THIS is why I am in culinary!

I missed most of class last Friday because of the meat slicer incident, so I signed up to make it up on Monday. On days where there is no prep class, breakfast and lunch are by volunteer signup, and there are never more than 3 or 4. This particular week though, there were 200-250 people to feed, so preparation was VERY difficult. There were only three people plus the Chef, so we couldn’t do eggs to order, and the lunch line was simplified. At lunch, a woman with dietary restrictions became extremely upset because there was nothing on the line that she could eat. The chef made her something, but she was still pretty pissed at our lack of consideration for her needs.

Now, there are two roads you can take from this – “screw you, it isn’t all about you, we’re too busy, next time order ahead,” etc., or you can say, “Okay, how can we do this better next time?” After all, you’re occasionally going to have unhappy people, but someone raised a major stink! One of the people on the line that day took the first path, but oddly enough I took the second. We had an unhappy patron! ACK! Not good!

Our Chef discussed this with us the following morning, and told us about his experiences with this kind of person. Even if they are wrong, they are still your patron, and therefore they deserve to be treated like they are the only one there. Every day, our instructor Chef has been making her feel welcome and took special care to ensure that there was something set aside for her lunch. If the lunch was pasta, he made her salmon (since she can’t have gluten and must have protein.) He always set some fruit aside for her, and she’s been very happy.

Today, Chef asked me to set up a plate of roast beef, cucumbers, tomatoes, and strawberries. I made a point of arranging the vegetables carefully, and put the strawberry slices in a star shape. (I had comments from more than one classmate about how cool it looked.) I then carefully wrapped it and put it in the prep cooler. When she came in, Chef made his usual big deal over her, and presented her lunch. I overheard her saying that she was afraid to unwrap it, as it looked too nice to eat. That simple thing, that one comment, made me feel really good. THAT is why I am doing this – if even one person says that we’re doing a good job, it’s worth it. We have been receiving a LOT of compliments from patrons about our meals lately, but this one simple thing re-enforced my drive. This IS worth it. Thank you, Chef, for letting me be a part of that.