But nothing captures the glory of a restaurant kitchen like counting how many boxes of salt we have, or weighing the garbanzo beans. This all started at 9 a.m., and went solidly for several hours until I was fortunate enough to grab a 90-minute break at home.
When I got back, chef and I then had a talk about getting our line crew ready for Saturday. For a workplace that sometimes seems brash and unrestrained, it's funny how you need to think of the compatibility and personalities of people working together.
After a good discussion, it dawns on me that I will be on saute this coming Saturday. I have not yet worked saute alone, but it's a relatively simple station where you have someone working the wheel (between saute and grill) making chicken, some risotto and a few sides. But when the board is full of tickets and I don't have the repetition part down, that could make for an interesting Saturday night -- interesting in the same way that getting your ass kicked by a trained assassin would be.
That discussion with chef, coupled with the fact that I let some less-than-bueno kale get through our back door, made for a day that ended with me feeling both excited and a little overwhelmed.
As much as I want to jump around like a toddler in my living room and do an I-don't-have-homework! dance, I realize I now have some real responsibility. But for right now, I need to focus on a new, simple goal: Get saute down by Saturday.
