The last meal I enjoyed before the pandemic took ahold of the country was…nice. Delicious. Comforting. But now, with all that has happened, it has also become memorable.
I was in Las Vegas for our annual show, and after all of the events of the day concluded, I sat down with my work colleagues at Lupo, the Wolfgang Puck-operated restaurant situated within the Mandalay Bay property. It was late. We were tired and hungry.
I’m fairly certain I had a barrel-aged Negroni to start, we shared antipasti around the table, and I had a divine entree of mushroom-forward pasta. We sat shoulder-to-shoulder at a 6-top, exhausted but happy with our work that day. We talked about concerns; but we were positive. We sauntered out of the restaurant and said our goodnights without any true grasp upon what was ahead.
I’m certain you all have stories like mine involving that week in March. The last this or that.
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While we all know that challenges await us in 2021, this fresh slate of a new year is one to be celebrated. We have much to look forward to—in and among the disappointments we may still experience in the new year—but I am hopeful and relieved that we can close the book on 2020.
As we record these last few pages of December, I leave you with all of the thankfulness and good fortune I am able to bestow upon you and the resilient industry we work in.
Happy New Year. HAPPY, HAPPY New Year.
See you on the other side, my friends.
