It doesn't seem like it'll be a good day for me.
I missed my train to the east bay last night so I had to stay with my cousins in the south city. The earliest train will get me to Berkely at 6:57 which will get me to work at 7:07 at the earliest i.e. I'll be late for my 7am call time.
I was 8 minutes late and I was reprimanded for it. Of course it's habit forming so it's good to be reminded to always come on time so I appreciate every reminder. To compensate for it, I stayed till 6pm on a 7am-3pm shift. I was able to finish more projects plus I was able to join the tasters at 5:30 which is really the biggest reward since I get to try the products of our prep work for the day.
Prep work was a bit busy. There was a lot of sauce making and knife work. To start with, I peeled and chopped onions for mirepoixe. We had to make 2 5-gallon buckets to last us thru the day.
I roasted beets for sald. I roasted tomatoes for sauce then trimmed white bread for bread crumbs. I think I just made up my 8minutes tardiness. By 8am, I was ready to join the rest of the prep crew for daily morning brief.
The menu changes everyday at Chez Panisse which makes it really exciting. I don't really know what to prep until we sit together shucking black-eyed Peas of Fava beans while discussing the menu.
We usually just prep for dinner but we also extend help to the lunch line cooks whenever necessary.
Today's Menu includes:
Soup: Celery and Tomato Bisque (Lunch), Corn and Summer Squash (dinner)
Salad1: Garden Lettuce Salad
Salad2: Baked Sonoma Goat Chees with Viki's
Salad3: Escarole Salad with Green Godess Dressing and Beets
Salad4: Rocket and Chervil Salad with Radish, Cucumbers and bottarge di muggine
Salad5: Heirloom and Cherry Tomato Salad wiht Grilled Bread and Fresh Ricotta
Salad6: Figs, Creme FRaiche and Prosciutto with Mint
Pizza: Heirloom tomato and Pancetta
Pizzetta1: Fontina Cheese, Summer Truffles and Eggs
Wood Oven Roasting: (Lunch) Sardines Toasts roasted in the wood oven with Fennel Salad and Fennel Oil, (Dinner) California white Sea Bass roasted with the wood ovenw ith peperonata, potatoes and savory
Pasta: (Lunch)Spaghettin alla Norma: pasta wiht Roasted Eggplants, Tomato, Basil and Ricotta Salata, (Dinner) Pasta con le sarde: Spaghetti with Sardines, Heriloom tomatoes, Hot Peppers, Pinenuts and Currants
Saute: (Lunch)Pan Fried Northern Halibut with Pickled Okra and Tartar Sauce, (dinner) Pan fried Chicken breast with gypsy pepper salad and tartar sauce
Grill: (Lunch)James Ranch Lamb Leg with Green Beans, Warm Potato Salad and Olive Salsa Verde, (Dinner)Marin Sun Farm Grass-fed beef with fried green tomatoes, anchovy and green beans
Others: (Lunch)Braised Chicken and Andoulle Sausage wiht Peperonata, potatoes and pounded celery with wild rocket, (Dinner) Saffron Rice with Black-eyed Peas, Grilled Zucchini, eggplant, tomato and yogurt with scallions and blossons
I was flattered to be asked to fillet the sardines. Chef Leah said I have that expertes so the sardines project was automatically assigned to me. I was excited and confident and I can't wait to see the sardines on the toasts and on the pasta. When we had the tasters, they came out to be the best I've ever had! Yum!
My tasks for the day included:
-Picking Parsely for Pounded Parsely Sauce
-Scale and Fillet Sardines (prepped them for roasting with fennel tops, lemon slices, salt, hot pepper flakes and olive oil)
-Of course take out everything all that I had in the oven, process and store them accordingly
-Help prepare family meal
At noon we had a wonderful family meal. Everything was fresh and flavorful (baked halibut with fennel, roasted salmon with basil and lemon verbena, vegetarian gumbo with basmati rice, salad with yougurt vin, cold potato salad with lemon preserves, toasts with fish and mashed potatoes, gratinated veal with couscous, crayfish with bell pepper coulis, then for dessert we had honey, pistachio ice cream and pave cake )
After lunch, I grated and chopped horse radish for sauce then assisted butchering. We trimmed duck breast and fabricated 16 lamb shoulders for braising.
At day's end, all the prep crew went up to the line for the tasters. I liked everything, especially the sardines. They were nice, big and delicious. I didn't like the bass that was roasted in the oven though, I think it needed a little help.
I left Berkely around 6pm and got home to Oakland around 7pm. I did my chores such as my laundry immediately.
At 9pm I started getting ready to join my cuzins for a movie in the city.
We watched The Illusionist with Edward Norton Jessica Biel. It was a nice romantic film to relax with at the end of a busy day. I feel like I just forgot how tired I was.
To cap the night, we had a huge midnight snack at Tommy's Joint. A local german joint in San Francisco that serves huge plates of steaks, ribs and pasta. Classic! Our beef ribs and mashed potatoes went well with our porters.
That was a great day! I think I'm ready for tomorrow work!
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Monday, August 28, 2006
08/26/2006 Saturday at Aqua
I was just assigned to do they fry again today. I think I got this down already so I get to do it really fast. I'm proud of the progress I've made but of course, it can always be better. But the good news is, as long as I listen, pay attention and keep my mind open, I can only get better.
I don't mind doing fry. But I think I can do more than that. I'm working with Oscar to run the salad and the shall station. Oscar is an awesome person to work with. Not only is he very easy to teach and very pleasant, he has a good sense of ownership of work. He takes pride in his plates and he has some good foresight too. He always knows what to do next. He also reminds me of what we need to do when I forget. The thing with Oscar though, he doesn't come until 3pm. Which is not so bad actually.
After I got my stuff done, I started working on Oscar's task. Mike told me not to but I have nothing to do anymore. The projects he gave me are low priority too so I didn't do them. I did what I thought was more important, which is get the station ready for service. I remember the last time Mike said, let Oscar set up shell, Oscar decided not to shop up and I got in trouble for it. I should have known better.
Anyways, Saturday went by really fast. It was busy but we were well set up so things went well on our side of the kitchen.
I'm running the station tomorrow. I have a lot to do but I don't plan to come in early. I plan to come in on time and challenge myself to hussle.
