Bigger and Blacker

Monday afternoon, I'm actually closing tonite as opposed to opening. I didn't even bother going out last night because I ended up spending the day putting that big ass grill together.

It took just over 2 hours to put together...I'm a cook not an engineer. After that, you can't just throw some food on this thing, nuh uh. There's also 4 hours of "seasoning" the grill, where you heat the fuck out of the grill itself with no food. Call it a break-in period for using a grill of this caliber. I even went so far as prior to lighting it, spraying the insides with some canola oil to create better flavors when I use it.

After 2 hours of cooking with no grates, I cooked off some bacon and used the fat on the grill grates. 2 more hours with the grates on there, then after I rubbed them down again with more bacon fat (it's all about flavor), I let the grill cool down with the grates on their til it was done.

Needless to say, that took the entire day. Did you know black people can get sunburn? I have proof!

Not OK Computer

Friday, not quite the beginning of the weekend for some of us. Most of you, however, are already counting down the minutes until you grab your first cocktail at your favorite watering hole. Bastards, I'm jealous. I will just have to ask about a wine tasting before the day is done.

So after typing my entry yesterday I spent the next 3 hours in front of the computer. How do you people do it with these office jobs. I was more drained from typing and staring at a damn screen than a 12 hour day here in the kitchen. Carpal tunnel syndrome and all. This computer stuff just isn't for me. Thank goodness for those around me that are savvy with this stuff!

Costing out menus isn't even really the hard part, it's making spread sheets to keep track of where all of my time went. I typed up both menus, proposals, and then began to make a spread sheet for each one. If both of these go over well, which is still completely up in the air, I will have my work cut out for me. Well, partly for James and partly for The Mad Chef of M Street. Thank goodness I can divide the responsibilities, huh?

Oh yeah, about that grill that came in the mail. Definitely didn't get done, I didn't even open the box to tell you the truth. I have beer at my condo and this got delivered to my parents house, and it ain't getting put together until both are together at the same place. Plus, they have a nicer backyard to put it together in, so I should do it there. Maybe Sunday I will put it together and light it up for a test run? It's not like I have a choice in the matter if I want to use it by next Friday!

The Mad Caterer?

Three days with no Internet and I feel uber deprived. I also see that someone has taken the liberty of bringing up some unflattering past experiences without the relevant and necessary details. Let's just say I will plead the 5th to all and it would have been funnier with pics!

So since I have not been able to post, a few things have happened. For starters, that wedding I spoke of? I am about to put together a bid for it. Is it going to help out The Mad Chef of M Street? Not at all. Could it potentially destroy my name? Most definitely.

This will be no easy task, but that alter ego James Chase, the damn cocky bastard that he is, really wants to try to do this. I may not even get the gig, and that's perfectly fine, I will still help in whatever way I can. After speaking to close friends around me that are willing to help, I have come to believe I just may be able to pull this off. Can The Mad Chef step aside and let James Chase orchestrate such a grand ordeal? We'll see.

A wedding is a pretty big deal...when is the last time you heard people at a wedding proclaim "damn that was really good food, I wonder who they got to cater this?" Probably never, but when was the last time you heard someone complain that the food was horrible? Much more likely. So with that said, I have a challenge in front of me, that is if they even decide I'm worth the price tag I will come with. After all, I am only one person who works in a restaurant. I'm not a caterer, nor do I have any intention of doing such a thing ever, EVER, again. Just this once, call it...bragging rights. Damn that ego of mine.

Besides that I just received my grill in the mail for the company picnic I will be cooking for some friends next month. Hold on, didn't I just say I wasn't into catering? The MAD Chef of M Street right? The difference between this and a wedding? Two words - hot dogs.

This grill is a beast...I'm actually dreading putting it together, I need to go buy a case of brew before I crack into this. 50 gallon barrel grill, 2 stage, double bottom, smoke stack off to one side and a 50lb attachment (the grill weighs in a nimble 109lbs) for smoking wood. Rotisserie adaptable, yeah I got that too, a warming rack, 1,063 sq inches of cooking space, and last but not least, cast iron cooking grates. Cue Tim"The Tool Man" Taylor grunting...just typing about all that grilling power gives me a woody.

Thirsty Thursday, gotta type up the menus for the weeding and that company picnic. Next week that magazine article in "On Tap" Magazine should come out!

Caught in the 'Net

So The Mad Chef's Internet is down. Why? Well, he isn't sure. So I'll just take this post to mess with him a little. Why? Because I can. And he can't see it!

While he may be the master of the culinary arts, he has the Internet and computer capability of a 4 year old retarded child.

