buzzin' like a honeybee

Mayer Hawthorne, I adore you and everything, but damn. This is straight up manwhore status.

the job

I keep meaning to tell you about my new job, as in every day I think, “damn, I keep mentioning my new job, but have never actually described what I do.” Well, NO LONGER. I'm going to tell you about my job, and how I've been living the dream life for almost a month now.

For starters, in early June, right as I was beginning the hardcore task of designing and writing my senior thesis book — oh yeah, I need to write about that as well — I received a Facebook message from a friend of a friend suggesting that I email my résumé to a restaurant group that needed a designer.

Time out. I could design about food? Done deal. I spent a day redesigning my résumé, and emailed it, along with a link to this blog and this video,  without even really knowing what the position entailed. Not even a day later, I received an email asking if I could meet the following week.

Um, YES.

Driving to the interview that day, I'm not even sure what was going through my mind. I was nervous, anxious, excited, not to mention confused as to what I would be doing. Honestly, I didn't care. Anyone who knows me knows that I love food, talking about it, photographing it, cooking it, all that jazz. To design for food, even if all it meant was redesigning a menu, was something I had dreamt about doing for ages. 

I met Meshe, the boss lady of the entire operation, and Lida, the current multimedia maven, at Society Fair. My first thoughts at Society Fair were:

a. How come I had never been to this wondrous place?

b. Oh, look! Baked goods!

c. Whatever it is they want, vina, you say yes.

The interview was a combination of them complimenting my work (I dare you not to get a big head slash think about crying when someone says, “we love your work,” “you're exactly what we want,” and “we don't want to meet anyone else.”) and me trying to play it super cool and not jump for joy while they described the position.

Let me break it down. I, vina sananikone, am EatGoodFood Group's newest marketing multimedia maven (AND my title is alliterated? Too much. Too much to handle.). My job entails photographing, writing, promoting, blogging, and designing for the group's seven establishments: Restaurant Eve, PX, the two Eamonn's A Dublin Chippers, Society Fair, The Majestic, TNT, and Virtue Feed & Grain. 

I had walked into an interview without knowing what I was interviewing for, and had walked away with my dream job. I had hit the universe's karmic jackpot. What does one do when one lands her dream job? Besides calling my mother, which should always be number one, I walked down King Street, bought an ice cream cone from Ben & Jerry's (the one with the caramel and the potato chips), sat on a bench near the water, and hung out with a duck. True story.

Two months later, a trip to the beach, a trip to Manhattan (to eat!), an 140+ page hand bound book, and a graphic design bachelor's of fine arts degree later, I started my job. I designed signage for the new Eamonn's and beer dinner flyers for Virtue that first week. I got to sit in on a hardcore web developing meeting my third day.

I spent the second week at Eamonn's Columbia Pike, not only designing, but helping wherever I could during their opening week. Remember that time I started working for a restaurant group and they opened a new restaurant on my second week? Sheer madness. I was moving type in the mornings, and greeting diners in the evening. “Hi! Welcome to Eamonn's! Would you like to look at a menu while you wait?” I must have said that a thousand times. In between greeting people (I might have ambushed some people on the street, insert sheepish laugh here), I would fold menus, bus tables, and clear dirty trays. I loved absolutely every minute of it. I loved that I was their designer, and that I was bussing tables. I liked the fact that my employers, the owners of seven successful restaurant/bars, were well in the middle of production. Meshe was in the kitchen washing trays, and Chef Armstrong, her husband and head chef of the four-star Restaurant Eve, was slinging fish and chips at record speed. No snobbery. They did what needed to be done. 

My favorite part of this job, though there are many, is that this is not just a bunch of people who work in restaurants. This is a family. Meshe is this wild woman who oversees everything, yet still has time to take her children to Tae Kwon Do practice. (Side note, I love their children, Eve and Eamonn. Oooh, see what they did there?). Todd Thrasher, mixologist extraordinaire, is married to Maria, manager at Virtue. Everyone is connected. I meet someone new each day, and not only are these people the best at what they do, they love to do it. They hop from restaurant to restaurant, which has been both helpful and confusing when it comes to remembering names and faces. Oh, you work at Society Fair? I just saw you at Eamonn's!

Now, I don't have a background in marketing. I have a background in graphic design, photography, printmaking (and eating). I do know a bit about blogs (how many blogs do you have again, vina?). We have all these amazing restaurants, filled to the brim with good food and awesome people. I plan to present them to the world, so that the world will love EatGoodFood as much I do already. 

Watch out, food world! Je suis arrivée.

(I completely understand if you do not wish to read this post. It is, after all, more words than I have written in over a month on Lemonade Lists. If you like, you can look at the gif-laden meme post I wrote back in June, when all of this began. And so it begins.)

The Arsonist at PX

I popped into PX to photograph Todd for Capitol File today, as well as The Arsonist cocktail, also known as The Arsonist Has Oddly-Shaped Feet: Dewars 12 Year Scotch, Barenjager, tarragon, housemade apple and pear bitters. I'm still not sure what bitters are. Side note, the light in PX is damn dim. Must work on my low light photo skills. 

oh, lady times.

Russian Rachel: Omg I love when I can use my impending bitchiness to my advantage.
“oh, we have a critique tomorrow? Let someone try to tell me my font is hard to read. LET. THEM. TRY.”

Bread, butter, jam. Heaven.

Batch loaf from Society Fair. The best.
Oh, you mean the Society Fair where I'll be designing signage for the next week or two?
Surrounded by pastries, green sausage, and Julien's oh-so beautiful pâté en croûte?
Wonderful.

Isn't that just always the way.

went into Target for a black cardigan, and maybe facial cleanser.

walked out with five boyfriend tees, yogurt, deodorant, and some allergy medication.

Jeffrey: I was getting a massage once, and they asked me, “do you have a problem with a male masseur?” I was like, “no? You can give me two guys, I don't care.”

that time Stephanie surprised me with sweet treats

Filipino sweet treats from Sweet City Desserts: ube cupcake, mango cupcake, kalamansi pie, and that passion fruit goat cheese tart that was like the best cheesecake I've ever tasted, and I don't even care for cheesecake most of the time. 

My friends are the best.

Top chef and cooks with grandma's looks.

I want to go to a party that feels like this song.

deep fried burghers and hangover chips

Take out menu for the new Eamonn's, opening Monday. Supposedly.
I craved fried sweets the entire time I was designing this menu.

Yummy

me: My boss has two beagles, Albie and Yum Yum. His name makes me laugh every time.

Stephanie: It's a cute name. I'd name a dog “Yummy,” but I'm Asian so it would look bad.

Hope y'all like Belgian Beer, because we're Brusseling up some for you to enjoy

the first thing I designed for the new job!

Is this real life?

1. I start my new job today.
2. Come tonight, probably very late tonight, I'm going to be done with my book, binding and all.

HELLS. YES. I fully plan on celebrating with all of you.

photo via Pure Awesomeness

Something that didn't make it into the book

I don’t even have a favorite food. There’s no way; they’re all so good. I can, however, tell you the words that catch my eye. Anything with avocado. Anything that says slow in the description, slow-roasted, slow-braised. You know you’re in for a good time when food is taken slowly. All the dairy products: whipped cream, heavy cream, and, oh god, butter. I once saw “butter-poached” in a menu. 

A. butter.
B. slowly simmered in butter.

Be still my heart.

I have a copious (I was going to say shit-ton but felt this was nicer) amount of things I want to post, but all am ten shades of busy for the next few days so, for now, here is a photo from my recent trip to Manhattan of some dogs in TriBeCa.