I'll be running the show. I'm excited.
------------------------------------------
I made my own list again of the shelf inventory. I may be a little too geeky but I have to look at that everyday anyway just so I know what I'm walking into the next day so I thought a standard form will help me with my CYA. I hate having to say, 'let me check or I don't know or I'll find out later. The list helps me be on top of my responsibilities.
Chef Peter asked for a copy. I was flattered when I saw the forms printed out for everybody's use. It made me feel that I made a valuable contribution.
------------------------------------------
Lessons Learned:
1 - Organization is half the battle.
2 - When there's a lot to be done, you don't necessarily have to start early. You just have to work quick and efficiently
I don't mind doing fry. But I think I can do more than that. I'm working with Oscar to run the salad and the shall station. Oscar is an awesome person to work with. Not only is he very easy to teach and very pleasant, he has a good sense of ownership of work. He takes pride in his plates and he has some good foresight too. He always knows what to do next. He also reminds me of what we need to do when I forget. The thing with Oscar though, he doesn't come until 3pm. Which is not so bad actually.
After I got my stuff done, I started working on Oscar's task. Mike told me not to but I have nothing to do anymore. The projects he gave me are low priority too so I didn't do them. I did what I thought was more important, which is get the station ready for service. I remember the last time Mike said, let Oscar set up shell, Oscar decided not to shop up and I got in trouble for it. I should have known better.
Anyways, Saturday went by really fast. It was busy but we were well set up so things went well on our side of the kitchen.
I'm running the station tomorrow. I have a lot to do but I don't plan to come in early. I plan to come in on time and challenge myself to hussle.
I'll be running the show. I'm excited.
------------------------------------------
I made my own list again of the shelf inventory. I may be a little too geeky but I have to look at that everyday anyway just so I know what I'm walking into the next day so I thought a standard form will help me with my CYA. I hate having to say, 'let me check or I don't know or I'll find out later. The list helps me be on top of my responsibilities.
Chef Peter asked for a copy. I was flattered when I saw the forms printed out for everybody's use. It made me feel that I made a valuable contribution.
------------------------------------------
Lessons Learned:
1 - Organization is half the battle.
2 - When there's a lot to be done, you don't necessarily have to start early. You just have to work quick and efficiently
08/27/2006 Sunday at Aqua
Sundays aren't quite busy but tonight I think we served about 180 people.
Just as I said yesterday, I'm coming in on time and I did. And yes, there was a lot to do but I trust the people that I work with. Nick can pretty much work on his own so I don't have to worry about him. Zak has picked up speed on his knife work and has proactively took note of how to set up the station so I just had to do the major cooking stuff.
Normally if I'm running the station, I have to do the knife work. But Zak wants to practice so I let him do all the beautiful knife work that we do at the station. But I think he's ready to learn the rest of it so I'll start training him on that pretty soon.
We were pretty efficient. We were pretty set 25 minutes before our 4:30 deadline. Not only were we set up for service today, we also got some prep work and projects done for tomorrow.
I was the last person to leave the kitchen though since I had to do my shelf inventory. We cleaned up and organized our shelf too. Chef Peter liked it. He said the shelf looks a lot better since I took over. That was really sweet of him... although, I haven't really taken over. Mike still runs the station 5 days a week. I'm just stepping up a little bit. And I'm glad it's being acknowledged.
Tomorrow will be a long day for me. I'll work at Chez Panisse in the morning and at Aqua in the evening. It's quite tight but I wanna be able to manage.
I already did the prep list for my team today. I delegated the tasks and prioritized them too so I'm not at all worried.
Whew! I love the challenges of work. I must really have the heart for it.
------------------------------------
Lessons Learned:
Fixing the Yellow Tomato Gazpacho
This is one thing I was challenged to do today. The gazpacho tasted old so it has to be fixed so we can use it for service.
Yellow Tomato Gazpacho
2# of Yellow Tomatoes
1pt of Tomato Water
1T Champage Vinegar
1pt of Olive Oil (blend)
2 Shallots
A pinch of chopped garlic
A pinch of Salt
- macerate tomatoes, garlic and shallots in tomato water and champagne vinegar. Process in a blender, emulsify with oil, and strain thru fine chinois.
What I do though is to strain out tomatoes and process them. I add liquid as needed since the sweetness and the tartness of the tomatoes may vary. I taste it too before I add the oil. Sometimes it may need help. I add a pinch of sugar too, not to sweeten it but to bring out the fruity-ness of the tomatoes. I add oil in increments to make sure it doesn't taste greasy. Too much oil and too much vinegar makes it taste old.
So to fix the old tasting gazpacho, I threw in a couple of fresh tomatoes. It didn't fix it. I added a splash of lemon juice to bring out the tartness. That did the trick!
Just as I said yesterday, I'm coming in on time and I did. And yes, there was a lot to do but I trust the people that I work with. Nick can pretty much work on his own so I don't have to worry about him. Zak has picked up speed on his knife work and has proactively took note of how to set up the station so I just had to do the major cooking stuff.
Normally if I'm running the station, I have to do the knife work. But Zak wants to practice so I let him do all the beautiful knife work that we do at the station. But I think he's ready to learn the rest of it so I'll start training him on that pretty soon.
We were pretty efficient. We were pretty set 25 minutes before our 4:30 deadline. Not only were we set up for service today, we also got some prep work and projects done for tomorrow.
I was the last person to leave the kitchen though since I had to do my shelf inventory. We cleaned up and organized our shelf too. Chef Peter liked it. He said the shelf looks a lot better since I took over. That was really sweet of him... although, I haven't really taken over. Mike still runs the station 5 days a week. I'm just stepping up a little bit. And I'm glad it's being acknowledged.
Tomorrow will be a long day for me. I'll work at Chez Panisse in the morning and at Aqua in the evening. It's quite tight but I wanna be able to manage.
I already did the prep list for my team today. I delegated the tasks and prioritized them too so I'm not at all worried.
Whew! I love the challenges of work. I must really have the heart for it.
------------------------------------
Lessons Learned:
Fixing the Yellow Tomato Gazpacho
This is one thing I was challenged to do today. The gazpacho tasted old so it has to be fixed so we can use it for service.