He's a man who when I once asked for fish tacos, he called his ex (that he met in grade school) to see if he could set something up for me. Certainly reeked of seafood.

A giant in the Foodtopia of Washington, DC, who will always and irrevocably be 4 inches too short.

A warrior, who strides gleefully into a busy kitchen and 300 checks, and cowers at the effects of a quarter of a 40oz.

Fancied by the ladies, envied by the gentlemen and curious about the in-between...

He is, your Mad Chef, James Chase. And when he figures out how to reconnect his cable modem, or finds a 3 year old or a hobo who can show him how, he'll be back posting in no time!

Voila,

The Brain

Dance the Night Away...

Umm, can't remember the name of that song but it about sums up every feeling that I don't have for such a day right now. Shit, that sentence doesn't even make sense.

Was a fairly kick ass weekend though. Started out by my chef graciously letting me leave out of here by 8pm on Saturday night. Then headed over to a friend's house by the 930 Club to get a little loose before heading to catch my friends in The Dance Party, headlining at the club that night. They didn't open the upstairs, but the band had no problems filling up the downstairs, which one would say is a bit of bragging rights for any local band.

The show kicked ass, and the band brought a fever pitch to the crowd as always. Lead singer and guitarist Mick Coogan came out with no shirt on, making the girls a flutter and making me think I need to hit the gym an extra day or two this week. Either way, being up front is always a blast, especially when Kevin Bayly whales on the guitar while simultaneously getting down on his knees so someone can give him a sip of their beer, never missing a beat. Good times.

On to the rest of the weekend, I have some friends getting married this winter and was actually approached (well, I asked as well) about finding a caterer or catering the event myself. Too bad such a thing is way over my head to organize right now. Otherwise I would do so in a heartbeat, I couldn't be happier to do such a thing. Yet, alas, I will find someone to take care of this for them...I already have 2 companies in mind to speak to.

Did anyone else catch that Italy vs Spain match yesterday? Or the stunning Turkish comeback on Friday? People who don't like soccer are out of their minds.

The Love Guru...

...MUST suck, right? I mean, it has to. Jessica Alba can't even save it. Also, dear Mike Myers, leave Verne Troyer out of your next weirdo character comedy...we get it, he's a little person, and it's not funny anymore.

Other random thoughts on this stormy Sunday eve in Annapolis:

I hurt my back playing softball today. It's bad. I mean, we came back from 6 down in the top of the 7th to win, and I had hurt my back earlier in the game but played through it. Problem was, about 15 minutes after leaving the field (and the adrenaline and beer wore off) I was in agony that still hasn't subsided. Note my sunny disposition tonight...

Do MTV and VH1 actually play videos anymore? No, and it's probably a good thing, as much as I'd love to hear (and see) Gwen Stefani's next shitty single.

Are they sure John McCain isn't already dead? And like, has been for a while?

Ow fuck! Did I mention my fucking back HURTS???

Chipotle still will not sell tomatoes in their locations due to the salmonella scare, which is ironic since it's kind of natural to be stuck on a toilet for days after eating there anyway. At least if I get sick from the tomatoes, I have someone to sue later.

Did you know Barack Obama's skin is the same color as AMERICAN SOIL??? USA! USA!

Compressed

Hungover. Got dragged out to a place called The Black Finn in Bethesda. Loud music, scantly dressed females, and lots of popped collars. I didn't last in that environment for an hour. However the shot(s) in between the 3 beers must have done me in. Or was it the bottle of wine before I went out? Either way, to say my mind is not here at work right now would be an understatement.

Capital BBQ Battle...I have been asked by several people (yes, people are reading!) as to whether or not I would be entering it this weekend. Well, to be honest when it came up 2 months ago I wouldn't even consider it. BBQ is an art that I thought I would have no place attempting. Now my attitude is screw it, I should have entered.

Would I have won? Judging by what I saw at a "chili cook-off," I probably would have gotten smoked, literally. All the same, I won't let such an opportunity pass me by next time. I mean, worst thing that can happen is I eat well, drink often and get some business cards out there, right?

Lots of fish to fabricate today, fresh Niragi from Hawaii and some Tasmanian Sweet Crab to play with as well. First things first though, a large coffee, double espresso, a pitcher of water (yes, a pitcher) and maybe I can start thinking about what I am here for.

Also, to leave on a funny note, my friend who is working at Hook is getting the FNG (Fucking New Guy) and rookie treatment all at once. The pastry chef asked him to, get this one, go and grab her some compressed air. He looks at her, smiles and runs off...takes 3 steps, looks back and says OK.

