It’s crazy how the end of each year is a combination of chaos, stress, generosity, loving and most of all, survival!  Each year December is crazier in a magical way but it creates the scariest roller coaster ride of the entire year.  I know I’ve always proclaimed to live for the roller coaster that December provides.  That ride consistently tests the boundaries of where enjoyment becomes terror.  With the wisdom gained over the last few years, my challenge this year was to push the envelope as hard as I could and enjoy the ride at the same time.

This year was the turning point of a long, painful struggle and marked survival of the wrath of Katrina.  With the help of Stanley, we finally gained new momentum that we needed to remove the 1,000-pound rock of stress that was carried on our shoulders since the storm.  We finally crossed over into the Promised Land, confident that we were going to survive.  I wanted to capture this momentum. What better time than during the most enjoyable month of all, when we’re celebrating the holidays and the success of another great year?

It all started with an insane menu written by yours truly. It was magical to read and I knew it would be the greatest New Year’s Eve dinner that we had ever done. I knew it could be done because of the team we have assembled and proceeded, once again, to push the boundaries.  I started ordering all new plates with no storage for the old. Hence, our first generation service ware archive was born.  The obsessive ordering continued with the arrival of boxes upon boxes and it was clear that we were changing it all.  What a challenge it is in the middle of the grind to change all of the canvasses that we paint on.  At first it was painful, but the pain quickly passed and the magic of transformation had begun.

Tanya and I spent Christmas with her family in Orlando for a break, which I’ve learned is crucial for refueling for the end-of-year extravaganza.  It’s the eye before the storm, where survival becomes key to pulling off the script that has been written.  Even Christmas took a turn as I spontaneously bought a 51-pound whole pig and smoke-roasted Wilbur for Christmas Eve dinner.  This 24-hour task took me back to my childhood roots, when I used to stay up all night smoking our turkey and ham.  The hours I spend creating… those are the hours that I will never forget; the hours I live for, the hours I crave. The highlight of the trip had to be watching Tanya relive her victory dance in the middle of her old high school’s gym. A touching childhood moment she shared with me.

After living another year and possibly the best of my life, I felt the need to give back to the universe all it had given to me.  Christmas bonuses to 87 employees was challenging but fulfilling and my troops’ happiness is just important as my own.  They’re all working around the clock to keep on climbing to the top of the unknown mountain of success that we all live for.  Sold-out nights every night leading up to the big event made it difficult to prepare for such a dinner.  On the night before the main event we finished at 1 a.m., only to keep working early into the next morning, preparing essential mise en place for that night’s festivities.  The menu was at the top, with all of life’s culinary luxuries, and would prove to blow our minds as we kept pushing.  We had golden Royal Osetra caviar, Black Winter Truffles and Japanese Kobe beef, among other delicacies.  It was a night of ecstasy that I will never forget, as each course flowed in harmony, one after the other.  I had bought a special gift for my entire staff and told them it was for a customer.  When the show had finally ended and our patrons all had parted, we opened a six-liter bottle of Perrier Jouet champagne to celebrate the great year we had spent together.

Looking back at the year, it blows my mind to think of the things that my team and I accomplished.  The opening of Stanley was a rocky road that has bloomed into amazing success. Let’s not forget the five beans awarded to Stella by Mr. Brett Anderson.  Staging in NYC at Per Se, Tailor and Daniel back-to-back kept summer momentum going.  Another dinner at Alinea, and another with Michel Bras and a lunch at Momofuku Ko had ignited my inner soul’s flame of survival.  Other great dinners were The French Laundry, Cyrus, The Inn at Meadowood, Koi and let’s not forget my nephew, Hanz’s 13th birthday dinner in the sky box at Daniel NYC.  We finished up in Spain in the kitchen of every chef’s dream, eating and drinking at the hands of the great Chef Ferran Adria.  ElBulli sealed the deal, and that is where this all began. The great year has finally ended in tremendous happiness.

Crazy year that it was, the plans for 2010 have already started.  Lots of exciting things lie ahead and I can’t wait to live them, experience them and most of all share them with the world.  Thanks again to all of you who have made this possible through your support and enjoyment. Thanks for giving me the chance to live my dream.  I’ll keep building new ones as long as I’m around.  Let’s all join together and make 2010 the greatest year of our lives!

Thanks to all of you from The Scott Boswell Enterprise team and Stella and Stanley restaurants.  We truly love you all and can’t wait to do it all over again… only bigger and better! Happy 2010!