A Day in the My Old Life
I went to my old job at Trio's and decided to observe the life I lived from the other side of the line. I arrived at three forty five ,I knew the sights and sounds of dinner service are always interesting!. Gerard, the head chef is busy pan searing some chicken for a Marsala . We exchange was ups and I explain my reasons for being here on a Friday. He doesn't seem to mind but said I would need to check with Paul, the owner of the place. I walk in behind G, Gerard's nickname and follow him downstairs where Paul's office is and he is fine with it . The basement is very big and has all the dry goods, liquor, beer, cleaning products, linens, and other things from the dining room. G is in hot pepper chef pants and a Jets t shirt. I have to give him grief about the Jets, I'm pretty sure there's a law because I am a Patriots fan. He gives me a look and we head upstairs.The kitchen is fairly good size and is arranged in this order. As you come to the beginning all the cooking equipment is against the left wall and is laid out this way. There are two fryolators, two eight top burners, each range has two ovens on the bottom. The next piece of equipment is the grill, it's about five feet long and three feet wide. On the right side are all the refrigeration units. They all have top sections where we can put product in different size pans for easy access. They look like the salad bar in the cafeteria on top but with no sneeze shield. Underneath are shelves stocked with more product used to create the meals. Each refrigerator has a cutting board about a foot and half wide.The line turns to left and some long metal tables and a couple of deep sinks. The walk in fridge and freezer are over there too. Adjacent to the line is where the dish area is located. The dish machine is the automated and racks are loaded with dishes and sent through.Most of the time the dishes are clean. At the end of the dish area are a three bay sink. Phil sees me and he immediately gives me crap about being there. He is the type of person that has no filter and had me laughing a lot. G grabs the I Pod and docks it on the speaker and cranks some Immortal Technique. Now that they have some inspiration the line comes alive. Phil and G go back and forth about sports, kids, and whatever else is important to each other at this time. Phil decides to break my B@lls about the first thing that comes to his sick mind. We go back and forth until Tami walks in to the kitchen and gives me a hug. Tami is the bar tender and I am happy for that. She is very pretty but she is also a good bar tender and that makes her even more beautiful. The other chef is Dave better known as Daveed . Nelson, who is the general manager starts in on G about dinner specials. G tells him to bend over and he'll show him. Then G hands him the specials and tells him to beat it! G goes in the walk in and brings the produce order guide with him. He looks in the produce area and writes down what he needs, hits the phone to call Sid Wainer and places the produce order. The rest of the front of the house staff comes in and tonight maybe tougher than need be. A couple of them don't have much upstairs but what can you do.The Heat lamps on and the first ticket comes in, right away G knows who it's for. The bar has it's regulars when Tami is on and I know the reason why. Today there is supposed to be a party of twenty at four but it's four thirty and no party. G calls the hostess and she says "Oops, they won't be here until five thirty sorry."
Daveed, my favorite Guatemalan and the best prep cook they have because he is fast and efficient. Earlier, G pulled four boxes of 16/20 shrimp out of the freezer and thawed them out. The 16/20 means there are between 16-20 shrimp a pound. Dave takes them and begins to peel them and has a good pace. Tickets come in steadily through out the next hour. Each station has their own printer so it makes it easier. . The specials for the night are printed up. The other two chefs walk in a little before five and so do the night front of the house staff. The specials are gone over with the wait staff in a premeal and the kitchen staff has a union break, better known as a smoke break. All the preparations are made to make dinner service run smoothly. The chefs get to their stations and do a steady battle against a full assault of tickets. The dance on the line begins and everyone knows the steps. It is a fast pace ballet in close quarters and everyone knows when to spin, duck , move left , right. They become like one moving organism and it's sole purpose is to cook. It's an organized madness behind the line but they are having fun while pushing out masses of food.The music is on, dish machine making noise, waitresses talking and the chefs are joking and having a good time G calls out a ticket "Ordering two tendies(pork tender loins), three strippers(NY strip),and one Rabi(rib eye). The next order is, one Kalahari(calamari) and two Fruttis(Frutti DE Mar). The Frutti is a seafood pasta dish over pasta. G notices that April has put in the ticket and the calamari is probably the appetizer. He sends one of the food runners who stand in the window and set up the trays of food to be run and run them if no waitress is around. April comes in and G was right, it becomes like being a mind reader. You just know what a ticket should look like and who on the waitstaff who are not to bright. The lingo is something you learn quick or your lost. The printers runs non stop from five to about nine and then the wait staff wants to eat. They don't mind feeding the wait staff because the night ran nice and smooth. The rush over all people feed and it's time for another union. We all go outside, most smoke but some need to just sit down. I don't advise sitting down because getting up is not so easy.
The crew heads inside and gets ready to clean up the line so they can go home. G picks some cleaning music and everyone works just as hard to clean and go home. The soups, chowder, and other perishables are put on the rolling racks and put in the walk in. The floor is swept and the mopping begins. The chefs head downstairs and change into their street clothes. Then it's up to the bar for the all important shift drink. I hear them talking about the night or about how the Celtics are getting beat. It's a small reward for having gotten through another night. Most leave after one drink and some stay to ease the pain of the battle. I head outside with G and he has one more smoke with a couple of the staff. I say thanks for the memories and he is off to see his newborn and two year old son. Another day in the life of a head chef . I walked in his shoes and it is not an easy life. The hours are long, benefits suck, and you can forget about weekends. It's just doing that battle each week and having as much fun while you do it that makes it O.K. The people you work with make it fun to and you gotta make money. It's like everything else in life, if you can find some joy it's not as painful.
As I drove home and thought about the day. I remember being behind the lines and looking at my grill covered from front to back. I didn't worry because I knew how to battle through and push the food out. It's not easy, all the steaks must be the right temp. The chicken and pork can't be dry and don't forget about the veal chops. I am able to look at each steak give it a touch and tell what temp it is. After time it all becomes natural and not a guessing game. I have learned that panicking or complaining won't get the food out any quicker. It's like a lot of other things in life, you do what you can and hope you come out ahead in the end. If you don't, you try and look at what you can do to make it better the next time. Worrying about the past is not going to solve anything. It's when you learn from the past and apply it to your future that goals you set for yourself will be reached. It is a job I did for a long time and I do miss it a little but not enough to give up on my new goals.
