Evolution of Love 2

About trust

This is not a story of hope. This is a story about trust.

I woke up with a start yet again at 5 am, and without good reason. This is the way it is these days. For years, sleep has been peaceful and functional -- even when short -- eased by long days driven by passion and single-minded purpose. There was work, and then rest.

But now everything is unsettled, for all of us. And sleep has become the first casualty, an insomniac canary sounding alarm. Perhaps it’s the unremitting uncertainty. Perhaps it’s guilt one feels for all those who kept our work going in better times, with unhindered pace and unstinting dedication -- but now first victims of this ponzi scheme of misery that has entrapped us all.

The platitudes do little to help, either them or the work we do. ‘This too shall pass’... yes, but at what price and to whom? A business does not run on mere fumes of hope, crossing our fingers and praying for the best. A business requires trust, more so when it involves food. To cook and feed others is perhaps the most intimate business of all.

So we start anew today armed solely with this trust -- in ourselves, and in our patrons (has the word ever been more apt?). This photo -- -- is an emblem of that unflinching step forward. I took this photo yesterday, at the end of a long night. The gorgeous, stylish space we created -- disheveled and partly undressed -- as it readies itself to welcome you again. And in that moment, as the nuts and bolts of who we are and what we do lay bared, I felt… hope. For myself, yes. I hope more for our brave team which has brought back this restaurant with sheer grit and ingenuity -- doing, learning and never relenting. Above all, I hope for all of us caught in this sleepless, seemingly neverending night.

That hope, however, is not flimsy, but rests on the sturdy shoulders of the trust we have built with each one of you. Trust that we will put food on the table with utmost care for your safety. Trust that our new (if shortened) menu will delight with its creativity. Trust that you will delight in our food and service, and honour the hard work of our staff in these most difficult of circumstances. And perhaps after many such good meals shared together, we can all enjoy that rarest of pleasures: a good night’s sleep.