Right Answer, Audrey.

APRIL 26, 2009. A day that I will remember for a while, only because it was absolutely GORGEOUS outside, and I was inside a kitchen all day. We kind of knew it would be wicked busy for the days leading up to it. The restaurant opened its patio seating (extra 100 seats i think) and we had TONS of reservations. Plus it was Sunday, a beautiful day to be outside. The day went somewhat smoothly. We were prepped, so we never ran out of food (except for a temporary hold on littleneck clams, also called 86'ing the littlenecks, thats a term in the kitchen for when something is out of stock) we put them back on the menu about an hour later when the daily shellfish order arrived. And we only got minorly set back with salads and raw bar orders. It became confusing as to which salads we had made and which ones we hadn't. We actually waited until there were no salads in the window and until servers had to call for them so we would know which ones we had done and not done.
I was so ready to go home at 4 pm when my shift was over, until Adi (the chef, but we call him Adi, not chef, its a very informal kitchen!), calls out, "Hey Audrey, you wanna stay a few extra hours?" The way he asked was pretty much saying, "Audrey you are staying a few extra hours, thats not choice." And because I had tons of adrenaline running through me, I yelled back, "sure! I would love too! (but there was also someone working there that I have a tiny crush on, so I was okay with staying, SHHHHH.) Then one of the food runners looks at me and just laughs probably thinking, "that was stupid, hahahahahaha." And then I look at Adi after I gave him my answer and he looks at the sous chef and says, "she gave the right answer," almost like it was a way to test my value as an intern....either way, I only stayed 3 extra hours, no big deal, but I was tired. I think I'm on his good side though now, or he just knows that I have a hard time saying no to anything and now he will take advantage of it. I'll report back later.

BURN #2

Yup. I burnt myself again. I was making bacon and my wrist hit the oven door, so I have a nice mark on my arm. It was funny cuz after it happened, I looked at the chef and was like, "Chef I just burnt myself." and I show him. Then I'm like, "its about time I burnt myself here! I've been here 2 weeks and it took me that long to get hurt!" And he looks at me and is like, "NO!! Don't think that way!" I guess you had to be there. ANyways, I uploaded a photo of it.

DAY 1 at The Mooring

Today was my first day of work, and it was awesome! It wasn't that busy of a day, it was actually quite slow, but that was what I was hoping for. That way I would be able to learn my way around the kitchen. I worked with Rudy in the pantry/pastry/raw bar station. Rudy is from Guatemala, which is awesome, because now I can practice my Spanish. I understood most of what he said, and I think he understood what I said. Currently, only one person works those three stations, but once the volume increases, it goes to at least 2 people, sometimes 3. We did a lot of stocking of food items today, which gave me the chance to figure out where things are stored.
When we got a ticket for a salad/dessert/raw bar item, I would make it because for me the best way to learn anything is hands on practice. I know what is in all the salads, I just need to work a little faster I think, but hey, for day one, not bad.
We got a ticket for the Grand Sampler, which is a raw bar item with 6 oysters, 6 clams, 6 shrimp, and 3 lobster claws. Rudy helped me with everything, and it was my first time opening a clam. THAT is going to take practice. I'm not that bad at opening oysters though. I'm happy we got a ticket for that because now I know what it is.
As we were nearing 4 pm (when I go home), Tim (the sous chef) and Marina and I were trying to think of an appetizer to go with a wine tasting that takes place every week over on Belleview Ave. We came up with a roasted/pulled duck leg with caramelized onions and a raspberry wine reduction in puff pastry. I think it will be delicious. I stayed a few minutes past 4 o'clock to be able to finish it. As a joke, Tim was giving me a hard time for not being on my station. He was like, "gosh Audrey, for Day 1 you sure are being lazy!!"
I really like the kitchen as of Day 1. There is a lot of humor going around, and that is the type of kitchen I like to work in. The people are great and I feel that I will fit in (unlike some of my past jobs).