The Grill (file under its all about organization)

So my loyal readers, I bid you welcome to the week that was. First off I worked approximately 75 paid hours and another twenty unpaid and chalk on another fifteen in travel time. No wonder I’m so beat. At any rate. This is the weekend that was…

Moving everything from the Restaurant to the Grill is a bit of a pin in the ass. Both literally and figuratively. First off I need to assemble the Tuna Burgers, par cook the regular burgers, get all of the various sauces together, buns, etc and move it across the cobble stones from our building to the patio which is about one hundred meters away. This is done, at least in part, with a crappy old cart which has wheels that fall off and of course is not ideal for doing the task at hand. Then I need to move over my cutting board, fryer baskets, propane tanks, sheet pans, regular pans, all types of containers to keep things in and of course, ketchup, relish and mustard. These are but a few of the things that need to be moved in order to even begin to set up my station.

Friday night was all right. I opened at five (though Chef J wanted me there and ready to go at 4:30). By the time I was actually ready it was about 5:15. I worked solid until 11:30 at the grill and then had to do my breakdown.

Saturday, let hell reign down. Or up as the case were. I got in at 9 am and started working right away. I first thought that the burgers were probably the most important part to get done so I set to work par cooking ten cases of them. This ate up approximately an hour and a half. I then had to portion sauces, cut lettuce and tomato, make quesadillas, etc. I opened on Saturday at approximately 12:15 and went non stop with only two cigarettes the entire day until approximately 11:15 at which point I broke everything down.

Prior to that though the day had a pretty nice rhythm to it and I began to feel a little more comfortable. Once you get the cadence of your movement down the rest just comes down to considerable amounts of coordination and forethought. At one point I had about thirty orders on the go at the same time ranging from Empanadas to Burgers. A couple of times I really found myself so deep in the weeds I could barely think. Both times (around 3 and 5 respectively) Head Chef came and bailed me out. Of course to the uninitiated it looks as if Chef is tearing me a new one unnecessarily but to the uninitiated it would be impossible to understand what Head Chef is doing in the first place. The second time I found myself in the weeds I had announced that I was in the crapper and our pastry Chef heard and called Chef for me. I did not intend to say it out loud and it struck me when she asked if I wanted her to call Chef. He dutifully came over and got me out of the weeds and the whole time was imparting the necessary information I needed in order to manage the details, clean the station, take the chits, etc. All the while his hands were moving and it is a truly glorious thing to see. I HAVE A LOT TO LEARN but am learning things both new and old everyday that I am there. By the end of the night I was beyond spent. My fingers were swollen, I had lost about six or seven pounds due to the heat and I had calluses covering every part of my hand. BUT I LOVE WHAT I DO.

Sunday was again behind the eight ball from the get go. I came in and did all my prep and then proceeded to move everything over to the grill. Head Chef had told me that no matter how deeply I had gotten into the weeds that he COULD NOT come and save me. Nobody could as we were slammed at every restaurant and there were no bodies to spare.

This statement caused me to prepare for the worst and expect the best. Of course when you know from the outset that there is no bailing you out you do things differently. I adjusted the set up, where I kept my Mise en Place, where I accessed things, the grill, everything. I looked at the things that I had to do in order to make my life easier. To make everything move smoothly and with the flow. Naturally, there were a few moments that I was so deep in the weeds that I wished for nothing more than Chef to come and bail me out. But I handled it with good grace and a smile and the people were entertained.

Two things I learned from the experience is how easy it is to get into the weeds and more importantly, how, with a little bit of timing and effort, how easy it is to pull yourself out. I HATE BEING IN THE WEEDS. It messes with my head and starts me doubting things that I shouldn’t me doubting. But when you put yourself on autopilot and let self doubt slip away you’d be amazed what you are capable of accomplishing.

At my worst (or best point depending on your point of view) on Sunday I had about twenty orders going at the same time. If I recall correctly I had twelve burgers, three chicken fingers, two empanadas, two fries and a quesadilla. No big deal you think, save for the fact that the fryer only has two baskets and I had three different items that needed frying and people that were less than willing to wait. But, I started developing a method to deal with this going forward which involves par cooking enough fries for five or six orders and then just splashing them down in the fryer for about thirty to forty five seconds and then serving. Same with the chicken fingers. It seems to work but I still need to do some fine tuning.

We’ll see how we go forward from here. It is a work in progress at any rate. I will be back in a few minutes with another post. But I will leave you with this thought from Helen Keller; “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved.”

I leave you with this thought because it relates not just to me but also to you and is clearly outlined in the next blog post.

I hope you are all well and loving life because that is the point of our journey on this rock floating through space, to find out who we are, run with and become more.

DREAM BIG AND INSPIRED.

A la prochaine

SDM