Without Reservation (file under what we’re calling the new place)

New beginnings. It is always quite scary when you change from one thing to another. There are so many expectations, some of which may be true and others which are largely imagined but nonetheless they have an affect on the way that you operate. At least they do for me. We are going to call the new place Without Reservation.

My first day I was basically there to learn what was going on. Learn the culture of the kitchen. Make a few dishes and watch how the line operates. I ended up, quite ironically, making Kobe burgers my first day. I say ironically of course because of my experience on the grill over the summer. These burgers however do not come in a box pre made and do contain some very expensive and tasty ingredients. Of course Kobe for those of you who don’t know can go to (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_beef). However, most of what is consumed in this country is not in fact Kobe. More often than not we get the highbred version of Kobe which has been crossed with Angus. Still good but not quite the same as the legendary stroked and coddled beef that is super expensive and I might add super tasty. At any rate it was a great first experience for me and it really helped to set the tone for the coming weeks.

The people that I am working with are a rag tag crew of high powered mutants. There are five of us in total. Four males. One female. There is Head Chef, a towering friendly giant and the man responsible for getting me to start my journey on a new path of discovery. In a lot of ways he is like me and we are going to have a great working relationship. Then there is the kitchen veteran. He reminded me right away of L from Reservation. He is just like L in that he is the kitchen father, the machine, capable of jumping buildings in a single bound and producing food at an alarming rate without even thinking. I think we are going to call him Yoda. He is from British Guyana, been cooking for 36 years, 36 YEARS. I wasn’t even born yet. He is the epitome of what it means to come to this country to work hard and get what you desire for your children. I love him already. Working with him for the past couple of days he has assured me that I will do just fine. I’m glad to because he really helped to alleviate some of my fears. Yoda immediately understood me and what I was trying to do and in some weird magical way I think he decided if I was crazy enough to do it he was crazy enough to help me get there.

Then there is A, she comes in in the morning and handles all the deliveries and sets up the Garde station. She is funny and although unassuming can be loud when she needs to be. We’ve only spoken minimally and I can’t really say much more about her yet.

D, well, what can I say about D. He too is a workhorse. He is the evening Garde and just about everything else. A young Spanish chap who after a few beers told me that he had no direction in life and kind of pissed away his early twenties. But then he came to cooking and everything has changed.

The controlling owner is a former NHL, Stanley Cup winning, Goalie. I mention this because I believe in signals from the universe. I used to play hockey in my youth and was in fact a goalie. He is friendly but cautious and you can tell that he is currently, just like everyone else, wondering how to weather the recession storm clouds that are mounting, quite blackly, in the distance. I’m not too concerned as I think that we should be able to weather it quite well. Canada is after all a resource rich nation and I don’t think that the worlds appetite is just going to up and disappear for our oil, wood, uranium, zinc, copper, etc, etc, etc.

The front of house is predominantly women. Eye Candy. I can’t remember all of their names but after having laughed and spoken with them I think that we’ll all get along just fine.

The first day I learned the basic culture of the kitchen. Expectations. Workflow. And what it feels like to get in the weeds quickly. I was working the grill station right away and the grill is about the busiest station in the restaurant. I held my own but only because I had Head Chef watching over my shoulder and helping when needed. At the grill station you need to call the read the orders, call them out and then execute. It truly is a ballet. A fine tuned chorus of the machine spitting out chits and the teams reaction to them. That first day we ended up doing about eighty lunches. Not busy by their experience but for my first time it was enough to make me think that I might be out of my element.

However, after that first rush. And it truly was a rush. Both in terms of orders and the blood flowing through my veins. Going out for a smoke with Yoda I told him I felt a little out of sorts and he looked at me and told me that I had nothing to worry about. So did Head Chef.

Having popped my line cherry in a meaningful way I am now left to consider it. To figure out how to make the workflow better, pound out orders more quickly and organize the entire kitchen. From the outside it may seem that it is kind of easy. But I would have to say that that was a rather naïve thought. Not to say that I won’t get to the point where it is relatively easy but currently I find myself working hard to try and get the rhythm of it down. But for a guy who only worked the line once (this day) I think I did alright.

Buddha once said; “There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth...not going all the way, and not starting.” I certainly have put myself in the position that I am going all the way and I certainly have started. It is exhilarating, scary, exciting and beautiful.

I’m also reminded of what Seneca said; “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.”

Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM