Second weekend at Commander's Palace

Boy was it busy! Of course it was Easter this Sunday, and they served just under 800 for brunch. I got to try working on the souffle station. It was a good day to learn a new station because it was Sunday dinner service and there was only 250 for dinner. But I did learn that once you get behind in a service it is hard to catch up quickly. It's also important to prep enough so that you do not run short. On Saturday, I almost cut it close but I made what I was told too. You never know what each service is going to be like.

Work at Sucre is going well. I just got done making Easter Chocolates and now I am working on Mother's Day Chocolates. We have a collection of lemon, raspberry, and rose.

First weekend at Commander's Palace

Wow, am I tired. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I worked at Commander's Palace. The first two days I went in to work at 2 pm and then 2:30 pm on Sunday. Friday was my first full day. I wasn't sure what to expect. I started out prepping (make partial or whole recipes) for desserts. This prep work is not necessarily to be used for the night shift. During the time frame from 2pm to 6pm I have to do prep work and set up for that night. All weekend I did ice (plated desserts). I plated pie, cheese cake, starwberry short cake, chocolate bread pudding, and ice creams. After service everybody cleans up the kitchen from top to bottom. Their kitchen is really clean. I found out the approximate numbers they serve every day for brunch and dinner. On Saturday night we served over 450 guest. Sunday for brunch they served just over 700 guest, and dinner was just over 250 guest. I was suprised since I had never really given it much thought as to how many people are served by a busy restaurant. It is tough trying to switch my schedule from working from 7 am to 5 pm for 4 days and then the next three days working 2 pm to almost 2am.

People ask me what I think about working two jobs, and if I like the new job. To be honest, it is very tough and demanding. But I will adjust to it. There are many things to learn and I have lots of improving to do. But, hey, that is the whole point. So far, I have only worked 4 days at Commander's Palace and I'm still trying to grasp how it is done. Don't misunderstand, I can do the work, it's just getting used to a new environment and learning to do things their way.

New Adventure

Well, tonight I had my trail stage at Commander's Palace. Since this was the first time I've tried out for a job, I was excited, nervous, and scared. Of course, I worked in the pastry department. Since it was a Friday night, it was called a sink of swim shift for people doing a tryout for a position. I did a little prep work and then I helped plate desserts the rest of the night. At first I was a little slow, but as I got more comfortable I picked up the pace. Of course I will have a lot of learning to do and will continually work on increasing my speed. At the end of the evening the head Sous Chef pulled me aside to talk, and he told me the people I worked with during the evening liked me. He said he would hire me to work part time on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Each day will be approximately 11 hour shifts.