The Yocona River Inn

I know it's obviously been a while since I've posted anything here. I was waiting until I've revamped the layout, but I just wanted to post this.

Around 2:30 this morning, I was awakened from sleep by my room mate saying something to the effect of "Oh my god. How bad. Oh no." into his phone. Expecting it to be some bad news from his family, I got out of bed and went to his room to see what was wrong. I didn't expect the words that came out of his mouth, "Yocona burned down."

You see Yocona, or the Yocona River Inn is the place that both my roommate have worked for almost three years. He as butcher, grill chef and pantry chef; me in a short stint as pantry chef before becoming the saute chef. The phone call was from our head waitress who lives out near the restaurant and was called there by our boss/owner.

Taking a few minutes to take the news in, we decide to get dressed and drive out there to see it for ourselves. As of the call the building was still on fire and the firemen were still as work when we arrived. We drove around to park in the boss' driveway as she lives behind the establishment and were met in the parking lot by the boss and the other members of the waitstaff.

The first thing we saw was the parking lot side of the building and a little of the back, which while still physically intact had the windows blown out. It wasn't until we walked around to the other side of the building that we really saw it: Our kitchen is gone. Gutted. And it appears to have taken with it the waitstaff room and a portion of the dining area.

Littering what used to be our pantry station, (This is where your salads and appetizers come from.) was a pile of building debris littered with baking sheets and cake pans. The outside wall was gone and you could see through to the other end.

It was a disturbing sight. No small part due to the walk in still standing next to the missing wall; likely filled with destroyed food.

Looking in through the front door into the dining room which was still filled with firemen, we could see that the overhead fans had melted, the glass blown out of light fixtures and the glass cases which held the boss' beloved autographed Julia Child books were covered in smoke.

It's a drastic change from the building we all left around 9:30 last night.

From the front the building still looks pretty well intact, but I don't know enough about fire damage to say if it can be repaired or has to be torn down and rebuilt.

My guess would be the latter since the entire back half of the building is gutted.

But this to me isn't the sad part. Paige's cookbooks aren't the sad part. Our grill chef's expensive Wustoff knives aren't the sad part.

The sad part is that now, although we hope temporarily, a group of people that make of a mini-makeshift family have lost the home that they spent so much time together in. Like any family, Yocona has had it's ups and downs. Some days everyone was joking and laughing. Others, we were stressed out or angry or just wanted to be away from each other. But since I started working there one thing has held true. We always came together, did our best and got through. And no matter how sick we were of each other during a busy service or other crisis, we've always managed to stand together and be proud at the end.

And you learn there. If ever you wanted to learn how to cook, Paige is the person to see. You may not agree with her on everything. Everyone has different tastes. But she definitely knows her stuff and how to teach it to you. Work there a couple of years and there's probably not a lot you can't figure out how to make.



And Yocona is unique in that it's one place where the owner is very happy to have women working in the kitchen. This including both myself and our grill chef. (It always amuses me when the customers are surprised to find out it was a girl that cooked for them.)

To be truthful, this week was supposed to be my last week at Yocona. Due to health issues that make it hard for me to do the heavy work required for a cook, I had given my notice months ago and have set out to work from home.

But I gotta tell you. This is NOT the way I wanted to go out. It's a shitty way to end your career anywhere. But luckily, it appears that the boss-lady intends to rebuild. And having not officially finished the time I was supposed to before quitting, I will definitely come back for a short term to help her open the place.

It'd be my pleasure after everything that I've learned there and the time I have enjoyed.

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