What Do You Want From Me?

Today was another day working in the restaurant. Again, I was doing prep work for the pastry section. When I got there around 11:30, the chef gave me a list of things he wanted me to complete, most of which were things I had already done before and was comfortable doing. So I began – making the fruit flower garnish for the crème brulées, scooping up sorbet (have I mentioned how much I hate scooping ice cream? Well sorbet is worse – it goes from rock solid to a melted puddle in seconds), making croutons, preparing passionfruit, making up the three types of bread rolls, and making cheese appetizers. I also did some other small tasks such as cleaning, wrapping and labelling, fetching ingredients, etc. I worked quietly alone for most of the day – which was fine by me!

When I went down for staff meal (chicken and potatoes, what a surprise) the other chef got me to put together four welcome baskets for the hotel – two breakfast, one welcome, and one girl’s getaway package, which consist of small food items such as cartons of juice, loaves of bread, apples, miniature tubs of ice cream, bags of chips, eggs, etc. Then it was back up to the restaurant for service. 

I was given the same tasks as before – the appetizer, which tonight was a little foie gras parfait, the vegetable side dish, which was essentially the same, but this time with a roesti potato, and the crab starter. To be honest, service time frustrates me. I am really having trouble getting this system down pat. And tonight I was working with a different head chef, which made matters even worse. He called for two apps. I put them out. He says, “No. No. Don’t put them on the pass yet until they are actually ordered.” I take them off. He calls for two apps. I put them out. “No. This is a different two apps.” I take them back. He calls the order for two apps. I put them out. He scrutinizes them to ensure they are one hundred percent flawless. 

Appetizer - foie gras parfait. Looks like dessert.

He calls at me to get a crab starter. I go to put the crab in the deep-fryer. It’s already in. Then he calls for two apps. Well, which am I supposed to do? I can’t be two places at once. He asks where the crab is. I’m getting the apps. He asks where the apps are. I’m getting the crab. But the worst part of the night was the veg. Since the veg simply accompanies the main course and is not a course within itself, it is never called for/ordered. And it has to be timed perfectly to go out with the main courses. Cooked vegetables do not sit well, especially with sauce and garnish. I am not familiar with the mains. I have no idea how long it takes to completely cook and plate the mains, especially not by this chef, as every chef is different. I don’t know when to start cooking and plating veg. He calls for two veg, I put them on the pass. They sit there. He calls for two veg, I answer that they are done. He says, “No. No. You’re doing them too early.” I respond saying he already called for them. “No, I didn’t.” This occurs several times, except to make matters worse, sometimes the number of veg changes. At one point he called for four veg, which I promptly put on the pass. He asks where they went. I said I put them out. He asks the server, she says they went out. He says, “No, but I need them here now.” There were two sets of four veg to go out – I was right by what I did, he didn’t communicate the orders clearly.

At one point I am standing, glancing at the order sheets, trying to catch my breath, figure out what I can do next, and not be in the way. There are no app orders coming up, I had some veg prepped, what can I do? He tells me I shouldn’t just stand there, but I have seen others stand for a few moments during service, or worse yet, check their phones. He gets after me for not doing callbacks, which basically means if he calls two apps, I respond back two apps or say yes. I do callbacks when I hear calls, if I don’t callback, I didn’t hear you. I’m sorry, I don’t speak your accent and I am not used to loud kitchens, so you may need to direct your calls at me or make them louder.

We served forty-six tonight, and finished up around 10:00p.m. I was told I could leave, then told I needed to help clean, then told I needed to help put stuff away, then told to get home.