October Kitchen - October 2020

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THE NOURISH LETTER

Meet the Team Behind Your Meals OCTOBER 2020

OctoberKitchen.com | 860-533-0588 | 309 Green Rd., Manchester, CT 06042

The Suffering Artisans of the Restaurant Industry A TRIBUTE TO MY TRIBE

and lunch place called The Angry Egg. They had a staff of over 30 people but once the pandemic hit, they had to let every staff member go. For 100 days straight, it was just Liz and Steve working the front and kitchen just to keep the lights on. That’s a 24/7 job with very few breaks. Thankfully, Liz and Steve are tough. It’s a tremendous, rare merit to have, yet also it’s no great surprise. Restaurant people will know what I mean by that. You’ve got to be tough if you’re good at what you do in a restaurant. Not only are you working all day in your own sweat, but you also have to do so without losing your attention to detail, flavor and food safety. That’s what it takes to do what Liz and Steve do and I feel that in each of my sisters and brothers in this business, whether I taste their food or I only hear their stories. I have great respect for what Liz and Steve are doing right now. If you want to know the power of leaving a good tip, I’ll tell you my firsthand experience. I’ve stopped by The Angry Egg every single Wednesday since the pandemic started. You’ll love their whole menu but I buy breakfast sandwiches for everybody on my staff. If it costs $80, I pay $150. I don’t do it just because they have a mean, delicious breakfast sandwich — I do it because that’s what friends and neighbors do. They’ve told me before how thankful they are to have that money to distribute to their staff. After all, their jobs can’t transition to work from

October is usually a time of reflection and celebration for me but this year, to say that there’s a little more than usual to reflect about would be an understatement. Around this time, many of us expected to be in Stage 3 of recovering from the pandemic. As I write this, we’re in late August, but nobody’s talking about Stage 3, not even a little bit. That’s been devastating for restaurants — as if things hadn’t already been devastating enough. I needed to write about restaurants today. While October Kitchen hasn’t suffered from the pandemic, the health of the restaurant industry still feels immensely personal to me. I owe a lot to restaurants: my career, my friends, my wife, my family. Restaurant people are more than past peers. They’re my blood and tribe. Trust me, this is a professional feeling that many chefs share for each other. In fact, when I eat at a restaurant and the staff learn that I’m a chef myself, they usually invite me into the kitchen and let me taste something special they’re working on. We exchange thoughts and bond over our experiences. We all look out for each other. I’ll share one story that’s close to my heart. I have a pair of good friends, Liz and her husband Steve, who run a beautiful breakfast

“Restaurant people are more than past peers. They’re my blood and tribe. Trust me, this is a professional feeling that many chefs share for each other.”

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HAPPY NEIGHBORS AFTER ALL The Coincidence That Brought Dave Morton to October Kitchen

W e’re no strangers to happy and found October Kitchen. It just so happened that our store was six blocks away from where Dave grew up! While Dave’s actual high school neighbor turned out to have a completely different spelling than Chef Paul Finney, it was serendipitous that October Kitchen was located in a neighboring area. coincidences at October Kitchen. When Dave first heard Chef Paul Finney’s name, he thought Paul might be his neighbor from high school. He immediately looked up the chef’s name on Google

One thing he loves about

October Kitchen is the flexibility. “Requiring minimum

purchases forces food on you,” he explains. However, since Dave can explore individual meals from the

freezers and the Kitchen’s weekly specials, his visits remain exciting. And whenever Dave talks to other people in line, he finds they feel the same exact way. Chef Paul isn’t the only incredible cook that Dave knows, however — his partner, Angie, cooks a seven-course meal on Christmas Eve in traditional Catholic style, all seafood- related to celebrate the story of the seven fish that fed a crowd. He went home “with enough food to feed an army for two weeks!”

Ever since this discovery, Dave has adored his experience with October Kitchen.

“Since I live by myself, it provides a distinct advantage for me,” he tells us. With the wide variety of food at a super reasonable cost, he never has leftovers to throw away and he’s saving money overall. While he still cooks for himself, if he’s too tired after a long day at work, it’s easy to warm up a wholesome October Kitchen meal. This helps him continue to incorporate vegetables and healthy ingredients into his diet as well.

It sounds like you have some quality food in your life, Dave. We’re honored to be included!

BLOG YOUR WAY THROUGH THE PANDEMIC The Power of Writing to provide additional insights to your experiences. You can also find empathy and provide support to others. An online community can help you feel less isolated due to the pandemic or provide support through other challenging aspects of your life.

Everyone has faced trying times over the past few months. While many activities help get us through these challenges, blogging can be one of the most impactful. Writing enables you to express your feelings and experiences and blogging allows you to share them with others. Here are a few reasons why starting a blog can be an important part of coping with the pandemic. Connect with your readers. At times, it can feel like you are alone in the world, especially now. However, your blog can reach people who feel the same as you or who have had similar experiences as you. Also, writing down your story will inspire other people and they may even start their own blog. In this way, you not only help yourself and others but you also spark change in their lives.

Express your anxieties. Writing helps people cope with stressful experiences and the pandemic has ushered a huge amount of uncertainty into their lives. Many people have felt afraid and anxious in the last eight months and they continue to wonder what the future may hold. Your blog gives you a chance

to express those fears and ease your stress. Harvard Medical School studies have shown that writing your thoughts down helps you organize ideas and even regulate emotions. With less on your mind, your body can relax. Write out your experiences, no matter what situation you find yourself in. You will help other people and especially yourself.

