At the beginning of a big event tonight, I was asked if I heard about Chef, Chef Bob?
He died in his sleep last night.
Blindsided, it didn't make sense?! My friend, Chef, is so full of spunk and spice and life.
It's funny the thoughts that raced through my mind. When did I see him last? When he came in to meet the new management team, he walked into my office with the new management guys sitting there, in grand arrival looked at me first and said, "Hello, Sunshine!" then he looked at them and introduced himself.
Two hours later he walked out the door. That was the last time I saw him.
The last time I spoke with him was a week ago, we were playing phone tag, which we often did because we are both so busy. We never did connect on what we needed to discuss, but that was our working relationship and it was fine for us.
Bob, had to be around 57 years old. He had three adult children and two adorable grandsons he was incredibly in love with. He was a workaholic who's passion was cooking, he was eloquent and well spoken, deeply loved his family, and he truly was an artist.
He adored me and we were a great team. The Langmore's annoyed his soul and with his dry wit, I would roll in laughter at his sarcasm and bulls eye comments describing each family member. We would laugh, bond, then work.
He would ask me if I was hungry, what do I want to eat? I would say, what ever is easiest and minutes later an amazing presentation would be presented to me on a plate fit to be photographed in a magazine.
When the sale was going through where we work together, he wrote me a reference letter, wanting to secure my position and here is what he said:
From the desk of Chef Robert *******
11/22/18
To Whom It May Concern,
This letter is to offer introduction and reference for Ms. Dawn ******, a young lady of great and various talents and abilities.
....
Dawn is a powerhouse of social interaction and business
connectivity. She has a visionary attitude that is driven by an organized mind,
and a bubbly but savvy personality, and her promotional mindset and constant
energy, coupled with an unorthodox view of how to bring very different clients
and consumers together are strong tools in today’s socially driven business
universe.
Dawn possesses and displays considerable analytic strengths,
both in practical applications of structure and in design theory, she sees in
advance of issues; missed opportunities, future client outreach, branding
issues, and pockets of stagnant or unattended development inside an existing
format.
Combined with her personality and energy, I believe Dawn to
be a universal asset to any business that requires growth, promotion, energy
and talent with a human face.
In closing, in my 41 years in the hospitality industry, I
have often wished for a team mate of Dawn’s character and caliber. In my opinion, no
company could ask for a better representative, nor an individual a better
friend.
Sincerely,
Robert *******Executive Chef
My heart is breaking at his passing.
Chef was my friend and I will truly carry the fondest memories of him. I will miss his commanding presence, his dry wit and humor, his friendship, and his incredible culinary talent. He took pride in his work and I learned so much from him.
He was my friend and will truly be missed.
Rest in peace, Chef.
