You could feel it in the air and you could see it on the faces of the Chefs.
The reservations book for the night was full. No spare tables.
The tension was palatable in the kitchen. Service begins in another 10mins but the Chefs were still prepping. Every available piece of bench space was being used,prep containers were everywhere and chopping boards were everywhere with every board in use. The smells of seared meat/freshly sliced herbs/caramel/chocolate/garlic all hung in the air creating a strangely comforting smell,the smell of prepared-ness so to speak.
The facial expressions said it all,concentration/stress n that grim smile because you know its gunna be a big one. Body language was tense and movements were fast and smooth,graceful almost in the same way a golfer swings his 9 iron,fast almost violent but controlled and precise. A quick flick of the arm to shuffle the caramelizing onions in the pan or the quick twist/bend and pop up to pull the puff pastry out the oven and a slight twist of the foot to close the oven doors. The repetitive but skillfully sliding of the knife along the knuckles whilst finely chopping herbs and then a quick twist and flick of the knife to push them to one side of the board and then continue with the next lot.
The dishwasher hums away in the background as the Chefs clear away the prep and begin setting up for service. The Chefs crouch in front of their lo-boy fridges,arranging and rearranging prep and positioning everything so that they don't have to think just grab. Courgettes/tomatoes/leek for fish to one side,shallots/garlic/thyme for the beef off to the other side. Containers for garnish are arranged on the service bench in front of each Chefs board,all the containers laid out a certain way for each Chef relative to the dish it is for. Knifes are washed,sharpened and then again positioned with optimal placement for speed and reach. Service spoons/ladles/assorted ring moulds and equipment are grabbed and the service benchs are given a quick final wipe down and sanitize.
The Chefs check/double check and triple check their prep,rearranging the odd thing and run through in their head each component for each dish whilst looking for it and arranging it. Aprons are re-tied and jackets adjusted,fresh clean tea towels and grab cloths are hung from aprons and postioned on section for easy reach. Never underestimate how good a fresh cloth feels in the middle of a busy service,it could be called a morale booster,some Chefs have even been known to store one or five in the fridge during the really hot nights if for nothing else but to cool the hands down!
Service time arrives, the Head Chef asks the all important question....
"Anyone in the shit?? Need anything???"
"No Chef" comes the reply and a little bit of relief is felt. Everyone is ready. Now its the waiting game.....when will the first order arrive and whats it gunna be???
The kitchen is quiet apart from the hum of the dishwasher,everyone is waiting....a waitstaff member walks,everyone looks up!
"Whats the fish of the day??"
False alarm just getting the specials. And the waiting game continues. The Chefs exchange guesses about who's gunna get slammed and who'll end up in the weeds. Smart ass insults are traded and a little bit of laughter eases the tension. Kitchen banter is always a bit strange and this was just another example as one Chef starts to hum the main riff to a chessy 80's pop song "Funky town". It catches on pretty quick n everyone has another laugh and the kitchen goes quiet again...until someone gets clever and hums the riff to the song "The Final Countdown",laughter promptly follows but no-one picks up on the slight rise in volume from the restaurant. The customers are here....
Turns out "The final Countdown" was more than appropriate. 5mins later and a waiter walks in....
"Order up Chef"
Everyone looks at the Head Chef...
"New order,4 people..."
...a quick intake of breath..
"8 course degustion.."
Everybody thinks the same thing....32 courses/first table...ahhhhsssshit..
Clang,clangclangclnag as saute pans hit the stove tops..
"First course 4 Potage.."
"YES CHEF"
"...followed by 4 prawns then followed by 4 Octopus then...."
Yip gunna be a BIG night!!!!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Bullies,questions and the Top 50 Restaurants
Don't get me wrong.....I've yelled at and argued with my fair share of waitstaff because from a chef's point of view they can really piss you off. Dropped plates/wrong plates to the wrong table/inadequate service etc etc the list goes on. Was it the right or wrong thing to do..? At the time it didn't matter I was pissed off and made that very clear BUT I have NEVER attacked them in front of customers!!
Simply put there is a degree of trust diners in a restaurant have in their waitstaff when they dine and like any good relationship if done right it is rewarding for both parties. The waitstaff are the Face of the kitchen and the restaurant so what happens if they are attacked by the chef in front of the diners?? And would this affect your evening if you were dining there?? I'd say yes it would,even more so if it was your waiter.
