A day in the life/end of an era

It's 3pm and I'm nervous. I'm waiting for my chef to pick my sister and I up for work, but today will be different. I have a letter in my hand for him. I'm giving my notice.

For those of you who know me, you know I'm a proud cook working through her apprenticeship. I've been doing this for two years now, and a year ago, I couldn't think of another life. But now....things have changed.

I'm tired.

I'm tired of being exhausted every day. I'm tired of hurting from my toes to my hairline each day.

Right now, we only have two night cooks, my sister and myself, and even though we've had our share of drag em down, knock em out fights at work, we seem to come through things alright. But the six day weeks are killing me.

***********

Chef picks us up, and I hardly say a word on the 15 min drive to work. When we arrive, I ask if I can speak to him. He nods and we head to his office. I hand over the letter, terrified that he will berate me or be angry that I'm leaving him in the lurch.

He shocks me by being completely understanding.

"Adeptus, you are not the first cook to hit this wall, and you will certainly not be the last. I've hit that wall myself, and took nine months off, just to think, and get my shit in order."

"I just worry about how this will look later on," I mumble.

"Don't. You need to do what's best for you. I know you've been turning down shifts at your other job just to be here, and I know that you need to get at least three a month in with them. We'll work your remaining time here so you can at least get in for a few there."

"Thanks Chef. I'm glad you understand. Do I have time to go out for a smoke before we start? I kinda need to balance myself out."

He nods, "Be quick."

I head outside, still shaking and on the edge of tears. I light a smoke and breathe deep.

Smoke finished, I head back into the furnace that will be my home for the next 7 hours. It's a Tuesday, so ladies league is in high gear tonight. I thump down the stairs to the basement where our change area is, grab a jacket and slip it on like I've done so many times in the past few years. I pull on my cut off checks and slip into my kitchen clogs. These shoes have been a lifesaver. So much more comfortable than wearing my high top Cons.

I jet back upstairs, where my sister has already begun tearing through her prep work. I know I'm working hot line tonight while she will work fryers and salads. Chef will bounce around mid line and help us each out when we get overwhelmed.

Tuesday night ladies league has 165 registered players this year, though we very rarely get a full field out. One of our rangers walks through the kitchen, "122 tonight, kids." Oh gods, it's going to be one of THOSE nights.

This is also the first night this year that we're running our full menu, having just run a small pub menu in the past.

5:30 and the orders start to slowly roll in. The three of us savour this time, knowing that the hurt is about to come down. Bending down into the reach in fridge on my end of the line, my back seizes, joy...here we go again. I grit my teeth and push through the pain.

The orders start to come in faster now, and cries of "Oi, Adeptus, you got that Stacked Club yet?", "Aye!" and "Incoming!" are heard every few seconds over the roar of the exhaust and the chatter of the servers and printer.

Eventually, I stop thinking. Auto pilot kicks in, the cooks out there know what I'm talking about. I'm doing things just out of pure instinct, and it feels damn good.

We pump out the orders faster than our servers can pick them up at times, causing a wee bit of a backlog in plating. We page the servers to pick up their food. We know they're getting run hard too though, so it's not so bad. At least they don't have to do it in a 115 degree kitchen.

I get told to head out for a smoke when the orders slow down a minute. I jet outside and almost hit the ground. It's so much nicer and cool out here. The sweat on my body chills me, the world seems to spin. I grab the recycling bin behind me and breathe deep. I guess that's why I got the tattoo on my forearm. It's a constant reminder. So easy to forget when you're running hard all night.

I head back inside to find a few new orders up. Nothing serious though. Specials tonight have been pretty easy to put together, and have been selling well. And then it happens. The one food item I had prayed I wouldn't get tonight. Stir fry.

Damn them! Damn them all!

I sigh, tossing a pan on the stove, and a cast iron sizzle platter in the salamander. The pan on the stove heats quickly as I add sliced peppers, carrots, mushrooms and chicken to the oil already there. Once they cook up, I carefully add some nice rice vermicelli and the honey garlic sauce, cursing softly as the water on the noodles causes burning oil to splash up onto my wrist. Once the server comes in, I set the sizzle platter on a cork base and pour a bit of oil onto it. It starts smoking immediately, I grin. I warn my sister and Chef to step back a moment, and add the noodles, veg and chicken. It sizzles and spits loudly. The server looks nervous. I know they hate serving stir fry about as much as I hate cooking it. After hearing my usual warning of "Don't touch that pan, and for the love of all that's holy, don't let the customer touch it either, they'll lose the skin on their hands," she takes it out, rolling her eyes at me. I wonder if she's ever tried touching it.

The orders finally stop rolling in, and the three of us head outside for what has got to be my favourite part of the night, our debrief. We go over how service went, and plan the prep out for our day shift. We bitch about the servers and smoke. It's our time to cool off and calm down from the adrenaline that has been coursing through our systems to keep us running. Then it's back inside to tear down the line and clean up.

Gods, I'm sore.

But tomorrow is a new day, and I know tomorrow night's service will be slower.

************

I'm going to miss this, the rush, the exhilaration of the non stop running, of knowing that service went well and people went home with full bellies. But I know this is what I need right now. I need a break before I break.

But mark my words. I will be back. I don't think I could ever stop cooking.

A few thoughts from Adeptus

Well, here we are at the start of a new season, and I deeply apologize for the lack of posts (I do that a lot, don't I?).  First, an update.  My hand has healed perfectly, and while I need to retrain the muscles, and strengthen it again, I'm able to work now with no issues.

