Week of 6/17/02

I'm back with a better attitude and an optimistic outlook on what I will be learning here in the South. Mid last week I decided I was not getting anything valuable out of what I was doing so I discussed it with the Chef. He agreed and took me off food p

I'm back with a better attitude and an optimistic outlook on what I will be learning here in the South. Mid last week I decided I was not getting anything valuable out of what I was doing so I discussed it with the Chef. He agreed and took me off food prep and brought me inside to work on the television set for the week. Although I am still not doing much in the way of cooking, I am learning about set design, food layouts for television, etc. At the end of our discussion, Chef asked me to write up a list of exactly what I wanted to do for the remainder of my internship. The more time I spend in restaurants the more I want to eventually open one. Now, this may change when I've actually had to work 60+ hours a week for a few years, but that is my current goal. Starting this career as late as I have (32 years old), I feel like I need to spend many hours on the line learning how to produce the best food as quick as possible. That is the area I feel I am the weakest so I need to get to it. With that said, my list for the Chef said "Week of 6/24/02 until the end—Work in the restaurant." The following day he told me that is where I will be until I am finished with my program. This is a great opportunity to gain tremendous experience in the next six weeks. I also added that I wanted to work with the people who do the accounting so I can get an overview of how restaurant books are kept. Any experience crunching the numbers will be beneficial. I am also discovering that along with the tangible experience, which is obvious to recognize, I am getting an education on how to get the most out of the people that work for you. This is something I am catching onto more and more as I work with Chef. Before arriving in Louisiana, the image I had of John Folse and Co. was that of a physically huge and elaborate company, which it is not. It is truly amazing what he has and does accomplish with the size of his staff. And I should add, I am blown away by the amount of work his staff is able to do. They are the hardest working bunch I have ever been around. So for the moment things have turned around for me here in the South. And although I am starting to get used to the heat, the bad roads, and no left turns at intersections, I think at the end of my six weeks this California kid needs to get back to the West Coast. Anyone in Seattle looking for a cook? - Logan

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