He slowly begins to press his hands together until they are closed, then opens them in front of her as if there was a small animal in his hands. Obviously defeated, she could only ask how old he was as she shook her head and looked pretty disappointed at not being able to put one over on my boy. I mean, really, compressed air? I would be pretty upset if he fell for such a thing. All the same, what kind of imagination does their pastry chef have, can you at least ask for something that SOUNDS like its real? Although I am fairly proud of my friend for being so creative in his reply.

Shelled

12 women sit down, 12 women want 12 separate checks. This about sums up my night.

I won't even get into the substitutions each fucking order had, but it gets even better. One of the women ordered the sea scallops, and then told the server she was allergic to shellfish. Did you just read that right? Yup, sure did.

Before I could go say WTF to the server he was already in the kitchen, explaining how he had attempted to tell the woman what a scallop was, and that she said its OK, she has had them before...so long as the dish isn't made with shellfish. Are you fucking serious? You don't know that scallops are shellfish?

Good thing I had a day off coming up today or I may have have lost it and confronted the table, though maybe I would have gotten a good laugh at her expense...or a slap in the face. Wasn't worth the risk, I bruise easily for a brother. But some people are just fucking stupid.

Let's Go to the Videotape...

Tuesday...

A prep cook short as I walk thru the doors, this same guy "no called, no showed" yesterday and called in this morning. Hmmm, not a tough decision of what I want to do. I will have to talk to my chef about finding a replacement, cause this stuff doesn't fly here. He is already off again tomorrow and this is far from the first time it has happened with this same cook over the past year.

So as I begin to prepare my special for the morning and evening simultaneously, I am delegating other stuff like there is no tomorrow. My GM is gone for the week and my chef will not be in for relief until this evening. He is coming from out of state having spent the weekend with his family. So it's up to the sous, along with my event coordinator, to run things until the AGM comes in in the next few hours. Should be an interesting day.

The head count for an upcoming event, the Mad Chef catering a company picnic, should be in by the end of this week. I am personally crossing my fingers for 125 people. I was told not to be surprised if the count reached 200! Someone is going to have their hands full!

Oh yes, tonite when I leave work I will have this little tape in my possession from some event called the DC101 Chili Cook-Off. How did it finally come to be in my possession? Well, that's a long story, but its finally mine. Now it has to go off to a friend of mine that works for Ritz to pull the video off and onto a CD, then to my producer friend where I beg for him to do some of his magic so I can post it...FINALLY!

Lost in Translation

I love what customers have to say about our place...sometimes.

5 top strolls in last night, foreigners of some kind, my AGM being Polish can't recognize their accents at all. 1 orders a shrimp, the other 4 order our whole fish for the evening, the Red Snapper. Order goes out of the kitchen and it's a slow night so I happen to walk out front 15 minutes or so later to see my AGM speaking to them. A server approaches me and whispers that the table is complaining the whole fish is bad.

Cue "slap in the face" look...I have worked in many restaurants where food was over ordered at times and shit goes out before you can serve it. Shit happens, just don't let it happen twice, you know? I have yet to serve a "bad" item in this restaurant. We are slow enough right now to the point where I can order 80% of my fish every day and it's gone by the next. No exaggeration, we have 86 items all the time in the name of serving the freshest possible product.

So I head back to the kitchen waiting for the manager to come back and tell me WTF just happened. He had a smile on his face, and he went into it. 4 people had the whole fish, 2 of them had cleared the plate save for the bones, the other 2 were more then half done. The one leading the complaint was one of the people saying that it was bad and just didn't taste like Red Snapper (WTF do I gain by selling a fish under a different name? Do you know how inexpensive it is to buy a whole fish?). The other 2 who have finished more then half are silent and wont verbally complain to the manager. The guy leading all this then asks, "has this fish been frozen?"

Cue "kick in the balls" look...sorry buddy, I don't have a freezer to even put them in. After this question was asked, my AGM stated that we don't even have anything but a small freezer for ice cream, and he proceeded to give them menus because what else can you say to a guest that has already made up their mind? They also had a 4 course meal including the fish... hmmmm.

We ended up buying only one of them, they didn't even try to order anything else.

Slick and Spotless

By the way, as a final note on the Blue Duck Tavern experience I had on Sunday...Emily was the name of our server and my girlfriend and I agreed she was one of the best servers we have had in a very long time. Kudos, it's a rare find when a server makes the dining experience that much more enjoyable. She even successfully fielded a PETA of a question I had about the foie brulee.

