Double the pleasure. Double the fun: Two couples prove that happily ever after applies to both work and playSharp knives, open flames, high pressure, risky decisions, and some pretty serious emotions—these are just some of the elements at play inside a typical professional kitchen. And while some restaurants manage to coast along and stay afloat amid the challenges, some hit a slump and fail, with the shop owners’ relationship crumbling in the process—or worse, causing the failure.
“Maybe ‘fight’ is a strong word because we don’t come out of it hating each other,” she surmises, “but it’s more of that we really argue it out. At the end of the day, it’s either we figure out a common ground or one would concede to the other and say, ‘Okay, let’s try it your way.’ And if it doesn’t work out, then the other gets the pleasure of saying ‘I told you so’.
“Foodservice really involves a lot of time,” says Bambi. “There’s a lot of sacrifice for family. Whenever my six-year-old daughter asks us if we’re going to Koku and we say yes, she knows we won’t be home for dinner. And it’s both parents, so we have to work around that,” he states.