Flying crepes...
Friday, January 26 - San Francisco
Well, this is the day of the flying crepes. But, first to the start of my day. I started my shift at 10 am and worked directly with the head chef Eric and two other prep guys in the kitchen. I placed my cutting board and knives right across from the head chef, working on a number of recipes under his direction and having the opportunity to speak to him about a variety of things during the morning such as how he started out, where he worked, his work with organizations such as the Sierra Club, etc. The mornings are nice as there are fewer people in the kitchen and there is a good working atmosphere with the music on loud and the sound of chopping, pots boiling and fry pans sizzling. As it turns into the mid afternoon the atmosphere seems to get more busy and frantic as night shift people start prepping their stations in the upstairs kitchen and pantry area for service, the bar staff start gathering their prep for the bar area, and all the service staff start coming and going through the kitchen to get ready for the arrival of guests. Tonight, they were already starting with 180 covers so they knew that it would be busy, as that doesn't even count the walk-ins, but a regular night with two on the grill stations, one on the fry station, and 1-2 in the cold pantry area.
When I asked the chef what he wanted me to do, he had a list of several items and I wondered if I would finish them all in a day... tapenade, parsley pesto, cara cara vinagrette, pickled red onions and crepes. It was interesting to work directly with the head chef as he had the recipes in his head, adjusted from the ones in the recipe book or not written at all, and I followed the recipes and had the opportunity to ask some questions along the way as it wasn't super busy. It was intimidating to be working in such close quarters with the head chef of a well-known restaurant and I was nervous not knowing if he was looking at my work or not, and not wanting to screw up, at least not infront of him. However, I soon found out that his radars are on high when in the kitchen and he always seems to know what is going on around him though he appears focused on his work. I was toasting some herbs in a saute pan on the stove for the cara cara (a type of orange) vinaigrette and was watching them closely when they suddenly started to burn slightly and I took them off right away. I thought I'd better do something with this quickly before the chef sees, and as I was going to, he already had his head half turned and said they were burnt and I just had to bring the herbs up to heat and take them off immediately next time. So, with an apologetic smile, I said that I would try it again but was embarassed. What was interesting for me was to be able to create these dishes and have the chef taste them and work with him to make them perfect or bring up the flavour or bloom. He seemed to know exactly what something needed and I found that fascinating and helpful. Well, I thought things were going more or less ok until I hit the crepe hurdle.
The chef said I should go and see how one of the kitchen preps was making crepes in the upstairs kitchen and learn from him. I thought this sounded interesting and was ready for action. When I arrived on the scene, I found the young Mexican kitchen prep Jaime, who looks like he's in his early 20s and speaks little English, with four crepe pans on the stove on high heat and it was like a circus show with him flipping the crepes high in the air to catch them and turn them continuosly. I thought that it was a nice show to watch and was glad that I didn't have to participate. Well, he said that I had to start making crepes and the only way I could turn them was to flip them in the air like he was doing. I had learned this in crepe class and tried this once but that was the end of my experience so I was nervous as I grabbed the pan (1 at a time was fine for me) and tried to do this. I managed to fling the crepes high in the air and turn them a few times but most of my crepes turned into disasters quickly as they flipped into the pan sideways or folded or into some design that was unrecognizable. I was terrified that he would leave me and stick me with the rest of the crepes to do but I guess he saw how badly I was doing and how desparate I looked and hung around to easily finish all the rest of the crepe better, flinging crepes in the air as he talked to other people around in the kitchen and trying to tell me tips in broken English about what I was doing wrong with my one pan... too hot pan, too cold pan, too much batter, not enough batter, turned too quickly, not ready yet to turn, too much oil in the pan, etc. etc. It was all very stressful and frustrating, and I was relieved when the whole experience was over. I'm not sure when the great crepe challenge will come around the next time. Perhaps I'll ask someone who I know and trust to show me some more tricks and I may have to practice every day until I get it right most of the time. Well, after the flying crepes incident, I worked on a nice parsley pesto, which I was able to finish with just the right taste with the help of the head chef and another young chef, and that was a nice/better way to finish my day. It's been quite the week! Off for the weekend and back again on Monday.
