Sitting at an empty table late at night in his not-yet-quite Michelin star restaurant The Bear, chef Carmy is stewing in all kinds of questions. His cousin and maître d’ Richie, ready to lock up the place and get out of there, sits down and asks him what’s going on.
“I’m fine. I’m thinking,” Carmy says. “What about?” “Mistakes.” That draws a long, silent stare into nothingness from Richie. God knows they’ve both made plenty of those. But the word “maître d'” is not the only French thing Richie has picked up in recent months. The former owner of a highly dysfunctional sandwich shop has picked up more respect, kindness, and patience than he’s ever had on his path to running the house in this fancy new establishment—and, with it, some new joie de vivre.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Carmy says, still brooding. Richie takes a breath. “Today.” “What?” The clock has long struck past midnight, and so Richie reminds his boss: “Today is tomorrow, cousin.”
The future is always coming. Sometimes, it hits us before we realize it. The arms tick past 12, and every day quietly bleeds into the next.
Don’t let it shake you. You stay right on course. Less brooding, more rooting—for yourself, and for others. Today is tomorrow, and you’ve got people to serve.
