Mysteries of Sheehan's Desk: Day 12

That's what a real restaurant crew looks like. Suck it, Bobby Flay.

Yesterday, I posted a picture of the alien head that had maintained a position of honor on top of my monitor for a couple of years before our office remodel relegated him to a cardboard box. In that picture, said alien head was wearing a baseball hat with a virtually unreadable logo on it. And today, I figured an explanation was in order.

In April 2008, I wrote a review of then four-month old Encore, at 2550 East Colfax Avenue, back when Sean Huggard was still in charge of the kitchen. I wrote about problems with some of the tables at the place, and also made a little gentle fun of the headgear being worn by the staff in Encore's open kitchen. My exact words were:

...And while the long bar is lovely and the open kitchen at the back a nice installation, I don't know what Huggard was thinking when he put his guys in giant, black muffin-top toques. Granted, a toque is part of the classically accepted chef's uniform, but these make the crew look like the cast of Strawberry Shortcake: The Musical just waiting for their cue to take the stage.

In fine style, the staff at Encore then decided to send me a small gift in thanks for what was otherwise a fairly warm review. First, there was the group portrait shown above. And second, the baseball cap which has adorned my alien friend ever since, and reads simply: JASON DOESN'T KNOW HATS.