Holding down the station...
Thursday, February 1
Well, tonight's the night I had to fully prepare the cold pantry station on my own. I went in and there was a lot of buzz in the kitchen downstairs with people prepping a number of items and Chef Eric in the middle of cooking a number of things for tonight and in preparation for the event that he is catering on Saturday and I am working. I told him that I understood that I was to prepare the cold pantry station and he confirmed that I had to do it alone and get it all ready in time.
I knew by now that time is of essence and every minute counts in preparing this station so I rushed around finding out the status of things, stocking the pantry station, and preparing everything for service. There seemed to be an endless number of things to do and I kept on checking the time to see how much time was left and how I was doing. I felt like I was in kitchen stadium but needed someone to count down for me and say 45 minutes to go, 20 minutes to go, etc. As I worked the station the night before, I knew pretty much the status of things but didn't know what had been prepped, what was being prepared, and if there were things remaining on the prep list that had to be done or I had to do. Also, there are often changes, specials, etc. and tonight there were several changes on the menu for salads and desserts that affected the set up of the station, in particular the removal of old items and the addition of new items. For example, we took out two salads we had on the menu for a long time, added a new one and brought in one that has been on special lately to the regular menu. This would seem fairly simple but it means that everything that is being used for the salad that is being removed from the menu needs to be recorded and tossed or used up or used in another dish. For the new salad, everything that is needed, including food, aromatics, vessels, utensils, etc. must be prepped and ready at the station for service. For the dessert side, we were selling two special desserts, a meyer lemon layered cake that comes with a variety of accompanients such as huckleberry sauce, creme anglaise (with no dairy), sugared kumquats (delicious), pistachios, pistachio ice cream, mint, etc. The other dessert was a lemongrass almond cake that we were serving with kumquat ice cream, sugared kumquats, blood orange slices, kiwi slices, a citrus cream sauce, mint, etc. So, you can see how just one item on the menu requires a lot of thought and preparation to ensure everything is ready at the station for service.
I moved quickly as I tried to prepare the station and finish as many of the details as possible. Just before service, Eric sent up another intern to work with me in the station. He helped me finish setting up and we fired a number of dishes for the line-up and testing by the chef and staff. Eric came to the station to check out how everything and he was satisfied... whew, a sigh of relief. He showed us how to plate the new salad dish with endive, a lovely beet dressing he had just made, shredded carrots, grapefruit sections, candied cashews, pickled onions, pumpkin seed oil, beet curdles, etc. Then he tasted most of the dishes and made some comments but was generally fine with most of them. Another sigh of relief.
I was working with a student intern that seemed to be in his late 30s and had made a career change by going into culinary school and was almost finished. I will not use a name but will call him the Mr. Confident Know it All Man, the kind of person we've all probably come across in our work lives. Yes, he knows it all, how to plate all the salads and desserts, he's done it all before, everything is a breeze and on the verge of boring for him, he does things his way which is of course the best way, he will ignore you or not listen to you if it's something he doesn't want to do, and he's always standing around when he's not plating and can't find anything to do. But, we all know what happens with this kind of person. He doesn't know it all and forgets things or doesn't know or makes mistakes and never takes responsibility but just says he was going to get to it or he doesn't think it's a mistake or of course he knew that he made a mistake and was going to fix it. He will come to you at the most akward times to ask you how to do something or if you could just do it as he forgot, like I was in the downstairs kitchen walk-in fridge checking the inventory and he ran down to ask me how to make a dessert for a guest as he forgot. There is also continous reviewing of things in a station to refill things, bring up new things, clean things, prep items that are low, and there is little time to be standing around looking around at the tables and the guests appearing like a celebrity chef. Even Chef Eric is a very hard working and diligent chef who is well known and has lots of experience but he is often right there in the kitchen cooking with the rest of his team or helping them prep something or get something they are out of. He did the same with our station last night, asking how things were going and if we had a concern about something or we were running out of something. At one point, we were low on matchstick carrots and he went downstairs to quickly do up a bunch for us. It's nice to see someone so passionate and caring about the food that he prepares and presents to guests even after 10 years or so that he has been at the same restaurant. It isn't that case in many restaurants I've seen to date, and when I told him that last week, he said he feels that the passion and love of the food that you are presenting is critical but many people lose sight of this and start to not care about the food and the people preparing it. In the kitchen, there are a few Mexican kitchen workers that have been there for years as they really enjoy working there. One person has been there for over four years already. Besides that, there are several young chefs and kitchen help, with an equal split between men and women, most coming from culinary school and some from the Natural Gourmet, and he always enjoys taking on interns. The sous chef has been there for several years. Many of the kitchen staff are vegetarian or vegan or have been. This all creates an atmosphere in the kitchen that is professional, knowledgeable and caring about people and the food that is served, and certainly contributes to the restaurant's continuous success and voting as the best vegetarian restaurant in the country.