Yellow Tomato Gazpacho
2# of Yellow Tomatoes
1pt of Tomato Water
1T Champage Vinegar
1pt of Olive Oil (blend)
2 Shallots
A pinch of chopped garlic
A pinch of Salt
- macerate tomatoes, garlic and shallots in tomato water and champagne vinegar. Process in a blender, emulsify with oil, and strain thru fine chinois.
What I do though is to strain out tomatoes and process them. I add liquid as needed since the sweetness and the tartness of the tomatoes may vary. I taste it too before I add the oil. Sometimes it may need help. I add a pinch of sugar too, not to sweeten it but to bring out the fruity-ness of the tomatoes. I add oil in increments to make sure it doesn't taste greasy. Too much oil and too much vinegar makes it taste old.
So to fix the old tasting gazpacho, I threw in a couple of fresh tomatoes. It didn't fix it. I added a splash of lemon juice to bring out the tartness. That did the trick!
Saturday, August 26, 2006
08/25/2006 Friday at Aqua
I had the same task today except that not only did I have to do Fry. I had to run Shell too.
It wasn't too bad because I had Oscar to help me who's very reliable and so easy to teach. Tomorrow, I'm actually planning on teaching him how to do they fry stuff so we can switch roles every so often.
I made the tomato oil tonight. I never made it before but it turned out alright. My GM-teammate Mike was offended that I had to check with 3 other people how to make it. I didn't mean any offense though but I just wanted to make the standard one. I asked Chef Peter and he started talking about cooking tomato paste which wasn't in the other 2 recipes that I got from 2 other people.
Finally, I got a standard recipe:
TOMATO OIL
1 pt of chopped sun dried tomatoes (strain out the original oil from the bottle)
1 qt of canola oil
salt TT
Blend all ingredients then drain thru cheese cloth over fine chinois.
Yield was about 1 1/2 quarts.
I used to think Fridays at Aqua are crazy but it hasn't been too bad the past couple of Fridays. Some Sundays were actually busier. It was good that we weren't too busy though because we got some projects done which means the weekend prep won't be too bad.
I must admit I wasn't at my best mood today. I was a little exasperated and a little exhausted, a little recipe to a grumpy old namee.
As I process my day though, I'm beginning to realize that the world will not end if I take a few things with a some careless disregard. That way, I can spare some energy to give away a smile or two.
It wasn't too bad because I had Oscar to help me who's very reliable and so easy to teach. Tomorrow, I'm actually planning on teaching him how to do they fry stuff so we can switch roles every so often.
I made the tomato oil tonight. I never made it before but it turned out alright. My GM-teammate Mike was offended that I had to check with 3 other people how to make it. I didn't mean any offense though but I just wanted to make the standard one. I asked Chef Peter and he started talking about cooking tomato paste which wasn't in the other 2 recipes that I got from 2 other people.
Finally, I got a standard recipe:
TOMATO OIL
1 pt of chopped sun dried tomatoes (strain out the original oil from the bottle)
1 qt of canola oil
salt TT
Blend all ingredients then drain thru cheese cloth over fine chinois.
Yield was about 1 1/2 quarts.
I used to think Fridays at Aqua are crazy but it hasn't been too bad the past couple of Fridays. Some Sundays were actually busier. It was good that we weren't too busy though because we got some projects done which means the weekend prep won't be too bad.
I must admit I wasn't at my best mood today. I was a little exasperated and a little exhausted, a little recipe to a grumpy old namee.
As I process my day though, I'm beginning to realize that the world will not end if I take a few things with a some careless disregard. That way, I can spare some energy to give away a smile or two.
08/24/2006 Finally A Day Off!
I wasn't really intending on planning to do something today other than getting lost in the city and finding my way around. For me, it has been the best way to get to know the city.
I met up with my friend Anna for lunch but we haven't seen each other in a long time so lunch was longer than usual. It was great catchinig up with her over Duck Fried Rice, Thai Skirt Steak and some fish cake with Kefir Lime. Kefir seems very distinctly Thai. It's sweet and tangy at the same time.
Later I met up with Jun Aquino at a cafe on top of Nordstrom in Union Square, Jun is my cousin's cousin and is so much like my cousin already. I was already full so I just had a goat cheese tart with leeks and bacon (which was too smokey so the tart tasted more bacony than goat-cheesey). I liked my dessert of Chocolate Mousse and Chocolate Cake though with Caramel Sauce and Toffee crumbles. Yum!
We just walked around town. We stepped into Chinatown but we stepped out of it after 2 minutes. We figured it's just like any other chinatown we've been to in other big cities. We went home and decided to make dinner instead.
I cooked some rib-eye with a side of roasted asparagus on the side. I also made some protabello mushroom steak that I topped with brie slices and drizzled with balsamic reduction.
It took us about 10 minutes to make our dinner. He had some good wine at home to complete the dinner.
We were both craving for a nice piece of steak for the longest time.
Hits the spot!
I met up with my friend Anna for lunch but we haven't seen each other in a long time so lunch was longer than usual. It was great catchinig up with her over Duck Fried Rice, Thai Skirt Steak and some fish cake with Kefir Lime. Kefir seems very distinctly Thai. It's sweet and tangy at the same time.
Later I met up with Jun Aquino at a cafe on top of Nordstrom in Union Square, Jun is my cousin's cousin and is so much like my cousin already. I was already full so I just had a goat cheese tart with leeks and bacon (which was too smokey so the tart tasted more bacony than goat-cheesey). I liked my dessert of Chocolate Mousse and Chocolate Cake though with Caramel Sauce and Toffee crumbles. Yum!
We just walked around town. We stepped into Chinatown but we stepped out of it after 2 minutes. We figured it's just like any other chinatown we've been to in other big cities. We went home and decided to make dinner instead.
I cooked some rib-eye with a side of roasted asparagus on the side. I also made some protabello mushroom steak that I topped with brie slices and drizzled with balsamic reduction.
It took us about 10 minutes to make our dinner. He had some good wine at home to complete the dinner.
We were both craving for a nice piece of steak for the longest time.
Hits the spot!
Thursday, August 24, 2006
08/23/2006 Wednesday at Aqua
There's always something to learn at work which really makes me look forward to every single day in the kitchen.
