Saucier

Today I was back to work in the bar. Actually, apparently there were too many of us scheduled for the bar again today, so I almost got sent upstairs to the restaurant, but then chef said I knew the bar better than any of the others, so he kept me here. In a way, that was a compliment but part of the reason I know the bar so well is because I always seem to work here, and I really haven’t been working in the restaurant much at all. Oh well, when it’s busy and they need knowledgeable staff, what can you do? They almost got me to come in for breakfast tomorrow as well (well, actually, I volunteered) and work a split shift to come back for evening service, but found another employee instead.
Today I began placed on prep more than filling orders. There has been a chef in all week kind of filling in for the starter side, although he is more geared toward pastry and has been helping to implement the new desserts as well, which is likely why I had been on the service line. But today he gave me several prep jobs to start out with. I felt a bit like a saucier today because he basically had me make huge batches of all their base sauces – coriander and lime yogurt sauce, tartar sauce, garlic mayonnaise, Marie Rose sauce, and horseradish crème fraiche. I also did some other odd jobs such as preparing prawns, cutting ribs, making egg salad, making apple crumble mix, setting up the pastry section, making mashed potatoes, etc. 

One of the many sauces I made - garlic mayonnaise, or as we like to call it, 'garlic whack.',  with cheese on mashed potatoes. We put that stuff on everything - it is simply delicious and hard to keep in stock!

I think they may have put me on prep anticipating it to be really busy again today, and knowing that when it gets crazy I still sometimes need a hand with the orders. Also, this way I could practice some of the new desserts. But surprisingly, it wasn’t very busy at all today – we only did 105 covers over the entire day. I was actually somewhat relieved to be put on prep for a day instead of the hectic service line, just to have a bit of a break from it, but it wasn’t even busy at all today – of course the day I am on prep it is quiet and I could have gotten prep done anyways! On the service line, I always feel like I am ready for action and in top gear, but doing prep, I try to be fast and efficient, but I know I just don’t have the same drive as I do on the service line because there is no big push to get the order out. Even on slower days on the service line, I don’t feel as much of a drive. Apparently I wasn’t working that slowly though, because the chef said I was moving right along.
For the dinner rush, and when one of the chefs took their break during a split shift, I was put on the starter line again, responsible for all the starter orders, which really wasn’t that many tonight, so I was also doing more prep jobs simultaneously.