the here and now...
As we are all moving forward with our lives and our own dramas, it has occurred to me that I am being selfish and not really paying attention to others needs as well...
from ideas in food...participation
Sarah's post about her daily life is filled with, I don't know what to call it, fulfillment maybe...busy work, the grind, inspiration...something.
I look at my own day compared to hers and go wow...I don't do anything...what do I have to complain about...
but maybe that is the issue...I am bored, and with boredom comes the search for things that are wrong...not things that are right. How when you are busy you have no time to do anything except perform...but when that business is not there you have time to see the petty disagreements, the dramas, the etcs....
Sarah's life:
plus recipes, plus pancake breakfasts, 1st birthday parties, cinco de mayo, saint pats, earth day, march madness, hm pastry and other people who get upset because i tell them i think they can wash dishes, cutting hours, asking for more, doing more, loving what i do!, taking on ordering for a new dept, filling shifts without hiring more people (hiring freeze), shifting kitchen people to other departments to fill their gaps, ordering, inventory, pricing food, baking, catering orders, marketing, sitting in on meetings, writing schedules, filling in for people who call out, trying to learn how to make excellent espresso drinks (help here appreciated), negotiating with the management who is never on the floor, helping customers find items they need that have nothing to do with us, stroking staff egos, general kitchen prep- roasted meats, shredded cheeses, diced onions, making items for the cold case, making stuff for the hot bar, writing recipes for weekly specials, making store signage for said specials, keeping up with house roasted blahblahblah for sandwiches (turkey, beef, lamb gyro, cubano pork, taco fish breading), juice bar organic produce, dealing with shrink and how to re-utilize it or come up with new stuff that will sell, printing signs, requesting new plus, revamping old plus, maintaining the scale and accurate pricing/ingredient stickers, maintaining a happy balance of meat/veggie/vegan/allergy sensitive items on all menus... this is all i can think of right now. is it demanding enough? enough facets to maintain? i think so for this go 'round. never laid it all out like this. kind of fascinatingly fucked up to see what it it i actually do- too much! as you might be amused to discover, i am also the typist/computer wtf happened person for many- yes, the secretary... still trying to convince the boss that we need one though, and that it not be me. my skills are best used (and existent) elsewhere, helping to support service staff, helping customers(long as it does not involve the slicers/ i HATE
Chef's life:
unlock, make sure everyone shows up, check emails for changes to the days orders, start events if any...but not really since I cant take work opportunity away from cooks who should be performing the work, make sure everything makes it into the box, quality check, maybe cook some, clean walk ins and organize, check in with the exec, delegate my staff out to other departments if not needed, assist on the breakfast line about once a week if needed, monitor breakfast buffets, do requisitions, go to meetings, the only time I get to 'cook' is when we have lunch functions...and we don't do to many of those, go to more meetings, check BEOs for following day, do more requisitions, and then go home.
We have breakfast going out for 550 ppl right now...the only day I had to actually 'work', i.e. pick up a knife...was the day before the first breakfast...it was busy...cutting, dicing, panning, planning,...but now it is just maintaining the pars for the group and delegate out to the staff...sure we have to get breakfast ready every morning...but it is a two cook job...and that is the staff I have on hand...so I just double check their work and move on...we will batch fire stuff throughout the morning, then breakdown after the event is over and top off the prep for tomorrow.
Maybe it is just easy and that is why I don't think I work much...maybe I do not do much...who knows.
I know that as the chef de cuisine of the restaurant...I was busy, and I was fulfilled...12 hours a day of prepping and cooking, working the line, curing meats, making pasta, expoing...etc...that is what I enjoyed...maybe it is my dislike of bulk cooking/banquets/catering.
But anyway....
at least I have health, a job that is paying the bills, and I do live in a very beautiful place...I have a roof over my head and people who love me...so I cant complain can I?
Good luck to you all who are dealing with other issues...let me know if I can help.
from ideas in food...participation
Sarah's post about her daily life is filled with, I don't know what to call it, fulfillment maybe...busy work, the grind, inspiration...something.
I look at my own day compared to hers and go wow...I don't do anything...what do I have to complain about...
but maybe that is the issue...I am bored, and with boredom comes the search for things that are wrong...not things that are right. How when you are busy you have no time to do anything except perform...but when that business is not there you have time to see the petty disagreements, the dramas, the etcs....
Sarah's life:
plus recipes, plus pancake breakfasts, 1st birthday parties, cinco de mayo, saint pats, earth day, march madness, hm pastry and other people who get upset because i tell them i think they can wash dishes, cutting hours, asking for more, doing more, loving what i do!, taking on ordering for a new dept, filling shifts without hiring more people (hiring freeze), shifting kitchen people to other departments to fill their gaps, ordering, inventory, pricing food, baking, catering orders, marketing, sitting in on meetings, writing schedules, filling in for people who call out, trying to learn how to make excellent espresso drinks (help here appreciated), negotiating with the management who is never on the floor, helping customers find items they need that have nothing to do with us, stroking staff egos, general kitchen prep- roasted meats, shredded cheeses, diced onions, making items for the cold case, making stuff for the hot bar, writing recipes for weekly specials, making store signage for said specials, keeping up with house roasted blahblahblah for sandwiches (turkey, beef, lamb gyro, cubano pork, taco fish breading), juice bar organic produce, dealing with shrink and how to re-utilize it or come up with new stuff that will sell, printing signs, requesting new plus, revamping old plus, maintaining the scale and accurate pricing/ingredient stickers, maintaining a happy balance of meat/veggie/vegan/allergy sensitive items on all menus... this is all i can think of right now. is it demanding enough? enough facets to maintain? i think so for this go 'round. never laid it all out like this. kind of fascinatingly fucked up to see what it it i actually do- too much! as you might be amused to discover, i am also the typist/computer wtf happened person for many- yes, the secretary... still trying to convince the boss that we need one though, and that it not be me. my skills are best used (and existent) elsewhere, helping to support service staff, helping customers(long as it does not involve the slicers/ i HATE
Chef's life:
unlock, make sure everyone shows up, check emails for changes to the days orders, start events if any...but not really since I cant take work opportunity away from cooks who should be performing the work, make sure everything makes it into the box, quality check, maybe cook some, clean walk ins and organize, check in with the exec, delegate my staff out to other departments if not needed, assist on the breakfast line about once a week if needed, monitor breakfast buffets, do requisitions, go to meetings, the only time I get to 'cook' is when we have lunch functions...and we don't do to many of those, go to more meetings, check BEOs for following day, do more requisitions, and then go home.
We have breakfast going out for 550 ppl right now...the only day I had to actually 'work', i.e. pick up a knife...was the day before the first breakfast...it was busy...cutting, dicing, panning, planning,...but now it is just maintaining the pars for the group and delegate out to the staff...sure we have to get breakfast ready every morning...but it is a two cook job...and that is the staff I have on hand...so I just double check their work and move on...we will batch fire stuff throughout the morning, then breakdown after the event is over and top off the prep for tomorrow.
Maybe it is just easy and that is why I don't think I work much...maybe I do not do much...who knows.
I know that as the chef de cuisine of the restaurant...I was busy, and I was fulfilled...12 hours a day of prepping and cooking, working the line, curing meats, making pasta, expoing...etc...that is what I enjoyed...maybe it is my dislike of bulk cooking/banquets/catering.
But anyway....
at least I have health, a job that is paying the bills, and I do live in a very beautiful place...I have a roof over my head and people who love me...so I cant complain can I?
Good luck to you all who are dealing with other issues...let me know if I can help.
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