Ferme La Porte
Very, very, very important.
I have lots to prove and none of them are verbal.
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
Marcel Marceau once said; “It's good to shut up sometimes.”
A la prochaine
And incidentally I did the right thing...
SDM
Friday, September 26, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Food Fight (file under being A Good Sport)
I really like A. I know I’ve said it before and I’m sure to say it again. In fact I will say it right now. I really like A. He is super talented. Has a great head on his shoulders. Is fun to be around and has a lot to teach. Today A and I got into what I thought was a rather pedantic fight the details of which follow here.
So I was going about my day as I always do when I rubbed (jokingly and definitely in good humour) some tomato paste on the Garde Mangers Commis. She took it as a joke and thought it was funny. A got involved and the retribution was that I got hit with some oil and then salt on the back of my neck. Well I am not going to take that lying down. Who would? So naturally I responded. I went and grabbed an egg and then went to A’s station and cracked the egg on his back. I also got some on his station.
He immediately went all sour and did not take it jokingly. It was all downhill from there. He responded by first hitting me with some lobster juice and flour. No biggie and I found it quite humorous. But he was not having any of it and started spitting all kinds of vitriol in my direction. Really mean spirited and in fact if anybody else had been the recipient they would probably have broken down right there.
As I was plating canapés he would spill them over forcing me to start again. I would get something ready to be put away and he would open it and flip it on the table. Basically just stuff that is a nuisance and nothing more.
It escalated from there despite the fact that I cleaned the mess created at his station. He proceeded as I was cleaning to throw Mushroom reduction wherever I was cleaning. Salad dressing and pepper on the floor and me. A steaming tomato saffron butter sauce and many other things. He also took my knife and in its box decided to write me a “nice little note,” as he called it along with some sausages wrapped in my box. The note read; “Stick to what you know.”
I refused to change my jacket and wore the foodstuffs with a sense of humility and pride. I’m never going to break at the whim of some twenty five year old guy. A kid really, at least in my understanding of the world. But again I am a good sport and I will take anything he throws at me. I like him. And while it is a little humiliating to walk around the kitchen covered in that stuff and to have him belittle and degrade me… I can take it. I will take it.
Ultimately I believe that I have brought myself intro the lions den. Oddly enough my middle name is Daniel so I am not quite sure what that means. But I am coming to believe that maybe, just maybe, none of the people in the kitchen (with few exceptions) actually thought that I could do it. That I could survive and thrive in that environment. And I firmly believe that they thought I would quite or be fired.
A has assured me that he will make my life a living hell. He will mess with my mise, he will throw it out. He will do whatever he can to mess with me. And I say… YOU DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO. Because I am too.
Well, I have given them absolutely no reason to fire me. AND I CERTAINLY AM NOT GOING TO QUIT. So, hit me with your best shot. Fire away. I am where I am because of hard work and diligence. I am who I am because I know who I am and what I have to give to this world.
I really like A. I am firmly convinced that the next few weeks, perhaps even months are going to be very difficult for me. At least as it relates to him. But I believe that there is a lesson to be learned here. And knowing that he sometimes reads this I am not going to say what that lesson is just yet. Although I will. What I will say is that no matter, in my life, at any point, that things have gotten tough, people have been vitriolic, my surroundings have not been friendly, have I ever, ever QUIT! So, in the annals of food fights, which tonight was kind of one sided, I guess you could say that I was France to A’s Germany.
I did ask to leave as I knew that tonight it was only going to get worse.
For some reason this popped into my head as my last thought;
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
So I was going about my day as I always do when I rubbed (jokingly and definitely in good humour) some tomato paste on the Garde Mangers Commis. She took it as a joke and thought it was funny. A got involved and the retribution was that I got hit with some oil and then salt on the back of my neck. Well I am not going to take that lying down. Who would? So naturally I responded. I went and grabbed an egg and then went to A’s station and cracked the egg on his back. I also got some on his station.
He immediately went all sour and did not take it jokingly. It was all downhill from there. He responded by first hitting me with some lobster juice and flour. No biggie and I found it quite humorous. But he was not having any of it and started spitting all kinds of vitriol in my direction. Really mean spirited and in fact if anybody else had been the recipient they would probably have broken down right there.
As I was plating canapés he would spill them over forcing me to start again. I would get something ready to be put away and he would open it and flip it on the table. Basically just stuff that is a nuisance and nothing more.
It escalated from there despite the fact that I cleaned the mess created at his station. He proceeded as I was cleaning to throw Mushroom reduction wherever I was cleaning. Salad dressing and pepper on the floor and me. A steaming tomato saffron butter sauce and many other things. He also took my knife and in its box decided to write me a “nice little note,” as he called it along with some sausages wrapped in my box. The note read; “Stick to what you know.”
