Today was a very interesting day. I spent the bulk of the shift helping prep the hot line and get everything ready for service. Nothing that I had not done over the last few shifts. No tedious task was asked of me but everyone seamed a whole lot more serious than they had previously.
It turns out they were short a person for the shift and the chef was going to fill in at the garde manger position, everyone was moved around and I think tensions were a little high.
I also made a huge mistake during service that delayed the line. I felt very bad about it though and I hope they have forgotten about it. Unless of course they read this and it reminds them of it and they get mad all over again.
During service I was pulling tickets and calling out order like I had done the previous shift, when a ticket came out with no hot meat entrees on it, which happens often. Except this time there was a hot entree on it but it wasn't being cooked by the station I was working, it was a new menu item, and what I needed to do was hand the ticket across to the proper station. So the cook never got the order which put the table behind when it was fired.
When the ticket came out I saw the order and the item I had not seen before I was going to ask about it once the plates the chefs were working on went out. But then one of the other cooks needed the space I was working at to prep more of a dish he was working on so I moved out to give him more room and forgot about the order. By the time I got back it was too late.
So I made a stressful day that much more stressful. Unfortunately it caused me to end my time there on a bad note rather than an other wise positive experience. Mistakes are bound to happen. Though this is one that rarely happens in well run restaurant like this. Not actually being part of the kitchen staff will always put me at a disadvantage, I don't get to attend the meetings where they review new dishes, or have a chance to become very familiar with all the individually procedures that are different at every restaurant. But I knew that going in. I am always going to be an outsider, kept at some distance. And I'm alright with that.
Another issue was my boss and some friends of his came by and had dinner while I was working. They sent a waiter in to say hi to me which had an unfortunate affect of insulting the chef. Though I am not 100% sure how he actually felt about it. I felt his eye on me when the waiter came to tell me. I know I would be insulted, anyway. It is like throwing a party in your home and then having all the other guests thank the party crasher for the good time they had.
The chef said I should stop by some time soon and we can talk about everything, I am on vacation next week so I'll stop by then and get his take on my performance, which I will happily share, even if it's a particularly bad take.
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