So as you all know I have now been at the new job for six days. And in those six days it feels as if I have come a long way and what’s more that I recognize and look forward to even more. It is exciting. Exhilarating. Fun even.
It starts almost with a whisper as the ribbon moves over. Tic. You then know it is coming. The glorious onslaught that is my purpose. My drive. My passion and now my life. My ears ever perked for that tell tale Tic. And then tic, tic, tic, tic, tic. One order in. Chef in his booming voice calls out the order and though he does this I find myself peeking at the printer to see what the order is. Tic, tic, tic, tic, tic. And now it really is on. Order after order. The beautifully incessant chatter of the printer. Letting me know that yes, we are in the thick of it. And not only that, but the show going on, is one that I can’t believe I had to wait to get to.
Tic, tic, tic, tic, tic. Order Penne Primavera, Edamame, Tuna Club, etc. Tic, tic, tic, tic. Two spaghetti and three penne all day. Drop six orders of fries. Tic, tic, tic, tic, tic. Drop six more. Two more Tuna clubs. Add to that another Primavera and it really is show time.
I furrow my brow for a moment. Thinking back in glee for a moment to the summer and the grill. Tic, tic, tic, tic, tic. Alright, now it’s really on. Three more Tuna clubs. A pan fried green. Chef calls out, drop some greens for pan fried. Keep your pans hot he says to me. Tic, tic, tic, tic, tic. Cajun times three. VIP table make it nice.
What a glorious sound as I surrender fully to the tic, tic, tic, tic, tic. Watching, listening, acting and reacting to the second most beautiful sound I think I’ve ever heard. The first we certainly can’t talk about here. But I’m sure you can imagine. Tic, tic, tic, tic, tic. And here it goes again. Constantly chattering. Constantly spitting out duplicate chits for table 1, 65. And then again, over and over and over.
Tic, tic, tic, tic, tic. By the time the rush is over we’ve served about one hundred and sixty people. 30 – 40 percent of which is coming off of my station. I wipe my brow and think to myself how enjoyable it is to have your ass handed to you. Not in the weeds. Just a regular old ass whooping and man is the pain glorious.
Mods are a whole different story. Modifications. The bain of my existence. As we can have any of twelve or thirteen different Mods. If you’re not paying attention it is easy to screw up the order and once you screw up one order you find yourself constantly trying to pull yourself out from it.
Tic, tic, tic, tic, tic and then nothingness. Seemingly without purpose as the last chit comes up. Coffee. Our first stretch of the day is over. Time for a smoke. Clean the line. And get ready to do it all over again.
I am unable to come up with the words to describe the pain pleasure experience of the line. Pain, when you fall behind, grab a pan without a towel, drop boiling water on yourself. Pleasure, because I am doing exactly what I am meant to do and doing it well. In fact better than expected and all in less than a week.
I do have a lot more way to go. As I said before I learned how to crawl and then walk. Now all I need to do is learn how to run. And I’m sure before long I will be Usain Bolt. Instead of World’s Fastest Man – World’s Fastest Pan.
Tic, tic, tic, tic, tic. OH It’s ON! And I’m ready for the show. Put me in coach I’m ready to play. Full blown agony and ecstasy for a combined total of about three hours a day. And unlike in the summer when I resented the grill trap that I was in. I now relish the pain. Welcome it. In fact. Come in, sit down and let my pain be your pleasure. As so too is my pain my pleasure and my destiny.
I must be a sadist in some way. Because the moment I get home I find myself longing not just for the love of my life, C and a tender embrace but also a good old fashioned beautifully incessant printer chatter ASS KICKING!
Antoine de Saint-Exupery once said; “Commonly, people believe that defeat is characterized by a general bustle and a feverish rush. Bustle and rush are the signs of victory, not of defeat. Victory is a thing of action. It is a house in the act of being built. Every participant in victory sweats and puffs, carrying the stones for the building of the house. But defeat is a thing of weariness, of incoherence, of boredom. And above all of futility.”
