If you cook it, they will come. Sure, sounds good, especially after I poured my frustrations out on digital paper. I have now digested yesterday's revelation and am now returning to what I can fix and improve, the food.
In fact, I have returned to working with oatmeal. I had such a great time adjusting and working with the flavors in a variety of oatmeal's that I needed to flesh out more ideas. Today I put together oatmeal carbonara. 
We started with a base of three types of oatmeal, half and half and some water. To the base, I added butter, bacon fat, chives, bacon, lemon zest and juice, crystal hot sauce and Bianco Sardo cheese. I topped the oatmeal with a hot spring egg and a final sprinkling of the key flavor elements. It was tasty. So tasty that I ate several bowls of it.
What I particularly like about working with oatmeal is its window of opportunity. The only kitchen staff we have is Aki and myself, and I end up spending too much time in the dining room discussing food and wine, so it is essential to create dishes which allow for some slippage and forethought.
