Intern world

August 7, 2008

Had a good day prepping the unique salad topping for the gazpacho and other things. I love the produce here from local farmers and the range of produce that is challenging to decipher first for a Ottawa girl in particular. For example, not only do you have several kind of vegetables but they often are referred by their names so you to search for them such as... early girl, brandy wine, green zebra, cherokee purple ... all names of different tomatoes. And all the produce is lovely and organic, and have good homes in that they will be used in the best way possible to bring out their optimum flavour and specific nature.

Then I went to the bar, a very popular and lovely place to eat, first of all close to bar so that's a good thing and it's like a communal table as you can sit there by yourself, as many do, and eat your food in a comfortable and relaxing way. I went there to enjoy a staff meal which is whatever appetizer and entree you want from the menu and beer or wine. Very civilized. I was just thinking that I would have a quick meal and head home but I had some lovely people beside me that made my dinner experience even more memorable. I guess this is the closest I'll come to sitting at one of my monthly gourmet dinners for awhile.

On one side a man that loves the food and comes in twice a week, and the restaurant service staff seemed to acknowledge by his first name, and beside him a young woman from a two star restaurant down the street that also comes in often. By the way, during our conversation, I asked about the weather and they said in the winter it's only 2 degrees colder than it is now. Coming from the Ottawa climate, that's incredible! It's usually been cool in the mornings, around 60-65 degrees (I can't translate into Celsius sorry), often warmer and sunnier in the afternoons, around 70-75 degrees, and then it cools back down in the evenings. Perfect weather for doing things in my view. The thing is in this unpredictable weather you really have to dress in layers as it can be warm one moment but a cool breeze rolls in from the Bay and it can become very chilly all of a sudden. I learned my lesson one day and almost froze so now I try to do the layer thing as well.

To my other side of me at the bar, a young woman who brought her mother from out of town. As they ate their food, and saw my food, we compared notes about how delicious and wonderful everything was. After they say my yummy dessert, they had to order one as well and we were all at the bar counter very happy and saying ..."oh" "oh my god" "this is sooo good" "I can't believe how good this is". It was like a love fest of food and the bartender kept on smirking as he looked over at us. The mother is vegan and raised all her children vegan, and they are all very healthy and happy by the way despite what people usually think. Her daughter moved out here and she's been telling her mother for ages that she has to visit the best gourmet vegan restaurant ever. So, they finally arrived today and absolutely were amazed and loved it. They are foodies and cook a lot as well, so they especially appreciated the beautiful plating, the gourmet food with complex flavours and ingredients, etc. The man beside me said I should be a marketer for the restaurant, and I said I am as I am passionate about the food, and that's why I traveled all these miles to train here as do so many interns that come here from all over the world. They, like me, want to train at the best gourmet vegan restaurant in North America, perhaps the world, and we're fortunate that Chef Eric allows us entry into his kitchen and
world.

While the reason interns or stagieres come here is the same, the places they come from and their lives are very diverse. The interns I've met include people who are or were a physician, inancial analyst, stock broker, and last week there was a nice young man in who was very enthusiastic and positive and he told me his story.

He hit hard times after he divorced his wife and eventually became homeless and lived on the streets for several years. He finally cleaned up his act over a year ago, found an apartment, but finding a job has been very tough. He last worked in a restaurant about seven years ago so he's been trying to find a restaurant that he could learn from and work in, and no one wanted to give him a chance because of his background until he called Chef Eric who said to come in to see where it goes. He was very appreciative of the chance and seemed to really enjoy himself that day, helping with the prepping, trying some food, and even had a complimentary dinner after his shift. I'm not sure if he's coming back but I'm sure that chance gave him the additional confidence and support he needed to help him move forward.

Then when working in the cold pantry one evening I even found out that one person comes from London, Ontario and has been interning there for months, and is now working there full-time. Small world!

The world of interns is very interesting, and I've even had people contact me since opening up ZenKitchen to say that they would like to assist and learn what they can in the kitchen, and most of these people have been so great to have around to help and their enthusiasm and zest for learning is refreshing. So, here's to the world of interns past, present and future!