So back to what I am doing this evening in the kitchen. Ever wonder what cooks and chefs do when its really slow? Clean...and when the cleaning is done a cook gets cut, and more cleaning is done because there isn't shit else going on. Then a check comes in and we don't hear shit and it goes long because we are cleaning, and a server questions whats going on with the order...

Then I say something slick like, "uhh I dropped the fish and had to make another." Smooth as ice, baby!

Go Mad Chef, It's Your Birthday, It's Your...Work Day? Dammit.

It's my birthday and I'm at work. Yay. Happy almost 30 to me. Birthdays just don't have that positive mojo anymore, at least since 21. I mean, yeah, it was nice to turn 25 a few years back and have my car insurance rate drop and all, but a post-21 birthday is hardly the life changing event and celebration time that it used to be. Now, it's just another day.

However, last night my significant other took me to a restaurant I was really excited to try out. It's called the Blue Duck Tavern.

It's an absolutely gorgeous restaurant. Spacious in every way, from the time you even approach the entrance with its 15 foot doors and an even higher ceiling to the dining area. Steps everywhere, giving the appearance that each and every table has it own amount of privacy to it. The patio gives off the appearance that you are anywhere but downtown DC.

A cascading fountain in the corner and plants lining the entire patio add comfort and privacy for the outside diners. Enough about the way the place looked, I was impressed for the most part all around, except when I looked at the wine menu. I'm never one for bringing my own bottle but I think this would be the place that I would suggest it. Judging by the prices they were, well, up there as far as I'm concerned. I don't want to call out another restaurant on how they price their menu, it's the ambiance and dining experience you are paying for. Let's just say that we have a few of the same wines, for waaaaaayyyy less.

I started out with the foie gras creme brulee. Yeah, I'm cultured enough to appreciate such a thing, lol. It reminded me of a foie torchon, which is where the duck liver has been cured one night and macerated in milk and brandy the next. "Rich" in flavor would be an understatement. Too much for some would be a better description, as my girl had to return hers thinking that it was "god awful." I could only laugh, indeed it's not a flavor for everyone, but I can appreciate what it took to make such a dish, and the creativity behind it. I didn't finish all of mine either though!

For our entrees we shared the crab cakes and a ribeye. We ordered several sides including cheese grits, hand cut fries, and globe artichokes with prosciutto. All of which were outdone by the Anson Mills grits. Best type of grits you can possibly use if you ask me, and cooked to perfection with a hint of goat cheese. Yes, funny haha, black man is a freakin grits expert...

Our dessert consisted of an apple pie for two and a side of vanilla ice cream. The pie itself was absolutely delicious, but the cool thing was the ice cream was served in a glass cylinder of sorts with a large wooden spoon. It spoke of old family style meals where the kids fight for the last bit of ice cream, and believe me we had a discussion as to who would get that last bit...thank God it was MY birthday and not hers.

"I wonder what events The Brain can organize next..."

James, we almost got the Rosenberg Bar Mitzvahs next weekend but they dumped you for JoJo's Pimp Eats Catering Extravaganza, even after I basically offered your services at cost. Oh well.

That's all good though cause the Balmoral Mental Health Institute called and wants you to do their "Sanity Saturday" festival...they figured since you were the "mad chef" you'd fit in well with the patients...

Baby steps!

Smell My Face...er, Crabcakes!

Short and sweet for a Saturday...

Thanks to The Brain, James Chase, err...The Mad Chef of M Street will be cooking for Elliot in the Morning in July.

For those of you that live under a rock, because you would have to to live there to not at least have heard of these guys, that is the morning show for DC101. Will I be on the air? Please don't make me laugh. This is the loooooonnnnngggg road. My name will get said once, and if I have a horseshoe up me ass and Elliot is so inclined it will be mentioned TWICE.

Thats OK though, baby steps people, this is only the beginning and each time people hear my name is one more time you may just be inclined to wonder what it is I am all about. One day a few of you that read this and never have had my cooking may actually be inclined to see what my food is all about. I just have to keep typing, keep cooking and hope that people like what they read, what they hear about me, and most importantly...what they eat!

I have no intention of stopping until I reach the top, so thanks to all of you who have helped keep me on track.

I wonder what events The Brain can organize next...

Busted

Hells yeah! The thermometer in my kitchen has dropped below 120 degrees, must be back in the 80's outside! Ugh.

So back to what happened back on Wednesday night with that server and busboy? Well obviously the busboy has been let go. As for the server, suspension and it gets put into HR's hands. Great...nothing like micro-management to save the day. I'm sure HR knows all about what goes on in the restaurant to make sure we make the right decisions.

