I've got a new job. For four years, I've been apprenticing as a cook at the restaurant Lacroix at the Rittenhouse. I go in on the weekends--originally it was saturdays, now it's Sundays--and cook. For the last two and a half, I've spent eight hours there each weekend. Four whole years. I've been doing it since I was 13.
And so a few weeks ago, I was approached by the manager of the restaurant. He asked if I wanted to learn something new. He said I could trail him. I would be trailing the manager. I would be a mini manager. Hell yes. Hell yes. I love cooking in the back, but I have been there for four years, and I don't wanna hone one side of the knife and leave the other one dull.
I wanna be well rounded. I want to understand different aspects of the restaurant. I want to learn the restaurant. Not just the cooking. I want to own the restaurant: the concept of a restaurant. And I think this experience is just another step on that path.
So this week, I'll show up to Lacroix in a dark suit, white shirt, and conservative tie. And I'll be starting anew. Looking in from the other side. Broadening my perspective.
I can't wait.
8 comments:
congratulations!
Awesome, congrats!
This is a great development. As you know, we eat in the front of the house. How it is managed dictates how we experience the food. There are people that start in the kitchen or FOH and never work the other part. Having experience in both sides can only enhance your diner's experience wherever you land. I had a lunch for a corporate meeting on Wednesday at Michigan State's hospitality training center. The waiter handled a room of 20 people with salads, main, and dessert with such efficiency in the 50 minutes that we had to eat. We were rarely aware that he was there, but everything appeared and disappeared so perfectly. The food...no major thing. The waiter juggled the flow of 20 people leaving the room for smokes, the john, and cell phone replies to job-related issues with laid-back service that was almost European, but much faster. Service is a craft that too many people waiting to be something else never quite get the hang of.
Hell diggety yes with bells on!
Now dust off your copy of CIA's "Professional Chef" and refresh your memory on Part One: The Culinary Professional.
congrats!
I guess that means no snacking on the food!
Go you! Doing both sides is much more rewarding.
Best of luck! Congratulations. It should be a great learning experience.
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