Speed and organization are the name of the game. The perfect choreography of putting things together as quickly as possible, at least as it stands now. And the same is true in Wendy’s as it would have been at Le Cirque. Speed and organization, the latter being the first focus and the first being the secondary result. It takes time in order to learn to organize a station into a workable set up. Currently to set up my station I need to do the following;
Cut and blanche fries
Cut and blanche sweet potato fries
Cut Onions for frizzled onions
Prepare flour and corn starch mixture
Make two different kinds of burgers, one regular and one Kobe
Move proteins down from Protein fridge to line fridge, proteins include;
Kangaroo
Striploin
Prime Rib
Filet
Shrimp
Chicken
Fish for fish special
Slice tomato
Lettuce
Mozzarella Cheese
Grate Parm
Blanche Macaroni, penne and spaghetti
Form and blanche Meatballs
Prepare Tomato Sauce
Make Mac and Cheese Sauce
Portion Lobster
Make bread crumb and Parm mixture
Move Milk and 35% Cream
Cut butter into knobs
Slice jalapenos
Prepare Broccoli
Bok Choi
Snap Peas
Jalapeno Aioli
Chipotle Aioli
Move buns, onion, sesame and onion twists.
Sear Tuna
Cut and prepare root chips (sweet potato and taro)
I’m sure I am forgetting something. It seems rather short a list at the moment but I think that you get the basic idea.
The first step is figuring out the best way to move when you are at high speed. Once you have figured this out you need to figure out a way to organize your fridge and station so that you can optimize your performance during service. Again this is true whether you work at Wendy’s or Le Cirque.
To now I have been working with the system that was given to me. Over the next few days I plan on tweaking the system into one which works for me. Not that the current one does not but I have seen that there are definitely some efficiencies that I can achieve by shifting some of my 9 pan and ¼ pans around as well as playing with the position of certain things in the fridge.
As I play with the positioning this week I will keep you appraised.
I liken what we do a lot to boxing. Truly it is a choreography that requires you to be clear of mind and able to move without really thinking. More acting than reacting.
I am really happy here. I feel that I have been given a chance to spread my wings and fly. I feel that I am a valued member of a team where everyone has a role to play, yet is not entirely defined by that role. I am learning a lot. Some of which has to do with the move to a new restaurant and some which has to do with the practical application of knowledge. The way that a steak reacts to your fingers when you press down against it. The way that you have to train your mind to be ready for anything. The way that a hamburger reacts to resting. The way that things stick to pans if you haven’t applied the right heat to it and let it get hot enough. All things that seem simple but in fact, with the rapid fire tic, tic, tic, tic, tic of the printer. The beautifully incessant noise that summons all cooks to the line, to make someone’s day. There is a very short learning curve on the line. Either you get it or you don’t.
I know that in three months I am going to be really, I stress, REALLY, good on the line. Not that I will be the best I can be (in a futuristic sense) but that I will progress everyday with a smile on my face and know that I am doing exactly what I want to do with my life. Working toward my goal. Which some of you may or may not be clear on. As such my next post will relate to that.
Richard Bach once said; “A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such a speed...It feels an impulsion...this is the place to go now. But the sky knows the reasons and the patterns behind all clouds, and you will know, too, when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond horizons.”
As such I feel that I am currently the cloud and that my Chef is the sky. Yet I do see the horizon and feel that everyday I am reaching one step closer toward it. Are you? Are you dreaming big and inspired? Are you following your passion? Living the life that you want to live? If not, why? Today is the day to start living for you. To be the you that you know you were born to be. Are you?
A la prochaine
SDM
Showing posts with label shrimp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shrimp. Show all posts
Monday, November 24, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
The Odyssey (file under pulling off the Miracle of August 16, 2008) Part 2
I have been a part of a lot of things in my life that have made me proud. Since joining the kitchen in January I can tell you that I have never been more proud of us as a unit or brigade then I was during the Miracle of August 16, 2008.
As I said in the previous post we had to pull off 23,000 canapés and set up the site for a massive event of 1000 people who were all paying good money for a good cause and expecting great food.
After the pep talk from Executive Chef sometime after midnight our Saturday kicked into high gear. We had a lot of work to do and very little time to do it in. Though I had been at work since 7:30 am on Friday morning I was still in pretty good shape. All of us were in fact. Here I would like to tell the story of Pastry Chef J.
Some food concepts by their very nature are extremely difficult to accomplish and Pastry Chef J had a difficult task in front of her. She had also been at work since around 7:30 am and was working on what effectively was a cheezie. But it was a cheezie that was made through an extremely difficult and arduous process that saw her working non stop for about thirty hours before taking a break. Step by step she worked as hard as she could to figure out how to make this concept work. After all it was simply a recipe and a concept and needed to be reworked and retooled in order to make it work. Her tenacity and force of will ensured success. Every once and a while I would walk over to what effectively became her test kitchen to make sure she was okay and ask if she needed anything. She just kept pushing. Working. Toiling to make this recipe and concept work. I was proud to see what she accomplished under difficult and trying circumstances. She displayed for all of us to see a work ethic that is very seldom seen and she did it all with good nature and humour.