And now for my thoughts.  I play World of Warcraft, (don't judge) and a guildmate was asking for any advice he could get before he started his journey into the world of cooking.  These are a few points I gave him.

1) Women do belong in a professional kitchen, and likely can cook circles around you. (I wish a coworker had learned this before he started with us last year.  Would have saved him trouble.)

2) Do not come in with an ego, we will likely take great pleasure in beating it out of you.  (guilty...but so was the aforementioned coworker)

3)  Listen to EVERYONE.  They likely have things to teach you, so keep your ears open and your mouth shut. (We also get impatient when explaining very simple tasks for the 70th time in three days.  I suggest a notebook)

4)  I highly recommend reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain.  It's a resource I find myself turning to time and time again.  My Chef (who is a friend of mine outside of work, suggested I read it years before I found myself in this life)

5) And please, don't come in thinking we owe you anything.  We will teach, and we will instruct, but you need to put in an effort too.  We don't necessarily want to be your friend outside of work, but we are all cogs in a larger machine while at work, so making enemies doesn't help you much.

Think of a kitchen as a pressure cooker, or a submarine.  You are working in very close quarters with people in a high pressure situation.  Tempers will flare, yelling will happen.  Try not to take it personally when your sous chef calls you worthless.  Just work harder.  Keep your head down, and your mouth shut.  You might learn something.  Watch how others deal with the stress, you've no idea how invaluable that can be.  Watch closely the prep being done: are they stacking and folding towels?  Are they making sure their knives are sharp?  Are they checking and double checking their line before service starts?  Any and all of these things will pass you by if you aren't paying attention, and you will quickly find yourself in the weeds.

I am grateful this year that I have my sister returning to work by my side.  I know we have had our differences, (what siblings don't?) but we work very well as a team.  We have crushed through services that I didn't think we'd make it through.  She's been my balance, the ying to my yang if you will.  I am so very lucky to have her with me again this year.  I know things will only get better from here on out.

Well...THAT was interesting....

Well, sorry for my lack of post folks...
I'm just getting back into the swing of things after an unplanned month off.
After a slip with a knife on Aug 25, I managed to secure a trip to the hospital where I received three stitches, and an appointment with a specialist to make sure there was no nerve damage.
Aug 30, I saw the specialist and he determined that I had severed the main nerve of my index finger.  He booked me for day surgery at his office to reattach the nerve.
Sept 11, I went for my surgery...let's just say it was an ordeal....
And now, I am awaiting Sept 26 to have the stitches removed.

I have just returned to work in the past week, and am slowly getting back into the swing of things.  Due to the nature of the injury and the placement, I am very restricted for movement in my right hand.  At least I'm left handed, right?

At any rate, I will do what I can to continue updates and see about posting some pictures and such.

Once again,
I deeply apologize for my long absence.
Be well,
Adeptus.

It's arrived (for the most part) and ooo is it ever sexy!

We got in two new fryers last week, and our ten burner stove this week.  Oh my oh my, they're so pretty.  I'm going to have to set up some more photos very soon, our whole line looks different.  We even have a new pass.

I deeply apologize for the lack of updates lately, I've fallen into that all too familiar pattern of work and sleep...
I promise I will rectify this as soon as I can.

*squees giddily like a lil schoolgirl*

This year we're getting a complete overhaul on our line!  I'm so happy, like you have no idea how happy.  Today my new pass came in...double heat lamps!!!!  I can plate more than 5 at a time, finally!

Tonight we tested our new pass to a small degree, we had a plated function of 20, another of 45, and ladies night all at the same time.  We could get three rows of plates going and keep them all hot.

Life is looking up.

I promise I will post pictures soon.

Passion

Good day Ladies and Gents!
Another day has arrived and with it, a question "What is passion?"
Passion is many things to many people.  To a cook it can be that thing that drives you through late nights and early mornings, pushes you through the pain, gets you through long hours, lets you work hard and play harder.

Passion is the mother of invention, that which causes you to aspire to reach new heights, and strive for excellence no matter how much you have been overwhelmed.

This passion can be found in many fields, not just this one.  But I have found that passion makes it so much better.  Yeah, I've had days where my alarm goes off at 6am and the last thing I want to do is leave my warm bed and go cook breakfast, but I go do it anyway.  Cooking is becoming my zen, my happy place, if you will, and even if I get stressed, I love it here.

I keep pushing through and trying to learn more, and I'm starting to feel more confident with this job.  As a result, I am being given more responsibilities.

I'm doing more on breakfast, like eggs and meat, instead of just toast, expediting and plating.

I hope this year to push myself to be able to handle the line on my own or at the very least, with a little assistance.

This year promises to be an interesting one.  And I can't wait.

A New Season

Hallo folks,
Adeptus here with a quick update.
An early spring and a new season are upon us and we managed to open an astounding eight weeks earlier than last year!  Woooo hooo!  So I'm back and have great plans to continue the bloggy goodness this season.  I'm also in the process of possibly developing a podcast which will interview local cooks to see what they feel about the industry, what kind of food they like, and their personal styles.  I promise to keep you all posted on that project.
The season's been starting off slowly, and we've only had a few small functions of late, nothing I've gotten pictures of yet, but I promise that as we start ramping up, I will start posting pics again.
I'm finding I'm more comfortable in this field now, and am able to take on more tasks than last year.  As I become more comfortable, I am more confident as well.
Here's hoping for an awesome season!