How Does the IRS Tax That?

THERE WAS a neat little passage in Craig LaBan's review of the Northeast BYO Rylei in Sunday's Inquirer:

A bigger question, though, was who would cook? The unlikely answer is Jose [Vargas], 26, a longtime waiter whose culinary education consists of studying cookbooks from the Inn at Little Washington and the French Laundry, Wikipedia queries into the elements of molecular gastronomy, and three years of trial and error at home. His volunteer sous-chef is his father-in-law, Terry Brennan, a retired state social worker who has never cooked, who wishes to be paid for his labor in beer (Victory Hop Devil preferred).

I'm not sure what's cooler: That a former waiter with no formal training is turning out such good food, or that his wife's dad is accepting nothing more for his help than just a very tasty pale ale.