The evening worked out better when I decided that it would be best if we each took one side of the station so as not to cross paths too much. I took over the dessert side and he did the salads unless one of us got overwhelmed with orders, which happened a few times. He started rushing at the end to clean up and put things away, even the things I was using for desserts as there were several guests still left, as he was anxious to go as he had to get up early for school the next morning. He kept on asking what clean up there was to do in that tone as if it was my fault that we had a lot of clean up to do and was holding him back from going home. Finally, Mr Know it All asked the chef to leave and he did, and of course I was stuck cleaning the entire station, making the prep list for the next day, and left around 12:30 am totally exhausted. Well, I was happy and proud that I was able to prepare and hold down the fort at the pantry station with very little experience, and the head chef seemed satisfied when he came to check several times or asked me if there were any problems. So, satisfied but completed exhausted. Back for more tomorrow. Yuki, my classmate from the Natural Gourmet and from Tokyo, arrived in San Francisco yesterday for a few days before heading home. She's going to come into the kitchen with me for a few days.
Well, tonight's the night I had to fully prepare the cold pantry station on my own. I went in and there was a lot of buzz in the kitchen downstairs with people prepping a number of items and Chef Eric in the middle of cooking a number of things for tonight and in preparation for the event that he is catering on Saturday and I am working. I told him that I understood that I was to prepare the cold pantry station and he confirmed that I had to do it alone and get it all ready in time.
I knew by now that time is of essence and every minute counts in preparing this station so I rushed around finding out the status of things, stocking the pantry station, and preparing everything for service. There seemed to be an endless number of things to do and I kept on checking the time to see how much time was left and how I was doing. I felt like I was in kitchen stadium but needed someone to count down for me and say 45 minutes to go, 20 minutes to go, etc. As I worked the station the night before, I knew pretty much the status of things but didn't know what had been prepped, what was being prepared, and if there were things remaining on the prep list that had to be done or I had to do. Also, there are often changes, specials, etc. and tonight there were several changes on the menu for salads and desserts that affected the set up of the station, in particular the removal of old items and the addition of new items. For example, we took out two salads we had on the menu for a long time, added a new one and brought in one that has been on special lately to the regular menu. This would seem fairly simple but it means that everything that is being used for the salad that is being removed from the menu needs to be recorded and tossed or used up or used in another dish. For the new salad, everything that is needed, including food, aromatics, vessels, utensils, etc. must be prepped and ready at the station for service. For the dessert side, we were selling two special desserts, a meyer lemon layered cake that comes with a variety of accompanients such as huckleberry sauce, creme anglaise (with no dairy), sugared kumquats (delicious), pistachios, pistachio ice cream, mint, etc. The other dessert was a lemongrass almond cake that we were serving with kumquat ice cream, sugared kumquats, blood orange slices, kiwi slices, a citrus cream sauce, mint, etc. So, you can see how just one item on the menu requires a lot of thought and preparation to ensure everything is ready at the station for service.