I get to lead Garde Mange at Aqua these days which is something not a lot of interns get to do. I'm lucky to have the opportunity to run my own station. Today though, my co-worker Mike is running it. He assigned me to run the Salad and Shell stations which means I have to do the Salad and Shell prep and do the fry work too which didn't use to be my favorite thing to do until lately.
There's not a lot to prep for Salads these days unlike when I first started when we had to prep for at least 2 or 3 salad specials. Now we only run 1 salad dish and one special tomato salad since tomatoes are currently in season.
Fry work keeps me by the deep fryer and the oven. I have to fry Basil Leaves, Leek Chiffonade (which we have to blanch first), carrot tops, eggplant chips and canolis. In the oven we need to crisp up lavosh which really only takes 3 minutes, cutting them into thin strips is the time consuming parts. They're served with Aqua's very popular Tartars
Canolis are really tricky but I finally got it down. It's made with asian spring roll wrapper (the one filipinos use for lumpia). We cut them into small squares (about 1 3/4 inch squares) roll them onto plastic wrapped wooden spoon and dip them in the fryer. During service they are filled with sturgeon mousse and served with a tasting of caviar. Yum!
A lot of interns or newbies struggle with it. But I learned a few TRICKS:
1 - Keep the wrappers moist by covering them with a damp paper towel, this keeps the corners from curling or cracking. They come out nice and sharp
2 - Fryer has to be at about 325 instead of 350 or 375. This keeps them from browning too much
3 - I only fry them till they are set then I pull them out of the mold (which really is just a spoon handle). They carry over and continue to brown even when they're out of the fryer.
These tricks allowed me to make the perfect canolis. I used to hate this task but I love it now =) I don't mind doing fry at all. Besides, working by the fryer allows me to watch everyone else doing their stuff on the line.
Service went my smoothly. We got a couple of projects for the next day done too. I came up with my own inventory of the stuff we don't make everyday. It's a little dorky to have my own organized list but it helps me remember what to count. I need to do an inventory everyday but sometimes I miss a few items so the list helps me remember what to keep track of. This way, I don't find out at the last minute that I'm running service without my staples.
I'm off tomorrow. I'm not scheduled for either Aqua or Chez Panisse. Maybe I'll make my own lonely planet tour of San Francisco. I haven't had a chance to do anything since I've been working 7 days a week.
Finally, a day off! I'm excited!
----------------
LAHVOSH, LAVOSH
Lahvosh is an Middle Eastern yeast-raised, thin, crisp bread, also known as Armenian cracker bread. Lahvosh range in size from 6 to 14 inches in diameter, and are used as other crackers, and also to make Aram Sandwiches.
I get to lead Garde Mange at Aqua these days which is something not a lot of interns get to do. I'm lucky to have the opportunity to run my own station. Today though, my co-worker Mike is running it. He assigned me to run the Salad and Shell stations which means I have to do the Salad and Shell prep and do the fry work too which didn't use to be my favorite thing to do until lately.
There's not a lot to prep for Salads these days unlike when I first started when we had to prep for at least 2 or 3 salad specials. Now we only run 1 salad dish and one special tomato salad since tomatoes are currently in season.
Fry work keeps me by the deep fryer and the oven. I have to fry Basil Leaves, Leek Chiffonade (which we have to blanch first), carrot tops, eggplant chips and canolis. In the oven we need to crisp up lavosh which really only takes 3 minutes, cutting them into thin strips is the time consuming parts. They're served with Aqua's very popular Tartars
Canolis are really tricky but I finally got it down. It's made with asian spring roll wrapper (the one filipinos use for lumpia). We cut them into small squares (about 1 3/4 inch squares) roll them onto plastic wrapped wooden spoon and dip them in the fryer. During service they are filled with sturgeon mousse and served with a tasting of caviar. Yum!
A lot of interns or newbies struggle with it. But I learned a few TRICKS:
1 - Keep the wrappers moist by covering them with a damp paper towel, this keeps the corners from curling or cracking. They come out nice and sharp
2 - Fryer has to be at about 325 instead of 350 or 375. This keeps them from browning too much
3 - I only fry them till they are set then I pull them out of the mold (which really is just a spoon handle). They carry over and continue to brown even when they're out of the fryer.
These tricks allowed me to make the perfect canolis. I used to hate this task but I love it now =) I don't mind doing fry at all. Besides, working by the fryer allows me to watch everyone else doing their stuff on the line.
Service went my smoothly. We got a couple of projects for the next day done too. I came up with my own inventory of the stuff we don't make everyday. It's a little dorky to have my own organized list but it helps me remember what to count. I need to do an inventory everyday but sometimes I miss a few items so the list helps me remember what to keep track of. This way, I don't find out at the last minute that I'm running service without my staples.
I'm off tomorrow. I'm not scheduled for either Aqua or Chez Panisse. Maybe I'll make my own lonely planet tour of San Francisco. I haven't had a chance to do anything since I've been working 7 days a week.
Finally, a day off! I'm excited!
----------------
LAHVOSH, LAVOSH
Lahvosh is an Middle Eastern yeast-raised, thin, crisp bread, also known as Armenian cracker bread. Lahvosh range in size from 6 to 14 inches in diameter, and are used as other crackers, and also to make Aram Sandwiches.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Chef Mia Ponce of Chez Panisse
I just wanted to share this article that came out today in the San Francisco Chronicle.
COOK'S NIGHT OUT: MIA PONCE
I must agree with her on the fruit plate. I'm very glad and honored to have the opportunity to work with her as an intern. One of the many many things she taught me is how to check fruits for perfect ripeness from color to taste to firmness to smell. If I were to eat at Chez, I will order a fruit plate (or maybe the entire dessert menu!). I've never seen such perfect fruits! The best part is, I get to taste them too!
COOK'S NIGHT OUT: MIA PONCE
I must agree with her on the fruit plate. I'm very glad and honored to have the opportunity to work with her as an intern. One of the many many things she taught me is how to check fruits for perfect ripeness from color to taste to firmness to smell. If I were to eat at Chez, I will order a fruit plate (or maybe the entire dessert menu!). I've never seen such perfect fruits! The best part is, I get to taste them too!
