As you know, I have been actively looking for work in the restaurant business since last August. I have had six interviews since then, and all of them ended in a "thanks, but no thanks" rejection email. I fear that a change in my career path is inevitable. That being said, expect more, and more frequent, blog posts.
Here is a funny story from my past.
About ten years ago, I was employed as the chef at a prominent french/ fusion restaurant in Downtown Providence. This restaurant had won an a award from RI Monthly for the best gourmet chicken dish. (Unfortunately, not my recipe.) All of the winners were to have a tasting at the RI Convention Center, sponsored by the March of Dimes. I had to prepare bite sized samples of the dish. The owner of the restaurant informed me that there would be approximately 500 people there, and we would have refrigeration and holding ovens for our product. Three days before the event, I placed my orders for all of the food I would need to mount such a production.
Well, the day before the event, I called the event coordinator at the March of Dimes, just to answer a few questions regarding attendance, and the availability of the ovens and refrigeration. This is where it gets good. She informed me that they were telling food vendors to prep for 1500 people, not the 500 my employer had initially told me! She also said that refrigeration and holding ovens had to be reserved 3 months prior to the event. Needless to say, there was no reservation for our restaurant. After hanging up the phone, and giving my employer an earful about the lack of equipment reservations, and the THREE TIMES MORE PEOPLE for which I would now have to prepare food, I quickly called all of my vendors to order three times more food for the event. Here is the message I left on my "chicken guy's" machine.
"Hello, this is Dave over at *** Restaurant. I need 100 more pounds of chicken breasts delivered by 7 AM tomorrow. This is not a joke"
Well, the next morning, I got to work at 5 AM to begin the process. Why 5 AM? Because the chicken needs to marinate for at least 6 hours before cooking. Well, the day went well, and at about 2 o'clock, with 85-90% of the food prepped, I went to the convention center to set up our booth, and to beg and scrounge for refrigeration and oven space from other vendors. Keep in mind, the RI Dept. of Health was a major presence at this function, so food temperatures were monitored throughout the entire event. At 3 PM, after setting up our booth in a streamlined and logical fashion, and successfully garnering refrigeration and oven space from sympathetic colleagues, at opposite ends of the facility, I returned to the restaurant where, even though I had told my boss I was going to the event to set up, and would return around 3, s/he was having a conniption about my location for the last hour! After giving him/her another earful about paying attention to people when they are talking to you, I returned to the kitchen to put the finishing touches on the food, pack it up, and get to the event. As I was doing this, my employer went to the event to begin the glad-handing that invariably goes along with these events.
When I returned to the convention center with the food, and stored it in it's proper place, I stepped out onto the floor, and when I got to our booth, my boss had COMPLETELY CHANGED THE SETUP from logical and streamlined, to pretty and utterly useless. This was the proverbial straw. I immediately launched into a tirade about, "you hired me to do this job, but you refuse to let me do it", "you are driving me nuts, so get out of here, and let me do what you pay me to do." His/ her response was, "It's my restaurant. I have to be here." I don't think s/he realized my level of frustration, because s/he seemed surprised when I left the convention center, dropped off my keys at the restaurant, and went home to look for another job.
I guess the moral of the story is, not everyone is cut out to be an employer. You don't need passion, vision, or great people skills to open a restaurant. All you need is money.
Love, Peace, and Bacon grease!
Here is a funny story from my past.
About ten years ago, I was employed as the chef at a prominent french/ fusion restaurant in Downtown Providence. This restaurant had won an a award from RI Monthly for the best gourmet chicken dish. (Unfortunately, not my recipe.) All of the winners were to have a tasting at the RI Convention Center, sponsored by the March of Dimes. I had to prepare bite sized samples of the dish. The owner of the restaurant informed me that there would be approximately 500 people there, and we would have refrigeration and holding ovens for our product. Three days before the event, I placed my orders for all of the food I would need to mount such a production.
Well, the day before the event, I called the event coordinator at the March of Dimes, just to answer a few questions regarding attendance, and the availability of the ovens and refrigeration. This is where it gets good. She informed me that they were telling food vendors to prep for 1500 people, not the 500 my employer had initially told me! She also said that refrigeration and holding ovens had to be reserved 3 months prior to the event. Needless to say, there was no reservation for our restaurant. After hanging up the phone, and giving my employer an earful about the lack of equipment reservations, and the THREE TIMES MORE PEOPLE for which I would now have to prepare food, I quickly called all of my vendors to order three times more food for the event. Here is the message I left on my "chicken guy's" machine.
"Hello, this is Dave over at *** Restaurant. I need 100 more pounds of chicken breasts delivered by 7 AM tomorrow. This is not a joke"
Well, the next morning, I got to work at 5 AM to begin the process. Why 5 AM? Because the chicken needs to marinate for at least 6 hours before cooking. Well, the day went well, and at about 2 o'clock, with 85-90% of the food prepped, I went to the convention center to set up our booth, and to beg and scrounge for refrigeration and oven space from other vendors. Keep in mind, the RI Dept. of Health was a major presence at this function, so food temperatures were monitored throughout the entire event. At 3 PM, after setting up our booth in a streamlined and logical fashion, and successfully garnering refrigeration and oven space from sympathetic colleagues, at opposite ends of the facility, I returned to the restaurant where, even though I had told my boss I was going to the event to set up, and would return around 3, s/he was having a conniption about my location for the last hour! After giving him/her another earful about paying attention to people when they are talking to you, I returned to the kitchen to put the finishing touches on the food, pack it up, and get to the event. As I was doing this, my employer went to the event to begin the glad-handing that invariably goes along with these events.
When I returned to the convention center with the food, and stored it in it's proper place, I stepped out onto the floor, and when I got to our booth, my boss had COMPLETELY CHANGED THE SETUP from logical and streamlined, to pretty and utterly useless. This was the proverbial straw. I immediately launched into a tirade about, "you hired me to do this job, but you refuse to let me do it", "you are driving me nuts, so get out of here, and let me do what you pay me to do." His/ her response was, "It's my restaurant. I have to be here." I don't think s/he realized my level of frustration, because s/he seemed surprised when I left the convention center, dropped off my keys at the restaurant, and went home to look for another job.
I guess the moral of the story is, not everyone is cut out to be an employer. You don't need passion, vision, or great people skills to open a restaurant. All you need is money.
Love, Peace, and Bacon grease!
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