Well, this is the day of the flying crepes. But, first to the start of my day. I started my shift at 10 am and worked directly with the head chef Eric and two other prep guys in the kitchen. I placed my cutting board and knives right across from the head chef, working on a number of recipes under his direction and having the opportunity to speak to him about a variety of things during the morning such as how he started out, where he worked, his work with organizations such as the Sierra Club, etc. The mornings are nice as there are fewer people in the kitchen and there is a good working atmosphere with the music on loud and the sound of chopping, pots boiling and fry pans sizzling. As it turns into the mid afternoon the atmosphere seems to get more busy and frantic as night shift people start prepping their stations in the upstairs kitchen and pantry area for service, the bar staff start gathering their prep for the bar area, and all the service staff start coming and going through the kitchen to get ready for the arrival of guests. Tonight, they were already starting with 180 covers so they knew that it would be busy, as that doesn't even count the walk-ins, but a regular night with two on the grill stations, one on the fry station, and 1-2 in the cold pantry area.
When I asked the chef what he wanted me to do, he had a list of several items and I wondered if I would finish them all in a day... tapenade, parsley pesto, cara cara vinagrette, pickled red onions and crepes. It was interesting to work directly with the head chef as he had the recipes in his head, adjusted from the ones in the recipe book or not written at all, and I followed the recipes and had the opportunity to ask some questions along the way as it wasn't super busy. It was intimidating to be working in such close quarters with the head chef of a well-known restaurant and I was nervous not knowing if he was looking at my work or not, and not wanting to screw up, at least not infront of him. However, I soon found out that his radars are on high when in the kitchen and he always seems to know what is going on around him though he appears focused on his work. I was toasting some herbs in a saute pan on the stove for the cara cara (a type of orange) vinaigrette and was watching them closely when they suddenly started to burn slightly and I took them off right away. I thought I'd better do something with this quickly before the chef sees, and as I was going to, he already had his head half turned and said they were burnt and I just had to bring the herbs up to heat and take them off immediately next time. So, with an apologetic smile, I said that I would try it again but was embarassed. What was interesting for me was to be able to create these dishes and have the chef taste them and work with him to make them perfect or bring up the flavour or bloom. He seemed to know exactly what something needed and I found that fascinating and helpful. Well, I thought things were going more or less ok until I hit the crepe hurdle.
The chef said I should go and see how one of the kitchen preps was making crepes in the upstairs kitchen and learn from him. I thought this sounded interesting and was ready for action. When I arrived on the scene, I found the young Mexican kitchen prep Jaime, who looks like he's in his early 20s and speaks little English, with four crepe pans on the stove on high heat and it was like a circus show with him flipping the crepes high in the air to catch them and turn them continuosly. I thought that it was a nice show to watch and was glad that I didn't have to participate. Well, he said that I had to start making crepes and the only way I could turn them was to flip them in the air like he was doing. I had learned this in crepe class and tried this once but that was the end of my experience so I was nervous as I grabbed the pan (1 at a time was fine for me) and tried to do this. I managed to fling the crepes high in the air and turn them a few times but most of my crepes turned into disasters quickly as they flipped into the pan sideways or folded or into some design that was unrecognizable. I was terrified that he would leave me and stick me with the rest of the crepes to do but I guess he saw how badly I was doing and how desparate I looked and hung around to easily finish all the rest of the crepe better, flinging crepes in the air as he talked to other people around in the kitchen and trying to tell me tips in broken English about what I was doing wrong with my one pan... too hot pan, too cold pan, too much batter, not enough batter, turned too quickly, not ready yet to turn, too much oil in the pan, etc. etc. It was all very stressful and frustrating, and I was relieved when the whole experience was over. I'm not sure when the great crepe challenge will come around the next time. Perhaps I'll ask someone who I know and trust to show me some more tricks and I may have to practice every day until I get it right most of the time. Well, after the flying crepes incident, I worked on a nice parsley pesto, which I was able to finish with just the right taste with the help of the head chef and another young chef, and that was a nice/better way to finish my day. It's been quite the week! Off for the weekend and back again on Monday.
posted by Caroline at 2:22 AM
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