Last night we had our first catering gig in our reception area upstairs. It was for a wedding reception with around 130 guests. We made linguine with roasted chicken and pesto, pork spring rolls, our house salad, and braised chicken with roasted parsnips. All the food went really quickly and there weren't any complaints that I heard. The wedding party was very grateful. It was pretty hectic and crazy for a while (they wanted the food to be served right around the dinner rush in the main dining area of the restaurant). Crazy busy! But we made it through with relatively few setbacks. I now have a small sense of how catering an event may work. I think next time we cater an event, we'll do better because we'll have more details and methods worked out. I'm kind of excited to do it again!
And a group of my friends came in for dinner last night. It was fun to see them, though I didn't get to chat too much because of how busy we were. But it was still nice to see them. Kind of made my day.
Peace.
-K.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Kinda gross...
This week I learned how to clean out the deep fryer. Wow, gross.
First I drained all the old oil into a huge stockpot, then had to push and scrape all the sunken bits through the drain too. I had to use a bent-up clothes hanger to reach all the way down into the bottom of the fryer.
After emptying the stockpot into a HUGE oil drum outside (with help from my boss because the stockpot was way too heavy for one person), next came the buckets of hot soapy water, metal scrubber, and long Homer-Simpson-ish gloves. Scrubbing all the little bits off the sides of the fryer was gross, especially when one particularly stubborn piece came up and hit me in the face. Jerk of a tidbit!
After washing all the soapy water out and emptying the stockpot again, it was time to fill the fryer back up with fresh oil. The jugs of oil probably weigh around 25 lbs each, and it takes two full jugs to fill the fryer. Hooray!
But on the bright side, Chef J said that's the cleanest he's ever seen the deep fryer since we opened almost four months ago. On the other hand, he's been so impressed with my cleaning that sometimes I fear I'll become more of the cleaner/dish washer and less of the prep cook. Nah, I don't really think that'll happen...or at least I hope not...
And just in case you're wondering, I don't clean windows or bathrooms.
Have a happy holiday season!
-K.
First I drained all the old oil into a huge stockpot, then had to push and scrape all the sunken bits through the drain too. I had to use a bent-up clothes hanger to reach all the way down into the bottom of the fryer.
After emptying the stockpot into a HUGE oil drum outside (with help from my boss because the stockpot was way too heavy for one person), next came the buckets of hot soapy water, metal scrubber, and long Homer-Simpson-ish gloves. Scrubbing all the little bits off the sides of the fryer was gross, especially when one particularly stubborn piece came up and hit me in the face. Jerk of a tidbit!
After washing all the soapy water out and emptying the stockpot again, it was time to fill the fryer back up with fresh oil. The jugs of oil probably weigh around 25 lbs each, and it takes two full jugs to fill the fryer. Hooray!
But on the bright side, Chef J said that's the cleanest he's ever seen the deep fryer since we opened almost four months ago. On the other hand, he's been so impressed with my cleaning that sometimes I fear I'll become more of the cleaner/dish washer and less of the prep cook. Nah, I don't really think that'll happen...or at least I hope not...
And just in case you're wondering, I don't clean windows or bathrooms.
Have a happy holiday season!
-K.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Woah Lamb Shank
That's what I had for dinner tonight. A curry spiced lamb shank, with cannelini (sp?) beans and sauted kale. It was super good. It is one of the new items on our menu that came out yesterday. It's also one of the more expensive items... Still delicious, though.
Some of the other items looked really interesting as well. We have some items I've never worked with before, like swordfish, mahi mahi, scallops, muscles (insert no-muscles-for-me joke here), lamb, kale, swiss chard, tempora batter, marionberry compote, and other things that I can't think of right now.
Today I made the new crostada dessert (little pastries with a marionberry and apple topping) from start to finish. I also made the deep fried ice cream (tempora ice cream). Showing some faith in me, Chef J told me to make the springroll filling and the peanut sauce (for the chicken skewers); he never even came back to check up on me, and then he said "nice." That's a winner in my book. Oh, and I made the bread pudding yet again, and today's was probably the best one I've made. It looked soooooo good. Yum.
Anywho, I just wanted to share a few things, especially about our new menu items. Come on in and check it out!
K.
Some of the other items looked really interesting as well. We have some items I've never worked with before, like swordfish, mahi mahi, scallops, muscles (insert no-muscles-for-me joke here), lamb, kale, swiss chard, tempora batter, marionberry compote, and other things that I can't think of right now.