Meet new people. In addition to encouraging others, you might find a community of like-minded people through sharing your blog. You never know — from new readers and followers, you might learn of support groups

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A LEGACY AS WHOLESOME AS HIS RECIPES

After a Chef’s Death, His Son Learned to Cook Through YouTube and Now Runs a Thriving Restaurant

Bobby Nelson worked in the restaurant business his entire life with one dream: to own and run a restaurant himself. That dream didn’t become a reality. When Bobby and one of his sons (also named Bobby) died in 2008 and 2009, it was a completely unexpected tragedy. They were survived by another son of Bobby’s, Tay, who didn’t know how to cook, but he wanted to honor their memory and engage with their passion for food. With a passionate drive to keep their memory alive, Tay launched a line of all-natural seasonings, Bobby’s Seasoning, inspired by his father’s recipes. But it wasn’t until 2014 that Tay started to fall in love with cooking himself. He decided to learn how to barbecue through videos on YouTube and that decision completely changed his life. When he cooked his first rack of pork ribs, his wife was shocked. “I couldn’t believe it,” she told YouTube for their story’s feature. “He really did this.” Tay was reminded of his father’s dream and then said to himself: “This is it. I’m not going to fill out another job application in my life. I’m going to open up a barbecue restaurant.” He learned how to run a catering business by watching more YouTube videos but he struggled with doubt at the beginning, like many restaurant entrepreneurs do. He described his self-doubt quite well: “Is the food any good? Is there a sign I shouldn’t do [this]?” _____________________________ Write your name here and fax the completed puzzle to 860-533-0585, send it via empty delivery box or bring it to the shop and receive 10% off your next order . Limit one per customer. Expires Oct. 31, 2020. WORD SEARCH

... continued from Cover home. So, I strongly encourage everyone who is able to tip more at your local restaurants for this very reason. It truly does make a difference for nearby families you might never meet but who have lost a major source of income. While The Angry Egg and other restaurants are keeping their heads above water through these times, it’s hard to imagine when things are going to go back to “normal,” if there will ever be one like in years past. Personally, I can’t ignore the heartbreaking stories of restaurants shutting their doors forever. In honor of all our lost restaurants, I’d like to give a prayer to those who serve, cook and put all of their love into their restaurants and communities. While this may not be the first time that people have feared for the economic safety of restaurants, I pray that restaurants will continue to play the integral, artistic roles they’ve long had in our everyday lives. I pray that, for those who have lost their jobs and establishments in this pandemic, a garden of new opportunities will thrive. I have full faith in my tribe, to whom I owe all of my livelihood. They will prosper again, smarter, healthier and better, like artisans always have in times of hardship. So, he went back to YouTube. He learned more about the type of charcoal he should use, the tricks of running a barbecue place and the experiences of the world’s barbecue experts. His business started to flourish. Now, he runs an award-winning restaurant with 60 employees and is living his father’s dream, even during the pandemic. He named the restaurant Bobby’s BBQ in honor of his father and brother. Tay Nelson’s story proves that anyone can learn to cook — and with a little love, they can run a restaurant.

ALISON CANDY HALLOWEEN MASKS OPAL PAUL POPCORN SCARY SCREAM STEPHANIE

Amen.

TREAT TRICK

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INSIDE

page 1

A Tribute to My Tribe

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Happy Neighbors After All

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Blogging Through the Pandemic

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A Restaurant Success Story During These Hard Times

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Word Search

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What Really Happened the Night Martians Invaded New Jersey?

The Night Martians Invaded New Jersey Orson Welles Recounts ‘The War of the Worlds’

that the nation had erupted in panic. However, as we now know, the extent of the panic was exaggerated. In fact, the

Some listeners, who had missed the fact that this was a retelling of “The War of the Worlds,” assumed the news bulletins were the real thing. Frenzied, they called local police, newspapers, and radio stations hoping for more information about the invasion. What were they supposed to do? Higher-ups at the CBS radio studio where Welles delivered the live reading called and told him he needed to stop and remind listeners that this was a work of fiction. The panic, it seemed, was growing as the Martians “approached” New York. A little later that night, police showed up at the studio with the intent of shutting the whole thing down. The next day, the story broke across the country — newspapers reported on mass hysteria and stories poured out

On the evening of Oct. 30, 1938, an eloquent voice graced the airwaves in New Jersey: “We now know in the early years of the 20th century, this world was being watched closely by intelligences greater than man’s, and yet as mortal as his own. We now know as human beings busied themselves about their various concerns, they were scrutinized and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinize the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water …” And so began Orson Welles’ classic radio broadcast, a retelling of H.G. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds.” Peppered in the retelling were fictional news bulletins informing the public of an alien invasion. Martians had arrived in New Jersey!

program didn’t even have very many listeners that night, and most who had tuned in were aware they were listening to a radio play rather than a news broadcast. American University media historian W. Joseph Campbell, who researched the broadcast in the 2000s, found that while there had been some panic, most listeners simply enjoyed the show. It turns out the person who was the most frightened was Welles himself who thought his career had come to an end.