While I am not alone in the type of relationship that I had with Larry, I am part of a small group of people that are related to Larry, worked for Larry and have not been fired by Larry. Well if he did fire me, he never told me.
I was not old enough to drive, but Larry said I was old enough to cook in the kitchen for him. What seemed like every Saturday and Sunday Larry would come and pick me up, take me to “The Sandwich man”. I would be in the kitchen for Breakfast and Lunch. Flipping eggs, pancakes, waffles, making home fries and helping do whatever I could. YES, I got yelled at often!
By the time the yelling would stop, he would give you a smile to let you know it was OK. (Maybe I only got the smile as a way to let me know not to worry, he would still give me a ride home…. I never did ask him about that).
Lunch was almost always a turkey club with fries. When Lunch was over, Larry would make some bad joke and tell me to go get ready to “goto work”. He would then take me to Chumleys and my 2nd job would start. Sometimes I would be in the kitchen, others standing alone in the space used as the deli during the day shucking oysters and clams. Weekdays when I did not have school I was in the Deli. As I got older, the days would start in the deli and end in the kitchen. It did not matter what part of the restaurant, or the name of the restaurant. I am sure I got yelled at most days but I never took it personal. After a few minutes, he would walk by, glance over at me and give me a smile. He was never mad at me. He just needed to unwind “Larry’s way”. I would not trade it for anything…
In the end, it was all worth it!
If it was not for my “job” (aka, forced labor J) I would never have had the opportunity to cook next to my cousin Michael. Both Michael and Larry took the time to teach me what they could about the business and cooking. Michael taught me more about cooking in a restaurant than anyone else I have known.
The life lessons both Michael and Larry taught while working in the restaurant, I still use today. Cook with passion, When you cook with nothing, you get food that tastes like nothing and so many others.
Today my job is in computers and when things get crazy, I just stop and think about working for Larry. If I/we were able to handle all of the tickets in the sandwich man that would come in on a Sunday morning in the blink of an eye, all while Larry is pacing from the “window” to the back of the kitchen yelling at you… then I KNOW I CAN handle anything. Staying calm helped Larry stay calm. Today, when work is stressful and it gets crazy, I just think back to Larry. If I can stay calm with Larry looking over my shoulder, I can stay calm though anything.
I was a young kid when I first started working for Larry. He took a chance on me in his kitchen and I worked hard to not let him down. As I got older, when he needed some extra help, he would ask and I happily drive to either restaurant (or both) and do whatever was needed.
Maybe it’s just me, but now and then I do miss it. Spending the day with my uncle and cooking with my cousin was all worth it.
I did get paid for my work, (But I never did clearly understand what my hourly rate was) I would have done it all for free….Well in exchange for my turkey club for lunch and Chicken teriyaki for dinner.
We each have our own memories of Larry. He will be forever in our hearts and live on in all of those memories.
Good Bye Uncle Larry. You will be missed.