I mean, I understand the need to have someone who wont let you break the law and what not, but the last thing we need is someone having to make decisions over the management structure already in place in the restaurant. That's what it's in place for already, right? Oh well, it is what it is, I guess.

I guess you need someone to keep the workers in check, and maybe it's easier to filter out the bad ones from a distance. I've seen a whole crazy cast of characters in this business. I've seen addicts, failed actors, aspiring musicians, college dropouts, and worst of all, that guy who says they work "on the Hill" (as a fucking intern) as their "career." Yeah buddy, well your internship ended months ago and you're still in the restaurant business without another Hill or K Street job, so let's not throw the place that gives you your livelihood under the bus! But I digress...

You need to make sure you "know" people who are going to be the face of a restaurant to your customers. Case in point, at a former haunt, a new server who was hired apparently had a problem with perspiration. No one thinks anything of it until after only 2 weeks of working there he walks outside while setting up his station. Gets into an old Caprice, like 1992 (imagine any ex-cop car jalopy with tinted windows) and drives off. 5 minutes later, like a trip around the block later, he gets out, walks back into the restaurant and proceeds to work. Two servers and I see it happen.

I think its funny, I'm just a saute cook at the time and I tell my chef, but the moment goes by and nothing happens. During service later on, the server literally fell onto a table full of guests before he could even greet them...he was sweating profusely and his eyes were dilated.

AWESOME choice of when to enjoy your "habit"...that was his last shift to say the least. Wanna guess what he was on? Anyway, maybe we should have seen he'd be a problem, but everyone has their eccentricities and maybe we just couldn't see the problem. Oh well. If a server and a busboy borrow a bottle of wine after the doors close and that's as bad as it gets, maybe we should be thankful...better than face planting on a customer's table!

On Line

Where to begin...how about, thank God I'm off tomorrow?? As I am preparing to leave tonite, no wait...maybe I should start off that I worked a station tonite in place of a cook who called out sick. As far as that goes, shit happens right? It was kind of fun, kind of fucking hot too.

Just under 200 covers out of nowhere for the evening. We started with maybe 90 reservations on the books. So my chef ended up staying until around 9pm tonite to expo while I worked the station with the cooks. Man was there ever a lot of smack talk going on of how Jaime couldn't handle being a cook and wouldn't make it through the night. PLEASE, don't these guys know I used to run the gauntlet like this day in and day out for years, doing more covers and dare I say it...more difficult food?

Although it was a bumpy start, for the first few tables I re-acquainted myself with what it feels like top have hot oil splatter onto your skin every few minutes, even my face. That part felt great! The night went on with no hassle from the line, with me dancing most of the night, literally...we listen to some good music every now and then, so the Mad Chef has to show rare form when such things happen, right? Yes, it's fun to cook and I hope my cooks see that in me when I am with them on the line.

Now the bad part...at the end of the evening after my cooks have left, my AGM approaches me and asks about a missing bottle of wine. Dammit, I knew I couldn't just leave after I cleaned my station like a regular cook. It just so happens as I was passing through the dining room moments before my AGM said that, I had watched a server and a busboy, that used to be one of my dishwashers, in brief conversation over a full bottle of wine.

I didn't hear a word, why would I care? I didn't have any reason to think anything of it at the time. It was a busboy bussing a table and a server pointing in some direction as far as I'm concerned, all in passing on my way back to the kitchen. The wine however was found in someones locker, not the two I saw. This was figured out because the person's locker whom it was in was in my kitchen during the time that everything took place. Thank God for cameras!! Someone is getting busted tonite...

Holy Fuck, What Did I Do to Deserve This Hot....

So to put a cherry and some whip cream on my day yesterday, no really, this part is good....The Mad Chef of M Street will be, assuming the editor doesn't chop me out of it...in next month's On Tap magazine. I did a 20 minute interview with the writer while my GM spoke to him as well.

I wont divulge all the good stuff I said about this restaurant but be on the look out, the guy also ate, no wait, and devoured my special while I was talking to him with a recorder right by. Watching people eat my food is almost as much fun as making it, that is unless they don't like it! Luckily for me, that's a rarity.

We'll post the link once it becomes available. Have I mentioned the heat...?

Still Really Fucking Hot

Posted yesterday but screwed up by The (overheated) Brain:

So my day is going along smoothly for a Monday, almost too smooth. I mean, what would my day be if there wasn't someone to throw a wrench into it to piss me off? Well here it is 5pm and I just found out there is a "pop up" banquet this evening. 15 people and they have a pre-set menu.

