Bistro Blog

I’m lucky to have some great girlfriends. My small group of women friends are called the Pickled Hens. We were dubbed this many years ago after someone’s boyfriend picked up his girl from “brunch” at 8 PM(!!) and said we sounded like a bunch of “pickled hens”, and he couldn’t get a word in or understand half of what was being said… the name has stuck for over 15 years… a few faces have changed but mostly we are the same group of friends from the very beginning. Five of us started kayaking the Pine River and camping together about 18 years ago and the group grew to nine women. We are all very unique from each other… most are career women, half of us are married, some of the Hens have children. We range from our 40’s to nearly 60. Liberal to conservative. We love kayaking, hiking and swimming. We still love a good looong brunch and we are very competitive at board, parlor and yard games. We ride our bikes in Slow Roll, sweat together at The Schvitz, troll Detroit’s unique side, yap on the phone and we absolutely love to travel together.

I think the common denominator with us all is that we are supportive of one another. Every Hen knows she can count on all the other girls to be there when needed. We have shared divorces, deaths, job changes and many other crises. We’ve celebrated weddings, birthdays and major life changes. During the pandemic my bestie Sara and I started walking together…. and talking and talking and talking. I think I yapped AT her more, she is an excellent listener. Sara got me through the tough, lonely & scary parts of the pandemic and supported me in my quest to buy the restaurant. A long-time chef herself (we actually met at Brady’s over 25 years ago) she understands the trials of kitchen life and balancing that with family and life’s many demands. Sara keeps me grounded (I can be hyper emotional, slightly reckless and often impatient), giving me a sense of peace. She helps me work out the tricky parts of life, motivates me to be better… and always always laughs at me. Yes, I said AT me, not with me.

I’m really really lucky because I feel much of this same affection and friendship with the current staff here and many of my former co-workers. Michele, Krissy, Whisper & Karen K., I still use the many things’ you ladies taught me and I love and appreciate the memories, the laughs and the great late-night conversations where we “figured it all out”.​

As I’m in the dining room more and more I’m beginning to have (or grow) these same relationships with many of you… our guests. I love swapping stories and I’m extremely grateful for all the support I have felt through this transition from Chef Sharon to Restauranteur Sharon. Ha… that title still makes me giggle with joy.


Cheers!
Sharon