The kitchen is always an exciting place to work. There is a cacophony of sounds and the ever present ballet that I have spoken about many many times. Sometimes the kitchen can be more exciting as the controlled chaos has a curveball thrown at it. Yesterday was one of those days.
The day started off good enough. Got in and started making sure that everything was ready to go for what was sure to be a busy dinner service. Gorgeous afternoon and the lake was calm as could be. The members were out in droves and we clearly were going to get rocked. Though none of us could have known how badly.
Service started rolling at around 4:45. Everything was smooth. The patio was full; BBQ and kitchen were in full swing. We were running a well oiled machine for about an hour before the controlled chaos hit a wall. The computer system which is responsible for the printing of chits decided that it was such a nice day that it would take the day off. As such we went from out regular printed chits to hand written chits.
Hand written chits propose a number of issues. Handwriting is typically atrocious and to make matters worse it is not the servers that write out the chits but instead the Members themselves. Another is that there is no time on the hand written chit which means that we need to mark the time and find a way to keep track of orders with appetizers. As I have mentioned numerous times before, timing is critical and with handwritten chits it becomes difficult though not impossible to get through.
The first couple of chits this way were a nightmare. Appetizers and kids meals served at same time. Some orders had to be made in the kitchen while others were being prepared out at the BBQ. The delicate balance of the kitchen being thrown astray by trying to manage the delivery of food from two locations and very different time structures.
We found our rhythm after the first few chits with me calling out the orders to the grill and the pans as well as the Garde Manger. At first I was not getting any response from any of the brigade and had to make sure that they knew to acknowledge the call so that I could move on to the next call knowing that we were underway on the last chit. Calmly I only had to remind the brigade once to acknowledge the call. To overcome this adversity we started talking about the gong show. This lightened our mood and made it quite manageable.
Naturally the servers were running around like crazy trying to accommodate everything that was going on. At one point I had to ask one of the servers to leave the kitchen as he was trying to have a conversation with the Garde at the height of a service which had numerous challenges. At first he thought I was kidding at which point the Garde said; “Actually, in a nice way, he is trying to let you know, that you need to get the FUCK OUT OF THE KITCHEN.” He understood that to be sure. To which I replied; “Thanks guys.”
It would have been easy for everything to place us in the weeds. Instead, like the professionals we are we managed the situation as best we could. The beautiful controlled chaos returned after a few minutes of trying to figure out how best to organize.
Throughout the entire dinner rush we had to work with the handwritten chits. Ironically, when we put out the last chit the printer started spitting out chits. We all laughed. But then we had another issue because the servers started to enter their chits into the computer and as we do, when the chit comes up, we started preparing. When the first one came up I asked for confirmation that this was a real order. The answer came back no. Another chit. Another confirmation. No. Another chit, so on, for about five or six minutes. Another wrinkle worked out and then we had about three or four orders before we successfully managed a very tough dinner service, through adversity, without complaints and got all the food out in a timely fashion. IT FELT AWESOME. It was difficult but very rewarding and telling.
All during service we were also having to run things out to the BBQ. So there I am, calling chits, running prep out to the BBQ and sweating my balls off. A true case of Chef Ass. But I wouldn’t have changed anything. We rocked it. And it made me very proud.
I then got to go to the event described in my last post. In my next post I am relating a conversation had with Executive Chef about this experience and some advice that he gave me.
Horace once said; “Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant.”
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
Showing posts with label Chits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chits. Show all posts
Monday, May 25, 2009
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Printer Chatter (file under BEAUTIFULLY INCESSANT)
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
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
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Why 24?… All I need is another hour in the day PART 1 (file under trying to catch up)
So as you can tell I am so busy these days. I haven’t even been able to write my daily poems on butcher paper. From the moment I walk in to the moment I leave it is a non stop roller coaster ride of majestic proportions on the dream train of my life.
As I was yesterday I am currently trying to convince my fingers to type faster, to convince the universe to give me just one more hour in the day and my body to not succumb to its fervent desire to drop dead and sleep for three days straight. Adrenaline, coffee, cigarettes and PASSION are keeping me going but ALWAYS with a smile on my face because I can see clearly where I am going and how I am getting there.
This past weekend was INSANE. I have never worked so hard in my life. First off I figured out how to set up the grill properly, as I mentioned last week, it enables a more perfect workflow. Organization and speed are the name of the game when I am on the grill.
If you are not organized properly you will be in the shits from the second you open until the second you close. I know that many of you may think that I am just slinging burgers and that I even make the joke about McDonald’s but ultimately what I am doing at the grill is no different than what they do at Reservation. I am performing a food service that requires speed, accuracy and attention to detail. Currently I am planning a more perfect execution of my organization, attempting to figure out a better way to do what I am doing so that when I get into the shits I can pull myself out.