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Round Up (file under One Week less a Day)
So I have now been at Without Reservation for almost a week. In that time I have come to learn how much I don’t know and even a bit of how much I do. But there is a whole lot less that I know versus what I don’t in the culinary world.
As I mentioned last week, I had to leave Reservation. I looked at what the next while was going to look like for me and further I felt I had stagnated and that that was not going to change in the foreseeable future. As such I believe I did what all cooks do. Leave on good terms and see if I really have wings or am just Icarus. I believe now, firmly, that I am not Icarus and that I am not going to come crashing down to the earth. I only mention this because Sous Chef A and I had a conversation about the move and he (quite rightly) let me know that in a move like this if I can not pick up the pieces quickly and survive the line that my dream might well be at jeopardy. The more I thought about it the more I found that he was A) Right and B) being a friend and mentor by giving it to me straight as opposed to sugar coating it. So for that I thank you A.
The first week was filled with more ups than downs which is always a good sign. I found that at the line I certainly can crawl and even pulled myself up to walk very quickly. Now I just need to learn how to run. And what’s more I know I will.
As a steakhouse we do exactly as the name suggests. A good thirty percent of the breakdown on food sales is grill. Another 30 sauté. The rest is Garde or as we call it upscale bar food. As such since starting on the line I have been responsible for about thirty to thirty five percent of the meals that go out to customers.
I’ve learned this week for the first time the proper construction and use of both a blonde and brown roux. Proper technique to cooking it and its usage. I’ve learned most of the recipe book and how everything is plated. I’ve worked both Sauté and Grill and yes, of course have done a tonne of prep. Not just for my station but also for the Chef’s station, the grill. Not because I was asked either. Instead because I am part of a team and I feel that where I am in that team requires me to set a good example. Not that it is really an issue in the kitchen that I am currently in. EVERYONE pulls his or her weight. Which is refreshing.
As I mentioned last week, and if I didn’t, I meant to, a lot of cooking on the line is preparation and organization. Without either you will be dead in the water before you even have your second chit on the board (more on this in my next post).
I can not stress enough the importance of organization on the line. I need to know exactly what I have, where I have it and if not on the line I need to know where it is stored so if I fall into the weeds I can verbally paint the picture of exactly where it is for whoever has the ability to grab it for me. On the line (which I will post a picture of soon) the main line consists of one line for sauté and grill. To the left is the Garde station and in the back is where all the upscale bar food comes off. As such there could be a disconnect between stations. This leads to another important point – COMMUNICATION. The main line consists of a six top, a fryer and a grill.
Our staging area is about eight feet long and consists of Chef to my right, a common ground in between for plating and then the station I am currently working. Again communication is key as space is limited.
The fridge space on the line is limited and requires great organization. In my past I would never have said that I could organize my way out of a paper bag. Though I would say that words don’t count when it comes to that statement, as I have always been organized when it comes to my writing. I have exactly two shelves which measure approximately three feet by three feet. Maybe a bit less. In that I need to keep all of my prep and backup for service. What I can’t keep in there, as I said earlier, I store in such a way that it is easily accessible.
Back to communication for a moment. Many times in the past year I have mentioned the importance of communication. On our team we have three cooks and Chef. It is quite interesting with that brigade pulling off anywhere between 150 – 200 covers, most of which come in a quick hit of one hour and fifteen minutes. SOLID sweat and motion. Purposeful motion. Which again, in such a tight space requires constant communication between the whole team.
These are all things that I am indebted to Reservation for teaching me. Without the fundamentals that I learned at Reservation I am not sure that I ever would have been able to jump on the line as I have at Without Reservation.
My hours are less, the work more stressful, the environment quite different from Reservation. But as I said in my last post. This move was necessary for me. To continue my growth. To lead me down the path that I chose for my dream and that I live every day.
