"It's a little bit sketchy."

For our business plan presentation, Andrew had the task of describing our location to Chef Larry and our classmates. He began by saying, "Well, the neighborhood is a little bit sketchy. I mean, there's a food bank right across the street." We told him afterwards that he's supposed to start with the good stuff, and we'll have to rehearse thoroughly before giving our presentation to potential investors.

All in all, we put together a well-crafted plan. Our team was a solid one, and by today, we were basically ignoring our non-functioning member. He arrived in class at about 8:30, as the second group was wrapping up their oral report, and he frantically asked Andrea for direction. [He doesn't ask me, you'll notice. It's been a while since I've given a piece of my mind to a kid who needs to shape up, but I'm sure I'm not too rusty.] She told him to write up whatever he has and give it to Chef. It's not incorporated into our final report. As we walked to the garage, she fumed, vascillating between options. "Should I have stayed and helped him? But then I would have had to edit his work to make sure it was coherent and ..... I'M DONE. I've been here every day!" I figure that Chef could possibly mark us down for not making more of an effort to include him, but, as Andrea said, we've been watching this play out since last November and it's really gotten old. And besides, Chef himself told me that we shouldn't enable him.

So frustrating! But our team ran like a clock except for that aggravation, and you sure couldn't say the same about Team 2. Silvia rolled her eyes while Meghan butchered the pronunciation of the Spanish-style dishes, and Jordan announced that their club/tapas restaurant was projected to make over 30% profit. He admitted that he still had some numbers to "adjust." Chef Larry asked how much they were paying their head chef. Jordan: "About thirty grand. But we'll have a bonus plan in place." Chef Larry: "You'll never get a chef to work for thirty k if you're doing a million and a half and making forty percent." Sam: "We'll keep the numbers secret." Meghan: "We're only hiring illegals, anyway."

As I left today, Chef said, "I haven't gotten such a cogent response to question 58 in a long time." That was the essay question on the final. I knew I nailed it. Sorry. Shouldn't boast.

Monday, we head up to the fifth floor for Wine Studies 2 with Steve Eliot. Last time, we focused on France and California. Next week, it's Everywhere Else.