Since break began, I've been to Poppy Hill Tuscan Kitchen (http://www.ciaopoppyhill.com/main.html)twice and have worked for a total approaching 9 or so hours. From the very beginning I had an excellent response from Scott Mahar, the owner, and was very excited to begin working with him. I had had a preliminary meeting with him about what I was looking to accomplish, and he was eager to help me out. He even started talking about some of the things we could plan for my menu for April! I couldn't believe how willing he was/is to help. However, once break started I was a little fearful of a repeat of what happened over the summer- I had been emailing Scott about when I would be able to come in to the restaurant, and he told me when it would be closed. However, after I emailed him a few times asking if I could come in, he stopped responding. My Mom and Dad urged me to just go ahead and call him, which seemed like the right thing to do since he gave me his cell number. It makes since that a man who runs a popular restaurant and has two kids wouldn't be able to respond quickly to email, so the phone was the definite best option. So I called and I went in that very night. I was shocked to see how a kitchen could seem cramped and immense at the same time. It IS tight quarters, trust me, but it seems like there are little corridors here and there that take you around the whole building- an impressive feat for a basement location. The first night I met some people, Kent the fresh-from-college cook, a few blonde waitresses that didn't pay much attention to me, a few high school helpers (which surprised me), and of course, Scott. I mostly hung with Scott the whole night as we made lobster ravioli, which was totally awesome. I'd never made pasta before, so that was fun. I did some chopping here and there for the salads too, so it was cool the way that he let me actually DO things. Scott and I talked a whole lot about food and cooking which may have been the highlight of the night because it's hard to find a teenager that loves (to talk about) food as much as I do. It was a interesting night all in all, especially since I had NO idea how long I was going to stay there- Scott just said to come in at 4:30. I stayed until 8:30. The time passed quickly, even though I was assured that it was a slow night, for a Friday (it was right after Christmas). The thing I learned from that night was that the pasta ravioli we were making was for the following week for New Years, which was booked. They make them ahead and just freeze those puppies, which is something I could totally do. So once I find out if anyone from the Board has some weirdo food allergy, I may or may not decided to make some ravioli myself.
The next time I worked was the night before New Years. Turns out, that was a a really good thing. Scott has anticipated another slow night, but it was practically full. That night it was only Scott, Kent, Sarah and Jen (waitresses) (nice ones) and ME. That means no dishwasher. Since Scott was so willing to help me out with my project, I decided that I would have no problem with helping out with some dishes. Yeah...I've never cleaned more dishes in my life- I've never even SEEN that many dishes. But it was fine, I really don't mind doing dishes- it's laundry that I loathe. Besides, I learned some stuff about washing dishes in a restaurant, you're actually supposed to REALLY wash the dishes before you load them up...something I learned the hard way. Turns out it's more of a sanitizing thing than a "washing" thing. Also, I was taught how to make the House and Caesar Salads, which I made about 14 of. I know it seems small, but it was so cool to know that there were people paying for a salad that I made. ME...even if they didn't know that :) But still, it must be so cool to make ALL of the food and have people who regularly come back to eat it. I like that.
I helped out so much that Scott actually offered me a job. That feels nice...I know that I wasn't doing everything right, but I think that he knew I was doing my best. I'm pretty sure I'll be taking it, a little cash never hurt anyone.
Scott and I talked about starting to plan my menu out the next time I see him, and maybe test some stuff out (he's so helpful!!). I told him I'd get back to him once I talked to my adviser/Mrs. Nobles.
I haven't heard from other restaurants the way that I had thought I would, but that's totally fine. If I only worked with Poppyhill, that would be more than sufficient in helping me with this project.
No comments:
Post a Comment