Welcome to my life behind the wall

So after many requests (happy Laura) I have decided it’s time for a update we have much to cover so I will try not to forget any details.

May 18th 2008

Location: Port Canerval Florida

Reason: Marinade of the Seas

Destination : Labadee, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Jamaica

7 days at sea in a suite what could be better.

Photos will be coming soon as i get them off my apple and onto this computer

We arrived at 11:00 am at the pier, waited on line outside about number 10 in line for 15 minutes enter the building and passed security and up the escalator to check in. Got on the Platinum and higher line with no one else in front or behind for that matter. and was at the desk in less than 3 minutes. Checked in got our Seapass cards and went to the VIP lounge for a cup of coffee and a snack because well we hadn’t eaten in say a hour. 1 bite and 2 sips into this tasty snack and we were told to come this way to board. We were on board the ship by 11:30 and were way ahead of the rest of the people sailing with us this week. We went straight to the spa and portofinos (the specialty Italian dining room) and made our reservations for the entire week for everything we wanted. Off to the windjammer for lunch, time now 12:00 general boarding has just started. In general I always hate the windjammer mainly because it’s so informal, not the case it seemed on this ship we had table side service for drinks and even free beverages were being served table side. After lunch not great food but ok we went down to explore the ship and the concierge lounge. This lounge is something I think more cruise lines need to invest in it is a place where suite guests and the top two tier guests of the past guests are allowed in they offer free cocktails at night before dinner the have sports on all over and someone special works there who will make arrangements for you to do just about anything you wanted to do I asked to steer the ship and got told let me get back to you. Next day a pass to visit the bridge while we sailed away was in my room on the desk with a note from Capt. Johnny. Saying please come to the bridge by 5:45 for sail away from labdee Haiti. So at 5:45 we went to the spot and were permitted to watch sail away from the fly bridge with the captain. talk about something else you never imagine all the yelling and people running around checking things while the ship is leaving. Then quiet and silence and we were at sea. the next day we were in Jamaica a place I use to love but now it’s so over run with poverty and crime i just like to visit the shopping area near the ship behind the moat with the men dressed like Rambo guarding it. Oh and the few urban assault vehicles that were parked there also. So this day we went to the spa and had a great time, first time in my cruising experance that they diden’t give me the big sales pitch and I got extra time because the spa had no more booking after me. so a extra 15 minutes of bliss.

I need to stop here and take a moment to mention that this cruise was something my parents booked with me over a year ago when my mom started her chemo treatments as something special to look forward to.

The next stop for the ship was Grand Cayman and it’s world famous 7 mile beach. Once again we got early tender tickets for this port and were on the terra firma (hows that usage of words there laura) within 15 minutes of leaving the ship. And in a taxi to the beach we choose for the day. The taxi ride was good the driver wasn’t nuts but he did try to shake us down after we agreed on a price with the dispatcher and him. But the rest of the people with us in the taxi agreed that they too had the same price quoted to them and we refused to budge so he tried the old i don’t have change of that money so we went and got change because at this point no one was giving a tip sorry mon go back to Jamaica. The sand on the beach was nice but Jones Beach in NY is the same in my opinion the water was crystal clear and warm that was very nice to snorkel in . The chair rental and umbrella were a bit over priced but we paid for two waited a bit for the chair guy to wander off and took 3 sorry chair man we ripped you off. But $10 for a chair for a few hours plus a umbrella and another chair were almost $35. Oh and we were only there for 3 hours because it got really hot and there was no breeze so we left and went back into town for a bit of browsing and shopping.

Cozumel we had a great time here once again we just did the day on our own and wandered around town and had a few beverages. I always avoid places like senior frogs or Carlos and Charlies and even margaritaville because well they are tourist traps and if i wanted to go into one of these i would stay home and go to my local bar for a few. And not have to watch some drunken girl be harassed to get on girls gone wild. Cozumel is the place if you want to do some shopping it seems they will sell you anything you could think of. Silver is a main driving factor there. Wen happened on a museum in our travels and needed a bit of a/c as it was getting hot out and a bit humid. So we went in and paid and then proceeded to enter the first exhibit that they had to turn the lights on and the a/c in the museum turned out to be a converted hotel that was now a museum and had some offices and a small cantina for lunch and snacks. It was rather boring as they really only had a bunch of stuff that focused on rainfall and agriculture on the island.

Dining room: The main dining room on the ship is a three deck room with a huge atrium in the middle of it with a crystal chandelier hanging over the captains table. We were on the top deck near the windows so we got to watch the ship sail a few nights and the sun set most.