Only 2 problems, see I could make this go over smooth and not even flinch at any of this, if I want to be a "yes man." Only fucking problem is my event coordinator is not here and one of our hostesses took it upon her self to organize and set the menu & pricing. Need I say more? No problem, I will go on, but this woman proceeds to put an item on the menu that I do not even have on my menu this evening. She also put on another item that I don't even have enough fish to feed 5 people. FUCKING A! The second item wasn't on the the menu either but was going to be used for my cooks' employee meal for the evening...they aren't too happy at missing out on that meal.

Does my GM step in? No, my AGM, no, my chef is MIA so that just leaves me to figure this shit out. Not only that but she under charged by almost 10% per person for this banquet. Reprimand? Not likely, but she is lucky it's not my name on the door or it might have smacked her tonite on her way out, permanently. What am I going to do?

While I am typing this up my AGM has changed the menu after my insistence at doing so, but there is nothing we can do about the cost, that is already said and done. But you better believe they are getting a menu more suited for their cost! WOO SAH...on with my evening.

I love my job, I love my job, I love my job...

Still Hot

It wasn't a happy Monday...100 plus again, and it ain't giving up any time soon. With that said, I woke up yesterday morning to realizing that I wanted a local fish for my special. Don't ask me why it was the first thought that entered my head. Maybe I work to much?

So I called one of my vendors asking for some Rockfish. I mean, it's not like I spoke to my rep right then and there, and boom, it's delivered here to the restaurant the following day. This fish has been a staple at 4 restaurants that I have worked at. Personally, its just another bass, but I'm not the consumer at this point and I can do some pretty cool things with it.

So this is what I did Monday:

Since its "hot as the dickens" (WTF does that mean anyways) outside I think I will use some polenta today, but after I make it I will instantly throw it into the only freezer, which is small and only for the ice cream, mind you! After it has cooled I will grill it and serve it with the Rockfish which I will sear. The reason I like this dish is the salad I am going to put on top of it.

I have some fennel bulbs I have thinly sliced and added julienne red onions and tomato (not the deadly ones). It is more of a slaw then a salad I guess...with some sour cream, orange juice, blue cheese and plenty of salt & pepper. This salad will bring life to this dish, not to mention some refreshment given the insane temperatures today and into the foreseeable future. Wonder what kind of cold items I will mess with tomorrow? I'm thinkin its time to start some cevices!!!!!!

Hot

107 degrees?? Really?

It's not even July yet, shit, it's not even mid-June yet!! Summer may be hot this year, but I don't think it's going to be a long one. Just look at how late into May we were before we hit 85? Look back at this post in 3 months and tell me I'm wrong. Don't make me flex my meteorologist skills!

Speaking of telling me I'm wrong...a guest came in with his son today for lunch and asked if we could make the kid a Grilled Cheese Sandwich. Most of you reading are thinking, "that's easy, why not," right? How about if I wanted to make kids food I would be working at Cafe Deluxe, I hear they offer like 7 items for kids on their menu. And, of course, I'm sure there's a McDonalds in the area somewhere.

We are not a kid friendly restaurant and I like that. So as I began to say no outright I got smart for just a moment and said to ask the GM. I say no, but if he says yes, what am I to do? So we ended up making the damn thing. Eh, not worth fighting over.


Being that its hot outside, how do you think my kitchen feels?? I won't go into detail of personal hygeine but thank God I am "Sure" today!!! We have 3 large industrial fans blowing in all different directions of my kitchen and yet I can still break a sweat just standing on my line. Note to self, open kitchen in future restaurant with some kick ass AC!

Stay cool peoples!!!

Eat Your Veggies (except in the Southwest)...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Health authorities are looking into an outbreak of Salmonella food poisoning in U.S. nine states, with illnesses blamed in two of the states, Texas and New Mexico, on eating raw tomatoes, officials said on Tuesday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in those two states there have been 57 reported cases of illness caused by an uncommon type of Salmonella bacteria called SaintPaul since late April.

About 30 more people have been sickened in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas and Utah, and authorities said they are investigating to see if the outbreaks are linked.

At least 17 people have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention epidemiologist Casey Barton Behravesh said in a telephone interview. The ages of those sickened ranges from 3 to 82 years, she said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN0340573520080603

H2O

Oh man, what a speed bump that lunch shift was yesterday. [Ego] Somehow I managed to pace the restaurant thru 100 covers in about 45 minutes with one less cook than normal. I danced from the raw bar to the kitchen and back again. Almost like a dosi-doe...I can teach you sometime! [/Ego]

I also banged out my special for the evening, fabricated just under 100 lbs of fish, saved the lives of a pack of dolphins, ended world poverty, and attempted this new cucumber lime agua I've been doing some research on. OK, well, I did most of those. About the agua, notice I said "attempted." I'm not perfect, and if I don't have all the ingredients I want, why try it in the first place, right?