I will be back with a post about the frenetic energy and pace of service shortly.
Paulo Coelho once said; “When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny.”
I could not agree more.
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
As I mentioned last week, I had to leave Reservation. I looked at what the next while was going to look like for me and further I felt I had stagnated and that that was not going to change in the foreseeable future. As such I believe I did what all cooks do. Leave on good terms and see if I really have wings or am just Icarus. I believe now, firmly, that I am not Icarus and that I am not going to come crashing down to the earth. I only mention this because Sous Chef A and I had a conversation about the move and he (quite rightly) let me know that in a move like this if I can not pick up the pieces quickly and survive the line that my dream might well be at jeopardy. The more I thought about it the more I found that he was A) Right and B) being a friend and mentor by giving it to me straight as opposed to sugar coating it. So for that I thank you A.
The first week was filled with more ups than downs which is always a good sign. I found that at the line I certainly can crawl and even pulled myself up to walk very quickly. Now I just need to learn how to run. And what’s more I know I will.
As a steakhouse we do exactly as the name suggests. A good thirty percent of the breakdown on food sales is grill. Another 30 sauté. The rest is Garde or as we call it upscale bar food. As such since starting on the line I have been responsible for about thirty to thirty five percent of the meals that go out to customers.
I’ve learned this week for the first time the proper construction and use of both a blonde and brown roux. Proper technique to cooking it and its usage. I’ve learned most of the recipe book and how everything is plated. I’ve worked both Sauté and Grill and yes, of course have done a tonne of prep. Not just for my station but also for the Chef’s station, the grill. Not because I was asked either. Instead because I am part of a team and I feel that where I am in that team requires me to set a good example. Not that it is really an issue in the kitchen that I am currently in. EVERYONE pulls his or her weight. Which is refreshing.
As I mentioned last week, and if I didn’t, I meant to, a lot of cooking on the line is preparation and organization. Without either you will be dead in the water before you even have your second chit on the board (more on this in my next post).
I can not stress enough the importance of organization on the line. I need to know exactly what I have, where I have it and if not on the line I need to know where it is stored so if I fall into the weeds I can verbally paint the picture of exactly where it is for whoever has the ability to grab it for me. On the line (which I will post a picture of soon) the main line consists of one line for sauté and grill. To the left is the Garde station and in the back is where all the upscale bar food comes off. As such there could be a disconnect between stations. This leads to another important point – COMMUNICATION. The main line consists of a six top, a fryer and a grill.
Our staging area is about eight feet long and consists of Chef to my right, a common ground in between for plating and then the station I am currently working. Again communication is key as space is limited.
The fridge space on the line is limited and requires great organization. In my past I would never have said that I could organize my way out of a paper bag. Though I would say that words don’t count when it comes to that statement, as I have always been organized when it comes to my writing. I have exactly two shelves which measure approximately three feet by three feet. Maybe a bit less. In that I need to keep all of my prep and backup for service. What I can’t keep in there, as I said earlier, I store in such a way that it is easily accessible.
Back to communication for a moment. Many times in the past year I have mentioned the importance of communication. On our team we have three cooks and Chef. It is quite interesting with that brigade pulling off anywhere between 150 – 200 covers, most of which come in a quick hit of one hour and fifteen minutes. SOLID sweat and motion. Purposeful motion. Which again, in such a tight space requires constant communication between the whole team.
These are all things that I am indebted to Reservation for teaching me. Without the fundamentals that I learned at Reservation I am not sure that I ever would have been able to jump on the line as I have at Without Reservation.
My hours are less, the work more stressful, the environment quite different from Reservation. But as I said in my last post. This move was necessary for me. To continue my growth. To lead me down the path that I chose for my dream and that I live every day.
I will be back with a post about the frenetic energy and pace of service shortly.
Paulo Coelho once said; “When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny.”
I could not agree more.
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
Sunday, November 16, 2008
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
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
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