I refused to change my jacket and wore the foodstuffs with a sense of humility and pride. I’m never going to break at the whim of some twenty five year old guy. A kid really, at least in my understanding of the world. But again I am a good sport and I will take anything he throws at me. I like him. And while it is a little humiliating to walk around the kitchen covered in that stuff and to have him belittle and degrade me… I can take it. I will take it.
Ultimately I believe that I have brought myself intro the lions den. Oddly enough my middle name is Daniel so I am not quite sure what that means. But I am coming to believe that maybe, just maybe, none of the people in the kitchen (with few exceptions) actually thought that I could do it. That I could survive and thrive in that environment. And I firmly believe that they thought I would quite or be fired.
A has assured me that he will make my life a living hell. He will mess with my mise, he will throw it out. He will do whatever he can to mess with me. And I say… YOU DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO. Because I am too.
Well, I have given them absolutely no reason to fire me. AND I CERTAINLY AM NOT GOING TO QUIT. So, hit me with your best shot. Fire away. I am where I am because of hard work and diligence. I am who I am because I know who I am and what I have to give to this world.
I really like A. I am firmly convinced that the next few weeks, perhaps even months are going to be very difficult for me. At least as it relates to him. But I believe that there is a lesson to be learned here. And knowing that he sometimes reads this I am not going to say what that lesson is just yet. Although I will. What I will say is that no matter, in my life, at any point, that things have gotten tough, people have been vitriolic, my surroundings have not been friendly, have I ever, ever QUIT! So, in the annals of food fights, which tonight was kind of one sided, I guess you could say that I was France to A’s Germany.
I did ask to leave as I knew that tonight it was only going to get worse.
For some reason this popped into my head as my last thought;
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Things That Bug Me
It is easy to get discouraged in the kitchen environment as a result of some of the things that you see;
I am a worker. Doesn’t matter what job I’ve ever done I have been a worker. When I see someone that is not pulling their weight it bothers me. To the point of extreme mental fatigue. Can I change it. NO! But it bothers me.
When I have to pick up the slack because someone else is being really lazy or fucking the dog as it were.
DOUBLE STANDARDS and the way that it affects the kitchen culture.
People that don’t listen.
People that don’t want to listen.
People that don’t do things properly.
People that delegate out of laziness.
People that have to ride others and put them down.
Lack of understanding.
Lack of empathy.
Lack of courtesy.
Poor manners.
People that ride me.
I could extend the list but for now I think that this covers it.
Anne Frank once said; “Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.”
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
I am a worker. Doesn’t matter what job I’ve ever done I have been a worker. When I see someone that is not pulling their weight it bothers me. To the point of extreme mental fatigue. Can I change it. NO! But it bothers me.
When I have to pick up the slack because someone else is being really lazy or fucking the dog as it were.
DOUBLE STANDARDS and the way that it affects the kitchen culture.
People that don’t listen.
People that don’t want to listen.
People that don’t do things properly.
People that delegate out of laziness.
People that have to ride others and put them down.
Lack of understanding.
Lack of empathy.
Lack of courtesy.
Poor manners.
People that ride me.
I could extend the list but for now I think that this covers it.
Anne Frank once said; “Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.”
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
Humility (file under the mother of all realizations)
Many of those that read this are people that have known me a long time. At times I have been boisterous, cantankerous. Obnoxious, loud, overbearing. Difficult and so much more. One of the things that I have had to learn while working at reservation is humility.
The dictionary defines;
hu·mil·i·ty n
the quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one's own importance, rank, etc.
Those that have known me a long time know that I have never operated with any measure of humility. In fact, in instances where I should have exercised it I instead jumped out and was louder than I would have been before. In hindsight (which is 20/20) I could easily make excuses for it but I think I will merely say this; I was all the things that I mentioned earlier in this post because I had yet to find a home. A place that I belonged.
Now even at Reservation, at times it is hard for me to exercise humility. But take this for what it is;
I am a man. 33, to be exact. Almost 34. With the exception of 3 back of the house staff I am the oldest. 2 of whom are chefs and one of whom works the line. I work with people that have more experience than me who are 21, 23, or 25. To them I am merely a tool to help them execute their mission. To make them look good. For someone like me this is not easy.
I don’t like being told that I am bad. Or that something I’ve done is shit. I don’t like being called names, told what to do or being made fun of. These are things that happen to me on a daily basis. Now is it meant to be that way. No, I am quite certain of that. But I can say that it does make it very difficult sometimes.
So how does this relate to humility. Former Executive Chef and now Director of Operations and I were having a conversation last night. He and I spoke for about ten minutes and he asked me to tell him a story. Naturally I started talking about what was going on around me. He spoke about humility, how when he was coming up he did not have an opinion. He just did his job to the best of his abilities. Until he became a Chef he had no opinion because ultimately, in OUR environment, the only opinion that matters IS THE CHEFS! Unless of course you are asked for your opinion, that is entirely different.