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
08/22/2006 Tuesday at Chez
I only slept for 3 hours. I got home from Aqua at 1230 am. Usually I'm up for 2 hours more processing my day, what I did, how I did it and how I should keep doing it. It's a good habit to keep because it makes me remember what NOT to do as well
I was up at 630 to get ready for my day at Chez Panisse. I already know my routine down to the last minute. Get up at 630 (or 645 at the latest), leave the apt at 710 at the latest to make the 718 or the 724 train. Any train later than those trips won't get me to work in time. I get to Berkely at 734 then I walk for 10 minutes. I get to Chez's kitchen at 10 before 8 to get settled, grab a cup of coffee or tea and at 8am I get started.
Chef Mia Ponce taught me a lot about time management. I used to offer to come to work earlier because I was doing everything for the first time and I had no concept of how long each task should take. She suggested that it's better if I make it a habit to come in on time and work within schedule which I think makes the most sense. I work on my tasks from 8am to 1115 and certainly, everything can be done. It's good training too because it teaches to hussle. If I keep coming earlier than scheduled, the moment I come in on time then I'll be lagging behind because I'm so used to always having some extra time
Today though, I worked with Jehnee, a co-chef on training and Stacey, the sous chef who's chefing for the day.
I learn so much from everybody and it's good to learn how to work with different people comfortably. To each his own, they have their own style and own method of doing things and at the end of the day, I get to pick which style works for me the best.
On my list of To-do's today are:
1 - Bake off Catalan Creme Caramel (mix dark and light pouring caramel to make the base of the ramekin, pour the custard base without disturbing the caramel, torch the top to get rid of bubbles, pour water for the waterbath and make all 2 hotel pans of custards). I'm proud to say that I haven't had a major booboo in baking custards. The worst was when I forgot to torch them but they were getting cream on top so that's ok. I haven't over baked them or rushed them in the oven without water.
2 - Blanch and Peel Edilberta Peaches (from Matsumoto farms) for the Peach Crisp (I didn't know how to peel peaches before, today I figured out that in order to find out that they're ready for peeling, I should touch the skin and feel it come off from the flesh. They need to be shocked to keep the peaches from cooking). I never saw such beautiful fresh peaches before. They were nice and bright and juicy with hardly any bruising or molding
3 - Bake off Cookies to complement the desserts (I baked ginger snaps, pain d'almonds and orange almond tuile). I like how Jenny tells me to only make enough cookies for lunch service. With other cooks, I get asked to make as many as I can so the afternoon cook is already set for service but that's when I end up falling behind for my other projects
4 - Pick and clean Fig Leaves to line plates and copper bowls for fresh fruit service. It took me an hour when I did this the first time because i really didn't know what I was doing. After I figured it out, it only takes me 5-10 minutes. Yei!
5 - Puree berries for compote sauce and pick the berries for compote - I only got as far as pureeing. I didn't get to do everything because I had to learn how to bake off and mold the tuiles too.
By 1100 I started plating my cookies and the rest of the condiments and I started bringing the desserts upstairs. I like it that Jehnee pushes me to speed up and watches how much time I need to catch up on. I was done with everything I had to do in the morning by noon and was ready to get started on afternoon projects.
For projects I made:
1 - Cafe Chocolate Sauce (8c water, 4c sugar, 2c corn syrup, 6c coco powder, 1# bittersweet) - this is only half a batch because we didn't have enough corn syrup to make the whole batch.
2 - Fruit Stuffing (12 oz butter, 3/4c sugar, 8 yolks, 3c chopped nuts, 3c crushed amaretti cookies, 1/4c flour, Kiersh to taste), we put this in roasted peaches and they look like the pit. It's so good though. I added a pinch of salt after I added the Kiersh, salt brought out all the flavors of butter, nuts and amaretti cookies. I love it!
3 - 36 batch plain Ice Cream Base (1 1/2qt half and half, 4c sugar, 36 yolks, 3qt cream) I just love the ice cream at Chez. With fresh fruit puree or infusion, it's just sooo heavenly.
4 - Roll 110 Black Currant Chocolate Truffles - I have yet to get the recipe for this. I used to make the caramel struffles but this is a new one which is really delicious too. They can get so soft so they're not that easy to roll but they're really good. A splash of kiershe brings out the flavor or currant.
At the day's end, I just have to clean up, organize my station for the next person who will take the spot and photocopy new recipes. I get to go up to the bar to get a drink too. That's one of the things I like about Chez. Aside from really good and healthy family meals, I get to ask for a drink, almost anything I like from beer to apertif. Sometimes I just settle for a nice Italian soda.
Tomorrow is another exciting day for me at Aqua.
The best thing about working in more than one restaurant is learning how to jump from one kitchen to another not to mention jumping from savory to pastry and still get comfortable to get the job done.
I was up at 630 to get ready for my day at Chez Panisse. I already know my routine down to the last minute. Get up at 630 (or 645 at the latest), leave the apt at 710 at the latest to make the 718 or the 724 train. Any train later than those trips won't get me to work in time. I get to Berkely at 734 then I walk for 10 minutes. I get to Chez's kitchen at 10 before 8 to get settled, grab a cup of coffee or tea and at 8am I get started.
Chef Mia Ponce taught me a lot about time management. I used to offer to come to work earlier because I was doing everything for the first time and I had no concept of how long each task should take. She suggested that it's better if I make it a habit to come in on time and work within schedule which I think makes the most sense. I work on my tasks from 8am to 1115 and certainly, everything can be done. It's good training too because it teaches to hussle. If I keep coming earlier than scheduled, the moment I come in on time then I'll be lagging behind because I'm so used to always having some extra time
Today though, I worked with Jehnee, a co-chef on training and Stacey, the sous chef who's chefing for the day.
I learn so much from everybody and it's good to learn how to work with different people comfortably. To each his own, they have their own style and own method of doing things and at the end of the day, I get to pick which style works for me the best.
On my list of To-do's today are:
1 - Bake off Catalan Creme Caramel (mix dark and light pouring caramel to make the base of the ramekin, pour the custard base without disturbing the caramel, torch the top to get rid of bubbles, pour water for the waterbath and make all 2 hotel pans of custards). I'm proud to say that I haven't had a major booboo in baking custards. The worst was when I forgot to torch them but they were getting cream on top so that's ok. I haven't over baked them or rushed them in the oven without water.
