The deep connection that I have now with food has evolved over the course of the years.
It has not been as linear as one would think.
Looking back, it is truly with the birth of my 1st child that I reclaimed my ancestral relationship with food & started feeding myself & those around me, at home & in my businesses with my guts, and not with my brain.
“What is next for you, Catherine, now?”
It is the opening night of Maison May.
Susan, a neighbor, is planted right in front of me.
I can only smile, I am too tired to cry.
“What’s next? Well, growing that new business. And then after, I don’t know yet”.
People like success stories that are fast & furious.
Real life has a different pace.
When at last I was able to ask myself that question, a new paradigm emerged.
In the spring 2008, I took a sharp turn. It involved first & foremost, to pick up my children & run from home in order for us all to be safe, physically & emotionally. I will of course never forget that day. Its color, its texture: it was bright red &...
May always brings up a whirlwind of emotions for me:
It is my (re-)BirthDay & this year, Maison May turned 1.
As I am pausing to celebrate & reflect on that 1st year, I gathered a few friends & regulars and as I am standing in front of them a story came up, words unexpectedly poured out of me & before I knew it, I was describing what modern entrepreneurship should be.
A few weeks ago a friend suggested that I write about the year that was coming to an end- she felt, rightfully so, that I needed to pause before I would leap again.
Yet in trying to do so, my writing felt ineluctably vain & empty:
I had accomplished so much and worked more than ever, yet, nothing felt quite worth writing about.
And I could not figure out why.
Then December 30th came.
An email hit my inbox that day which made me pause & look back to 10 years earlier.
Only then did it all made sense:
I was not wrapping up a year but a decade.
Fall is the hardest stretch for me, always.
The transition into cold weather & the march towards shorter days & the holidays always put me breathless, not to say most of the time spinning.
And this year is no exception with the intense violence spread in the news everyday (national & international), and the transition from running 2 restaurants instead of 1…
Yet, this time around, I’ve never felt more energized.
Probably because more than ever, I grounded myself & went back to the essentials.
Here are my basics, and how I draw energy, whether it be in work, a run at the park or a glass of red wine..
Upon opening Maison May 5 months ago & I decided to remove tipping from both of my establishments.
I know this is the right decision and yet it has been anything but easy so far.
Like a few major decisions I have made before, as I came to the realization of what is fair & needs to happen, now there is no turning back.
Here is, in essence, what led me to take such a giant step.
I have no perspective on this decision yet, neither do I have tangible results.
I am here to show the process & to enjoy the ride.
I recently had the opportunity to talk with Brooklyn Magazine’s Sarah Zorn about the recent expansion and evolution of ICI into Maison May.