No experience can quite match the one we have our first time, regardless of what it is were talking about. Esalen typifies this reality like no other place can. And just like all the other experiences we have that only exist once in a moment of time, never to be relived no matter what we do, we still try. The phrase, "chasing the dragon" comes to mind, not just in its original context, as in trying to get the same high you had your first time doing a drug, but also trying to recreate the magic you felt when first arriving there. I distinctly remember being in a state of constant wonder and bewilderment the first few months I was there. Something that was just as easily seen and understood by the long time staff members, as though it was written on my face like a traffic sign. They would tell me this effect wears off and the True Esalen would reveal itself to me soon enough. Of course I was so under its spell I couldn't believe it, I didn't want to believe it.
One thing however stayed with me through out my entire 15 months at Esalen, and that was the Original Crew that I lived and worked with. To me these people represented the whose who of the Institute, not only because they taught me everything they could about the place and the job, but because they became my family, and like all families there are branches that stem off from the main line closest to your experience. And there are a few branches that tend to stick together, these are the Massage crew, maintenance, house keeping, kitchen, and lastly management, HR being its own universe entirely. For me the main line of the Esalen family was the kitchen staff, because that's where I worked everyday, and was filled with the people I spent the most time with "outside of work" a strange concept considering we live and work on property, a fact made even more complicated considering Esalen is a place for people to face their shadows, drop their baggage and heal, and get naked too. All of these factors made the work/life environment one that is totally unique, not just for the staff, but also the guests we interacted with.
The whole time I was there Michael Larouch was the Executive Chef, he had come to Esalen reluctantly just wanting to do his art and travel, but fate had other plans for him. Through his expert skills and contacts with other highly competent cooks and chefs who he'd worked with before, the Kitchen finally worked through a whole slew of problems that had nearly caused many people to lose their minds. I wont go into specifics, but basically Hells Kitchen would be a light way of putting it. The crew that he brought in was Michael Bonham, a young and passionate chef, who we all called Bonham because there can't be two people with the same name in the kitchen, especially not the two chefs, he loved to make his own beer and pizza too, and everyone loved him for it. Then there was Corey, who is by all intents and purposes straight out of Lord of The rings, he was famous for having second breakfast once a week and playing the lord of the rings soundtrack the whole day. I've never met anyone who so embodied a loving forest dwelling spirit. He loves lord of the rings and lived in one of the most reclusive houses on property, lost in the woods. I owe him a great thanks for his kindness and humor in the face of all the trails and tribulations we faced working together, and for turning me on to the series and other works by Tolkien such as the Silmarillion.
There was Emily who was the kitchen manager I believe, and was always good with asking us what we needed. Sarah who worked tirelessly to make the best deserts and to keep the spirit light when it got heavy, which it did, constantly. Johnny Blunt was one of the guys who I vibed with the most, he could do everything in the kitchen because he had worked there for almost 30 years and was a wealth of knowledge about the history of Esalen. A subject that he brought up almost everyday in the light of, it used to be this way or that. Johnny was fearless in the face of anyone trampling on his home and life's work, of which there were many. He was the source of endless inspiration and boon to me and the other staff members, often leading us in some new exercise or way of having a check in. Plus we would constantly quote star wars together and start screaming like monkeys, something that I'm sure both confused, intrigued and scared those caught unaware of kitchen antics. Edson was probably the youngest person on the crew, a flamboyant man with a flare for laughing out loud and entertaining himself and others with his intricate stories and plans for the future. He had studied with the CIA and no I don't mean the Central Intelligence Agency, I'm talking about the Culinary Institute of America, and like to make many artistic foods.
Gilberto Senior is the master Mariachi player who I spoke of earlier, the one that played me "My way." he along with his son Gil and nephew Aldo trained me on the night crew, which works 4pm to midnight cleaning the whole kitchen top to bottom every night. I fell in love with them first because I only saw the other crew for 2-3 hours before they were off, and we spent long hours cleaning an empty kitchen, with only the blaring radio and our own broken English conversations to keep us company.
Then there is an auxiliary to the kitchen staff known as the juice bar, which almost seemed like the black sheep of the family because there were plenty of territorial fights and struggles for power and privelage that went on between us. Lisa ran the juice bar, a lovely woman who has a heart of gold and worked tirelessly to make it a reality. The people who worked with her was Dominique, a man who basically lived in his Toyota Prius the entire time he worked there and who would become a fixture of the Esalen music scene around the campfire, filling thousands of hearts and minds with his enchanting music. (more on this later) Olivia a tall Amazonian type woman who went by Liv, and had a very strong independent vibe. And Rosemary, a woman with great flare and tact in conversation who only worked a few days a week and actually lived way up north, commuting back and forth each time.
Lastly there was Eddie, a temp night worker the same as me who, despite his wonderful music played around the firepit, was stuck in a negative mind set which bled over to other members of the crew. It was his departure which secured my full time position on the day time kitchen crew and also my first lesson in how precarious and fleeting ones position really was at Esalen. Luckily I was not attached to Eddie, but there would be others let go that I loved dearly and whose departures left definite marks upon me and the other staff members.
These people made up the original Kitchen crew, and although the majority of them would remain, many came and went. Including the Month long students that worked with us everyday, who would also leave. It was a revolving door of souls whose lives we touched and histories we learned. And I don't mean just in passing conversations, for thanks to the policy of "check ins" a process by once a day we stop everything were doing and check in with where we are, what were feeling, hoping, or just thinking in general, we got to know each other in ways I had never before experienced, and I know it was the same for practically everyone there as well. And so you have it, a glimpse into the Esalen Kitchen crew December of 2018, a moment in time I shall cherish forever.
