Food and diamonds

Sunday, March 4, 2007

Another shift at Beckta. It was a slow night with a big snow storm engulfing the city. I arrived with the storm still bringing in lots of snow and wind, and was amazed by the all the suppliers coming in and out of the doors despite the weather, service people from large suppliers and the owners themselves from the smaller supplies. That’s what is so interesting about Beckta, how they use as many local suppliers as possible and support the local Ottawa-Gatineau community. The guy who brings in the new uniforms and linen with a smiling face. The mushroom guy from Farellton who brings in lovely shemji and oyster mushrooms grown on his farm and says that the drive in was not a problem. The Pure Gelato woman, who looked like a super model, bringing in gallons of new flavours. I didn’t notice as I just saw the gallons in her hands with the new favours written on them and didn’t even look at her body and face, but there were several others that did. The cheese guy. The bread guy. The milk guy. The microgreens guy. All coming in and out and very cheery about it despite the narrow halls and stairs in which to move and having to drive in and out of a snow storm. As an entrepreneur and business person, you’ve got to love those businesses that support you day after day, week after week no matter what and who could go for a larger supplier but would rather keep the business to the local suppliers and work closely with them.

I helped the garde manager station prepare for the evening, making vinaigrette for the salad in the Vita-Mix and the cracker dough in the Robo-Coupe, both recipes which were recited to me. I had the chef taste and check them before they were done, and after he was fine with them, I emptied them into containers for service. Besides this, I prepped some vegetables for service and watched while one chef tried to create an amuse for dinner, and one of the reasons I think it’s called an amuse is because it’s amusing for people like me to watch them come up with something. He was going to make a soup in a small glass to welcome the guests from the cold, which I thought was a good idea, but the sous-chef thought it was too plain and wanted him to make a mini monte-cristo creation, which he did with bacon, cheese, some pineapple (my suggestion), and blueberry sauce, topped at the last minute with icing sugar. More like a dessert but I don’t think anyone was complaining after heading into the warm and cosy inside during a storm and it’s free.

The family dinner was a large pot of shepard’s pie and I had time this time to make a salad with sesame ginger vinaigrette, though I had to improvise as they were out of ginger (used pickled ginger and juice), they had no sesame oil (use sesame seeds), and I had to make a variety of other substitutions. It turned out ok but not the usual standard that I would have liked. The main thing is that I made it for service this time around. The owner, Stephen Beckta, spoke about the evening and guest list, and the new wines in, in particular from a spectacular winery that the wine crowd is buzzing about called Clos Jardonne from the Niagara county. He also spoke about a special wine dinner that they are having this week and is sold out.

We prepared the stations for service and it was quite slow, but at one point it did get busy with a lot of orders coming in at the same time. This is why you always strive for the reservations to be spread out during an evening, as an extremely packed evening can feel ok if the reservations and therefore orders come in at a constant pace vs. a slow night with all reservations at 7 pm and everyone ordering at the same time and wanting quick delivery and not understanding why this is not happening with the restaurant not full. The kitchen gets the list every night of the tables coming in with any special requirements and it looked quite steady during the evening even with limited numbers. They were notes on birthdays, anniversaries, late Valentine’s Day celebrations (which I don’t know if you would want to announce to the whole kitchen and wait staff that you are over two weeks late celebrating), and special dignitaries in the guest list. So, you can tell if you are making x amuse or x salad for a special guest of note. Wonder if you could put in special notes in the food of the people that you like or messages written in chocolate on their desserts, like “I’m a big fan. You’re doing a great job!”, or”Good luck with the new election”. One of the guests had bought a special diamond necklace for his guest and wanted this placed within the dessert. Apparently it is normal to get requests like this. The pastry chef says is the first thing she does it put it away until she’s ready as she does not want to get in trouble for ruining or losing the jewellery or other precious piece. Then the piece is placed on the dessert at the last second. But, beware if you are buying jewellery and want it placed in your special person’s dessert that everyone in the kitchen and most of the wait staff will be looking at and making comments on it like style critics and what to buy or not to buy for your special someone. In this case, Trish used a plate with four sections, and in one section was written Happy Birthday in chocolate, the other sections had desserts and la voila, the last section was reserved for the necklace to remain in its box. The person said we could take it out of it’s box but imagine the problems that could be created by this… accidentally torching it with the blow torch, or putting sauce on it or covering it so much that someone takes a bite of it in eating the dessert like those children’s birthday parties with those surprise cakes with treasures buried inside (I can’t see how this is a good idea with kids usually eating quickly and not paying attention, sounds like a recipe for disaster and a trip to the emergency ward).