Speaking with the DOP (I still call him Chef) he recognized that it must be difficult for me. He also, in his own way, gave me kernels of wisdom that I will not share here. But I will say that I am looking at what I am doing differently now. I am going to work and doing the best that I can and trying to learn as much as I can.
I guess I could say that every day I am practicing the VIRTUE of humility and that is going to make me an even better Chef.
Saint Augustine once wrote; “Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance.”
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
The dictionary defines;
hu·mil·i·ty n
the quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one's own importance, rank, etc.
Those that have known me a long time know that I have never operated with any measure of humility. In fact, in instances where I should have exercised it I instead jumped out and was louder than I would have been before. In hindsight (which is 20/20) I could easily make excuses for it but I think I will merely say this; I was all the things that I mentioned earlier in this post because I had yet to find a home. A place that I belonged.
Now even at Reservation, at times it is hard for me to exercise humility. But take this for what it is;
I am a man. 33, to be exact. Almost 34. With the exception of 3 back of the house staff I am the oldest. 2 of whom are chefs and one of whom works the line. I work with people that have more experience than me who are 21, 23, or 25. To them I am merely a tool to help them execute their mission. To make them look good. For someone like me this is not easy.
I don’t like being told that I am bad. Or that something I’ve done is shit. I don’t like being called names, told what to do or being made fun of. These are things that happen to me on a daily basis. Now is it meant to be that way. No, I am quite certain of that. But I can say that it does make it very difficult sometimes.
So how does this relate to humility. Former Executive Chef and now Director of Operations and I were having a conversation last night. He and I spoke for about ten minutes and he asked me to tell him a story. Naturally I started talking about what was going on around me. He spoke about humility, how when he was coming up he did not have an opinion. He just did his job to the best of his abilities. Until he became a Chef he had no opinion because ultimately, in OUR environment, the only opinion that matters IS THE CHEFS! Unless of course you are asked for your opinion, that is entirely different.
Speaking with the DOP (I still call him Chef) he recognized that it must be difficult for me. He also, in his own way, gave me kernels of wisdom that I will not share here. But I will say that I am looking at what I am doing differently now. I am going to work and doing the best that I can and trying to learn as much as I can.
I guess I could say that every day I am practicing the VIRTUE of humility and that is going to make me an even better Chef.
Saint Augustine once wrote; “Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance.”
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
Us and Them Part 2 (file under inherently different)
Us and Them Part 2 (file under inherently different)
I had some more thoughts on the subject and have been lucky enough this evening to find myself at home before an ungodly hour (by the way as a side note can there really be anything such as an ungodly hour… but I digress).
Us, we are the ones that celebrate holidays, birthdays and other significant events on days other than those. We are the ones that wake up early and go to bed late. We are the ones that push through our pain, our fears or our discontent. We are the ones, US, that make sure that you enjoy your meal, your celebration or your event. We are the ones that beat up on each other in fits of verbal diarrhea, hate each other one moment and love each other the next. We are the ones that work through our differences. We are the ones that can be at each others throats in service and buying each other a beer when we leave the kitchen. We are the ones that society cast off, the ones that could not, did not, would not fit anywhere until we came to find a home in the most unlikely of places, with the most unlikely of people as brothers and sisters in arms (or knives as the case were). We are the ones, US, that struggle to do what we love. And love the struggle. Thrive on it in fact. Us.
We are the unthought about, the un thanked, the over worked and under paid. BUT, would any of us trade it for anything in the world.
A RESOUNDING NO!
At any rate, I am going to pound out another couple of posts right now.
John Walter once wrote; “Get to know the Chef and you will start to enjoy dining out even more.” Very TRUE!
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
I had some more thoughts on the subject and have been lucky enough this evening to find myself at home before an ungodly hour (by the way as a side note can there really be anything such as an ungodly hour… but I digress).
Us, we are the ones that celebrate holidays, birthdays and other significant events on days other than those. We are the ones that wake up early and go to bed late. We are the ones that push through our pain, our fears or our discontent. We are the ones, US, that make sure that you enjoy your meal, your celebration or your event. We are the ones that beat up on each other in fits of verbal diarrhea, hate each other one moment and love each other the next. We are the ones that work through our differences. We are the ones that can be at each others throats in service and buying each other a beer when we leave the kitchen. We are the ones that society cast off, the ones that could not, did not, would not fit anywhere until we came to find a home in the most unlikely of places, with the most unlikely of people as brothers and sisters in arms (or knives as the case were). We are the ones, US, that struggle to do what we love. And love the struggle. Thrive on it in fact. Us.
We are the unthought about, the un thanked, the over worked and under paid. BUT, would any of us trade it for anything in the world.
A RESOUNDING NO!
At any rate, I am going to pound out another couple of posts right now.
John Walter once wrote; “Get to know the Chef and you will start to enjoy dining out even more.” Very TRUE!
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
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