Crew: I have to say I have cruised many times and well the crew are always so nice and friendly even the window washer were nice. Our waiters and bar staff were great also. I even made a few crew friends including the bar tender in the night club who by then end of the week was charging me for 1 drink and giving me 5 or 6 and a few shots. I won’t say his name or what bar because well I’ve noticed a few hits from RCCL on my blog, and don’t want to get anyone in hot water.

Conclusion: All in all the ship was a great place to spend a week and we all had fun. So much that we booked the ship again for next year when she is sailing to the Mexican Rivera a place we have all been before but we really liked the ship.

Custom Kitchen and Cocktails

New York New York

3rd Ave. between 28th and 27th

Today i had to go into Manhattan for some business meeting that I won’t go into but took a shot at meeting Princess Laura the sweet and innocent for dinner in seeing we haven’t been able to make it happen since winter See Olivia blog. So I sent her a text message asking if she would like to have dinner tonight. Her instant response I’m talking less than 3 seconds folks was yes i would love to. So we meet at Custom Kitchen and Cocktails in NYC for dinner and drinks. Seems someone knew it was Martini night there, So after my last meeting that ran later than expected bloody people never stop talking about nothing. I hopped a cab over there and was a few minutes late but sent a text to her saying sorry stuck in traffic be there in less than 5 minutes. Got out of the cab and proceeded to walk down the street looking or this place. And totally missed it, walked right past it and Laura who claims to have said my name but I ignored her and kept going crossed the street and check the other side. Then i started to think i wrote the wrong address down so i called her on the cell and she stated that I had just walked past her on the other side of 3rd ave. So back across the street and there we were we took a table outside on the sidewalk and enjoyed our time drinking and eating things neither of us should have.

We talked about the Evil crew (hi all) and the upcoming bloggers cruise in 2009 and a few personal things. All in all it was a great time and I’m glad we finally got to have dinner again. I have to say Laura is someone i feel like i have known for a very long time and this is only the second time we’ve actually gotten together. Must be the crew emails and all the time in the chat room.

We decided to walk back towards her PATH train and Penn Station for me to get home in time to watch the Travel Channel for the Samantha Brown trip on the inspiration. Seems we picked a good time as both of us had a train waiting for us to get there. On board and headed home with a few funny text messages being exchanged between laura and myself and Elaine who I can’t wait to meet and have a few drinks with.

So that is about all I have to report for now folks. Please comment I know it takes time but it makes me happy to read your responses.

Best to all,

Kevin

Greetings to you all, sorry I have been so neglecting in my posting of late. So right now it’s Friday night March 28 around 9:00pm and I am sitting here at my desk, with  a nice glass of wine and writing this blog to you. Oh I should tell you what wine I am drinking in seeing some of you I know enjoy a good glass of vino. I am drinking,  Chimney Rock Elevage, 2003 from the Stage Leap District in Napa California. It is a Red Wine and boy is it good.

So lets get things started, I had to recently purchase a new Digital Camera seems mine decited that it was done with life and went blurry. So I am the new proud owner of a Canon Powershot SX1000 IS. 8.0 megapixles 10x zoom, and I think it will drive the car also, when needed maybe after i finish this bottle we will go for a drive. Ok we won’t, but i think it said we could in the manual.  I am pleased to report that my Mother is doing rather well all things considered with her recovery from breast cancer. So well my parents are in Italy right now as I type this to you all for two weeks. Hope they are having fun, they earned it last year.

Ahh yes the bloggers and of course my fellow evil krewe members.  I am so very happy that Sue is well on her way to recovery, and I feel rather like I might have let her down. The reason I needed a new digital camera was to record a message to sue but after using my old one I discovered it was busted. So Sue, from the bottom of my heart and ED’s wallet I am very happy you are back with us.

Work has been god awful lately mainly because I am doing not only my job but one of the General Managers for the last three weeks also, this is a large part of the reason I haven’t been posting to you all or responding to emails. I will promise you a new blog at least twice a week starting next week after Wednesday. I am pleased to inform you all that since starting my blog last year we have almost broken 75,000 hits or slaps as John would call them. I thank you all for your support and encouragement when needed and given.

So about the next Bloggers Cruise I see the Krewe has been growing and the ideas are starting to flow and I can’t wait to see what we nail down soon. I promise I will return to being more involved soon too you all.

Well I think that should do it for now, I need to get to be soon for work tommrow morning if I’m going to prepare breakfast for 40 people by 8am. So best to you all I look forward to reading your comments.

