A Bite Sized Hello

An extended introduction and my wish for you as a reader.

Next week I can’t wait to express my medieval self about a 5-course Middle Age meal experience I reserved in Prague. I have an infatuation with medieval food and drink. Well, the drink part is simple. Just grab a wooden mug or a clay cup and pour some beer in it, and bingo you just made it medieval. The food part is more primal. You know, the kind of meal with meat on a bone with fat dripping all over the place. I know it’s weird. Maybe I have a strong bias because my last name is Chevalier; which in French means knight.

Last year’s medieval meal in Prague at the Tavern by The Seven Swabians.

Let me backtrack a little bit and re-introduce myself.

I feel the need to do so since on February 22nd,

Igor Ranc

,

Tuğba

and I organized Berlin’s very first Substack writer meet-up. The turnout was amazing and it was so exciting to meet fellow writers and Substackers. I find a sense of belonging when I talk to chefs, cooks, and waiters which I will explain why, but for the first time, I felt as if I caught a bird by the same feathers as myself. I met happy people who love what they do and it showed.

It was a vibrant experience and it warmed my romantic-ass heart. Listening to every one of the 20 or something writers express their passion and love for writing and what piques their curiosity and interest made me feel like this should be the norm. I love writing and I couldn’t keep that fact contained at the meet-up, and it was all right because it proved several times that it was reciprocal.

I found a new community that gets me going and excited. I’m happy to live in the present moment and focus on writing. We all took turns introducing ourselves and what we write about. So I find it only fair to do it once again here, more formally.

You can call me Otis.

I’m here to write for you, and hopefully entertain. I believe that is what I am, an entertainer of sorts. In person, I believe I’m pretty good with my words but better with my expressions and reading people’s body language. Which might be the reason I got a good amount of work as a DJ in my twenties. I love music and keep doing my homework to discover new genres and artists. I then slowly fell out of love with DJ’ing when I moved back to LA in 2017 and the essence of nightlife was too materialistic for me. The choice of music was too commercial so I pivoted and started working in the kitchen.

I spent 3 years on and off working in a French bistro, an Italian hotel/restaurant, and another small French restaurant where they used a microwave to warm up chicken covered in plastic wrap. I quit after about 3 weeks because I was too proud for that, still am. So I went back to the first restaurant where I worked. A tiny kitchen that pumped out great food. I learned a lot and truly cherished my kitchen experiences. Would I go back to the kitchen is another story.

I quit in December 2019 because I needed a break. Then COVID hit and a whole year of unemployment happened, talk about a long-ass break. That was rough, and in October 2020 I moved back to Berlin. In January 2021 I started working full-time as a Food-Stylist. A lucky find online during lockdown. Still styling food today but I found another outlet to express my love for food. Here I am.

I started The Greasy Pen almost two weeks before my daughter was born. I’m a family man now and so proud of it. The great thing is, I’m enjoying this process of growing into something I like. I’m curious to see where my writing takes me, and I want to take you along with me.

So now I have a round table of writers to reach out to. As a literary knight I want to run around town and dub other writers to join. If you are interested in starting your own Substack, I couldn’t be happier. My wish is for you to start writing, to journal, or to carry a little notebook with you everywhere you go. The page won’t judge, and you can print your thoughts instead of losing them in the purgatory of the mind. It’s one of the most wholesome things you can do. Just write a sentence and see where it takes you. What the fun is about, is for you to find out.

Now I feel as if I have a pass to hear people’s stories and share them. Take my own and adapt them, to dive deeper or to create something out of the blue such as fiction. Food fiction more precisely. I am allowing myself to experiment with accountability; which is me sharing this with you every Sunday.

I am grateful for having you as my reader. It means so much to me I want to do something for you. I want to read what you wrote, I want to listen to your music, I want to hear you out. I want to hear you bounce your ideas, I want to see your art. Just show it to me, I’ll be here waiting.

Live shamelessly.

Pint-ly yours,

The Greasy Pen.