2 - Blanch and Peel Edilberta Peaches (from Matsumoto farms) for the Peach Crisp (I didn't know how to peel peaches before, today I figured out that in order to find out that they're ready for peeling, I should touch the skin and feel it come off from the flesh. They need to be shocked to keep the peaches from cooking). I never saw such beautiful fresh peaches before. They were nice and bright and juicy with hardly any bruising or molding
3 - Bake off Cookies to complement the desserts (I baked ginger snaps, pain d'almonds and orange almond tuile). I like how Jenny tells me to only make enough cookies for lunch service. With other cooks, I get asked to make as many as I can so the afternoon cook is already set for service but that's when I end up falling behind for my other projects
4 - Pick and clean Fig Leaves to line plates and copper bowls for fresh fruit service. It took me an hour when I did this the first time because i really didn't know what I was doing. After I figured it out, it only takes me 5-10 minutes. Yei!
5 - Puree berries for compote sauce and pick the berries for compote - I only got as far as pureeing. I didn't get to do everything because I had to learn how to bake off and mold the tuiles too.
By 1100 I started plating my cookies and the rest of the condiments and I started bringing the desserts upstairs. I like it that Jehnee pushes me to speed up and watches how much time I need to catch up on. I was done with everything I had to do in the morning by noon and was ready to get started on afternoon projects.
For projects I made:
1 - Cafe Chocolate Sauce (8c water, 4c sugar, 2c corn syrup, 6c coco powder, 1# bittersweet) - this is only half a batch because we didn't have enough corn syrup to make the whole batch.
2 - Fruit Stuffing (12 oz butter, 3/4c sugar, 8 yolks, 3c chopped nuts, 3c crushed amaretti cookies, 1/4c flour, Kiersh to taste), we put this in roasted peaches and they look like the pit. It's so good though. I added a pinch of salt after I added the Kiersh, salt brought out all the flavors of butter, nuts and amaretti cookies. I love it!
3 - 36 batch plain Ice Cream Base (1 1/2qt half and half, 4c sugar, 36 yolks, 3qt cream) I just love the ice cream at Chez. With fresh fruit puree or infusion, it's just sooo heavenly.
4 - Roll 110 Black Currant Chocolate Truffles - I have yet to get the recipe for this. I used to make the caramel struffles but this is a new one which is really delicious too. They can get so soft so they're not that easy to roll but they're really good. A splash of kiershe brings out the flavor or currant.
At the day's end, I just have to clean up, organize my station for the next person who will take the spot and photocopy new recipes. I get to go up to the bar to get a drink too. That's one of the things I like about Chez. Aside from really good and healthy family meals, I get to ask for a drink, almost anything I like from beer to apertif. Sometimes I just settle for a nice Italian soda.
Tomorrow is another exciting day for me at Aqua.
The best thing about working in more than one restaurant is learning how to jump from one kitchen to another not to mention jumping from savory to pastry and still get comfortable to get the job done.
08/21/2006 Monday at Aqua
I woke up at 10am, got my stuff ready, went for a run then changed for work.
I was at work early but there's not a lot of prep work to do since we got ourselves caught up with our shared mise en place over the weekend.
I got to work at 1:30. I working with Zak, a newbie the last couple of weeks and I think it's my responsibility to train him. He's been doing most of the knife work but today I decided to to the knife work so I can teach him how to prep the stuff we need to cook.
Cooking for Garde Mange is quite a challenge because the line is always busy doing their own prep work so it's a strugge to get a stove top. It's handy that our station has a little butane burner for small volume prep cooking but it's not at all times available.
For the knife work, I did the ff:
- microbrunois of peppers (fresno, habanero, jalapeno) for the classic tartar
- microchiffonade of herbs (basil, mint and cilantro) for the regular and classic tartar
- chive rings that garnishes a lot of things so I needed a good pint of it almost
I can proudly say that I've gotten pretty quick with my knife work. What used to take me 2 hours to prepare now takes me about half an hour.
While doing the knife work, I was training Zak to do the rest of the cooking stuff such as:
- Blini - make the batter, proof it, fold in the whites and run a tester
- Yellow Tomato Gazpacho - macerate tomatoes, puree, emulsify and season it for service
- Onion Tarts - cut puff pastry dough, braise and caramelize cippolino onions, build the tarts and bake them off
By 430 which is our target set up time, we still had quite a bit to do. I ended up doing the tarts, the blini and the gazpacho.
Blini proofed the blini batter but he left it uncovered so skin formed on top rendering it unusable for service. He was lagging behind his prep list of cutting pears and yolking quail eggs so I had to do the tarts and the gazpacho.
I'm proud of being able to manage my time to get my prep list done and still be able to assist somebody lagging behind.
I feel bad though because I think I'm not succeeding in teaching somebody what I do. I remember Chef Peter would always repeat himself, 'Namee, make sure this happens even on your days off.' He likes my work products and sets them as standard. And I take pride in that, the challenge now is transitioning that to the rest of the team.
Service went by smoothly anyhow.
Lessons learned:
- Being busy is never an excuse for underperforming, we're always busy as everybody else in the kitchen.
- Take time to explain how things are done exactly. Begin from getting to step 1 and go step by step from there, this is the only way to ensure that things are done right.
- Don't hesitate to repeat yourself or raise your voice, in most cases, it's necessary
Best Practice:
- INVENTORY (regularly) - It helped me get ready for service today because Chef Peter pushed us to make an inventory of everything on our shelf last night. Now I don't even have to take a second look, I knew exactly what was on the shelf
- Leave a LIST always to whoever you're transitioning a task to. IT REALLY HELPS to be aware
I'm getting anal with my lists though, just what I did for GM's closing inventory, it looks like I'll end up making a form for GM Shelf Inventory which I think I'm going to do right now.
Whew!
I'm off at Aqua tomorrow but I'm working at Chez Panisse tomorrow to do pastry. It's something to look forward too.
I was at work early but there's not a lot of prep work to do since we got ourselves caught up with our shared mise en place over the weekend.
I got to work at 1:30. I working with Zak, a newbie the last couple of weeks and I think it's my responsibility to train him. He's been doing most of the knife work but today I decided to to the knife work so I can teach him how to prep the stuff we need to cook.
