More than four months later, here I sit in Slidell, Louisiana on the edge of Irish Bayou in St. Tammany Parish. I stayed too long in Las Vegas, but I left at the end of January. After a three day drive which took me across Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, I crossed the Sabine River and entered Louisiana. A few short hours brought me to this place. It's been a couple of months now, but I remember walking through the front door and feeling the crushing loneliness that was to be mine for the foreseeable future. I realized in that moment that I had come to a place where I knew no one, and no one knew me. I realized that I had left behind all that was familiar, and much of what had become important to me. My heart was sick, and I felt foolish, selfish and weak. Not the best way to begin, but it was a beginning nonetheless.
I went into town the next day and met with Freddy, the only contact I had made before arriving. He got me a job at Borgne, John Besh's new restaurant at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. I worked there for a two weeks before securing a position at Commander's Palace. It's one of the oldest restaurants in the city, and very prestigious. I feel that if I there were anyplace in the city of New Orleans where I could learn about the service industry, this is it. I trained during Mardi Gras, cut my teeth on the busiest days of the year, and since then have been learning new things about food and service every day.
For the rest, I am finding new places.
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