Speed is just as it suggests. I broke the record on the Grill on Saturday. We were part of the Luminato festival and the One City/ One Table celebration. As such we had approximately 60,000 people on site over the weekend. When you have that many people you have to plan ahead, be organized and execute with speed and accuracy.
I did (with only fifty minutes of total help) over six hundred orders all on my own. SIX HUNDRED. I did not go to the bathroom from 12 in the afternoon until 10:36 pm and had absolutely no break. At one point I almost fainted because the sun was kicking my ass and found myself sitting on the ground for two minutes trying to get myself back into the swing.
I get conflicting advice from people as to the way I run the grill. Chef J says that I shouldn’t speak to the customer at all and essentially he suggests that I should just be a robot and serve. However, I think (most respectfully) that he is wrong. I serve the way that I live; I am charming, passionate, caring and considerate. I interact with the customer for two reasons, one it leaves them with a great feeling inside and two because while I am interacting with them they don’t mind that they are having to wait a few extra minutes for what they’ve ordered.
As I’ve explained before I only have one fryer and that as a result it slows my progress in orders. If you have an order for eight chicken fingers you have to make 32 chicken fingers and eight orders of fries. Well in a small fryer that doesn’t keep temperature outside it is not as easy as you would think. I let the customers know that it may take ten minutes. Some leave and say they will be back; others stand there and wait. So as I’m taking orders and making orders I talk to people. Ask how their day has been, etc. It seems to keep the beast at bay if you know what I mean.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Should I be a robot or should I be me? I would LOVE TO HEAR YOUR COMMENTS!
So this is as far as my little fingers will take me today. I have to run to work and had to type as fast as I could just to get this out. I will try to get the rest of Saturday out tomorrow morning.
Calvin Coolidge once said; “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race”
Be Inspired and DREAM BIG!
A la prochaine
SDM
As I was yesterday I am currently trying to convince my fingers to type faster, to convince the universe to give me just one more hour in the day and my body to not succumb to its fervent desire to drop dead and sleep for three days straight. Adrenaline, coffee, cigarettes and PASSION are keeping me going but ALWAYS with a smile on my face because I can see clearly where I am going and how I am getting there.
This past weekend was INSANE. I have never worked so hard in my life. First off I figured out how to set up the grill properly, as I mentioned last week, it enables a more perfect workflow. Organization and speed are the name of the game when I am on the grill.
If you are not organized properly you will be in the shits from the second you open until the second you close. I know that many of you may think that I am just slinging burgers and that I even make the joke about McDonald’s but ultimately what I am doing at the grill is no different than what they do at Reservation. I am performing a food service that requires speed, accuracy and attention to detail. Currently I am planning a more perfect execution of my organization, attempting to figure out a better way to do what I am doing so that when I get into the shits I can pull myself out.
Speed is just as it suggests. I broke the record on the Grill on Saturday. We were part of the Luminato festival and the One City/ One Table celebration. As such we had approximately 60,000 people on site over the weekend. When you have that many people you have to plan ahead, be organized and execute with speed and accuracy.
I did (with only fifty minutes of total help) over six hundred orders all on my own. SIX HUNDRED. I did not go to the bathroom from 12 in the afternoon until 10:36 pm and had absolutely no break. At one point I almost fainted because the sun was kicking my ass and found myself sitting on the ground for two minutes trying to get myself back into the swing.
I get conflicting advice from people as to the way I run the grill. Chef J says that I shouldn’t speak to the customer at all and essentially he suggests that I should just be a robot and serve. However, I think (most respectfully) that he is wrong. I serve the way that I live; I am charming, passionate, caring and considerate. I interact with the customer for two reasons, one it leaves them with a great feeling inside and two because while I am interacting with them they don’t mind that they are having to wait a few extra minutes for what they’ve ordered.
As I’ve explained before I only have one fryer and that as a result it slows my progress in orders. If you have an order for eight chicken fingers you have to make 32 chicken fingers and eight orders of fries. Well in a small fryer that doesn’t keep temperature outside it is not as easy as you would think. I let the customers know that it may take ten minutes. Some leave and say they will be back; others stand there and wait. So as I’m taking orders and making orders I talk to people. Ask how their day has been, etc. It seems to keep the beast at bay if you know what I mean.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Should I be a robot or should I be me? I would LOVE TO HEAR YOUR COMMENTS!
So this is as far as my little fingers will take me today. I have to run to work and had to type as fast as I could just to get this out. I will try to get the rest of Saturday out tomorrow morning.
Calvin Coolidge once said; “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race”
Be Inspired and DREAM BIG!
A la prochaine
SDM
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