Maybe Mr Ramsey is to blame. I mean he is the king of the F word and isn't afraid to use it no matter what the situation. So with the popularity of his "Hells Kitchen" and "Kitchen Nightmares" programs its no wonder that eventually it would start to appear in the real world.
Ok so your thinking "What the hell is he talking about??"
Whilst doing my usual surf around the worlds newspapers and looking at the goings on of the restaurants of the world I came across a article that really made my blood boil.
http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/11/why-i-got-kicked-out-of-a-restaurant-on-saturday-night/
Now let me give you a quick run down.
Whilst dining in a restaurant a reporter for the N.Y times (and the entirety of the restaurant) heard the Chef of the establishment "dressing down" a member of his staff. Not just once but twice.
Now the author of the article then decided enter the kitchen to have words with the chef and express his feelings on the chefs behavior.
The reporter upon returning to his table was then approached by the chef,apparently barely apologized to then asked to leave his restaurant.
Now from a chef point of view I can imagine the embarrassment that must have been caused when the reporter confronted the chef about his behavior. The kitchen is a fickle place at the best of times and being "dressed down" in the kitchen is bad enough when your a junior chef let alone the Head chef. And I have no doubt some of the younger members of the kitchen had many laughs later that night over drinks at the chefs expense.
But from the diners point of view what could be worse than enjoying a great meal with friends only to have it overshadowed by the Chef yelling at one of his waitstaff?? Talk about spoiling the evening and putting a blot on the restaurants reputation. I would be interested to know how many people made the decision not to return to his restaurant after what happened.
So this does leave us with some questions.....
Did the reporter do the right thing? Would you have done the same thing?? In my own opinion yes he did do the right thing. Being a chef already has a reputation for obnoxious,rude and anti social behavior with many thanks to Mr "F-word" Ramsey. And at the best of times it's hard to find good staff,so whats going to happen if this kind of behavior gets worse?? Less good staff and less diners most likely.
So was the Chef justified in asking the reporter to leave his restaurant?? From a pride point of view I can understand what he did. It's his restaurant and he exercised his power. But no it wasn't the right thing to do in any way. I would imagine that most of the diners that night saw the reporter enter the kitchen and probably took accurate guesses as to what he was saying to the chef and many (if not all of the them) most likely wanted to do the same thing. So in seeing the reporter asked to leave one does wonder what they were thinking and how many shortened their dinner that night or just will not return at all.I have no doubt that the article has most likely cost the restaurant some business already and the chefs actions both towards his waitstaff and the reporter have also likely cost him more too.
Now whilst we do not know what the waitstaff member did nor any other circumstances behind the events that night the real question that needs to be asked is Does the restaurant need to hear the chef dressing down his staff?? In short NO!!!
Any good chef/restaurant owner should know that no matter what happens the face of the restaurant should always been cool,calm and collected. If you want to discipline your staff do it away from the diners. And remember no one wants to see a Ramsey wannabe.
I would also be great interested on any thoughts or feedback on this to!!
On to other news in the culinary world. The The S.Pellegrino Best Restaurants awards have been announced. This is a list of the worlds Top 100 restaurants and is always a eagerly anticipated list for both foodies and restaurants alike. A placing in the top 100 pretty much guarantees good business even more so if your in the Top 50 and even better the Top 10 or the best of the best No.1 !!
www.theworlds50best.com/
So a quick run down of the Top 10:
1 Noma Denmark
2 El Bulli Spain
3 The Fat Duck UK
4 El Celler de Can Roca Spain
5 Mugaritz Spain
6 Osteria Francescana Italy
7 Alinea USA
8 Daniel USA
9 Arzak Spain
10 Per Se USA
As always The Fat Duck and El Bulli are consistently at the top though the number one spot has now gone to Noma. Great to see Alinea named as the best restaurant in north america and as always one of Thomas Keller restaurants in the top 10 with Per Se at 10.
Another notable entry at No.27 is Quay Restaurant in Sydney and named the Best Restaurant in Australasia,A great achievement and always great to see the chefs down under mixing it with the worlds best!!
As for progress on my personal goals well I have recently accepted an offer to work weekends at a great restaurant so things are looking up for me!!
Also a quick thank you to Sam for the motivational nudge,Thanks I needed it!
Now with Autumn fully upon us expect another Seasonality post soon!!
Simply put there is a degree of trust diners in a restaurant have in their waitstaff when they dine and like any good relationship if done right it is rewarding for both parties. The waitstaff are the Face of the kitchen and the restaurant so what happens if they are attacked by the chef in front of the diners?? And would this affect your evening if you were dining there?? I'd say yes it would,even more so if it was your waiter.