Cooking for Garde Mange is quite a challenge because the line is always busy doing their own prep work so it's a strugge to get a stove top. It's handy that our station has a little butane burner for small volume prep cooking but it's not at all times available.
For the knife work, I did the ff:
- microbrunois of peppers (fresno, habanero, jalapeno) for the classic tartar
- microchiffonade of herbs (basil, mint and cilantro) for the regular and classic tartar
- chive rings that garnishes a lot of things so I needed a good pint of it almost
I can proudly say that I've gotten pretty quick with my knife work. What used to take me 2 hours to prepare now takes me about half an hour.
While doing the knife work, I was training Zak to do the rest of the cooking stuff such as:
- Blini - make the batter, proof it, fold in the whites and run a tester
- Yellow Tomato Gazpacho - macerate tomatoes, puree, emulsify and season it for service
- Onion Tarts - cut puff pastry dough, braise and caramelize cippolino onions, build the tarts and bake them off
By 430 which is our target set up time, we still had quite a bit to do. I ended up doing the tarts, the blini and the gazpacho.
Blini proofed the blini batter but he left it uncovered so skin formed on top rendering it unusable for service. He was lagging behind his prep list of cutting pears and yolking quail eggs so I had to do the tarts and the gazpacho.
I'm proud of being able to manage my time to get my prep list done and still be able to assist somebody lagging behind.
I feel bad though because I think I'm not succeeding in teaching somebody what I do. I remember Chef Peter would always repeat himself, 'Namee, make sure this happens even on your days off.' He likes my work products and sets them as standard. And I take pride in that, the challenge now is transitioning that to the rest of the team.
Service went by smoothly anyhow.
Lessons learned:
- Being busy is never an excuse for underperforming, we're always busy as everybody else in the kitchen.
- Take time to explain how things are done exactly. Begin from getting to step 1 and go step by step from there, this is the only way to ensure that things are done right.
- Don't hesitate to repeat yourself or raise your voice, in most cases, it's necessary
Best Practice:
- INVENTORY (regularly) - It helped me get ready for service today because Chef Peter pushed us to make an inventory of everything on our shelf last night. Now I don't even have to take a second look, I knew exactly what was on the shelf
- Leave a LIST always to whoever you're transitioning a task to. IT REALLY HELPS to be aware
I'm getting anal with my lists though, just what I did for GM's closing inventory, it looks like I'll end up making a form for GM Shelf Inventory which I think I'm going to do right now.
Whew!
I'm off at Aqua tomorrow but I'm working at Chez Panisse tomorrow to do pastry. It's something to look forward too.
Monday, August 21, 2006
8/20/2006 Sunday at Aqua
Came in early, like noon, normally on weekends I come in at 130 but there's just so much to do today
Here's what I did between 1230 and 430, almost in this order
- blanch peas for pea soup
- make lemon oil
- make blini batter for caviar service
- macerate tomatoes for gazpacho
- cut and confit potatoes for terrine
- caramelize cippolini onions in gastrique
- make potato crisps for caviar service - this takes forever!
- make caramelized onion tarts for caviar amuse - cutout puff pastry dough and top it with onions and bake them to make the tarts
- make the gazpacho - process gazapacho in a blender, season and emulsify with EVOO
- proof the blini for 1 hour then beat the whites and fold them in then run a tester blini, Chef Peter liked it
- cook and pass eggs thru a tammy for caviar service
- supervise 2 other people working the station
- teach people the knife work that i've been taught
- make dill oil
- make small diced salmon for caviar service
- ice and set up station
- season corn and pea soup
- bring up proteins
* there seems to be so much to do today and I feel really bad not being able to catch up. I used to be able to do better and move faster. I'm just so off today and what really hurts me is that I feel like I was running below Chef Peter's expectations. I've proven myself before but I just seem to be under performing today and it hurts me.
I'll try my very best to be better tomorrow, passionate about what I do and indifferent with the people I may not like working with. After all, it shouldn't matter. I'll do whatever it takes to make Garde Mange work, it's my baby, who cares who's running it. Chef Peter already knows I can step up so I just have to live up to that expectation
It wasn't too busy today so we got some stuff done during service. Chef Peter made the Potato Terrine today. I normally make it but I just couldn't get it done, I had too much on my plate but, shouldn't I be able to manage?
Today, I feel like a competent cook but an incompetent leader. Zak and Nik are awesome people but they are at that stage where I was a few months ago, trying to perfect everything while trying to work within schedule. It's tough.
We were sort of set up by 430 but not as polished as I would like it, we were still running up and down the stairs for stuff we forgot to do. It's always my goal to get all set up and ready to fire by 430 even if service starts at 6pm. I used to be able to do it. We just didn't have enough stuff prepped to day so we pretty much had to do everything from scratch.
While running service we did some projects too like
- basil oil-blanched and processed with salad oil
- parsely oil-blanched and processed with salad oil
- macerate tomatoes for tomorrow- yellow tomatoes macerated in tomato water, champagne vinegar, with shallots, some garlic, a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar
- onion chutney in port wine reduction
*it didnt come out as expected though because the onions were cut too small. Chef Peter wanted small dice and I didn't know too that onions had to be sweat first before being thrown into the port-redwine reduction
- shelf inventory
- make lemon peels for another batch of lemon oil
i think we could've done more, i was just really off today, i don't know why
i'm exhausted but somehow i'm looking forward to another challenging day tomorrow, the real challenge is working with someone i don't like. i think I can work with a moron OR an asshole but I can't work with one who's both... oh well... this is a true test of peopleskills. I can do this. I've dealt with worse situations before.
Here's what I did between 1230 and 430, almost in this order
- blanch peas for pea soup
- make lemon oil
- make blini batter for caviar service
- macerate tomatoes for gazpacho
- cut and confit potatoes for terrine
- caramelize cippolini onions in gastrique
- make potato crisps for caviar service - this takes forever!
