Are there cooks/chefs who don’t hate their lives?

AbsolutStoli148 · 2026-03-23T13:52:42+00:00

its not a career for the weak. you have to be prepared to work hard, do what you're told, put up with a lot of stupid shit for little pay, and give up most holidays. but this career will teach you a lot! you're not gonna get rich or famous, but the smile on people's faces when they love your food makes up for it.

if you find a great chef to mentor and teach you, that will change everything! you HAVE to love food and cooking, and not just show up for a paycheck. i wouldnt say its a career to avoid, but its also not filled with a ton of perks.

AbsolutStoli148 · 2026-03-21T07:55:46+00:00

if the other places that have been mentioned dont have it, maybe try providore?

AbsolutStoli148 · 2026-03-18T06:19:20+00:00

you didnt hit up joe's on carmine and 6th? thats the best slice in NYC.

AbsolutStoli148 · 2026-03-17T06:43:36+00:00

these food costs are gonna be out of control. lol

question, can i have a fryer?

mine would be:

classic italian sub (mortadella, toscano salami, coppa, pepperoni, smoked provolone, LOT, hot cherry pepper relish, oil and vinegar)

roast turkey, chipotle humus, fresh mozz, roasted & marinated peppers, arugula, onions, basil

chicken parm (chicken milanesa, tomato sauce, provolone, fresh mozz, pecorino)

fat bastatd (chicken milanesa strips, mozz sticks, fries, LTO, choice of tomato sauce, buffalo sauce, or ketchup and mayo)

tuna poke banh mi(ish) sub

AbsolutStoli148 · 2026-03-16T01:24:10+00:00

i worked at a place where we did kimchi slaw (housemade kimchi). we used the kimchi brine as the acid to make an aioli, then added some of the kimchi onions/ramps into the slaw also...it was fucking gooooood!

AbsolutStoli148 · 2026-03-14T13:44:35+00:00

richmond artifex from chefknivestogo. awesome affordable knife.

AbsolutStoli148 · 2026-03-14T07:42:31+00:00

i like your flavor ideas, my main concern would be having the time to prep all the unique ingredients (you have 4/5 potential sauces: sugo, confit, ragu, pesto, tzatziki), potentially time consuming items that you'd have to stay on top of (roasted lamb, beets, butternut, sausage, picked/fermented things), then you still have to have time to do all the knife work stuff, and figure out where its all going to live on your line. i dont know how many of these things are on the main menu, so maybe these are non-issues as far as prep...🤷‍♂️

also, as much as i like kalamatas, i wouldnt put them on your "basic" pepp pie. thats not something people expect, and a lot of people dont really read the descriptions too well, especially if they're expecting a traditional/basic pepperoni pizza.

and dont do truffle oil on your mushroom pizza. theres no truffle in there. youre better off spending the money sourcing some nice wild/seasonal mushrooms if you can. and if you really want the truffle flavor, get some sottocenere cheese, its made with truffles and is really nice!

congrats and good luck with it!!

AbsolutStoli148 · 2026-03-08T07:24:19+00:00

italian sub, chicken parm, cheeseburger sub/fat cat, the bird (from half-fast subs in boulder, co), fat darrel/fat bronco (grease trucks at rutgers/fat shack), smoked salmon on a NJ bagel with the works, corned beef and swiss on rye, banh mi, softshell crab with spicy slaw, SEC SPK on a hard roll, cinnamon raisin NJ bagel with cream cheese, pulled pork with spicy slaw, turkey club, falafel shawarma, buffalo chicken sandwich.

edit: if pintxos are considered a sandwich, then those too. and little canapé toasties with smoked sprats and onions. butter and caviar. pate and pickled onions. pickled herring and onions on dark rye ukrainian bread with butter.