Maybe Mr Ramsey is to blame. I mean he is the king of the F word and isn't afraid to use it no matter what the situation. So with the popularity of his "Hells Kitchen" and "Kitchen Nightmares" programs its no wonder that eventually it would start to appear in the real world.
Ok so your thinking "What the hell is he talking about??"
Whilst doing my usual surf around the worlds newspapers and looking at the goings on of the restaurants of the world I came across a article that really made my blood boil.
http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/11/why-i-got-kicked-out-of-a-restaurant-on-saturday-night/
Now let me give you a quick run down.
Whilst dining in a restaurant a reporter for the N.Y times (and the entirety of the restaurant) heard the Chef of the establishment "dressing down" a member of his staff. Not just once but twice.
Now the author of the article then decided enter the kitchen to have words with the chef and express his feelings on the chefs behavior.
The reporter upon returning to his table was then approached by the chef,apparently barely apologized to then asked to leave his restaurant.
Now from a chef point of view I can imagine the embarrassment that must have been caused when the reporter confronted the chef about his behavior. The kitchen is a fickle place at the best of times and being "dressed down" in the kitchen is bad enough when your a junior chef let alone the Head chef. And I have no doubt some of the younger members of the kitchen had many laughs later that night over drinks at the chefs expense.
But from the diners point of view what could be worse than enjoying a great meal with friends only to have it overshadowed by the Chef yelling at one of his waitstaff?? Talk about spoiling the evening and putting a blot on the restaurants reputation. I would be interested to know how many people made the decision not to return to his restaurant after what happened.
So this does leave us with some questions.....
Did the reporter do the right thing? Would you have done the same thing?? In my own opinion yes he did do the right thing. Being a chef already has a reputation for obnoxious,rude and anti social behavior with many thanks to Mr "F-word" Ramsey. And at the best of times it's hard to find good staff,so whats going to happen if this kind of behavior gets worse?? Less good staff and less diners most likely.
So was the Chef justified in asking the reporter to leave his restaurant?? From a pride point of view I can understand what he did. It's his restaurant and he exercised his power. But no it wasn't the right thing to do in any way. I would imagine that most of the diners that night saw the reporter enter the kitchen and probably took accurate guesses as to what he was saying to the chef and many (if not all of the them) most likely wanted to do the same thing. So in seeing the reporter asked to leave one does wonder what they were thinking and how many shortened their dinner that night or just will not return at all.I have no doubt that the article has most likely cost the restaurant some business already and the chefs actions both towards his waitstaff and the reporter have also likely cost him more too.
Now whilst we do not know what the waitstaff member did nor any other circumstances behind the events that night the real question that needs to be asked is Does the restaurant need to hear the chef dressing down his staff?? In short NO!!!
Any good chef/restaurant owner should know that no matter what happens the face of the restaurant should always been cool,calm and collected. If you want to discipline your staff do it away from the diners. And remember no one wants to see a Ramsey wannabe.
I would also be great interested on any thoughts or feedback on this to!!
On to other news in the culinary world. The The S.Pellegrino Best Restaurants awards have been announced. This is a list of the worlds Top 100 restaurants and is always a eagerly anticipated list for both foodies and restaurants alike. A placing in the top 100 pretty much guarantees good business even more so if your in the Top 50 and even better the Top 10 or the best of the best No.1 !!
www.theworlds50best.com/
So a quick run down of the Top 10:
1 Noma Denmark
2 El Bulli Spain
3 The Fat Duck UK
4 El Celler de Can Roca Spain
5 Mugaritz Spain
6 Osteria Francescana Italy
7 Alinea USA
8 Daniel USA
9 Arzak Spain
10 Per Se USA
As always The Fat Duck and El Bulli are consistently at the top though the number one spot has now gone to Noma. Great to see Alinea named as the best restaurant in north america and as always one of Thomas Keller restaurants in the top 10 with Per Se at 10.
Another notable entry at No.27 is Quay Restaurant in Sydney and named the Best Restaurant in Australasia,A great achievement and always great to see the chefs down under mixing it with the worlds best!!
As for progress on my personal goals well I have recently accepted an offer to work weekends at a great restaurant so things are looking up for me!!
Also a quick thank you to Sam for the motivational nudge,Thanks I needed it!
Now with Autumn fully upon us expect another Seasonality post soon!!
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