Another day and...
Tuesday, January 30
... another bag of food to take home, that is organic, natural and local food prepared with passion and creativity. After my shift in the cold pantry tonight, any foods that were to be thrown out, as a new batch would be made the following day, were left for staff and each staff person was asked if they wanted anything prepared for them from the pantry. The hot station did much the same, preparing a variety of dishes from the daily ingredients that are thrown out each day. So, I loaded up containers with lots of good food, as were other employees, and that's how I ended up with a big bag to take back to the hotel and pack into the bar fridge. As we were cleaning up, the bar asks what we would like to drink - beer or wine - and so I was cleaning up while drinking my nice glass of red wine, nibbling on some leftovers, and storing others. The pantry chef was surprised and appreciative that I stayed to clean up (apparently we can leave before this), but since he helped me throughout the evening and I could partake in all the goodies at the end of the evening, I didn't think it was such a hard undertaking. The way I look at it, I'm there for a short period to learn as much as possible and help out the restaurant and people helping me.
I'm very appreciative of Chef Eric for taking me on as an intern and the way he treats interns is impressive. There are at present about four to six so interns working there at varying stages of their education and careers, most from either Cordon Bleu or other culinary institutes in the area, and most not vegetarian, and they all say that they came to Millennium because of the reputation of the chef and the food. There is also another woman from my class who lives in the area and just started there for the month, the minimum time Chef Eric usually takes on interns from the Natural Gourmet. Many of the interns keep on staying on even after they graduate because they love it there. There are two culinary graduates that have been there for months and years, interning once or twice a week, just to be there. The other culinary intern I was working with tonight, James, said he picked Millennium as he wanted to train in one of the best restaurants in San Francisco and heard that he would get a good internship with Eric. He left his job as a stockbroker, though he has been working in and out of restaurants all of his life, and went to culinary school.
When I turned up for my shift today, I found out how perceptive Chef Eric is about the skill level of his staff and interns and what type of work to give them. I asked him what I was to prepare for him, waiting for him to recite a recipe or grab a recipe from the recipe book as he usually does. But, he handed me some daikons and told me that he wanted me to make some pickles for tonight and it was up to me what I wanted to do with them, though he needed to hear what I was going to do and taste the final product. My first reaction was surprise and nervousness. What do I do without any recipes or opportunities to do research on the web or look in cook books or talk to others, and with very little time. So, after a little panic and realizing that this was a real life improv session, I decided to make something I was familiar with and had tried before, well sort of... daikon in a umeboshi (Japanese plum) vinegar, brown rice vinegar and agave mixture with two types of fresh chili peppers (red and green), and then pressed. As I was finishing it, the chef came to try it and I was nervous, but he said that it just needed a bit more salt and was done, and I could bring it up to the pantry for service. The restaurant offers a homemade pickles plate with three different types of pickles and this would be one of them. How cool is that?! However, he also asked me to bring up the pickle mixture he had made that afternoon and it was so sophisticated and complex with a variety of mushrooms, vegetables, several dried and fresh herbs, vinegars and oils, and delicious, so I was a bit embarassed to have mine beside his but I had to. Oh well, perhaps after more than 20 years of experience like Chef Eric (the guy is only 37; he went to the Natural Gourmet when he was about 21 and cooked for many years before that, actually in his profile it says that he's had a love of food and cooking since he was a kid) then perhaps I can churn out something close to that. The sous chef Jason said he's been cooking for a long time too, starting out in kitchens when he was about 15.
With pickle creations in hand, I went upstairs to the pantry to help Chef Kevin set up for the evening. Eric wants me to work with him and watch him as I'm going to be working the station on Thursday with only the other intern I was talking about, James, and no one supervising us. That should be interesting! Tonight, Kevin let me do all the salad and dessert preparation and plating. I must have done over 50 plates, sometimes some orders coming in all together, and I had to remember how to make all of them without much of his help. He was preparing plates for a private dinner party in the special side dining room they have and was cleaning up the station around me, which he has been meaning to do for awhile he said. It was quite the stressful but fun period preparing and plating everything carefully, quickly and trying to remember all the ingredients, sometimes having the chance to look at my notes but most of the time not having the time and opportunity to do this as it was too busy and I was running in all directions trying to finish things as quickly as I could. This is quite the challenge especially when there are hot appetizers and I have to ensure that my cold appetizers/salads are ready before the hot items so they all can be delivered to the table at the same time. At the same time, I often have some mini dessert cakes in the oven heating up so I can plate them when finished. It was quite the night and Kevin said that he was sorry it was such a slow night and hoped it would be busier for tomorrow's shift. I thought the pace was ok as I could just barely manage to hold it all together and am wondering how I will be handle more plates in less time. He said that cold pantry area is considered the "vacation spot" as it is much harder and stressful on the hot side, which I certainly agree with but it definitely did not feel like a vacation for me tonight or restful. At around midnight, I finished my nine-hour shift, and headed back to my hotel room to rest and recuperate from my so-called vacation time.
