12/25/2000

12/28/00 - Mellow night, worked pantry. Unfortunately nothing exciting to write about for a typical busy Thursday night. 12/30/00 - Tonight the callus on my pointer finger turned into a blister. I was prepping most of the afternoon for the New

12/28/00 - Mellow night, worked pantry. Unfortunately nothing exciting to write about for a typical busy Thursday night. 12/30/00 - Tonight the callus on my pointer finger turned into a blister. I was prepping most of the afternoon for the New Years Eve dinner. Diced butternut squash for 45 minutes, mirepoix for 45 minutes, herbs for ????, whatever was laying around for ????. Let's just say I was dicing and chopping quite a bit. Also witnessed my first wresting match between 2 line cooks that work together, but don't really like each other. One of those things that could turn serious if pushed far enough. Fortunately, enough of us were standing by to keep the humor in it as they tangled each other up. They played nicely the rest of the night. As far as food goes, it was a typical busy Saturday night and I was in the pantry again. Same pantry routine as the last 6 months...salads, appetizers and pizzas. After work I joined the Chef in the bar for just one drink.... 12/31/00 - ...now I did say "just one drink", didn't I? Ahhh, New Years Eve. I was going to gloss over most of the details outside of cooking, but my Chef suggested I write about everything that went on during my New Years Eve. I learned a tough lesson about life in a restaurant; hangovers and cooking do not mix. After finishing a hard night on the line, it isn't uncommon to grab a drink after the restaurant closes. In addition to being a tough night, it was my last regular night at the restaurant. I thought I'd have a drink and talk shop with the Chef, see what kind of feedback he had for me, etc. Unfortunately, my "just one drink" quickly turned into a few too many. After closing 12/30, I sat at the restaurant bar with the Chef, my wife and sister-in-law. The drinks were free, so the Chef and I were quite liberal with how many we drank, how much we poured, etc. Saving you from the details in between, New Years Eve Day I ended up in the emergency room for dehydration. The hardest part of the entire evening wasn't the IV in the top of the hand (but that was a VERY close 2nd), it was the feeling of letting the line down. I know I'm a part time worker, and at this point not a very good cook, but there is a camaraderie that you build with your team. To not show up on time for an event like New Years Eve isn't fair to the others. I knew that I was still expected to be at work so after 3 hours in the ER and 2 liters of IV fluid later, I was standing on the line serving NYE's dinners. If there is one thing I have learned through my work the past 6 months and the reading I have done, it is that cooks show up, regardless. I felt like I had saved some face by getting there, granted I was late, but I was there. As for my actual working, it was a good night. We had two seatings, one at 5pm (which I missed) and one at 8pm. Served two types of salads with the NYE menu. One was a spring mix with balsamic vinaigrette with a warm goat cheese torta. The other was a roasted beet salad with raspberry vinaigrette. Midnight came, I passed on the champagne toast, said my good byes and went home. HAPPY New ye...zzzzzzzzzzzz... Next week I'll be starting pastries at a new place and hope my journal becomes a bit less dramatic. -Logan

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