The rest of us found ourselves working on all kinds of elements to make sure that we got everything done. There was the 1200 bread cups that I found myself working on because S was working on something else. The only thing that was a little annoying about the bread cups was that we were only able to make 76 at a time. Each batch was taking approximately 30 minutes from assembly to taking them out of the oven. When S was done working on what he had been he took over for me so that I could move on with E to the Quinoa salad and Smoked Turkey. I guess it was somewhere around 3 am when we got that started.
With a few beers and a few laughs we literally soldiered on and kept pushing to get done what we had to. There were the 1000 mini pizza doughs. The Foie Gras which had to be rolled. The 1000 chicken lollipops. 1000 mini Kobe burgers. 1000 mini salmon burgers. Shrimp had to be peeled, deveined and readied for a la minute preparation. There were the chicken pieces that needed to be cut for bacon wrapped chicken. There was the pork stuffed lychee and shrimp that needed to get done. Truly there was no shortage of work.
Approximately every hour we would assemble to have a quick status report and a smoke. Around 3 am we decided to order some Chinese food to give us a little boost of energy and a quick break to recharge our batteries.
Executive Chef could have gone home and caught some sleep but instead like a battlefield general he stood right there in the lines with us. Working along side us. Seeing his face, for me anyway, made it a little easier to do what had to get done. I had a new level of respect expose itself for him as we worked diligently through the night.
When we saw that someone needed help we would jump in and help. It was truly a team effort. We were the equivalent of the Yankees and we were proving it throughout the night. If there was a problem or an issue we all worked through it or jumped in to help where we could. It was remarkable by anyone’s standards.
At one point E and I were working on the Salad dressing for the Quinoa. My body was functioning perfectly but my mind was a little less than stellar. While trying to do some simple math I found myself transposing digits. Thankfully Executive Chef came along at just that moment and saved my ass.
The sun began to rise and the Miracle of August 16th was about to come together. A moment we could all be proud of.
George Bernard Shaw once wrote; “A miracle is an event which creates faith. That is the purpose and nature of miracles. Frauds deceive. An event which creates faith does not deceive: therefore it is not a fraud, but a miracle.”
This day created faith. For me anyway.
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
As I said in the previous post we had to pull off 23,000 canapés and set up the site for a massive event of 1000 people who were all paying good money for a good cause and expecting great food.
After the pep talk from Executive Chef sometime after midnight our Saturday kicked into high gear. We had a lot of work to do and very little time to do it in. Though I had been at work since 7:30 am on Friday morning I was still in pretty good shape. All of us were in fact. Here I would like to tell the story of Pastry Chef J.
Some food concepts by their very nature are extremely difficult to accomplish and Pastry Chef J had a difficult task in front of her. She had also been at work since around 7:30 am and was working on what effectively was a cheezie. But it was a cheezie that was made through an extremely difficult and arduous process that saw her working non stop for about thirty hours before taking a break. Step by step she worked as hard as she could to figure out how to make this concept work. After all it was simply a recipe and a concept and needed to be reworked and retooled in order to make it work. Her tenacity and force of will ensured success. Every once and a while I would walk over to what effectively became her test kitchen to make sure she was okay and ask if she needed anything. She just kept pushing. Working. Toiling to make this recipe and concept work. I was proud to see what she accomplished under difficult and trying circumstances. She displayed for all of us to see a work ethic that is very seldom seen and she did it all with good nature and humour.
The rest of us found ourselves working on all kinds of elements to make sure that we got everything done. There was the 1200 bread cups that I found myself working on because S was working on something else. The only thing that was a little annoying about the bread cups was that we were only able to make 76 at a time. Each batch was taking approximately 30 minutes from assembly to taking them out of the oven. When S was done working on what he had been he took over for me so that I could move on with E to the Quinoa salad and Smoked Turkey. I guess it was somewhere around 3 am when we got that started.
With a few beers and a few laughs we literally soldiered on and kept pushing to get done what we had to. There were the 1000 mini pizza doughs. The Foie Gras which had to be rolled. The 1000 chicken lollipops. 1000 mini Kobe burgers. 1000 mini salmon burgers. Shrimp had to be peeled, deveined and readied for a la minute preparation. There were the chicken pieces that needed to be cut for bacon wrapped chicken. There was the pork stuffed lychee and shrimp that needed to get done. Truly there was no shortage of work.
Approximately every hour we would assemble to have a quick status report and a smoke. Around 3 am we decided to order some Chinese food to give us a little boost of energy and a quick break to recharge our batteries.
Executive Chef could have gone home and caught some sleep but instead like a battlefield general he stood right there in the lines with us. Working along side us. Seeing his face, for me anyway, made it a little easier to do what had to get done. I had a new level of respect expose itself for him as we worked diligently through the night.
When we saw that someone needed help we would jump in and help. It was truly a team effort. We were the equivalent of the Yankees and we were proving it throughout the night. If there was a problem or an issue we all worked through it or jumped in to help where we could. It was remarkable by anyone’s standards.
At one point E and I were working on the Salad dressing for the Quinoa. My body was functioning perfectly but my mind was a little less than stellar. While trying to do some simple math I found myself transposing digits. Thankfully Executive Chef came along at just that moment and saved my ass.
The sun began to rise and the Miracle of August 16th was about to come together. A moment we could all be proud of.
George Bernard Shaw once wrote; “A miracle is an event which creates faith. That is the purpose and nature of miracles. Frauds deceive. An event which creates faith does not deceive: therefore it is not a fraud, but a miracle.”
This day created faith. For me anyway.
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
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