Kevin

Let me start by saying ” Ok Elaine you can start breathing again”

So we enter the restaurant after a few nice pleasantries outside and ask for a table for two. Now please don’t forget it was rather cold out this night. So we are given a table next to the door. Now I have to tell people who have never really eaten in a regular restaurant in NYC they are really small kitchens are usually in the basement. So they pull out the table Laura hops into the back and i grab the chair. So they bring us menu’s we order some tapas, most of them were great right laura ? And we continue chatting about the bloggers, of course the next Bloggers Cruise, and well the evil crew (Krewe now it seems) and enjoy a nice meal together a few pitchers of Sangria. And we skipped dessert in seeing we were both rather stuffed.  We finish up I pay the check and we get up to leave. Mind you while we were eating the place filled up completly. There were people out on the streets waiting to get in.

So we take a nice walk to the subway and wander down into the dark. And wait for the train to come and take us uptown for me to Penn Station and for Laura the Path station. All things considered we had a great time together and hopefully can do it once again soon.

Kevin

Friday night I had the great chance to meet a fellow Blogger for dinner in New York City. I took the Long Island Rail Road into Penn Station in mid-town Manhattan. Then walked over to the V line subway station. For those who want to know where it is it’s on the corner of 34th street and Herald Square  basically it’s on  the same corner as Macy’s Flagship store. You know riding the subway in new york is always a experance, you never know what your going to see or what is going to happen. So I go down into the tunnel and am standing on the platform and there is a Hispanic man with a hand truck with three large boxes on it. Looks like a delivery person to just about everyone. Now the first time I saw this man walk by i thought nothing of it at all but by the 4th time a few of us on the platform were starting to wonder. Then the train cam and I boarded. Now if you have never ridden the subway it is hard to explaine the smell and the looks of a subway car and how it operates. See most of the cars are from the late 70’s early 80’s so the color of the seats on most are a yellow and orange. Ugly but they work. Most people my self included stand when riding the subway and hold onto a pole or a over head pole in the car. I was talking on my phone with a co-worker who needed help. Now i wasen’t totally paying attention to where I was as far as stops went and I knew I wanted to get off at 2nd ave. the stop was right outside the restaurant. I got off at 14th street. Why because well lets just say there was a homeless person going a bit nuts in the car. And well I wanted to get off before he got any crazier. Myself and a few others. Now this is where it got insterting. I was way way way to far off from where i was heading it wasen’t even close within 3 or 4 blocks take a look.

This is about the route i took on foot from 14th to E Houston.  Give or take a few blocks in either direction. Would I do it again yes. But not in winter it was cold cold cold. It was a very nice walk actually I enjoyed the sights and sounds of the lower east side and the village. Always fun to get lost in new york for a little while. To those of you who only thing new york is full of skyscrapers and million doller hotels well it has those but it also has places like the lower east side that are homes and a community. With local shops and stores. Where people are friendly. So now i’m about 4 blocks away and it’s a few minutes to 6:30 so i Call Laura and tell her where i am and it seems she is not to far ahead of me (bugger she probably got off at the right stop). So I walk and walk and walk. And then I’ve arrivied. there is Laura standing out side of Oliva a Spanish Tapas Restaurant. yes they have a website if you want to visit or just take a look. Http://www.olivanyc.com 

Well I would love to write more for you all but I need to get in gear and head to work so I will write more for you all later and of course add more pictures

Well as many of you know who read my blog I am a executive chef and a member of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs I am alumni of the Culinary institute of America. I have cooked around the world and for special events and people for many occasions. So i know more than most when it comes to food and presentation and skill level. Tonight I took a date to Gordon Ramsey’s Restaurant at the London Building in New York City. I borrowed a few images for you all from their website taking pictures on a second date at a place like this not cool and I’ll explain even more shortly.

OkI think you got the point about this place now. So like I was saying I have a large background in the food service industry and I also happened to work for Chef Ramsey as a intern after the CIA. And His Chef De’ Cuisine happens to still be a close friend of mine. So tonight I went to dine with him at the chef’s table For those who want to know what that really is basically it’s a table located in the kitchen where the executive chef or Chef de’ Cuisine cook and entertains you and acts as your main server. So I was invited tonight to attend and to bring a guest, along with my current boss and owner who is a great person in his own right. Now we both live on Long Island and there are a few options when going into new york city from long island the Train cheap effective reliable sometimes. Or you drive, well I don’t know about you but I like to have a few drinks with dinner so driving is not a option so we took a limo no one drives and we can relax and drink en-route and rest going home.

