— Thomas Novak

Well, you know, that line, uh, too many cooks spoil the pot comes to mind. Just kidding. Uh, we're gonna work with you here. And, um, all, all the while respecting the kitchen is your wife's kitchen. Um, you know, uh, when, in my experience, when you cook with somebody else, whether it's at home or, uh, you know, in a commercial kitchen, um, I guess there's, there's one of, maybe I say two, two main scenarios that come to mind. One is that, uh, one person is in charge, right? They are the chef. The other person is the sous chef, so to speak, you know, in that, um, sort of professional arrangement. And in that situation, the chef comes up with the menu and visualizes the process in the meal, and then dictates that to the sous chef and the other underlings, right, to be carried out. And, uh, then we put our ego aside and we work for the chef. Um, it doesn't matter how you like it, right? That's the hierarchy. And that's, uh, you know, how that, that plays out. Um, the other scenario that I can think of is where you've got two people that are gonna assume, uh, an, an equal, um, authority, right? And level of responsibility. And, and maybe you're taking on sort of two projects that are functionally separate, but that will be joined, you know, at mealtime, right? You'll, they come together to, to create that overall menu. And so you go off and you do your own things, and, um, yeah, maybe you ask for a little input or assistance as needed, um, but you're working on your own thing, so you have authority over your spaces and your, you know, uh, your domains of the menu. Um, but, uh, you know, otherwise, um, it is gonna take negotiation. And, you know, I, under, I have, I have been in these sort of, um, what, what seems like, uh, kitchen counseling sessions, uh, and, um, you know, sometimes they're easy to resolve, and frankly, sometimes they're not. It really depends on, um, you know, some of the ego that's at play. Okay? But, uh, you know, think about those two, uh, examples that I, uh, that I walked you through and, and, uh, consider, uh, trying those out in your own kitchen.