FLORIDA

OCTOBER 2024

After the intensity of Cyprus, the work stateside felt manageable by comparison. When a hurricane struck Florida, setting up a kitchen and building out a team hardly registered as a challenge. I found a warehouse, signed a lease the same day, and within 48 hours had a fully operational kitchen running. It was a kind of palate cleanser—when Home Depot and Costco are just up the road and everyone speaks English, what more could you need. The loading would flood when it rained, but that was manageable. Still, there were new lessons. I devoted real attention to iterating the dish pit. This time I built it large and sturdy enough that washing could be done from ontop rather than from the side. It was a clear improvement, but it also exposed refinements I’d carry forward into the next version. I was also able to work with a propane guy and design and build a pretty robust plumbing system for powering our massive burners which I was quite happy with and our neighbors across the street built custom shipping crates, so I had them construct some for our burners and pans as well.

WCK also made a video featuring me give a tour of the kitchen.

This is a good time to mention my team, because we got a good photo of most of us below. But the same group of people I bring or try to bring to all these projects, and without them doing an array of jobs, this work would not be bearable. Traveling the world together, and experiencing the things we experience together grow a special bond and I'm lucky to not only have such incredible people working for me, but to be able to do the work in general with them is awesome.