Last week and the first two days of this week, I was serving in the restaurant at school. It was not exactly my first time serving as I had served a couple of times at some of the volunteer stuff at school, but it was still pretty much a new experience - taking orders, using the point of sale system, and dealing with payments was all new to me. But I'm actually kind of enjoying it. And it definitely makes me look at servers in restaurants differently.
Our class is split in half - half works lunch service and the other half does dinner, and then we switch after two weeks. I am doing lunch first, which is perfect for me, because after the Christmas holiday, I do dinner and then Block 9 is also nights, so it makes my schedule a lot easier. I also totally got the better half of the class - I would be pretty miserable if I was in the other group for sure.
The first day, we pretty much just had an orientation of the restaurant, learned about the point of sale system, and then did mock serving with our classmates. I got N and F on a date - and they were very difficult customers :) The second day, the restaurant was open, so we got our first tables. When we first get to school, we set up the room according to the groups that are coming in. Then we set the tables and get everything ready for service. That day, our instructor kept the numbers down so I think everyone had about 6 or 7 customers each. I had one big table of 7, which wasn't too hard to manage. A pretty good start to serving.
My favourite day last week was definitely Wednesday - I got 3 small tables, and one table was a guy who used to come to the cafeteria everyday. He was at one of the events I volunteered at, so I told him to come to JJ's, and he actually did. He was a great customer - he ordered the drink special of the day, a chocolate martini, as well as a chichi (a pina colada with vodka instead of rum), ate three courses, and then tipped generously. We actually get to keep the tips - we just split all the tips at the end of service. Wednesday's tips were the best for all of last week.
The rest of the days weren't anything too special, until the last day of school. We invited the couple that owns the restaurant we often go to after school to come for lunch. They were great customers, ordering lots of drinks and food. They even brought the class a bottle of champagne to share. A friend and I paid for their bill, but they left an amazing tip. Our tips on Tuesday were outstanding.
Lectures in this block are pretty fun. We've learned about bartending, opening wine bottles at the table, and making specialty coffees like espressos and cafe lattes. On dinner service, we do some wine tasting, which should also be fun.
Serving is definitely harder than it looks, but I think it just takes some getting used to. I'm a lot more comfortable serving now than I was on the first day. And it makes you appreciate good service, like at Raincity Grill. A's parents were in town for a few days last week, and we went to Raincity for dinner. It was a really delicious meal - I had duck, A had bison, Mr. B had mussels, and Mrs. B had ribeye. The kitchen sent us mushroom risotto to share and also a plate of four desserts. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
We had some fun afternoons - checking up on the afternoon group, dinner at Al Porto, and lunch at Peckinpah, a new restaurant in Gastown.
I get two weeks off of school and work, which I couldn't be happier about. Plus, we are heading to sunny Jamaica. I can't wait!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Block 7: Week 4 - Pastry
This was a much better week than last week - I decided I needed an attitude adjustment. Getting angry at people for being lazy accomplishes nothing. So I was much more positive and just focused on myself and not other people. It made for a more pleasant week for sure.
Pastry station was pretty easy. We made puff pastry (regular method and quick method), turnovers with the puff pastry, lemon puddings, pastry cream, sweet tart dough, fruit flans, and choux paste. Decorating the fruit flans was probably the thing I hated the most, though for no particular reason. I guess I just didn't feel especially creative. So the second time we had to decorate the fruit flans, I asked my partner to do my share for me. And crazy Chef Larsen gave me a 9 on it and gave my partner a 6. That was pretty frustrating, for both of us.
We wrote our ITA level one test on Friday. It was a 100-question multiple choice test. It was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be, and I had to guess on a bunch of questions. But I'm pretty sure I passed.
Next week - serving in JJ's. Should be interesting.
Pastry station was pretty easy. We made puff pastry (regular method and quick method), turnovers with the puff pastry, lemon puddings, pastry cream, sweet tart dough, fruit flans, and choux paste. Decorating the fruit flans was probably the thing I hated the most, though for no particular reason. I guess I just didn't feel especially creative. So the second time we had to decorate the fruit flans, I asked my partner to do my share for me. And crazy Chef Larsen gave me a 9 on it and gave my partner a 6. That was pretty frustrating, for both of us.
We wrote our ITA level one test on Friday. It was a 100-question multiple choice test. It was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be, and I had to guess on a bunch of questions. But I'm pretty sure I passed.
