miles can walk away from their hard work with the feelings of having one special night as the six year old Chef de Cuisine at Cafe Kitzelmann.