- make caramelized onion tarts for caviar amuse - cutout puff pastry dough and top it with onions and bake them to make the tarts
- make the gazpacho - process gazapacho in a blender, season and emulsify with EVOO
- proof the blini for 1 hour then beat the whites and fold them in then run a tester blini, Chef Peter liked it
- cook and pass eggs thru a tammy for caviar service
- supervise 2 other people working the station
- teach people the knife work that i've been taught
- make dill oil
- make small diced salmon for caviar service
- ice and set up station
- season corn and pea soup
- bring up proteins
* there seems to be so much to do today and I feel really bad not being able to catch up. I used to be able to do better and move faster. I'm just so off today and what really hurts me is that I feel like I was running below Chef Peter's expectations. I've proven myself before but I just seem to be under performing today and it hurts me.
I'll try my very best to be better tomorrow, passionate about what I do and indifferent with the people I may not like working with. After all, it shouldn't matter. I'll do whatever it takes to make Garde Mange work, it's my baby, who cares who's running it. Chef Peter already knows I can step up so I just have to live up to that expectation
It wasn't too busy today so we got some stuff done during service. Chef Peter made the Potato Terrine today. I normally make it but I just couldn't get it done, I had too much on my plate but, shouldn't I be able to manage?
Today, I feel like a competent cook but an incompetent leader. Zak and Nik are awesome people but they are at that stage where I was a few months ago, trying to perfect everything while trying to work within schedule. It's tough.
We were sort of set up by 430 but not as polished as I would like it, we were still running up and down the stairs for stuff we forgot to do. It's always my goal to get all set up and ready to fire by 430 even if service starts at 6pm. I used to be able to do it. We just didn't have enough stuff prepped to day so we pretty much had to do everything from scratch.
While running service we did some projects too like
- basil oil-blanched and processed with salad oil
- parsely oil-blanched and processed with salad oil
- macerate tomatoes for tomorrow- yellow tomatoes macerated in tomato water, champagne vinegar, with shallots, some garlic, a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar
- onion chutney in port wine reduction
*it didnt come out as expected though because the onions were cut too small. Chef Peter wanted small dice and I didn't know too that onions had to be sweat first before being thrown into the port-redwine reduction
- shelf inventory
- make lemon peels for another batch of lemon oil
i think we could've done more, i was just really off today, i don't know why
i'm exhausted but somehow i'm looking forward to another challenging day tomorrow, the real challenge is working with someone i don't like. i think I can work with a moron OR an asshole but I can't work with one who's both... oh well... this is a true test of peopleskills. I can do this. I've dealt with worse situations before.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Homesick
It's a dream-come-true. I remember back when I was a little kid, my mom would always tell everybody how my dream was to become a waitress... while every other kid in my kindergarten class wanted to be a doctor, a laywer or an engineer... little did she know that what I really wanted to do was to work at a restaurant or have at least two of my own one day (one to make a name and another to make money (i mean, more money... *wink-wink*).
I've been fortunate to have been brought up in a conducive environment: Everybody's Cafe, the restaurant that my grandparents put up shortly after World War II. Our family history says that it was named as such because back in those days, there would be restaurants for the 'Allies' and the 'Non-Allies' so my grandparents decided to open one for everybody, thus the name Everybody's Cafe.
Everybody's Cafe has been my home. My parents said we lived elsewhere before moving to my grandparents' house which sits right on top of the restaurant but I vaguely remember those days.
I had little cooking pots and pans instead of barbies. I had little food scraps to play with instead of play dough. I played in a real kitchen. I could actually eat the food that I made.
I started working when I was about 6. My dad hired me as a sales person at his car accessories shop and paid me 20 pesos a day. I felt like I had a real job. I took it seriously. My grandmother pirated me to work as a cashier at her restaurant and paid me 50 pesos a day which was way more than my allowance so I get to buy myself some good stuff at a really young age. After a while, I wasn't exactly working as a cashier anymore. I would hangout at the restaurant, man my mom's little candy store, go with my uncle to the supermarket, help prep in the kitchen or simply make my own food.
A few years later, I went to college and almost forgot about my dream. I was pre-occupied completing my degree and getting the best job related to it. I took up MIS and got a job at Andersen Consulting, now called Accenture. It was then, and I think it still is one of the biggest and most prestigious international IT firms in the Philippines.
5 years later I decided to follow my heart. I left the firm in September of last year and flew to Chicago for culinary school. It may not be the most famous school but it was big enough to get my foot at the door. Of course it wasn't all that easy. I had to figure out funding, applied for any available scholarship and student loans including essay contests on the internet.
Finally, here I am, making my dream come true. I'm halfway thru school and interning at very good restaurants in California working with a few of my favorite things: Fish at Aqua and Desserts at Chez Panisse.
I've been working 7 days a week and rarely had time to think of missing home... but, now that I'm a little under the weather, it hit me hard, not only am I simply sick with a bad cold and a splitting headach, I'm actually homesick.
I'm missing the comforts of home. The corn soup that my mom makes out of white corn infused with leaves of chili, the dried herring that my dad fries and simmers in vinegar and sugar and the great home cooked stuff only found at Everybody's Cafe: Tsokolate Batirol made from freshly ground Cacao beans and peanuts, the Fiddlehead Fern salad with with red eggs and shrimp confit, the drippings collected from baking our original Morcon (a rich meatloaf made with my favorite Chorizo de Bilbao and other special seasoning), our very own Longganisa, sausage packed with lots of garlic and bits of pork fat, the ox tongue with white mushroom sauce, the bone marrow soup that my grandfather originally makes with corn and chickpeas (deadly!), the ox-tail stew with peanut sauce, the fried pork rind served with a cocktail of pickled garlic, carrots, shallots and bitter melons, the catfish with yellow ginger, the sweet and sour lapu-lapu filet (lapu-lapu is a red grouper with soft, white and delicate flesh), the fatty milkfish belly, the sour broth with 'ulang' (i don't know if there's a direct translation to those crustaceans, they look like a cross between a langoustine and a cray fish with a head bigger than the tail, but they come from fresh water), the taba ng talanka (crab fat that we squeeze, season and bottle for later use) that I simply eat with warm steamed milagrosa rice (small sweet grain that produces a very aromatic steam) or sometimes with angel hair pasta and sun dried tomatoes, the fried or steamed sweet fat blue crabs that we serve with green mango and tomato chutney...
I can't wait to eat them all again. Just thinking about them makes me feel better. Well, not really because now I'm getting hungry.