Besides all this action in the dessert section, the rest of the kitchen was quite quiet throughout the evening, which is actually good for an intern like me. Usually you do not dare talk to the hot service line or go near them as they are busy, stressed, and the quarters are very cramped and hot. In the Beckta kitchen there is like a small galley area with one side with the stove, ovens and salamanders, and the other side the pantry and preparation area. You probably could fit in six or so people if you crammed them in and they manage to fit in three people with three separate distinct sections. So, when it looked like there were no orders on order or being fired I would venture over and ask one of the chefs what their section entailed and what they did if they didn’t mind explaining it all to me. The chefs I spoke to were receptive and patient in explaining things to me and seemed to even welcome the opportunity on a slow night. I found out that the far hot section takes care of the hot appetizers and gnocchi that they prepare by boiling they quickly and then sautéing in sauce. He showed me the items in the cold station that were used and the dividing line to the next person. It’s like a community garden, with everyone’s vegetables clearly marked from the next person’s. The next chef showed me his section, between the two other chefs, that covered the vegetables and the sides to the main dishes, such as grains, beans, vegetables, etc. For some items he has to start almost from scratch, for example he blanches the brussel sprouts and then sears them a la minute for each order, thus why they taste so fresh and yummy, but it is time consuming. The next section over, which I never got to speak to the chef as she was busy, is the main hot station that takes care of the meat, fish, and seafood servings for the dishes, which are sautéed, grilled under the salamander or other method. Besides this station and kitty corner to “the pass” or the service area that the head chef or sous chef usually stands in front of to finish the dishes before they are sent out, is the sauce station on a hot tray area, which is the critical area of a restaurant. Each small sauce pan has a different sauce, which has been carefully prepared that day and strained several times, and is labeled prominently so who ever is putting on the final touch knows exactly which sauce to use… brown, white, fish, chicken, etc. Several of the top restaurants, mostly French, have a position called saucier who is responsible for preparing most of the sauces for the restaurant. It is the sauces, in combination with good food, that really makes a good dish and distinguishes it from other restaurants I find.

Despite the limited number of people in the restaurant for the evening, there were a large amount of tasting plates going out, with the first one being a vegetarian one, which I was happy to see. They were able to provide some of the regular dishes on the, adapt or change some of them for example the tuna tartare for the beet salad, and they made a special vegetarian pot pie for the final piece. The customer seemed to have loved the meal, the common response from Beckta guests. The amuse they are left with at the end of the evening is always quite interesting. Tonight, it was a mini crepe served with bananas, chocolate sauce and hazelnut cream, sprinkled with sugar, served in those white spoons. With this is served some white chocolate bark. Yummy! I said it looked like a lot of work and she said she had more time that day. Guests are served this with their bills. What a nice way to end the meal and smooth the way to paying for it. I am impressed by the hard work and diligence of the pastry chef, the level of her creations and their intricacies. She said she’s been in the business for 10 years already and I’m sure she started in her teens as has most of the kitchen staff. I asked to train with her at some point to learn some of the pastry work and she was quite agreeable and inviting. I didn’t think I wanted to learn that much about pastry as cooking is my main interest but the desserts are so interesting and well done as I think it’s a good opportunity for me. Also, after watching those top chef episodes on TV and seeing the chefs have no knowledge or experience in pastry work, to the point that they used ready-made Betty Crocker mix for the dessert part of their meal presentation, I thought it’s probably good not to have a weakness in this area. Seems like a big dividing line between chefs and pastry chefs in most restaurants I’ve been in to date. Not only do they do different work but their personalities seem so different as well. The pastry chefs are more perfectionists, precise, structured, super organized, well prepared, the brownies and scouts of the pack, the detailed sewers and woods crafts people. Preparing desserts is an exact science in measurement and techniques for the most part and even the smallest variations can make a recipe fail and there is not a lot of just winging it or last minute creations and therefore most pastry chefs I’ve met don’t thrive working under pressure or tight deadlines. Even in my class at school, you could see who would make the better pastry chefs and the cooks, by the way their approaches to cooking and their personalities. I always thought of myself more on the savory cooking side, but I did do well on the pastry side my teacher told me, which I was surprised about. I guess when I do pay attention and focus, I can achieve great things like making pastry rise and fluffly. Who would have known? You never know until you try. You can surprise yourself and instead of arriving with a tray full of canapés you could arrive with a pan full of delectable brownies