Well, just because I don't have one of the ingredients doesn't mean I shouldn't try and make it anyway. I wouldn't be a chef in the first place if I stopped making something because of one ingredient. I also don't think I would get very far if that was the extent of my imagination, to follow a recipe precisely each time.

So after all that pontificating, the agua...well, it sucked. OK, not really...it came out the way I expected it too, but a bit lacking hahaha. I will make it again today with everything I want to use in it. Then I will post up my own recipe when I am happy with it!

1/4lb shrimp coming from Senegal today!!! I'm thinking of a Japanese dish this time around...tempura anyone????

Not Kosher...

As I have said before, I cannot stand it when my specials get changed by a guest. Especially a Hebrew who wants to eat a kosher meal, one that can't be made by the hands of a non-Hebrew like me. It's just not possible people. Ask me to poach a fish, fine, ask me to change my special? It ain't happening...well that is until I am overruled, as usual, HAH!!!

The guest requested the fish to be baked, rare, in aluminum foil. He did not want it to be opened by anyone but himself, and he wanted his vegetables to be on the side. I have cooked for kosher people before. It's not easy if they are strict. I will not bore non-Jews with details about the dietary habits of other religions but...there is no such thing as half ass when it comes to a kosher meal.

But anyway, it went like this...I went by the table, I saw the guest, he told me his issues, he even tried to explain to the GM that he had to have a kosher meal. If my GM won't say it I will, this is not kosher! Not in my restaurant...this isn't even, agghhhh, I don't know. This is ridiculous is what it is! What's the damn point of coming out to a restaurant when you'd literally have to make the dish yourself if there isn't a fellow Jew in the kitchen???

Unbelievable. Have a great night people, and next time you stop in to the restaurant let me know...evidently our liquor cost was too low last month. That is, according to the higher-ups (are you fucking kidding me?) but hey, not my problem. Means I can hook people up with even more drinks now.

And after tonight, I need a few. It's getting to the point where I really have seen just about everything...

And Finally...

Meanwhile, Chase is floating about the restaurant. He checks in on the raw bar near the front of the restaurant where raw oysters and clams are served. Each morning the dishwashers prepare the raw bar—they make two five-foot-long mounds of crushed ice and jam the oysters and clams in for an inviting and elegant presentation. On a given night, they’ll shuck 500 to 1,200 of the oysters and clams, and tonight, Alfredo will do most of the work. He’s a speed demon, and says he can shuck 10 oysters a minute. “You’re crazy,” says Chase, who says it’s more like 30. “Alfredo’s 10 times faster at this than I am. I’m like a turtle.”

No more than a handful of diners populate the seating area, a dimly-lit maze of rooms that can hold about 200 people at any one time. The restaurant is made of Virgin longleaf heart of pine, a now extinct wood, but plentiful when it was built in 1842 as the Canal Square building. In 1880, Henry Hollerith invented automated punch cards for the census, and later founded IBM. The building, as framed documents across from the women’s restroom claim, is the birthplace of the computer.

It’s 3:00 p.m., nearing the end of the lunch service, and Chase retreats to his office in the corner of the kitchen, which is not much bigger than a closet. There’s a computer and his dirty chef jackets hanging on the wall, and stacks of invoices and reminders. He has two hours of down time, and he’ll try to catch up on some sleep. He shuts the door to drown out the noises of the kitchen--the clanging of metal, the Spanish music.

“What the f…!” Sgro snaps, peering down into the freezer. The peanut butter ice cream bon-bons with a hard chocolate shell, imported from Italy at $3 each, were just thrown in there, and now some of them are crushed. “It’s people not caring,” Sgro says, as he deems the damaged ones useless. He takes one, though, puts it on a plate with chocolate and peanut butter sauce, just like they serve it, and the staff grabs spoons.

Sgro, who spent a year as Sea Catch’s general manager and is in year two as executive chef, is the most laid-back boss Chase has worked for, so long as his cooks do what they are supposed do, and do it right. It’s nearing 6 p.m., and Sgro walks to the ticket machine, clears a five-foot area on the metal table, plate covers to his right, his line cooks on the other side. The tickets emerge, one after another, and he calmly grabs each and yells out the order.

It’s show time.

