Back in Black
Last week, after working half of my (long) week at the front of the house, I’m back in the kitchen. I’m still pulled out of the kitchen to help servers at the front of the house. I’m also a de facto assistant manager when Brandon and Amy (the assistant manager) aren’t at the restaurant, which lately has been quite often. So when the servers need anything, like change from the cash box, or need something discounted, or need a manager to talk with a guest, or a vendor is making a delivery and needs to be paid, or or or…whatever. So I can get pulled out of the kitchen a lot, and that’s got to drive Tom a little crazy.
Not only does it deprive him of another set of hands to help do the kitchen’s work (there’s always a lot of it), it also appears I’m getting out of work (which I’m not, I’d rather be in the kitchen most of the time), and it looks like I’m getting special treatment. I would call it versatility, and I do enjoy being versatile. Look, if a manager is needed for something, and neither Brandon nor Amy are around, then I’m happy to do it just because it needs to be done.
Now that I’m back in the kitchen most of the time, Chef Tom is very, well grateful isn’t the word exactly, relieved maybe, gratified is probably better. He’s let me know, on more than one occasion, that he’s worried about my ability to teach and execute my menu. Since I already did it at the Buddha, I’m not worried about it like he is. I know we’re going to be busier than we can handle for a little while, that’s the pain of opening and getting up to speed on a new menu and a new style of food. I think he’s worried about his own lack of experience doing this type of food, which is understandable. He’s a great cook, a great leader in the kitchen, and once he is more comfortable with the food and sees that we can do it under pressure, he’ll relax and enjoy the ride more.
