It’s been a whirlwind this past three days. Not only did I have two people coming from Ten Speed to shoot photos at the restaurant, but also my father and his wife decided to visit and stayed in my living room. This turned out to be a blessing, as I tried to juggle childcare options and schedules with somehow being a good hostess.
I met Ed Anderson, the photographer, on Wednesday and we had a pleasant lunch at Rowe’s. I toured him through the kitchen and he snapped some fabulous photos. As I’ve told anybody who would listen to me this week, he was amazing to watch. He took unordinary shots–like lids stacked on a shelf, or tomatoes on a shelf–and made it look like art.
The next day, Nancy Austin, Art Director, joined us at the restaurant. I was nervous about meeting her and I was dressed up in a suit. I immediately felt overdressed. She was so warm, friendly, and completely unpretentious. I can’t wait to see the design she works up for the book. If you google her name, you’ll see that she’s won design awards, and she is thanked in tons of books. Interestingly, she was an English major in college and received her master’s degree in women’s biography. She learned design while in the publishing business.
Mike DiGrassie, the owner of Rowe’s, has really gotten excited about them being here and the book. He took them to Goshen, where Mrs. Rowe had her first restaurant business. And today, he arranged for the mayor of Staunton, John Avoli, to take us on a tour. I have to say you’ve never seen Staunton until the mayor takes you on a tour. We had a beautiful, but windy day for it.
In between all of the extra trips, Nancy and Ed were painstakingly photographing food. They explored every angle of plates heaped with food, every light option, with or without screens, at several locations in the restaurant. Ed also snapped photos of people eating and will be taking Aaron DiGrassie’s photo. Aaron is Mrs. Rowe’s grandson, who has inherited her passion for food and her vivacious personality. I hope to see him on tv cooking up some fried chicken soon!
So, while all of this exciting stuff is happening, I tried to ignore my rough throat. But I ended up with a temperature in bed about 8 and not getting in on any of the wining and dining adventure that evening. In the middle of the night, my youngest daughter, Tess, woke us up screaming. My husband got her calmed down by climbing into bed with her. We thought she was having a bad dream, turns out, she was having pains in her eyes. She has pink eye and is miserable.
With my Dad leaving that day, and Eric scheduled to work, childcare became an issue. But, Eric decided to stay at home and take Tess to the doctor.
We go along for months and live on an even keel, with our schedules and activities all planned. My father rarely visits. Ten Speed’s visit may be a once in a life time experience. I had a sore throat, and poor Tess was an absolute mess. Doesn’t it just figure? Now I’ve got to think about what to do for dinner…I’m thinking leftovers.
