so the F&B director and executive chef decided to fire the chef of balata, one of the restaurants that the resort owns. Its the one located at the golf course and it does real good business and real good food. well, with the departure of the chef and a few key line cooks in the last few months they asked me to go over there for a few weeks and help out.
i've NEVER worked over there before, don't really know the menu, but at least know some of the cooks because my old roommate worked there last year.
i show up on tuesday (my first night) a little nervous, but confident that i'll be able to pick things up. I was expecting to work the Garde Manger (cold/fryer) station which is usually where people go to learn and get used to the pace.
to my surprise they put me on the Saute station, which at this restaurant is the BUSIEST station with the most stuff to do and keep track of.
I spent the first night basically watching the guy i'm replacing (he's moving to Napa) and writing down the stations mise-en-place and what goes with what. I do a little bit of cooking, but mostly watching. It was real slow anyway.
Last night we started the off season special and got a pretty good kick, still not busy, but for someone like myself that is learning the station it felt busy.
I did a pretty good job. I was able to run the station alone for most of the rush, staying ahead of the game (maybe just a little too ahead) but i'm still learning my timing on everything.
we work the usual way of "ORDER" (pre sear/make sauce) "FIRE" (cook/reduce sauce) "PICK-UP" (finish and plate) which is actually different than the more casual places i've worked in the past.
adding to all this is the fact that i've been the hotel's banquet sous chef the whole summer and haven't been on the line in a few months, so i'm getting my "moves" back.
All in all i think i did an okay job for my 2nd night. This weekend will probably be real busy as its the 1st one of the special.
Today is my day off and i'm going to spend it relaxing and studying my menu notes.
i've NEVER worked over there before, don't really know the menu, but at least know some of the cooks because my old roommate worked there last year.
i show up on tuesday (my first night) a little nervous, but confident that i'll be able to pick things up. I was expecting to work the Garde Manger (cold/fryer) station which is usually where people go to learn and get used to the pace.
to my surprise they put me on the Saute station, which at this restaurant is the BUSIEST station with the most stuff to do and keep track of.
I spent the first night basically watching the guy i'm replacing (he's moving to Napa) and writing down the stations mise-en-place and what goes with what. I do a little bit of cooking, but mostly watching. It was real slow anyway.
Last night we started the off season special and got a pretty good kick, still not busy, but for someone like myself that is learning the station it felt busy.
I did a pretty good job. I was able to run the station alone for most of the rush, staying ahead of the game (maybe just a little too ahead) but i'm still learning my timing on everything.
we work the usual way of "ORDER" (pre sear/make sauce) "FIRE" (cook/reduce sauce) "PICK-UP" (finish and plate) which is actually different than the more casual places i've worked in the past.
adding to all this is the fact that i've been the hotel's banquet sous chef the whole summer and haven't been on the line in a few months, so i'm getting my "moves" back.
All in all i think i did an okay job for my 2nd night. This weekend will probably be real busy as its the 1st one of the special.
Today is my day off and i'm going to spend it relaxing and studying my menu notes.
user0207231052:
Wow!!! I'm confident you will continue to kick ass and this is something you love and are fabulous at doing! Can't wait to hear about your weekend!