Wednesday, August 13, 2008

The Profession: A Summary

9:00 AM
I pull myself out of bed, pull focus at the time on my phone. 9:00AM. One hour until I have to be at the restaurant. A quick shower and I'm on my bike for the 5 minute ride down the street to work. Unlock the rear gate and grind it along its casters to open the back lot for employees. Walk through the back door, enter the code for the alarm. Turn on the lights, music, hoods, range, ovens, fryer, flat top. Check. First things first, prep list. Get the short ribs seasoned, seared, and in the oven to braise. That will be ready in four hours. Where the fuck is my pantry cook? Nevermind, continue prep list. Start veg stock, cut celery root, portion pork, pork marinade, portion fish. Back to the walk-in, checking seafood order. Clams, mussels, tuna, crab, perfect. No Baramundi? You've got to be kidding me. Fine, sub scallop for tasting menu.

10:30 AM
Ricardo, donde esta Maria?
Lo siento James, Maria es en el hospital con mi nina, es enferma.
No problemo, lo siento. Primero, necisito los pollos por favor.

Set up the line, pull proteins, put a count on bass, heat soups, grab sani for fish spat, tongs, spoons. Mise en place. Lunch special...lunch special... wow we have a lot of tuna for some reason. Seared Ahi, scallion potato "noodles", sake braised leek, sweet soy. Check. Deep breath. Upstairs to the office, lets see, I need to call RSI about inventory and see if my specialty food purveyor can will call me some Piave that I need for the cheese board. He'll bring it by this afternoon, Perfect. The part I hate about my day, office work, paperwork, scheduling, coding invoices, filling out time sheets and gradesheets for my JWU externs. Okay, done, get me out of this 90 degree office. Back downstairs, quick stop at the bar for a glass of water. Into the kitchen.

1:00PM
Slow lunch. I'm okay with that, it's Tuesday and I have to prep the new tasting menu. Produce order at the back door, let's see... strawberries, thyme, marjoram, lemons, carrots, arugula, and...spring mix. Three cases of spring mix? I can't use all of this, I only ordered 3 POUNDS, not three CASES. Take these back, give me a credit, yes, that's fine. I swear to god they can never get my order right. Unload produce in walk in, savoring the 3 minutes I get to spend in a 40 degree environment. Break down cardboard boxes, I hate them, produce is stored in plastic containers, milk crates, lexans. I have to get water on for asparagus, blanch gnocchi, cut fine herbs, what else...oh yeah finish the thai peaches for second course tasting, whip chevre for 1st course, and it looks like I'm using spring mix for the salad since they forget to put it back on the truck, perfect. I'm okay with free food. Bartender comes down to the kitchen: "James, there is some lady here who says she has a meeting with you." Fuck, I completely forgot I made a bogus appointment with Anderson to hear about their new meat and seafood program. I don't have time for this. "Yes, everything looks great, thanks for your time, I'll call you after I've looked over the price sheets. Thanks I really have to get back. Nice to meet you." Okay go away I am already running behind and have completely lost track of where I was at for prep. ASPARAGUS!

4:00 PM
Full dinner crew is here, Ricardo flying through pantry prep faster than anyone. June is butchering whole fish, Casey is straining my veg stock, perfect. Let's get the expo line set up, pink pepper, caper, parmesan, bonito flake, red bean chile, linen napkins, b&bs, EVOO, fill truffle oil. Bartender calls down to inform me the ice machine is completely empty. Fantastic, would have loved to know when it happened two hours ago. "That's fine, make it work for tonight, I'll change out the vent and we should be fine by tomorrow." Chef/Plumber/Electrician/Mediator/Mentor, was this all in the job description? Rummage through back cage to find new filter for ice machine, fuck i'm sweating. Unscrew panels, remove old filter, replace, reset, harvest, there we go. No wonder its not making ice it's 105 fucking degrees outside.