“Order: two chicken; two linguini; one halibut; one crab cake; one scallop; one grilled tuna, medium; one shrimp,” Sgro says at 6:51 p.m., his voice booming over the clanking of pots and pans. Each line cook—two responsible for sautés and pastas, one for vegetables, one for the grill—contributes to every dish.

“Pick up: two chicken; two linguini; one halibut; one crab cake; one scallop; one grilled tuna, medium; one shrimp,” Sgro says 20 minutes later. Garcia, on vegetables, adds spinach to a plate. The seared scallops go on top, with bacon and grainy mustard. He puts down sautéed leaks on another plate, and Tyrone, on the grill, adds the sesame seed-covered seared tuna. The halibut is plated, then the crab bake, chicken, linguini. Sgro wipes off the rim of each dish, covers it, puts the ticket on top, and sends it off to the runner, and he will give the dishes to the server. Twenty-four minutes, and the table of 10 is served.

Sgro shoots for five to 10 minutes for appetizers and 20 to 30 minutes for entrees, and he’s almost always right on schedule. But, from time to time, the waiters upstairs will push him. The quicker food comes out, the more tables they can serve, and the more money they can make.

He tells them, bluntly, “This isn’t f….. McDonald’s.” So he operates on his time, and he lives by it. “My life is run by a clock,” he says. “That’s why I do nothing in my personal life.”

Tonight, Chase grabs the coveted spot alongside Alfredo at the raw bar. Coveted because it’s out of the steaming kitchen, and, well, it’s Georgetown, and pretty women love raw oysters. “The scenery is a little distracting,” Garcia said earlier. But it’s slow at the raw bar tonight, and Chase gets to handle the operation and spend a little time with the guests.

There’s some debate back in the kitchen. Does Chase’s special, now complete with an amberjack fish from the gulf of Florida, have sprinkled pepper around the edges? “Yeah,” Garcia says. But they’re out of pepper. “There’s five pounds of pepper upstairs,” Sgro says. Garcia looks up—bad move. “Go get it,” Sgro tells him. Tyrone lets out a hardy laugh.

The orders continue, and everything is right on schedule. No send backs, no missed orders. Every time Sgro speaks to his cooks, he makes sure to be polite, and he thinks it has an effect. “When you’re working 18 hours a day, sometimes all you want to hear is please and thank you,” he says.

At 7:13 p.m., though, the kitchen hits its first snag. They might ‘86’ on trout, kitchen speak for run out. And a dishwasher has disappeared out the back door, apparently to go to the liquor store. Sgro tells Chase, who has made an appearance in the kitchen, to give him a stern talking.

The tickets keep flying. Thirty to 35 entrees every half hour. Sgro’s team is a well-oiled machine. He yells the order, they register it like a computer. No call backs, no “can you repeat that.” And Sgro remains calm, every so often sitting down and taking a drink out of his pitcher of water.

“That’s the way I like it,” he says. “If you hear me yelling, somebody’s f…… up.”

It’s 8:45 p.m., and there’s about another 50 people left to serve. “We’re looking good,” Sgro says. A party of eight’s ticket comes in, and goes out in 23 minutes.

At 9:07 p.m., “All right guys, here comes another f…… rush.” Two crab appetizers, four linguini, three crab entrees, one scallop. Moments later, Tyrone sends out greasy fried calamari for another order, and for the first time, Sgro isn’t pleased with the quality of the dish. “Hey I got you the paper towels, why don’t you use them? Let’s do it again, please.” Tyrone blames the frying oil, which should have been changed out the day before. But he doesn’t argue, and dumps another serving of calamari into the fryer. Five minutes later, he sends the plate to Sgro, and “much better,” Sgro says.

The last order comes at 10:07 p.m: crab appetizer, surf and turf medium rare. Sgro surveys the night’s damage: He jots down what he needs to order the next day. “I wasn’t going to order anymore salmon and then you got the run on,” he says. So he put down 10 more pounds of salmon. The cooks wipe down their stations, but they don’t have to sweep and mop the floor, unlike all the other restaurants Sgro has worked in. “They’re rock stars,” he says, somewhat in jest.

Upstairs, Alfredo estimates the raw bar served 500 oysters, about an average night. The final tally for diners is 230, plus about 20 at the bar.

Sgro takes the mound of tickets for the night off the upright nail and throws them in the trash. “Let’s go home,” he shots.
Chase, who left at 8:15 p.m., stayed at home the rest of the night instead of going out. He was dead-tired. Luckily for him, Sea Catch is closed on Sunday, so he can sleep in. That is, if the three kids upstairs let him.