... another bag of food to take home, that is organic, natural and local food prepared with passion and creativity. After my shift in the cold pantry tonight, any foods that were to be thrown out, as a new batch would be made the following day, were left for staff and each staff person was asked if they wanted anything prepared for them from the pantry. The hot station did much the same, preparing a variety of dishes from the daily ingredients that are thrown out each day. So, I loaded up containers with lots of good food, as were other employees, and that's how I ended up with a big bag to take back to the hotel and pack into the bar fridge. As we were cleaning up, the bar asks what we would like to drink - beer or wine - and so I was cleaning up while drinking my nice glass of red wine, nibbling on some leftovers, and storing others. The pantry chef was surprised and appreciative that I stayed to clean up (apparently we can leave before this), but since he helped me throughout the evening and I could partake in all the goodies at the end of the evening, I didn't think it was such a hard undertaking. The way I look at it, I'm there for a short period to learn as much as possible and help out the restaurant and people helping me.
I'm very appreciative of Chef Eric for taking me on as an intern and the way he treats interns is impressive. There are at present about four to six so interns working there at varying stages of their education and careers, most from either Cordon Bleu or other culinary institutes in the area, and most not vegetarian, and they all say that they came to Millennium because of the reputation of the chef and the food. There is also another woman from my class who lives in the area and just started there for the month, the minimum time Chef Eric usually takes on interns from the Natural Gourmet. Many of the interns keep on staying on even after they graduate because they love it there. There are two culinary graduates that have been there for months and years, interning once or twice a week, just to be there. The other culinary intern I was working with tonight, James, said he picked Millennium as he wanted to train in one of the best restaurants in San Francisco and heard that he would get a good internship with Eric. He left his job as a stockbroker, though he has been working in and out of restaurants all of his life, and went to culinary school.
When I turned up for my shift today, I found out how perceptive Chef Eric is about the skill level of his staff and interns and what type of work to give them. I asked him what I was to prepare for him, waiting for him to recite a recipe or grab a recipe from the recipe book as he usually does. But, he handed me some daikons and told me that he wanted me to make some pickles for tonight and it was up to me what I wanted to do with them, though he needed to hear what I was going to do and taste the final product. My first reaction was surprise and nervousness. What do I do without any recipes or opportunities to do research on the web or look in cook books or talk to others, and with very little time. So, after a little panic and realizing that this was a real life improv session, I decided to make something I was familiar with and had tried before, well sort of... daikon in a umeboshi (Japanese plum) vinegar, brown rice vinegar and agave mixture with two types of fresh chili peppers (red and green), and then pressed. As I was finishing it, the chef came to try it and I was nervous, but he said that it just needed a bit more salt and was done, and I could bring it up to the pantry for service. The restaurant offers a homemade pickles plate with three different types of pickles and this would be one of them. How cool is that?! However, he also asked me to bring up the pickle mixture he had made that afternoon and it was so sophisticated and complex with a variety of mushrooms, vegetables, several dried and fresh herbs, vinegars and oils, and delicious, so I was a bit embarassed to have mine beside his but I had to. Oh well, perhaps after more than 20 years of experience like Chef Eric (the guy is only 37; he went to the Natural Gourmet when he was about 21 and cooked for many years before that, actually in his profile it says that he's had a love of food and cooking since he was a kid) then perhaps I can churn out something close to that. The sous chef Jason said he's been cooking for a long time too, starting out in kitchens when he was about 15.
With pickle creations in hand, I went upstairs to the pantry to help Chef Kevin set up for the evening. Eric wants me to work with him and watch him as I'm going to be working the station on Thursday with only the other intern I was talking about, James, and no one supervising us. That should be interesting! Tonight, Kevin let me do all the salad and dessert preparation and plating. I must have done over 50 plates, sometimes some orders coming in all together, and I had to remember how to make all of them without much of his help. He was preparing plates for a private dinner party in the special side dining room they have and was cleaning up the station around me, which he has been meaning to do for awhile he said. It was quite the stressful but fun period preparing and plating everything carefully, quickly and trying to remember all the ingredients, sometimes having the chance to look at my notes but most of the time not having the time and opportunity to do this as it was too busy and I was running in all directions trying to finish things as quickly as I could. This is quite the challenge especially when there are hot appetizers and I have to ensure that my cold appetizers/salads are ready before the hot items so they all can be delivered to the table at the same time. At the same time, I often have some mini dessert cakes in the oven heating up so I can plate them when finished. It was quite the night and Kevin said that he was sorry it was such a slow night and hoped it would be busier for tomorrow's shift. I thought the pace was ok as I could just barely manage to hold it all together and am wondering how I will be handle more plates in less time. He said that cold pantry area is considered the "vacation spot" as it is much harder and stressful on the hot side, which I certainly agree with but it definitely did not feel like a vacation for me tonight or restful. At around midnight, I finished my nine-hour shift, and headed back to my hotel room to rest and recuperate from my so-called vacation time.
posted by Caroline at 1:03 AM
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