Crazy Sunday Service In The Bar

Today I began at noon, which is late considering Sunday is a very busy day here. I had offered to come in earlier… Anyways, I was placed in the bar today, which is open from 12-9p.m. daily. At first I was just assigned to the dessert station, which is pretty simple and basic as all the components are prepped in advance, and it is just a matter of putting the components together and possibly warming some things up. In addition, the dessert menu in the bar only contains a few offerings and none of them are overly complex. Tasty, but not complicated. 
The menu is as follows:
• Ice Cream Sundae - Vanilla & Strawberry Ice Cream with Strawberry Compote Whipped Cream & Toasted Almonds 
• Traditional Bread & Butter Pudding With Rum & Raisin Ice Cream and Crème Anglaise
• Warm Pear & Almond Frangipane Tarte With Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate Sauce 
• Brownie And Caramel Ice Cream Coupe - Flacked Walnut Brownie With Caramel Ice Cream, Chocolate Sauce And Whipped Cream 
• Apple Crumble With Apple, Raisin & Cinnamon Crumble with Vanilla Ice Cream
• Warm Raisin Scones Dusted In Icing Sugar With Raspberry Preserves and Whipped Cream
• Dessert Of The Day (Today’s was Cream-Filled Profiteroles with Chocolate Sauce, Vanilla Ice Cream, and Chocolate Quenelle)
• Children’s Ice Cream – One Scoop Each Of Chocolate, Vanilla, and Strawberry
• Other Ice Cream Dishes as ordered

The problem was, hardly any dessert orders came in at first. I was asked to do some preparation for other dishes – such as slicing strawberries, making apple crumble, making chocolate sauce, etc. But then since I wasn’t really doing much and many orders were coming in, I was placed on the line to watch and learn how to make the starter, main, and side dishes, hopping back over to desserts as ordered (which was usually six of them at once). Pretty soon, I was not just watching, I was put to work. As orders came in, the cook working on the Soups, Salads, and Classics section (as well as a few main courses) showed me how to make the dishes, and got me to complete a few tasks, then I could make the dish myself next time. Occasionally the cook on the main courses would ask me for the odd job as well. My first dish was Open Smoked Salmon Blini with horseradish crème fraiche, red onion, and capers. It wasn’t too bad – warm up a blini, squeeze on some horseradish crème fraiche, add the salmon, onions, capers, greens, and lemon wedge. Got it. But then when you have several dishes, many more complicated than that, it starts to get fuzzy, rushed, and hectic. 

The other dishes I learned and made today include:
Soups, Salads & Classics
Classic Triple Decker Sandwich Served with Garden Salad
With a choice of:
Free Range Chicken Sandwich With Bell Pepper, Lettuce bound with Mayonnaise
Or
Monaghan Ham & Cheese Sandwiches With Castle Leslie Relish
Or
Free Range Egg Salad Sandwiches With Scallion & Chive bound with Mayonnaise
Open Smoked Salmon Blinis With Horseradish Crème Fraiche, Red Onion, Capers 
Prawn Cocktail Whiskey Marie Rose, Iceberg Lettuce 
Kitchen Salad Baby Gem Salad Leaves, Feta Cheese, Garlic Croutons, Black Olive, 
Cherry Tomato, Cucumber, Red Onion, Balsamic Dressing  
Chicken Wings Tossed in Hot Sauce 
Barbeque Ribs With Garden Salad 
Atlantic Seafood Platter Smoked Mackerel, Prawns in Marie Rose, Crab Claws, Battered Squid, 
Whitebait, Smoked Salmon, Garlic & Lime Mayonnaise
Side Orders
Chips or Gaufrette Potatoes 
Side Salad 
Onion Rings 
Garlic Bread

The first dish I learned to put together.

For my first day, and for starting on a Sunday, with no prior experience or training in this atmosphere (or any restaurant kitchen, for that matter, let alone during service time), I think I did quite alright. Of course I made a few mistakes, which were kindly pointed out to me so I would know for next time. Nothing got sent back to me, and I was not yelled at. I consider that a pretty good accomplishment! I worked side by side with the other two cooks on the service line, helping them out and completing dishes and orders on my own. It was a tight and chaotic space, and we certainly got in each other’s way, especially with limited work space, as most kitchens run. But in the end, we were finishing each other’s dishes and even able to chat a bit during service. Today was a crazy busy day - we had done nearly two hundred covers before 1:30p.m. Then another 300 covers that night for supper. Covers, in a restaurant, refers to the number of people served, so it doesn’t refer to the number of dishes – it could be appetizer, entrée, and dessert. Even in the midafternoon, the bar hadn’t quieted down too much, not ten tables ordering at once, but still a steady flow, so there was no chance to even catch a breath. The only breather I got was a short staff meal around 5:30p.m. of pizza, ratatouille, mixed vegetables, and fries. Also, if there is a lull in service, we can make ourselves a quick sandwich or some sort of concoction with our mise en place ingredients, or ask a server for a cold drink. Other than that, it is work, work, work. 
I was extremely worried at first – two yelling incidents occurred early on in my shift. First, a chef yelled at a cook for not cooking chicken properly, because he was going to make someone sick. I was scared he would yell at me for doing something wrong. Then chef yelled at a server because the server commented that a dish was not hot enough, and it's stressful being back in the kitchen where you have a bunch of other dishes to send out, you can't always take time to fix ones coming back.
I am glad the servers are quite knowledgeable and efficient at their jobs, because they certainly helped me out today. They were extremely patient with me, would let me know if I did something wrong. They would also help me if I was running behind, and wipe plates if I needed it. Chef would check in with me and make sure I was okay and not totally in over my head.
We finished up service around 9:00p.m., and I tidied my dessert station. I then offered to help clean the service line, but the three cooks still there refused and insisted I go home. 
I learned a lot today – both about myself and the kitchen in which I was working. I was overwhelmed, trying not to be in the way, not knowing what I could do, not knowing how to do things, not knowing where things are, and feeling in the way or a nuisance when people had to stop to help me or tell me what to do. But it was only my first day. I learned how orders work and are called, and how a service works. I learned how much I can endure.