Ah right back to chef’s table most of the time you will se it’s a price fixed experance because thats what it usually is tonight was 8 courses and 9 different kinds of wine all paired with the food. I won’t even go into cost. So tonight we were guests with a special invitation, we also convinced my boss’s uncle who happens to be the CEO of Patina Restaurant group to join us. Well to put it in general terms if you have eaten in epcot in the last few months in Italy you ate at his restaurant, The Disney Music Center in LA, Rockefeller Center Cafe in new york, Naples 45 in new york cafe centro new york. Any way he is one of the top food and beverage executives in the world and he is my boss’s uncle, talk about a great man and a even better conversationalists.

So tonights meal was 8 courses one better than the rest and me there in the middle of it all with my boss and friend cooking for us all. When I called him today to tell him by boss’s uncle was coming well he was scared. But I think he did a great job Nick diden’t complain and he enjoyed. We started with a Amuse Bouche Ravioli of tiger prawn with fennel cream, shellfish vinaigrette and chervil velouté. Talk about to die for the flavors and freshness of this dish that is very small but layered and presented so perfectly I knew were were getting the A game tonight.  The salad came next followed by a crab bisque soup that was not overly right but seasoned and cooked to perfection. Them onto a intermezzo course and then dinner tonight we all had the Loin of venison roasted in cocoa butter, braised red cabbage, quark dumplings and bitter chocolate. Ahh there is no other way that to say yum. Then Dessert Valrhona chocolate fondant with caramelized banana ice cream, vanilla moelleux and malted milk, Also we were served the Slow baked quince with crème Catalan and Pedro Ximenez gelée. And if that wasn’t enough the Cinnamon sable with lemongrass foam, raspberry cremeux and Kilchurn Estate honeycomb Came out next Followed by the Bitter chocolate mousse with coffee granité and a light ginger cream. By this point well if you diden’t need a angioplasties you were dead already.

So If you have the chance to dine here please be sure to try the menu order things that you want to try, and be sure to ask advice from the server and even more so ask for paired wine recommendations because tonight they were spot on.

Have a great cruise folks I’ll be suffering here with 5 star dinners

Kevin

Sorry folks I haven’t been blogging enough to not only you all but for myself either work has been well my life for the last few weeks. Along with a trip home to see my parents and a visit to Hawaii for a family wedding

Just a few pictures to get everyone feeling in the island mood there from my visit to Hawaii

This is the Fairmount Princess Hotel Plaza I took my parents to a 5 star restaurant there one night called La Hacenidia (sp?) Any way they loved it great place if you ever visit the valley of the sun and it’s about 10 minutes if that from my parents house in North Scottsdale.

This of course if my parents house in Arizona. great place sorry I diden’t take any more photos of it though. As far as all the traveling I’ve been doing it’s been great to have some time off after the holidays are over. next trip California for yet another wedding these cross country flights are starting to get old fast. I promise you all I will post another blog soon I want to wish everyone going on the cruise in a few days a great trip and a great time and better yet great weather. Have fun play safe

Kevin

Sorry it’s been so long folks but a new blog will be posted soon

Kevin

I have to say that i really love this time of the year it brings many things into perspective for me. Maybe for you too. I know that this is a time of year that I work so hard, not just because I’m busy turning out large amounts of food and cooking 7 days a week for the entire month. It’s because I feel that people are leaving their holiday cheer in my hands. Even all the hundreds of catering jobs I work on and some I even complete with personal delivery myself. I feel that these people some I know well others I’ve never meet in my life are asking me to cook their holiday meal, for their FAMILY. That says alot, yes I am proud to do this. But I’m also honored that people trust me to preform as a professional and give them a meal that will not only wow, but be enjoyable, and tailored to their specific requests and needs.

I have to say this now to all my friends in blog land, I greatly appreciate how much of a family some of us have become you know who you are, we’ve laughed, cried, argued, and comforter each other for almost a year now and even if we’ve never meet we are a family in many aspects. To me that is great, and makes writing this even more enjoyable. I thank you all for a great year and look forward to many more and hopefully the family will keep on growing for a very long time and if it doesn’t who cares we have each other.

One finally thought I probably won’t be blog writing for the next few weeks please leave comments or email me if you have the information, and I will do the best to respond to you all.  Have great Holiday season, and don’t forget have fun, without fun why bother. Best wishes to all

Kevin McVeigh

Thanks to all of you this blog has broken the 18,000 slaps, hits mark. Sorry for such a lack inblogging lately work has been very busy for me. Happy thanksgiving all
Kevin