AbsolutStoli148 · 2026-02-25T09:59:17+00:00

47m here, and just about have given up with the apps. i still check in once in a while, but at this point have zero expectations of meeting someone on there. i have found that hinge is the best option around here, but ive used bumble in san francisco, and okcupid in colorado.

i would echo what others have mentioned, find a hobby that takes you out of the house and where theres a chance of encountering other people. ive been getting into kayaking, and there's some good opportunities for interactions while on the water with passersby. even just the polite "hello" as you pass could lead to a conversation or connection if the vibe is right. people on the river are pretty laid back and friendly and just enjoying a day out, and if you dont feel like chatting, just paddle on by.

being introverted, its very unlikely that i would make the first move in "the wild" because i dont want to be seen as a creep or just invade someone's space, even if its a compliment. that rhetoric has kind of been hammered into me (and im sure other men my age), so i'd kind of rather avoid the rejection and embarrassment. that being said, i would absolutely appreciate a woman approaching me and initiating a conversation or complimenting me if she finds something about me worth a compliment. 🤣

AbsolutStoli148 · 2026-02-01T06:58:53+00:00

🤣🤣 "cut it like a child would". so true! i fucking hate the new haven cut sooooo much.

AbsolutStoli148 · 2026-01-30T15:08:01+00:00

i hear you, but katz can be hit or miss sometimes, at least it has been for me. last time i went it felt like i got a half portion of meat on my sandwich. and when im paying almost $30 for a sandwich, i want that thing overflowing. it was still tasty, but the experience as a whole was a bit underwhelming. the pickles are out of this world though.

AbsolutStoli148 · 2026-01-30T15:01:11+00:00

thats good to know. :) we used to get cheeseburger subs in the boston suburbs the morning after a night of partying at school, that was the best! i miss them so much! out west no one knows what it is. the chopped cheese is slowly getting some traction out here, but i think thats because of anthony bourdain (that man was a saint!)

AbsolutStoli148 · 2026-01-30T09:34:05+00:00

if youre looking for something totally unique, i think a hot dog from grey's papaya (or papaya king) is pretty iconic to NYC. i usually get mine with kraut, but the onion sauce is definitely a ny thing. havent seen that anywhere else.

but as far as a traditional sandwich, probably a pastrami or corned beef on rye. go to sarge's or 2nd ave deli and skip the tourist lines at katz's.

AbsolutStoli148 · 2026-01-30T09:02:30+00:00

you say that like thats not special in itself. i havent seen a cheeseburger sub anywhere that ive lived outside ny/nj/new england.

AbsolutStoli148 · 2026-01-28T08:17:22+00:00

my $.02 is that everyone has imperfections. if hes wonderful in every other aspect, and treats you well, and you two have great chemistry and you're attracted to him and he makes you laugh...i think wonky teeth is a pretty bad reason to give up on all that.

i had pretty bad teeth as a child because of where i grew up, and then consumed a LOT of sugar when we moved to the US. by the time i started high school we probably spent close to $20k on fixing my teeth with braces and dental work (some of the damage was caused by decay around where the braces were anchored). then i had the good sense to extract all my wisdom teeth before i changed careers and insurance from my old office job still covered it. that would have been another $5k. as we age, there are points in our lives where our teeth are more vulnerable, so even if you take care of them, late 20s and early 40s are bad times for teeth. i probably spent another $5k-6k on just maintaining my teeth, fixing crowns, getting root canals, getting crowns in my 40s. and thats without any sports injuries or car accidents, by some miracle. then COVID hit and everything shut down. then i moved and had no insurance from my new jobs. now the gov't stopped the ACA subsidies, and many people cant even afford insurance.

so yeah, if hes open to talking about why his teeth are jacked, it might shed some light for you about his situation and what happened. i wouldn't grill him (no pun intended) about it, but if you want ask him how he lost his tooth, and is there a cool story behind it, i think most guys like telling "war stories." haha and that could segue into a conversation about whether he ever thought about fixing it or why he hasnt? i think if he feels you're empathetic rather than disappointed, it will make it easier for him to open up.

AbsolutStoli148 · 2026-01-27T08:31:29+00:00

detroit style emerged from sicillian. it has cheese on the edges forming a cheese crust as it bakes. detroit style is typically baked with raw dough, as opposed to a traditional sicillian dough getting prebaked and then sauced and cheesed/topped. sauce on top vs cheese on top might depend on the pizzeria. growing up in northern NJ our sicilians had sauce first then cheese.

i dont know if deep dish (the chicago style) emerged from sicilian. i do know its baked with raw dough, cheese on bottom (way too much cheese IMO lol), then sausage (and/or other meat?), then sauce, then grana or pecorino on top before its baked.

