InfiniteBento, how did it go
sooooo a lot happened
I woke up at 6am and worked from 8am to 4pm then went to my stage at 5pm. I was pretty tired and part of me wanted to not go because my job earlier was extremely busy (300 sales nonstop my whole shift) but I sucked it up and grabbed my knife bag and went.
I met the Sous and 3 other pastry cooks. Was introduced to a lot of other staff both FOH and BOH. Overall staff wasn't anywhere near as excessive as my previous restaurant job where staff was almost 100 people and we served up to 600 covers on weekends. Staff for both sides of the house for the night was a little over 20 people total. The Sous showed me the kitchen and explained how this kitchen is primarily 80% pastry 20% savory. Every kitchen I had been in prior was the opposite so this was really mind-blowing for me to see. The Savory stations were smaller despite the menu having some really cool options for courses and only consisted of 3 guys( 1 garde manager, 2 savory line cooks). Almost all the space was designated for pastry including the walk in, freezer, and dry storage. It was like a pastry playground almost.
The main line that pastry plated on was actually out under a spotlight where the diners can actually see us working. So my whole night I was mostly out on the line plating desserts while guests dining in could see. I was paired up with the primary PM plater after the Sous parted ways for the night after having worked the AM to assist with production. So the PM plater showed me where everything was and then showed me the line where we would be plating. She showed me the desserts and how they were plated.
This is the menu I plated throughout the evening (not including milkshakes and single scoops or the special hot chocolate menu since this restaurant specializes in huge craft hot chocolates.)
I assisted with plating throughout the evening. It was a sunday so it wasn't busy so I actually got to experience a lot. During downtime, I made a huge 8qt batch of cocoa nib ganache and hazelnut sugar. Talked about how they make rice crackers for dessert using just puree'd cooked rice which I thought was fucking awesome. Plus a bunch of other things. I tasted a lot of sweets and even had 3 mini hot chocolates (one of them was lemon white chocolate and it was the bees knees i swear) at the end of my shift to try them. I probably have diabetes now from the sugar overload @___@
anyway, after the final table rang in, i stayed to help deep clean. I learned the whole process start to finish. I stayed 6 hours total for my stage.
At the end of it, the pastry assistant who is 2nd in command, told me I did a really great job and handed me an envelope for me to open later. I shook hands with everyone, thanked them and left with the biggest dumb grin on my face.
I get on the train home and open the envelope. It said on a sticky note, thanks! and had the contact information of the Sous chef and $50 in it.
I've never been paid for a stage before. I legit had tears in my eyes from how kind of a gesture this was especially considering when i started the stage i signed a stage form saying i knew i wasnt going to be paid.
I feel like I got the job but I don't want to say for sure. She said she would contact me Wednesday with her decision after talking with her assistant and the PM plater.
I loved it tho. It was my first time in a kitchen in 6 months after my best friend passed away and I honestly thought I was going to fuck it up and ruin everything. I didn't tho. I didn't break anything or spill shit or anything else. I felt really proud of myself but boooooyyyyy after that 15 hour day, I knocked the fuck out when I got home.
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