Blake Martin

I would consider this to be one of the higher levels of line cooking in my career, as the restaurant quadrupled revenue in the first 12 months of my employment there. It has been a sleepy little neighborhood spot for a few years, but with the addition of my chef and good friend, as well as myself and a couple other new cooks, the bar was raised for service standards as well as the quality of food we served. The effort and hard work we all collectively put into the shop has paid off with not good money earned for all of us, but recognition from celebrities, chefs, as well as the Seattle Times. I firmly believe within the next 2 years that the restaurant could be in contention for a James Beard Award, the highest award a chef can attain in North America. I am very proud to work there.

My duties there have shifted from working dinner service every night, to being in charge of dough production and bread baking during the day, mostly working alone, which was a welcome change from grinding out intense nights with high stress levels, in a VERY fast paced environment.

This job was a pressure cooker, and one of the harder and more demanding jobs in my career given the insane volume of business we did on an average week. I got along fine with my coworkers but I grew to have a dislike for my boss/owner after witnessing behaviors I don't feel are appropriate for a leader to display to his team, as well as being very unforgiving when mistakes were made, public shaming of employees that were struggling, and drug use that he didn't attempt to hide. It was a toxic work environment, in a shady Belltown neighborhood, and I'm glad I don't work there anymore.