I moved quickly as I tried to prepare the station and finish as many of the details as possible. Just before service, Eric sent up another intern to work with me in the station. He helped me finish setting up and we fired a number of dishes for the line-up and testing by the chef and staff. Eric came to the station to check out how everything and he was satisfied... whew, a sigh of relief. He showed us how to plate the new salad dish with endive, a lovely beet dressing he had just made, shredded carrots, grapefruit sections, candied cashews, pickled onions, pumpkin seed oil, beet curdles, etc. Then he tasted most of the dishes and made some comments but was generally fine with most of them. Another sigh of relief.
I was working with a student intern that seemed to be in his late 30s and had made a career change by going into culinary school and was almost finished. I will not use a name but will call him the Mr. Confident Know it All Man, the kind of person we've all probably come across in our work lives. Yes, he knows it all, how to plate all the salads and desserts, he's done it all before, everything is a breeze and on the verge of boring for him, he does things his way which is of course the best way, he will ignore you or not listen to you if it's something he doesn't want to do, and he's always standing around when he's not plating and can't find anything to do. But, we all know what happens with this kind of person. He doesn't know it all and forgets things or doesn't know or makes mistakes and never takes responsibility but just says he was going to get to it or he doesn't think it's a mistake or of course he knew that he made a mistake and was going to fix it. He will come to you at the most akward times to ask you how to do something or if you could just do it as he forgot, like I was in the downstairs kitchen walk-in fridge checking the inventory and he ran down to ask me how to make a dessert for a guest as he forgot. There is also continous reviewing of things in a station to refill things, bring up new things, clean things, prep items that are low, and there is little time to be standing around looking around at the tables and the guests appearing like a celebrity chef. Even Chef Eric is a very hard working and diligent chef who is well known and has lots of experience but he is often right there in the kitchen cooking with the rest of his team or helping them prep something or get something they are out of. He did the same with our station last night, asking how things were going and if we had a concern about something or we were running out of something. At one point, we were low on matchstick carrots and he went downstairs to quickly do up a bunch for us. It's nice to see someone so passionate and caring about the food that he prepares and presents to guests even after 10 years or so that he has been at the same restaurant. It isn't that case in many restaurants I've seen to date, and when I told him that last week, he said he feels that the passion and love of the food that you are presenting is critical but many people lose sight of this and start to not care about the food and the people preparing it. In the kitchen, there are a few Mexican kitchen workers that have been there for years as they really enjoy working there. One person has been there for over four years already. Besides that, there are several young chefs and kitchen help, with an equal split between men and women, most coming from culinary school and some from the Natural Gourmet, and he always enjoys taking on interns. The sous chef has been there for several years. Many of the kitchen staff are vegetarian or vegan or have been. This all creates an atmosphere in the kitchen that is professional, knowledgeable and caring about people and the food that is served, and certainly contributes to the restaurant's continuous success and voting as the best vegetarian restaurant in the country.
The evening worked out better when I decided that it would be best if we each took one side of the station so as not to cross paths too much. I took over the dessert side and he did the salads unless one of us got overwhelmed with orders, which happened a few times. He started rushing at the end to clean up and put things away, even the things I was using for desserts as there were several guests still left, as he was anxious to go as he had to get up early for school the next morning. He kept on asking what clean up there was to do in that tone as if it was my fault that we had a lot of clean up to do and was holding him back from going home. Finally, Mr Know it All asked the chef to leave and he did, and of course I was stuck cleaning the entire station, making the prep list for the next day, and left around 12:30 am totally exhausted. Well, I was happy and proud that I was able to prepare and hold down the fort at the pantry station with very little experience, and the head chef seemed satisfied when he came to check several times or asked me if there were any problems. So, satisfied but completed exhausted. Back for more tomorrow. Yuki, my classmate from the Natural Gourmet and from Tokyo, arrived in San Francisco yesterday for a few days before heading home. She's going to come into the kitchen with me for a few days.
posted by Caroline at 1:03 AM
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