Joined
·
4,508 Posts
yesterday was a funny day,
My hotel was booked, the restaurant was sold out..a couple of private functions scheduled, and right before service we lost all power!!!We had a very windy day in Ct, and a tree came down on a main down the street from the hotel. So, I had 185 reservations in my main restuarant,55 people in private functions..and 135 staff members to feed
So right away I called our security department to run us in a batch of flashlights, and then I had the wait staff fire up about 30votive and tapered candles and placed them all over the kitchen. Now..The guest were aware of what was happening, but my restaurant has tons of windows, so it wasn't really dark in the dining room. the two private functions both we're in rooms that overlooked the gardens and had big french doors to let in the sunlight. So I had my staff line up all our cassete feus behind the line, and I told the servers to give us ten minutes to set up.
After a couple minutes I told them to go and take orders from the guest, by this time the restaurant was packed with hungry folks.
I grabbed everyone I could, and there we stood...cooking everything on the menu ala minute and by candlelight. Thank god my walk ins and hood system run on a back up generator, so I didn't worry about setting off the ansul system, or loosing things due to tempature. You guys would have had a really good laugh if you saw us (12) cooks cooking side by side and by candlelight.
I think the hardest part of the day was trying to read the dupes and not lighting them on fire when we held them to the candles.
Well we feed everyone....even the staff..(sandwiches)
What made this so much fun was the great team work of my staff, and that 10 guests came into the kitchen to give us a standing ovation
:chef:
This made me think of what others may have had to deal with in the 11th hour
cc
My hotel was booked, the restaurant was sold out..a couple of private functions scheduled, and right before service we lost all power!!!We had a very windy day in Ct, and a tree came down on a main down the street from the hotel. So, I had 185 reservations in my main restuarant,55 people in private functions..and 135 staff members to feed
So right away I called our security department to run us in a batch of flashlights, and then I had the wait staff fire up about 30votive and tapered candles and placed them all over the kitchen. Now..The guest were aware of what was happening, but my restaurant has tons of windows, so it wasn't really dark in the dining room. the two private functions both we're in rooms that overlooked the gardens and had big french doors to let in the sunlight. So I had my staff line up all our cassete feus behind the line, and I told the servers to give us ten minutes to set up.
After a couple minutes I told them to go and take orders from the guest, by this time the restaurant was packed with hungry folks.
I grabbed everyone I could, and there we stood...cooking everything on the menu ala minute and by candlelight. Thank god my walk ins and hood system run on a back up generator, so I didn't worry about setting off the ansul system, or loosing things due to tempature. You guys would have had a really good laugh if you saw us (12) cooks cooking side by side and by candlelight.
I think the hardest part of the day was trying to read the dupes and not lighting them on fire when we held them to the candles.
Well we feed everyone....even the staff..(sandwiches)
What made this so much fun was the great team work of my staff, and that 10 guests came into the kitchen to give us a standing ovation
:chef:
This made me think of what others may have had to deal with in the 11th hour
cc
