11:30 p.m. Home for dinner. My partner makes fried tofu with sautéed bok choy and white rice and young ginger from groceries she bought today at Whole Foods and the co-op. ($40 total) Very clean flavors, feels super healthy. Super easy meal because all I have to do is wash the dishes.
Wednesday total: $40
Thursday
10 a.m. I’m in my car eating Whole Foods sushi (on Thursdays, it’s half off): shrimp with puffed rice and an avocado roll. We’re understaffed today at the restaurant, so everything is going to be in spirit of that. The sushi tastes like raw fish and cold rice, not a lot of nuanced flavor. It’s just something to keep me upright and focused. Sushi on the go with NPR in the background usually happens twice a week. ($22 total)
4 p.m. Family meal: black bean soup with chorizo, cotija, cilantro, and tortilla chips. Bought these supplies at La Bodega Latina, a local Latin market owned by this wild character who also owns a small Latin bar/restaurant/club. He’s a regular at the restaurant, so I like to drop in once a week to say what’s up. It’s also the only place in town where I can find corn husks and aji amarillo. Family meal takes me over an hour today. I’m being a bit over the top, poaching the chorizo in pork dashi then grilling them and cooking the black beans in the chorizo poaching liquid, blah blah chef stuff. It’s good. Big Mexican comfort vibes. ($55 total cost for the restaurant, $0 for my staff and me)
12 a.m. Late night. My sous chef asked to go home early, so I stayed and broke down (cleaned up) with my team. Back home, my wife once again makes dinner for us both: marinated salmon with pickled cucumbers, sushi rice, and Kewpie mayo. We recently got an air fryer so it makes salmon super quick and easy. The whole thing is delicious. The price I pay: dishes and taking out the recycling.
Thursday total: $22
Friday
9:30 a.m. I pick up bagels from Rose Foods, a bagel spot in town. The pumpernickel bagel with olive cream cheese is absolutely fire, salty and crunchy. I buy a bag of six bagels and two sides of cream cheese for future snacks. ($14.50 for six bagels, $11.50 for the sides of cream cheese)
4 p.m. Family meal at the restaurant. It’s leftover day. We use chorizo from the previous family meal to make hoagies with baguettes, Calabrian mayo, sliced tomatoes, and iceberg lettuce from a local farmer. Nothing purchased today for this easy, 15-minute family meal. It’s simple and keeps myself and all the staff fed. Spicy tho.
No dinner time p.m. Dinner: nah. Dishwasher called off again. Had to cut the sous chef for being inappropriate. I drink seltzer water then go to bed.
Friday total: $26
Saturday
11 a.m. I’m at work and my business partner and general manager brings me a coffee and gives me a handful of roasted pistachios. Not really a typical meal, but it will have to do because it is Saturday and we have a lot of work to do. Costs me nothing, but it was also nothing.
11 p.m. We skipped family meal at the restaurant today, which is typical when we’re busy and understaffed. For dinner, my wife orders food from a Thai restaurant called Boda and we eat at home. She’s flying out to Denver for work, so we’re keeping it simple. Fried rice, woon-sen pad thai, sticky rice balls, and papaya salad. It tastes a bit greasy, but I don’t have to cook so that’s amazing. ($95 total for two, including tip and tax)
Saturday total: $95
Sunday
9 a.m. No work today. I eat a two-day-old bagel with two-day-old cream cheese. Tastes the same as before, just more stale. I choose this because it’s easy and available. Quick three minutes in the oven on broil. Done.
8 p.m. I’m home alone, so I order Chinese from Pom’s, something my wife can’t really eat but she’s out of town. I eat veggie spring rolls, General Tso’s chicken, egg fried rice, and tempura fried cauliflower with coconut. It’s tasty and brings me back to life. It would be 6/10 on a normal day, but it’s a 10/10 on a rainy Sunday in October in Maine. ($86.67 total, including tip and tax)
Sunday total: $86.67
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