5:00PM
Pre Meal. Review oysters, east coast west coast, cheeses, sorbets, ice creams, custard, um..."oh and we will be grilling scallops for the tasting menu but as of tomorrow I will have pan seared Baramundi, Australia, white flaky flesh, crisp skin, awesome." Happy hour crowd convenes at the bar and on patio. App tickets roll in, oysters for bar 12, calamari on 55. "I need hands right now!" Calamari dying. Jack comes in back door with a 15 pound wheel of Piave. I'd already forgotten. "Thanks Jack that helps me out big, yeah, have a good night, take care." GM comes around corner with news that someone from Food & Wine Mag is on the patio at 52. "Who are they? Do you want me to put something together for them?" Amuse? No problem, 5 minutes. What do we have...the peaches we got today are awesome. Amuse Bouche, to entice the palate, to tantalize the senses, to whet the appetite. Peach. Peel, dust with sugar, brulee. Brillat Savarin, toasted pistachio, brioche. Looks good, wait bring that back, chive.

7:00PM
"Fire 42 course 2. Casey I'm looking for three pork all day, two medium one med rare. Ricky I'll take that heirloom to sell with 42. How long on clams for 55?" Plate, wipe, garnish, run, plate, wipe, garnish, run. Two peach for 23 walking out. "Go lighter on that dressing for those haystack salads okay? Nice tuna, that looks perfect" Plate, wipe, garnish, run. FYI that no butter on 34 seat 3 is a lactose allergy, okay? No butter no cream okay? Got it. Off line for mushroom back up, ribeye, baby basil. Shit, 15 minutes until I have to place my fish order. June how do we look on clams, mussels and bass? 3 pounds clams, 2 bass, plenty of mussels. Okay thank you. Offline for 2 minutes okay Casey? No problem. Deep breath. Check freezer, crawfish, squid, why do we have 6 boxes of squid? Whatever. 6# Tuna, 5# clam, 5# crab special, 8 each bass. got it. "Okay is this table 26? I need lots of hands please!"

10:30PM
Wrap, label, date. Protein in walk in, cover everything on cold well, scrub doors, range, flat top, tables, strain fryer, take out trash. Change out ice for fish, consolidate walk-in, cover brulees, what else what else...produce order. Case of Idahos, 10# Lemon, 3# spinach, CS pears, 4 oz chives. Fuck I haven't eaten anything since 10:00 AM this morning...I'm drained. My head has a dull throb, the sweat on my forehead has soaked through my bandanna, I can hardly pull focus on the notes I've jotted down for tomorrows order. My stomach is it knots, I feel malnourished and look even worse I'm sure. The bags under my eyes darker than they were at the start of the day, my nose stuffed with the remenance of smoke and grease from the grill. My back is fucking killing me and sitting down on an empty keg out back isn't exactly the most comfortable remedy. But hey, I'm off my feet for the first time in 12 hours, better than nothing I guess. Put away order guide, check ovens, "Hey would you be sure to hit that sink before you leave, wrap that bread, put those trays away and make sure we change out that fryer tomorrow morning. Thank you. Okay, everything else looks good, thanks for your help tonight, see you tomorrow." Change back into my jeans and t-shirt and out of my clogs that are killing my feet. Write myself a reminder to call RSI again tomorrow morning to straighten out the accounting issue. Lock the office, hit the lights, lock doors, walk-ins, dry storage. Set alarm, close back gate with the last ounce of energy I've got left. Walk out into the cool breeze that instantly gives me chills from the sweat that has already accumulated on the back of my shirt. I'm beat. I'll be home by midnight, just enough time to have a beer, go to bed, and be back in 9 hours to do it all over again.


Tasting Menu: 8/12/08

Haystack Salad
Pistachio, Currants, Haystack Chevre, Brioche, Honey Vinaigrette

Grilled Scallop
Crimson Lentil, English Pea, Sweet Corn, Thai Peach Salsa




Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Tasting Menu 7/29/08: Dessert Course


Lemon Tart

Toasted Granola, Brown Sugar, Blueberry, Honey Basil Gelato

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Colorado Peach Brulee



Amuse: 8/05/08

Colorado Peach Brulee, Brillat Savarin, Pistachio, Brioche Toast