Next week - serving in JJ's. Should be interesting.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Block 7: Week 3 - Yeast
I'm a little bit jaded writing this post because the last couple of days at school were pretty frustrating for me, especially yesterday. I'm having a hard time dealing with the laziness of people in my class. Every day, we have to package all the products that we make to be sold in the market. It is the shared responsibility of the whole class, but it tends to fall to those on the yeast station because a majority of the products to be packaged are the breads and danishes made by the yeast station. However, the last few days, a couple of other people and I packaged pretty much everything by ourselves while the rest of the class essentially stands around doing nothing. I don't even know why it makes me so angry, but yesterday, I almost lost it. I really need to work on being more patient. Really.
Yesterday was a crazy long day because I stayed after class to help out with the Winter Feast, a fundraiser for Junior Team Canada. It was a dinner for about 300 people, so we helped set up all the tables, the buffet area, and the silent auction. Then we served the passed canapes, champagne, and cleared the tables. Chef bought us all a beer afterwards to celebrate a successful evening. It was long and tiring, but fun.
Before the Winter Feast, I had lunch at Meat and Bread. It doesn't have a website yet apparently, but it's a new place that opened up near school. It's totally my kind of place - it only serves four sandwiches, one salad, and one soup, and it does everything really well, as far as I can tell. I tried the pork sandwich, which is pieces of this roasted stuffed pork with a salsa verde. They also top it with a bit of the crispy pork skin and serve it with a homemade sambal. Delicious.
Other than the frustration, it really wasn't that bad of a week. We were on the yeast station, which is probably the busiest of the stations this month. We made white bread, brown bread, french bread, sour rye, pumpernickel, danishes, croissants, and cinnamon buns. The hardest part is the timing of everything because once you make each of the doughs, it has to proof before it can be baked.
The best night this week was J's birthday - $2 beers are definitely trouble on a birthday. I also got a new nickname that night: Sar Bear (apparently I look a lot like Sarah Silverman).
Next week - Pastry.
Yesterday was a crazy long day because I stayed after class to help out with the Winter Feast, a fundraiser for Junior Team Canada. It was a dinner for about 300 people, so we helped set up all the tables, the buffet area, and the silent auction. Then we served the passed canapes, champagne, and cleared the tables. Chef bought us all a beer afterwards to celebrate a successful evening. It was long and tiring, but fun.
Before the Winter Feast, I had lunch at Meat and Bread. It doesn't have a website yet apparently, but it's a new place that opened up near school. It's totally my kind of place - it only serves four sandwiches, one salad, and one soup, and it does everything really well, as far as I can tell. I tried the pork sandwich, which is pieces of this roasted stuffed pork with a salsa verde. They also top it with a bit of the crispy pork skin and serve it with a homemade sambal. Delicious.
Other than the frustration, it really wasn't that bad of a week. We were on the yeast station, which is probably the busiest of the stations this month. We made white bread, brown bread, french bread, sour rye, pumpernickel, danishes, croissants, and cinnamon buns. The hardest part is the timing of everything because once you make each of the doughs, it has to proof before it can be baked.
The best night this week was J's birthday - $2 beers are definitely trouble on a birthday. I also got a new nickname that night: Sar Bear (apparently I look a lot like Sarah Silverman).
Next week - Pastry.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Block 7: Week 2 - Cakes
We started our first real week of baking on the cake station. We made yellow cake and chocolate cake and decorated them, cheese cake, carrot cake, pineapple upside down cake, and jelly rolls.
Chef Larsen has a very strange marking system. Basically you have to make each item at least twice during the week. The first time you make it, the best mark you can get is a 7 out of 10. The next time, you can get an 8 or a 9 (to get a 10, it has to be outstanding, so I don't think he actually gives out 10s). But if you get a 6 the first time, the best you can get the second time is a 7, and the third time can improve to an 8 or 9. He doesn't provide any guidance on how to complete your tasks throughout the week, as long as you get each item made at least twice, or more, if you need/want to improve your marks. The main problem with the system is that he doesn't offer any feedback on how to improve, and the marks are somewhat arbitrary as he doesn't always even see the products before they get sold in the market.
On Tuesday, I volunteered at a dinner at UBC. There were so many students involved that transportation was provided in a tour trolley. It was very strange. And cold. There were two parties - one upstairs was a sit-down plated three-course dinner, and the larger party downstairs was just passed canapes. I got to work the upstairs party, which was good practice for Block 8. We set the table up, served drinks, served the food, cleared the table, and served coffee and tea. The food was amazing - lobster bisque, beef tenderloin, and lemon tarts. Once we were done upstairs, we headed downstairs to help with that party. The tour bus ride home was pretty entertaining, with the two guys in my class who were also there singing the whole way home. We also went out for a drink afterwards. The night ended a bit emotionally, but all worked itself out the next day at school.
