Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Wok on the Wild Side

I got my invitation to WOTWS this past weekend. Wanted to see who was going and what not. I am probably going to go if I can get the night off (Friday, April 27). Let me know if you are going.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Good News

Yay! My Bay Cafe episode got nominated for a James Beard Award yesterday! Me so happy! Now if only Joey Altman was taking me to NY to go to the award show.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Selfish?

Warning: Angry rant below

So last week, it was brought to my attention that one of the cooks was hiding ingredients he had prepped from the morning crew. That night, I purposely put the said ingredient away in the walk in to make sure they were not hidden. Five minutes later, the cook goes into the walkin, right in front of me, and he hides the ingredient again.

Last night was slow and a perfect night to be training a new cook. One of the last tickets we got was a five top that had an order for a vegetarian pasta plate, 3 orders of fish, and 1 order of sweetbreads (all my station). The guy who would normally take care of pasta was off, so I asked the other experienced cook what to make, and if he could make this plate of pasta. He comes back at me with, "It's not my job, you're the chef." This totally caught me off guard and pissed me off. I can't believe he would say that to any co-worker, let alone someone who was supposed to "be in charge." So I go ahead and make all the orders, ignoring him the whole time. He has the audacity to taste the pasta and say the "He's the chef" comment again to the expediter. When everything is done, he tries to fucking help plate? Why? So he can say he helped me? I tell him I got it, and finish my plates. I didn't want him to touch a damn thing.

When everything goes up on the pass, the chef de cuisine walks by on his way out and tastes the pasta and says, "that's pretty damn good." VINDICATION!

Later, while I was putting stuff away in the walk-in, he gives me two containers that are about 1/4 filled. Now, this guy has been there f0r five years, and he starts trying to tell me it's not his job to change the container to the correct size. We argue, and he ends up throwing away one of the containers of onions. What the fuck is this guy's problem? He is such a fucking ass, never wants to help anyone else in the kitchen, and always is the first person to say how others don't help him. If it was my kitchen, he would have been gone for hiding shit already. What the fuck do I do with this idiot. I mean, I don't care what the reasons are anymore, I don't need to put up with bullshit there. He wouldn't talk like that to any of the chefs, so why with me?

Sigh

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Weekend extravaganza

First off I must congratulate Liz on her new job...way to go! Everything about the place sounds positive and yummy too :)
I think I miss the whole food world. I miss baking so much! Seriously though I think I want to take a stab at the nutrition aspect of it. Isn't it crazy the two things regarding food that I am interested in are baking and nutrition...and they are basically polar opposites. Remember Richard when I said I wanted to go back to school to study nutrition and you laughed at me? Well I could see it happening. No luck in this baking thing. Okay that is not true. I keep on sending my resume out and have been receiving call backs but nothing is up to my par to get me to move to LA. I am in SB still and am okay and settled but tax season is going to end in about a month and I wont have a job anymore. Unemployed yet again. I give free tax advice ...isnt that funny, I can do people's taxes but I cant seem to get an A in our Accounting for dummy's class?
Okay enough of that boring crap that has been bringing me down these days...Liz what is this I hear of your house warming? I thought you were out of town this weekend? We must clear up this discrepancy because if you are in town, I've gotta see you!
Richard I will pass on the chicken feet but if your mama is cooking up more beef tongue or ox tail I am sooo there!
Sean I dont know if you read these postings but you better not be flying off to Florida this weekend!
Cant wait to see you guys! I know I always bitched and moaned about how much I hate the city but I really do love all of you. I miss you guys quite a bit. Not quite desperate to move back up there but I can safely say that the only reason why I'd be back that way is because of you guys.
See you Saturday!

My First Day Rocked!

If only everyday could feel like today...

waking up at 4am sucks a butt load, but coming home at 3pm makes up for it. Now I have the option of going to the gym if I want...which I will today (we'll see how long this last) . But today was a great day. It was my first day on the job and I could not have imagined it any better. The transition from small family owned grungy bakery to big time corporate world was smooOOoth. I'm in a brand new building, which means that everything is CLEAN and new! They've got like 5 different separate walk-ins. One for the produce, one for cheese and dairy, another just for the catering station and grab-n-go station (that's me for now) and a freezer. It's unbelievable!

