Before the pandemic, I normally called chefs after I’d written a review of their restaurant but before it was published, to check facts. The chefs usually sounded as if I were calling with the results of a lab test. One chef called me back from a hospital and told me his wife was in the next room giving birth to their first child, but — oh no, don’t worry, it’s fine, he said; in fact, I’d picked a perfect time to call! These were, in other words, awkward conversations.The ones I had last spring were different. It was as if the fear and distrust all chefs feel toward all critics were gone. They talked about going bankrupt, they talked about crying and not wanting to get out of bed. What did they have left to lose by talking to me?
Pete highlights a key change that came with COVID, except he emphasizes the good that came from it. This compare and contrast allows the reader to see how the personalities have developed along with the times. There was a silver lining amidst the "crying and not wanting to get out of bed". The drastic comparison of his importance before and after the pandemic with a chef giving equal importance to Pete and his first child underlines just how wrong priorities were previously. His diction, utilizing awkward perfectly to encapsulate the environment surrounding his job before COVID, pushing forth the idea that good can result from change.