Today I made the new crostada dessert (little pastries with a marionberry and apple topping) from start to finish. I also made the deep fried ice cream (tempora ice cream). Showing some faith in me, Chef J told me to make the springroll filling and the peanut sauce (for the chicken skewers); he never even came back to check up on me, and then he said "nice." That's a winner in my book. Oh, and I made the bread pudding yet again, and today's was probably the best one I've made. It looked soooooo good. Yum.
Anywho, I just wanted to share a few things, especially about our new menu items. Come on in and check it out!
K.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Just Real Quick
This weekend was super busy. We're in the process of changing our menu to keep it fresh and interesting. Goodbye are the chocolate espresso tarts, the pan roasted chicken, and the pork tenderloin; say hello to the marionberry and roasted apple tartlettes, a new breaded chicken dish (I haven't seen this one yet), and a lamb shank. I got to try the tartlette tonight, and it was so good! We've got a few disagreements on the presentation, but it was so tasty! Oh, and we've changed our house salad dressing from a coconut-anise vinegrette to a new Japanese-style miso dressing. Very tasty. I'm a fan.
Quick recap of the last couple week or so:
On Monday Chef J was in a great mood, which makes working with him a LOT easier. He was in such a good mood that we played a bit of frisbee with a prep plate (smallish metal pans similar to pie plates)! So funny. He's not too good at throwing, but he's passable at catching. It was a good time.
Tuesday, election day, my parents and some close family friends came in for dinner. Chef J of course sent them an extra appetizer, just because he knew it was my mom's favorite. And later, to help celebrate my dad's upcoming birthday, Chef J sent out a little treat he's been thinking about adding to the menu. It was a kind of deep-fried ice cream, wrapped in leftover bread pudding crust and served with a fresh strawberry puree. Absolutely fantastic. I'm not sure if it'll be part of the menu, but I sure hope it is!
Thursday was supposed to be an off day for me, but I got called in to prep for the new menu. I didn't learn much about the new menu, but that's okay. It was also really busy for dinner, so it was good that I was there to help support the other three cooks.
Friday was insanely busy! Lunch, happy hour(s), and dinner were all really crazy. We seemed to be running out of things right and left, and I felt as slow as a sloth, barely able to keep up with the others. In some cases, one of the cooks had to come back, muscle me out of the way, and finish my project because I wasn't getting it done fast enough. Yikes! But later Chef J said that I cleaned up really well after the dinner rush(es). So bring on the grains of salt!
Today (Saturday) was not quite as busy as the previous night, but still constant. And this time, though I felt more tired than Friday, I was able to keep up much better with the demands and requests of the others, from the dishwasher to the head chef. The sous chef, D, even told me that I did great tonight. That certainly felt good. As did one of Chef J's former coworkers, also owner of his own restaurant, who stopped by for dinner. He said that he didn't want to eat anywhere but at TR with Chef J cooking. And knowing that I helped prep Chef J for his success was encouraging.
Today also marked the three month mark of TR being open and my employment at my first job after college. Good times.
Peace and healthy appetites,
K.
Quick recap of the last couple week or so:
On Monday Chef J was in a great mood, which makes working with him a LOT easier. He was in such a good mood that we played a bit of frisbee with a prep plate (smallish metal pans similar to pie plates)! So funny. He's not too good at throwing, but he's passable at catching. It was a good time.
Tuesday, election day, my parents and some close family friends came in for dinner. Chef J of course sent them an extra appetizer, just because he knew it was my mom's favorite. And later, to help celebrate my dad's upcoming birthday, Chef J sent out a little treat he's been thinking about adding to the menu. It was a kind of deep-fried ice cream, wrapped in leftover bread pudding crust and served with a fresh strawberry puree. Absolutely fantastic. I'm not sure if it'll be part of the menu, but I sure hope it is!
Thursday was supposed to be an off day for me, but I got called in to prep for the new menu. I didn't learn much about the new menu, but that's okay. It was also really busy for dinner, so it was good that I was there to help support the other three cooks.
Friday was insanely busy! Lunch, happy hour(s), and dinner were all really crazy. We seemed to be running out of things right and left, and I felt as slow as a sloth, barely able to keep up with the others. In some cases, one of the cooks had to come back, muscle me out of the way, and finish my project because I wasn't getting it done fast enough. Yikes! But later Chef J said that I cleaned up really well after the dinner rush(es). So bring on the grains of salt!
Today (Saturday) was not quite as busy as the previous night, but still constant. And this time, though I felt more tired than Friday, I was able to keep up much better with the demands and requests of the others, from the dishwasher to the head chef. The sous chef, D, even told me that I did great tonight. That certainly felt good. As did one of Chef J's former coworkers, also owner of his own restaurant, who stopped by for dinner. He said that he didn't want to eat anywhere but at TR with Chef J cooking. And knowing that I helped prep Chef J for his success was encouraging.
