À la carte Jesus

I went to lunch with a friend the other day and he suggested we go to one of those “make your own” pizza places that are heating up (no pun intended) the lunch scene. The concept has carried over from simple sandwich shops to single serving pizza shops to build your own burger joints. Restaurants are shifting away from generic entrées and adapting to à la carte style menus, where you can create your own dining experience, tailored specifically to your tastes and preferences.

Customization is highly desirable, even expected, in our culture. We alter our houses, our closets, and our cars. We tailor our clothes to fit our bodies, we buy sandals that mold to the arch of our feet, and we sleep on mattresses that adjust to our bodies. We have a liking for things that are modified to our own preferences, tastes, and opinions. We like to pick and choose in order to have the à la carte experience.

But when did we start to also have an à la carte Jesus?

The world will tell you the idea of “Truth” with a capital “T” is something that is very much personal; We define our own values, beliefs, and ideas of right and wrong. With this logic, we've reached an epidemic of everyone is seeking truth with no one able to find it or to define it. We left it so open-ended and so individualized, that nothing holds weight outside of its beholder. In a “what floats your boat” mentality, we are left with only our own opinions and our own accountability, and if you factor in how many times you have been wrong or mistaken or failed, there is not much hope for trust in your own judgment. 

The beauty of God’s word is that it brings us the very Truth our souls so desperately crave. The Truth with a capital “T” kinda stuff. 2^nd Samuel 22:31 tells us, “God's way is perfect. All the LORD's promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.”

Perfect.

God’s way is perfect.

All His promises are proven true.

But despite the irrefutable, undeniable perfection and sovereignty of God and the flawed and crooked nature of our ways, we opt for the à la carte option; we tailor God to us instead of us to God.

It’s a contradiction. We come to know perfection, God himself.  The very One who died so we may live. But we don’t accept all of him.  But we don’t accept all of Him. We remove bits and pieces of His Truth and replace them with our desires and compromises. We choose fun times, hazy memories, tempting options, and slippery slopes because after all, God loves us and He forgives. He will forgive our bad decisions and all will be well. He’s got to expect us to fail at some point anyway, right?

Stressed?

Late Friday afternoon I was driving to meet with my coach and my head just started pounding. It had been a rough few weeks and I was exhausted, and my throbbing migraine was yet another reminder of the accumulated stress. It was that feeling where you no longer have words and you just want a time out.

I've never been stressed like this. A lot of things had come together, all creating a perfect storm of stress, and led to me stressing about not stressing about the stress that was stressing me out. Did you follow that?

As I made the drive and was woken by the sudden breaking of 5 p.m. post work commuters, for a brief moment, it was a feeling of defeat. That's it life, you win, I'm out. But before I surrendered to life's trivial trauma, the lightbulb went off: "have you prayed about it as much as you've stressed about it?"

There it was.

And the answer was probably not.

Okay, no. I didn't.

I was trying so hard to manage that I forgot the very essence of what makes all things possible.

Life's stresses are not unique to me or you. They're an every day, every person reality. Things happen. My particular stresses were a combination of a few things, with the major being going to the doctor and hearing bad news. When a doctor says this is bad, you know it's bad. I'm a sick person, and I am still learning how to deal with it, how to balance and how to take care of myself.

But, what I so foolishly forget is that I actually don't have to be figuring this all out on my own.

Quote of the Day 02/19/15

"Patience strengthens the spirit, sweetens the temper; stifles anger; subdues pride; bridles the tongue; she makes us humble in prosperity, cheerful in adversity, unmoved by calumny and reproach; she teaches us to forgive those who have injured us, and to be the first in asking forgiveness of those whom we have injured; she delights the faithful, and invites the unbelieving."         [Bishop Horne]

Quote of the Day 02/04/15

“Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” [C.S. Lewis]

Juniper & Ivy: A Love Story

(It's important to note the title suggestion I received from my editor Andrew -

 "I'm obsessed and may need clinical help")

By what merits do we call something exceptional or extraordinary? Ideas of perfection seem always to be subjective. Perfection, like beauty, is found in the eye of the beholder.  

That being said, I’d like to assert that I have found perfection, the crème de la crème, the best of the best, the very thing that should be the standard by which all challengers should be compared to and to which all contenders should aspire to be.

That standard of perfection? 

A restaurant (the other is my mama, and you can read that post here).

Juniper & Ivy, your name should be listed as the synonym for perfection in every foodie’s thesaurus.  

Juniper & Ivy interior and kitchen,
and my designated seating..the plating station!

Juniper & Ivy is the gastronomic child of food genius, Top Chef Superstar, restaurateur, author, and the only celebrity that makes me blush, Chef Richard Blais. Blais studied under some of the world’s iconic chefs, including Thomas Keller and Daniel Boulud. He began his first eateries in Atlanta and in 2014, Blais brought San Diego its greatest culinary gift to date. He debuted Juniper & Ivy in March 2014, changing life for us foodies as we know it.