This weekend, I had my first performance review at work. I was nervous - I've never had a performance review for a cooking job, so I didn't really know what to expect. It was mostly just a conversation with my chef and sous chef, and they didn't really have anything negative to say, which was good. The main things I need to work on are my sense of urgency (I'm a bit too laid back I guess) and asking more questions. I was pretty struck by how similar the review was to previous reviews I had at my actuarial job - I put myself in a totally different experience and I'm still the same person deep down. Interesting.
Next week - yeast station.
Chef Larsen has a very strange marking system. Basically you have to make each item at least twice during the week. The first time you make it, the best mark you can get is a 7 out of 10. The next time, you can get an 8 or a 9 (to get a 10, it has to be outstanding, so I don't think he actually gives out 10s). But if you get a 6 the first time, the best you can get the second time is a 7, and the third time can improve to an 8 or 9. He doesn't provide any guidance on how to complete your tasks throughout the week, as long as you get each item made at least twice, or more, if you need/want to improve your marks. The main problem with the system is that he doesn't offer any feedback on how to improve, and the marks are somewhat arbitrary as he doesn't always even see the products before they get sold in the market.
On Tuesday, I volunteered at a dinner at UBC. There were so many students involved that transportation was provided in a tour trolley. It was very strange. And cold. There were two parties - one upstairs was a sit-down plated three-course dinner, and the larger party downstairs was just passed canapes. I got to work the upstairs party, which was good practice for Block 8. We set the table up, served drinks, served the food, cleared the table, and served coffee and tea. The food was amazing - lobster bisque, beef tenderloin, and lemon tarts. Once we were done upstairs, we headed downstairs to help with that party. The tour bus ride home was pretty entertaining, with the two guys in my class who were also there singing the whole way home. We also went out for a drink afterwards. The night ended a bit emotionally, but all worked itself out the next day at school.
This weekend, I had my first performance review at work. I was nervous - I've never had a performance review for a cooking job, so I didn't really know what to expect. It was mostly just a conversation with my chef and sous chef, and they didn't really have anything negative to say, which was good. The main things I need to work on are my sense of urgency (I'm a bit too laid back I guess) and asking more questions. I was pretty struck by how similar the review was to previous reviews I had at my actuarial job - I put myself in a totally different experience and I'm still the same person deep down. Interesting.
Next week - yeast station.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Block 7: Week 1 - Intro to Baking
Baking is awesome. I had the best week.
The baking kitchen is on a whole separate floor from the culinary kitchens, so just walking onto the baking floor, the smell is pretty wonderful. There are three stations this month - yeast, cakes, and pastry. This week, we spent one day on each station. We also spent one day making laminated doughs (a layered dough, like puff pastry). The first day was basically an intro to the kitchen, where the chef just talked about the month (no baking at all, so a pretty boring day). Speaking of our chef, he is, I say it every day, crazy. He has the most evil laugh, which kind of makes sense, because he likes to play practical jokes. If you bring an outside drink into class, he will put a raw egg into it, or tabasco sauce. He also likes to use a spray bottle as a water gun. He definitely keeps class interesting. There is a video of him on youtube decorating a cake, if you want an idea of what he's like.
This month, we are working in partners. We are still in groups on each station, but we spend most of our time within out partnerships. I am pretty happy with my partner so far - he is really competent in the kitchen, which was the most important criteria in picking my partner, but we also get along really well and have a lot of fun together. This week, we made pumpernickel bread, white bread loaves and rolls, danish dough (and from the danish dough, we made danishes, cinnamon twists, pull-throughs, and pinwheels), carrot cake, yellow cake, cinnamon buns, and fruit flans.
A was out of town this week, so I made some stew tonight to welcome him home. I can't wait until I have more time to do more cooking at home - I miss experimenting and photographing. Just over a month until Christmas holidays!
Next week - cakes.
The baking kitchen is on a whole separate floor from the culinary kitchens, so just walking onto the baking floor, the smell is pretty wonderful. There are three stations this month - yeast, cakes, and pastry. This week, we spent one day on each station. We also spent one day making laminated doughs (a layered dough, like puff pastry). The first day was basically an intro to the kitchen, where the chef just talked about the month (no baking at all, so a pretty boring day). Speaking of our chef, he is, I say it every day, crazy. He has the most evil laugh, which kind of makes sense, because he likes to play practical jokes. If you bring an outside drink into class, he will put a raw egg into it, or tabasco sauce. He also likes to use a spray bottle as a water gun. He definitely keeps class interesting. There is a video of him on youtube decorating a cake, if you want an idea of what he's like.