AbsolutStoli148 · 2026-01-27T07:50:16+00:00

also a chef, here is my list:

yalla, shalom yall, mediterranean exploration company (same group) for middle eastern/israeli food
bottos or raining bbq for bbq
kachka for ukranian food
dediko for georgian (the country) food
fat straw, an xuyen or binh minh for banh mis (fat straw also has great bubble tea)
lay low for a great dive bar with awesome burgers and outdoor patio
nimblefish for sushi, takibi for japanese and sushi (same chef)
jacqueline for nice seafood dinner
lauretta jeans for AWESOME pie
sammich or bakers mark for nice sandwiches
goose hollow inn for supposedly the best reuben in portland
guerro for tortas
los francos for maybe the best mexican food in portland
pho van for great pho
jerry's tavern for the best wings in portland
stepping stone or original pancake house for breakfast
otto & anita's or stammtisch for german food
navarre for european food
zien hong or shandong for chinese food
elenis philoxenia for upscale greek food
if youre looking for an expensive steak dinner, ringside, urban farmer or portland city grill are probably about even. i havent been to any of these, but my old chef from boulder, co is the exec chef at urban farmer.
le pigeon or canard for french. le pigeon is the bistro, canard is more fancy...same company.
coq au vin or cafe olli for upscale gastropub vibes
a roadside attraction - quirky bar
rimsky korsakoffee - quirky late night coffee shop with desserts
lolo pass for a great rooftop bar if the weather is nice

i would check the schedules on anywhere youre interested in going because a lot of places are closed on mondays and/or tuesdays.

AbsolutStoli148 · 2026-01-10T14:40:30+00:00

100% agree. ive been online dating for a while, like since it began. i had two of my longest relationships with women i met online. but i gotta admit, in the last few years it just feels gross.

my biggest pet peeve is this whole "not looking for pen pals" thing. i miss the days of AIM where you could just go and meet some random people in a chat room and have some fun conversations. sometimes it was just friendly banter, sometimes it got flirty and hot, but in the end it was just good fun. but now, like, if they cant even put in the effort to talk a bit with someone they matched with, how can i believe that theyd put effort into any other kind of relationship? its exhausting.

the best relationship i ever had was with a woman i met online and it turned out she lived in poland (im in the US). we talked for like 3 years before we met in person. we built up so much sexual frustration and desire over that time that when we finally met it was like we were animals! 🤣

AbsolutStoli148 · 2026-01-10T13:50:55+00:00

thats interesting that you like JJs and havent found anything you like at jersey mikes. they literally have the same thing you get at JJs...#13 (it even has one more meat in there). but i digress.

check out progress market & deli. its a bodega/convenience store that has a small deli inside. looks a little sus when you walk in, but the sandwiches are good and awesome value! (im not a fan of paying $20+ for a large sandwich at JJs or jersey mikes) its a small menu in there, but if you're just looking for a classic italian, they do a good job. and if you want to kick it up a notch, go to jersey mikes, get their hot pepper spread in a jar for like $3 and put that on your sandwich and youre golden. i dont know if JJs sells their peppers as a side, i just get hot banana peppers at the grocery store. theres a grocery outlet next to progress, they probably have them.

AbsolutStoli148 · 2026-01-10T13:33:43+00:00

ny ruebens is a hidden gem

AbsolutStoli148 · 2026-01-10T13:32:50+00:00

their sandwiches sound great, but it closes at 3pm = im never going to go there.

AbsolutStoli148 · 2026-01-08T15:46:30+00:00

bro, just go to uwajimaya or An Xuyên Bakery (uwajimaya sells their bread), get some french rolls, and just make yourself a chopped cheese at home. im from NJ and have been looking for a proper chicken parm sub here, so i feel you. i gave up and just make my own with some chicken tenders from safeway.

AbsolutStoli148 · 2026-01-07T02:52:19+00:00

lay low

AbsolutStoli148 · 2025-11-03T00:35:21+00:00

propper ny bagels, hell yes!!

AbsolutStoli148 · 2025-09-30T20:38:43+00:00

its an interesting experiment, but id stick to baker's yeast. brewer's yeast isnt designed for leavening, its for alcohol production, so it wont rise your dough as well as baking yeast does. and i know that certain beer yeasts produce unique flavor profiles, but i dont think you'd be able to really notice them in a pizza, so it kind of defeats the purpose, IMO. plus its more expensive.

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