I didn’t know it was possible to love a restaurant until I stepped into J&I one unforgettable April evening. I had been a fan of Blais since my mother/daughter date night ritual of watching Top Chef and Top Chef: All Stars. Blais was always our favorite, but never did I think that one day, he might just know who I am.  

First time meeting Chef Richard Blais at the San Diego Burger Bash 2013

20+ visits later, I am in a full-on food love affair with J&I. Consuming food from dozens of food establishments each month is daunting, educational, and entertaining at the same time. I used to love it. But now, J&I has ruined my hobby, in the very best way possible.

Richard Blais doesn’t cook because of the profit or because his name makes people’s hearts swoon. He cooks because he wants to and because he has a passion for food.  He sees dining for what it can be and aims to do that which others have been too afraid to do. 

The "carne cruda asada toast" 

I have found myself comparing anything I may eat to “the standard” (aka Juniper & Ivy) and to the thought process “WWRD” (aka “What Would Richard Do?”). I still aim to be objective and give each new restaurant’s dish the courtesy of due process. But often I find myself holding back thoughts of that perfect bite of the moist and flavorful carne cruda asada toast, with the oozing quail egg that perfectly softens  the toasted edges of the thick cut bread, giving the senses both crunch and softness and salt and sweetness and a taste that makes you wonder how you will ever eat a piece of toast the same way ever again.  I blush at these memories of J&I, and quickly scan Opentable for the next available reservation. 

This past winter, I checked off an item from my foodie bucket list when I dined at a few two and three Michelin Star restaurants. Daniel Boulud and Jean Georges’ establishments wowed me. They enticed my palate and my mind with their attention to detail, and their perfectly orchestrated lunch and dinner service. The food was as beautiful as it was delicious. I also spent an evening at Colicchio & Sons, wanting to have a taste of Tom Colicchio’s acclaimed Craft restaurant collection. The service was on point, the dishes flavorful and satisfying, and the atmosphere made you forget the winter storm brewing on the other side of the glass window. 

These restaurants were some of the best I will ever visit. 

But…they weren’t J&I.

As I stared at the beautiful entrées on the gold plated dish wear, I longed to be at Juniper & Ivy. I longed for the surprising twists, the complicated yet complementary flavors, the sarcastic remarks of Chef Jon Sloan, the organized chaos of the plating station, and the comfort of the yodel  (see pictures below and you’ll understand). The greatness of J&I also stems from the staff that embody the very essence of Juniper and Ivy, and the Richard Blais’ culinary vision has. 

As told to me by the staff, Chef Blais, alongside business partner and J&I investor Michael Rosen, didn’t open Juniper & Ivy to give the general public the mild and lackluster dishes that they are used to; he opened it to cook the food he dreams of, with the confidence that there are those that will appreciate the oddness that makes each starter, entrée, and dessert beautiful, balanced and unforgettable. 

           

The best thing that happened (in 2014)

It's mid-way into the first month of the new year and I've been itching to still write out some kind of reflection on 2014. As I was driving the other day, my muddled thoughts cleared to remind me the best thing that happened in the past year.

It was my relationship with my mom.

I've always had a good, close relationship with my mom. As the years have passed, we have over time transitioned from a mother- daughter relationship to really a best friend relationship.It especially deepened when I moved away for college. This new life transition while necessary, was also challenging. When everything is changing in your world, you want to find a constant, something or someone steady that doesn't change. My constant was my mom. College helped us solidify an even better relationship.

I would say two very significant events in the past year really propelled us forward. Just days before 2014 came, I went through a break up and who was the only person who could make it better?

My mom.

Quote of the Day 12/15/14

"Our bravest and best lessons are not learned through success, but through misadventure."    [Amos Bronson Alcott]

Laughing Without Fear of the Future

I came home one evening and saw that someone had taken the time to inscribe the kitchen chalkboard. My wonderful roommate Katie had written the following in beautiful calligraphy - "She is clothed in strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future."

It's a verse I'd read many times before but never given much thought to. But lately, there's been a lot on my mind, situations I can't yet comprehend and that haven't quite added up, and those words, those words of "laughing without fear of the future," have been inscribed in my mind.  

Quote of the Day 12/11/14

"I’m not doing it well or neatly, but on days like today I can see a glimpse of where we’re going, and it makes me swoon.

Less hustling. Less proving. Less frantic. Less bone-tired.

More true rest. More connection. More prayer, more listening, more tea.

More sacred space, more blessed monotony.

More love.

I like it."   [Shauna Niequist]

Quote of the Day 12/09/14

"It is when we choose to be Christ to others, and to see them as He sees them that our perspective begins to change. Christ cares for everyone, and when we focus our lives on Him, we see how much all of God’s creation matters. We love relentlessly when we love Christ completely. But I will say this, one day someone will come into your life and you will know what it means to love without need, because loving the right way does not make us dependent on another; it makes us dependent on Christ together."     [T.B. LaBerge]