They've only been open for a week, the layout of the cafe (cafeteria style) is impeccable and so fun to walk through. The food looks and taste great. After touring several cafes, I realized how good these researchers have it. I was so jealous, but then I found out that we were allowed to eat and sit in the cafe as well...I heard that some employees are enjoying two sometimes three meals a day!!! Can you believe that?!? It's only been open for a week so I'm sure they're gonna crack down on that. But boy was the food delicious! This morning I had oatmeal and made my own fruit salad, then for lunch i HAD Chicken marinated in a soy mixture (delish!) and risotto croquette infused with truffle oil (double delish!), and a salad on the side. Dude, if I get fat, you'll know from where.


Although it was only my first day, and the cafe is still new and business is a little slow right now, I think I can be very happy here. The kitchen is dominated by men, there's only one other female working in the kitchen...but I think they're still looking to hire.

I wish I could write more, but my brain is totally tired, and overworked. Will tell you more later.

Happy Steak and BJ Day

Okay, this is going to publish if it kills me. I have been soooo horrible about posting on here since getting back from Napa because I have been working like a dog. I worked like 15 out of 17 days when I got back and things have been busy.

So, Napa was soooooo fun. I enjoyed every minute we were away and only wish we could travel forever. Can anyone hook me up with a travel mag so I can travel for the rest of my life? So French Laundry, lets see. The food was good. The service was outstanding. The overall experience was fun. But in the end, I just felt the food was not special enough to warrant the price. It was a lot of well executed small dishes that leave your stomach hurting in the end. But there was nothing that really stands out except for a ginger cake with apple sorbet. I don't have the itch to go back and try ... which makes me sad. Do I regret going? HELL NO! It's an experience more than a meal.

Bouchon on the other hand, was all about the food. Our server was definately not as accomodating as they were at FL. But the food was just outstanding. Cindy had the steak, and I swear they injected foie gras in the middle it was sooooooooooooo tasty and good. And it came with a mountain of fries - imagine a 12" round plate, half the plate sat the steak, on the other half were the fries - piled 6 inches high I shit you not. Simply heaven. What more can you ask for?

And speaking of steaks, today is STEAK AND BJ DAY! Yup, it's exactly what you think it means and it's real (google it!). Can't wait to see how many steaks we sell tonight at the restaurant. =)

Now, since coming back from Napa, I have been working like a freaking dog. I have this one issue at work that will hopefully get handled today. Ask me Saturday if you want to hear this rant and I will be more than happy to tell you what happened. Speaking of Saturday, I'm OFF! That means I get to go to LizChan's housewarming and play Wii!! haha

Seriously guys, what do you want to do Sunday? Want to cook dinner at my house? Nat, want to get Chicken Feet at Dim Sum? LOL What's the plan? Can't wait for the weekend! Natalie, dont forget to bring all your belongings back up so we can find you a job and a new place to stay in the city.

For now, I'm out... and this is PUBLISHED! YES!

Thursday, March 8, 2007

My Last and Final Day at the Bakery.

Wow, I haven't been this exciting about leaving a job as I am today. Although it was a short (<2 months) stay, I did learn a lot about making breads, muffins, and scones. I am totally burnt out from the bakery and will not be working in that type of environment anymore. Also, this place just wasn't up to par with my expectations and it was a bit dirty. Right now I am waiting to hear back from a company I applied with two weeks ago. I think I'm gonna leave the restaurant life behind and look for work with a bigger company with better hours and benefits. Am I a sellout? Oh well....that's life. Will be going out Friday night if anyone is interested. Place is still to be decided....most likely in the Mission Dist ( my favorite part of the city!).

Will someone else please update no matter how boring, busy, and lame you might sound. If you're down in the dumps, don't worry you have plenty of company.
Natalie: you are welcome to move back up here anytime!!!!! Reconsider will ya!

toodles~