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Mendelsohns Take it to the Ice
Spike elaborates on his relationship with the Washington Capitals.
We’re down to the final push with opening up Good Stuff Eatery’s second outpost in Crystal City -- if only we had any of the millwork. It is literally impossible to pass any inspections, complete our construction plans, or accomplish pretty much anything needed to open the restaurant without any of our woodwork. The stress of trying to reorganize and readjust our plans two weeks before we were set to open was insane. I’ve begun to learn that half of the people in this world don’t do what they say and contracts are not always adhered to. Opening a restaurant is rough, but I didn’t expect the millwork to be at the peak of the frustration. In efforts to escape the woodwork crisis, I thought a little hockey outing would be fun.
As Canadians, the Mendelsohn clan has hockey running in our blood. My dad used to listen to hockey on the radio as a kid, so getting to watch a game in person brings him back to those days. Luckily, I’ve done a lot of events with the Washington Capitals, and I am all too willing to milk those efforts to set my parents up with some preferential treatment.
When my sister Micheline and I wrote the Good Stuff Cookbook in 2010, we included a burger recipe from Washington Caps star (and fellow Canadian) Mike Green. Mike and I reunited in the kitchen this past spring when the Caps sold a cooking class with me, Mike, Roman Hamrlik, and Tomas Vokoun for charity. The cooking class for four people sold for $11,500! I don’t know who loved it more, the hockey fan in me or the crazy Caps fans that won the class in an auction. I swear I am not dropping names; this is just important information from a crazed hockey fan.
Either way, Liz Wodatch with the Caps hooked me up with the VIP treatment. My family expected to just watch the game from great seats, but they had the prime opportunity to make fun of me while I ran around in the giant Caps slapshot mascot. That was an amateur move on my part; I really did not need to supply my family with more material to tease me with. Thanks Liz…
The highlight of the night was when my dad and I got to ride the Olympia ice resurfacers during the game. My dad might have tried to play it cool on TV, but he was grinning about this one for weeks. Anything to win those extra credit points as the favorite child, right? Hear that Micheline? I got dad out on the ice during a hockey game. Beat that.
