Pleasing Pastry Prep

Bread rolls I made today, from left to right: tomato parsley, fennel, walnut

Today I was in by 11:00a.m. I had been told yesterday I would be working with the pastry cook in the restaurant doing prep, and I was very excited about this. He wasn’t there yet when I arrived, and although I know the pastry section pretty well by now, I didn’t want to start much without consulting with him. But bread rolls need to be made everyday, and there is no harm in prepping that early, so I weighed out the ingredients for four different kinds of bread. I was nearly finished when the pastry cook came in, impressed that I was already straight to work.

He showed me the prep list for the day, and we quickly worked side by side completing tasks, though any jobs he was doing he was sure to explain/show me them as well so I would learn. I made chocolate mousse, nougat, canelles, fananciers, passionfruit rolls, scooped sorbet, cut crème brulée, passionfruit emulsion, banana tarte tatin, lime ganache, and three types of bread – fennel, cranberry, walnut, and tomato parsley. I also got my prep list ready for tomorrow and made sure I knew what I was doing, asking questions on any uncertainties. I put in orders and cleaned up.

Service went well – I plated some apps but mostly did the pastry orders – fifty diners in tonight. The problem was, the orders came in groups of four instead of at a steady pace. At one point, the head chef complained I wasn’t wiping my plates, even though I was. I told him I didn’t think they were being cleaned properly in dish pit in the first place. It’s these little glass bowls that have lime foam in them for dessert that just doesn’t seem to want to come out that are the big problem. But if he’s complaining about the dishes and not my desserts, then I am happy – he’s just finding things to complain about now.