Today also marked the three month mark of TR being open and my employment at my first job after college. Good times.
Peace and healthy appetites,
K.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Took me long enough, eh?
Below are a few pictures of the restaurant and my workspace. Some of my readers have been requesting these for quite a while, and so finally, here they are.
The first is the prep and storage area of the kitchen. You can see the huge butcher (and really all-purpose) table that I work at most often, the huge freezer, and in the way back is the pantry area. To the right is our walk-in refrigerator; I try to stay out of there because, well, it's cold.
Next is the actual cooking area. My station is the grill, stove, and deep fryer area, along with the cooler looking thing on the near-right side. The wok stations are farther down. Usually there are only three of us in that small space, though on busy nights, there are often all four of us cooks in there.
The final two are the dining rooms: the Chef Room and the main Dining Room. Those are bamboo tables which are very sturdy and very easy to clean. Great combo!
Okay, enough words, on the the pictures:
There you have it, a quick snapshot of my workplace (well, four snapshots I suppose...).
Thanks again for reading. Hope to see you at one of those tables soon!
K.
Happy Birthday! Let's Eat!
Today I celebrated 4 birthdays, all around a full table. In the morning we celebrated birthdays for two of the men in my family. I made the coconut creme caramels that I also make at TR. They were delicious. Mom made amazing cinnamon rolls. Yum! Add to that a crisp fruit salad, bacon, sausage, and a fabulous egg and ham dish, and you've got a great meal, topped off with an orange julius drink and freshly brewed coffee. Delightful. Celebrating family around food, I can think of very few things I would rather be doing. Great.
Then at work in the afternoon, we celebrated two of the cooks' birthdays, Chef M and D. The owners had bought Chef M a cake, and I brought lemoncello for the family/staff to try. So we ate, sang, and toasted to our two birthday boys. Happy happy birthday, to the max.
Since it is fall now, and squash are in great supply, it was decided to decorate TR with a few squashes and fall colors. Chef J and one of the managers, B, schemed together to make artistic representations of the kitchen staff via four small squash and my Sharpie pen. So I, D, Chef J, and Chef M have our likenesses depicted on squash. How funny. Below is a photo of these examples of the fun and family that TR has.
I'm the one of the far right, the angry looking pumpkin. Chef J said that the pumpkin persona is my alter ego, because he's never seen me angry at work. Phew!
Go, Eat, and Celebrate,
K.
Then at work in the afternoon, we celebrated two of the cooks' birthdays, Chef M and D. The owners had bought Chef M a cake, and I brought lemoncello for the family/staff to try. So we ate, sang, and toasted to our two birthday boys. Happy happy birthday, to the max.
Since it is fall now, and squash are in great supply, it was decided to decorate TR with a few squashes and fall colors. Chef J and one of the managers, B, schemed together to make artistic representations of the kitchen staff via four small squash and my Sharpie pen. So I, D, Chef J, and Chef M have our likenesses depicted on squash. How funny. Below is a photo of these examples of the fun and family that TR has.
I'm the one of the far right, the angry looking pumpkin. Chef J said that the pumpkin persona is my alter ego, because he's never seen me angry at work. Phew! That's especially good news since I have my 3-month review coming up next weekend. I'm a bit nervous and anxious about it, but I'm also quite optimistic. I have been blessed to be a part of the TR family and community. When I consider how my degree didn't land me this job, and my vast (?) experience didn't land me this job, and with the economy in such a tough time, and the job market being scarce, I wonder what it is that allowed me to land this job. Luck? Perhaps. Timing? Possibly. Something bigger than myself? I sure feel that way sometimes. Take that as you will.
Speaking of celebrating with family, some family friends came in to the restaurant tonight. I hadn't seen two of them in quite some time; I hadn't even met some of the others they brought along. They had the Calamari (one of their favorites), Spring rolls (one of my favorites), and the Walnut Prawns (now one of our shared favorites, though I have to try to avoid the walnuts due to allergy concerns...). Yet another example of food and family being shared and enjoyed.
Finally, I want to share about an article that was in my former school's weekly newspaper. The article I'm refering to was about a Mexican restaurant very near campus, one which I have come to love and adore over my four years at the university. Family owned and operated, this restaurant invites you in, cooks for you, often sings for you, and cares for you like you were visiting their home. Again, food and family, being shared and celebrated.
Thanks for reading my blob, as someone near and dear to my heart called it. Love you.Go, Eat, and Celebrate,
K.
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