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!
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