This month, we are working in partners. We are still in groups on each station, but we spend most of our time within out partnerships. I am pretty happy with my partner so far - he is really competent in the kitchen, which was the most important criteria in picking my partner, but we also get along really well and have a lot of fun together. This week, we made pumpernickel bread, white bread loaves and rolls, danish dough (and from the danish dough, we made danishes, cinnamon twists, pull-throughs, and pinwheels), carrot cake, yellow cake, cinnamon buns, and fruit flans.
A was out of town this week, so I made some stew tonight to welcome him home. I can't wait until I have more time to do more cooking at home - I miss experimenting and photographing. Just over a month until Christmas holidays!
Next week - cakes.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Double Down Dinner
Since I can think of nothing better to do with myself on my days off, we invited friends over for dinner last night for a double down dinner. A double down is essentially a bacon and cheese sandwich, but instead of bread on the outside, it is two pieces of fried chicken. I also made fresh pasta, garlic bread, and coleslaw. It was a lot of work, but everything was delicious. And I think the double down was actually my favourite part of the meal.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Block 6: Week 4 - Vegetables
Another difficult week. Vegetable station is the hardest station in that it has the most volume and thus the most prep to get done each day. Two people were out on the lunch line, so they weren't available to help with prep, which added to the difficulty. I'm pretty sure every other station in the kitchen had to help our group out this week because we were so slow. Wednesday was the most painful day - we were making very time consuming dishes, and our station was a total disaster (chef asked if anyone got hurt when the hurricane blew through), so I went home that day pretty frustrated. Friday was funny though - I asked someone to help us peel potatoes and carrots and he came back two minutes later with everything already done (he had found pails of already peeled product in another fridge - perfect!).
I liked the dishes I made this week - braised red cabbage, roasted nugget potatoes, saffron rice pilaf, green beans with almonds, and potatoes columbine (pan fried potatoes with sauteed onions and peppers).
The best day for me this week was Remembrance Day, because it was my first day off in 110 days. We went out the night before and played shuffleboard, which was tons of fun. Then I had a pretty easy relaxing morning on Thursday, went to the spa in the afternoon, and cooked cardamom chicken for dinner, which was really delicious. I will post the recipe next time I make it.
I also had the whole weekend off, which was amazing. I have never appreciated a weekend as much as this. A and I finally got to spend some time together. We went out to a club on Friday night, slept in, had croissants at Thomas Haas, and went out for dim sum, which were all great, but the highlight was dinner at Pear Tree. We shared the spot prawn cappuccino to start. I had the slow poached chicken breast napped in blanquette foam with potato gnocchi, and A had pork belly with cassoulet and mushrooms. We shared the lemon tart with cracked sugar for dessert. So amazing. The restaurant actually changed my life a little. The open kitchen was really modern and looked super quiet and organized. My friend from school was on the pastry station and she came out to say hi to us after dinner. Scott Jaeger was also in there cooking, which was really cool. The prices were very reasonable especially given the quality of food. I would love to have a restaurant like that someday.
Next week - Baking (so excited!)
I liked the dishes I made this week - braised red cabbage, roasted nugget potatoes, saffron rice pilaf, green beans with almonds, and potatoes columbine (pan fried potatoes with sauteed onions and peppers).
The best day for me this week was Remembrance Day, because it was my first day off in 110 days. We went out the night before and played shuffleboard, which was tons of fun. Then I had a pretty easy relaxing morning on Thursday, went to the spa in the afternoon, and cooked cardamom chicken for dinner, which was really delicious. I will post the recipe next time I make it.
I also had the whole weekend off, which was amazing. I have never appreciated a weekend as much as this. A and I finally got to spend some time together. We went out to a club on Friday night, slept in, had croissants at Thomas Haas, and went out for dim sum, which were all great, but the highlight was dinner at Pear Tree. We shared the spot prawn cappuccino to start. I had the slow poached chicken breast napped in blanquette foam with potato gnocchi, and A had pork belly with cassoulet and mushrooms. We shared the lemon tart with cracked sugar for dessert. So amazing. The restaurant actually changed my life a little. The open kitchen was really modern and looked super quiet and organized. My friend from school was on the pastry station and she came out to say hi to us after dinner. Scott Jaeger was also in there cooking, which was really cool. The prices were very reasonable especially given the quality of food. I would love to have a restaurant like that someday.
Next week - Baking (so excited!)
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