Long, Busy Day

Another day on the starter line. It began relatively slowly – then orders came in at a steady pace – one or two orders of three to four items (for me to take care of) at a time, with another order or two coming in just as I was finishing the first order or a few moments later. This meant I was never manically rushing to complete dishes, but I had no time in between to catch my breath or get any prep done, perhaps just enough time to restock parts of my station. I began shelling, cleaning, and deveining a small container of shrimp around 11:30a.m., and didn’t finish until 5:30p.m., as I had to keep setting this job aside to complete orders or other small tasks.

We had three starters on again today – a spicy beef salad with fruit as a starter, a lamb burger on a homemade herb bap with sweet potato chips as a main, and tiramisu as dessert. I got to sample a few things today – the lamb burger special, a cod fritter, the beef salad, and a mushroom sauce. The highlight of my day was when the head chef asked me if I was ok, as I was whipping orders out on the line by myself (the others were on break). I said yes, as I was confident I did have everything under control, and he said, “You’re doing a great job by the way.” I must be, as they have kept me on the starter station, even as week nears an end and things get busier, but it is still nice to hear it from the chef. Later on he also changed the schedule, I was not supposed to be off again until Wednesday and Thursday, but now I am off on Tuesday and Wednesday and working the breakfast shift in the lodge on Thursday and Friday. I am quite happy with this, as it means working only eight days in a row instead of nine, and surprisingly I enjoy breakfast shifts but haven’t done any in the lodge yet so that will be something new. I also get to work with another young girl instead of the usual situation of males dominating the kitchen, so that will be nice as well. Furthermore, them entrusting me with a breakfast shift without really having trained me on breakfast before gives me another confidence boost and lets me know they must really see something in me and admire my work ethic. They trust I will show up early and be ready for what challenges face me. Earlier during the only slow point of the day, they were joking with me because I am fairly quiet in the kitchen, as I am a shy person and tend to take work very seriously. But apparently when I do talk, it’s either down to business or sassy. For example, I am used to the others asking me if stations are set or if I have completed everything, but now, being in charge of a station, I have to do that. So I was asking one of the cooks what things were done and telling him what needed to be done, and he jokingly said, “Alright boss, I’m entitled to a thirty minute break, it says so in the staff handbook.” And the head chef said, “Hey, listen to your boss now! She knows what needs to be done!” After which I earned my second kitchen nickname (the first one being fatty, as an ironic term), Sergeant. 

Tiramisu - vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate cigar, chocolate sauce

After dinner, things got crazy. Like a mad Sunday, which really worries me for tomorrow. Orders just did not stop coming in, several items on the orders, starters and mains. I really had to coordinate with the cook on mains, especially for fried items. Just when I thought I had everything cooking, three more orders trickled in. And I did not have a chance to catch my breath or a break. I nary had the time to replenish items on my station as I needed – grab an extra bottle of French dressing from the walk-in, find more chicken wings, take another bag of fries from the freezer, etc. My station was a mess, as I didn’t have time to put dishes away properly, or empty packages of food in the right places, or slice the whole loaf of bread if I only needed one piece. I certainly was not proud of it, preferring the ‘work tidy’ and ‘clean as you go’ mottos, and was thankful the head chef wasn’t around. But I didn’t really have a choice tonight – it was either speed or tidy. Luckily I had another cook helping me, another work placement student, who had been trained on all the starters and desserts, but only works twice a week and is much more used to doing prep in the back. So I would ask him to do some things for me, as used to be the opposite for me – I would be in that position. But I understand it wasn’t easy for him, not being totally familiar with all the dishes and not knowing where I personally keep all tools and ingredients on my station. He also had to keep leaving to handle all the dessert orders coming in. At one point there were four of us on the pass – two on starters and two on mains and we were still absolutely swamped!

To add to the situation, we had a few communication issues with the service staff. They didn’t write our specials correctly on the board, then they kept taking orders for specials after we had told them we ran out. They took orders for things we don’t even sell, and charged wrong prices for items. They mixed up orders so we had to redo them. This is all very frustrating for kitchen staff, as we are busting our butts back here trying to put out the best dishes as quickly as we can with the orders we get. We don’t have time to double-check on things. However, I always try to put myself in the server’s situation, thankful I don’t have to deal with the customers directly, and recognize that everyone makes mistakes. I’ve made enough here, even today I cooked too many fish orders and not enough chip orders. But the cook on mains flipped out at the server working the pass, getting very angry that mistakes kept being made, telling servers to get out of his face, etc. I think he was overreacting, and yelling won’t get you anywhere. But he can get quite mad during busy services, and I don’t like to see him that way. He’s never gotten mad at me surprisingly, and I don’t know if he was told not to, as I am a young student, or if I really haven’t pissed him off that much. 

Today was another test of my limits, but I know tomorrow will be even more so. It was crazy, and I busted my butt and worked as fast as possible, and went steady and consistently working on cooking and plating dishes. At the end of the day, I was much more tired than usual, probably also because I have worked for six eleven hour days this week. Usually these long hours don’t bother me, but the combination of a crazy service and a busy week and I was beginning to ache, especially with this heat wave we have been having. After service finally trickled to an end well after 9:00p.m., I cleaned, thoroughly but dying to go home to my bed. I will need a good rest if I am going to do this again tomorrow times four.