I’ve somewhat become a creature of habit. I’ve never really been this way until the last five years or so. I usually like to try new things whether it’s where we travel, what I order in a restaurant or even what I plan on doing for the afternoon. However, I’ve noticed that I’m starting to do the same things over and over again. My latest trend, if you will, has to do with what I eat when I’m working.

The last couple of years, I’ve become a repeat customer to a Chinese restaurant down the street called Rainbow. In my opinion, Rainbow has one of the best wonton soups around. My order is not only a repeat for them, but also very specific: wonton soup with mein noodles and pickled mustard greens. Oh, and please don’t forget the hot chile sauce on the side because I WILL send you back if I don’t see it in my take out bag. (My staff knows this all too well when they go to get our take out order).

This meal has become such a staple for me when we’re catering that I actually crave it before I even arrive to work. The question in our kitchen is not where should we order for lunch? The question is what time are we ordering wonton soup from Rainbow? Sure, I may tease my team about the possibility of ordering from a Greek or Caribbean place, but in the end, it’s the same thing every time. I think it’s safe to say that I’ve influenced my team enough that now when they place their order at Rainbow, it’s for wonton soup. Sure, they may add their own little twist to their soup concoction, but let me be clear, they still order wonton soup. All this is interesting to me considering that I usually never like to do the same things twice.

Whenever I create a menu for a client, I like my menus to be inspired and influenced by many things. Of the hundreds of events we have now catered, I can honestly say that we’ve never done the same menu twice. Never. The menus may have similarities here or there but it’s never the exact same menu from beginning to end.

The menus I write is influenced by many things: the season, the trends, the colors, even what I may have seen on TV or in a magazine. But what truly influences me? One may think it’s the celebrity chefs on reality TV or maybe the glossy gourmet magazines that may grace the inside of my mailbox. Although the answer to this question may appear obvious, it surprised even me.

My son is 7 and my daughter is 5. They have extremely different palates. My son enjoys sautéed duck breast and can recognize that my new breath spray “is spicier, but has less flavor.” My daughter, on the other hand, thinks ketchup is spicy and loves that darn macaroni and cheese from a box! What they both have in common on a culinary level, however, is that they love salads with ranch dressing. Yes, ranch dressing. AKA American Ketchup. They love this stuff and eat it with many things: salads, veggies, whatever. Heck, they’d put it on my roasted beef tenderloin if I’d let them.

Yet, somehow, I’ve noticed that my menus will in some way or form reflect my kids. My son’s favorite meal of “meat sticks” (see my blog called Meat Sticks) is one of our most popular grilled hors d’oeuvres. Our most popular shrimp hors d’oeuvre came as an inspiration one day while watching my daughter at the age of three play with her food. I guess my most telling sign of what influences me came one day when, at a restaurant, I ordered a side salad to go with my meal. The server asked what kind of dressing would I like. My answer is normally something along the line of sesame vinaigrette or honey poppy seed. Not this time. No, this time my answer was a little simpler than that: “Ranch, please.”