Top Chef I Am Not, but I Had Fun Trying

On Thursday, it was time to throw my next rotation into the mix. I was off to Chuck and Augie's, a restaurant located within the student union. I walked in, introduced myself to the staff, and then was taken back to meet the managers. Michelle and Michael were the managers on duty for the day. I got a quick run down from Michelle on how she opens the store and then was introduced to Derek, one of the chefs and my trainer for the day.

Derek gave me the grand tour of the storage areas, the kitchen, and the prep areas in the kitchen. Due to it being summer, and much slower than school year business, there wasn't much prep left to do for the day when I arrived. We prepped about a dozen portobello mushrooms, and then had some free time before the restaurant opened. Derek told me that during the summer months when things are slower, he gets to utilize his time to help create and develop menu items for future menu changes. He had wanted to experiment with different ingredients to put into a chicken rub. He threw all sorts of spices together to create the rub, and then we tested it by grilling the chicken up. And what better way to know how it turned out then to taste it. :) Derek decided that the rub met his standards (so much that he said I just witnessed the creation of one of their future specials), but he wanted to let the chicken get a little happier in the spices overnight and test the chicken again the next day.

Derek then presented me with the question of "Have you ever made mozzarella cheese?". I told him that I have witnessed the process of making cheese, but have never been an active part of making cheese. Well, it was my lucky day. I was going to not only see mozzarella cheese being made, but I was going to be able to actually help. Never in my life did I think I would be involved in the world of cheese making. Derek explained that they make their own fresh mozzarella for use in the restaurant, as it is a better quality and, surprisingly, more cost effective. I asked a few questions and then we got started. We went through all of the steps and then when it was time to shape the mozzarella, we made both logs and balls. Once the cheese had hardened up a bit, Derek let me taste the cheese to see the difference between fresh homemade and fresh store bought mozzarella. We also experimented with infusing flavors into the mozzarella cheese. We made a small batch of a sun-dried tomato herb mozzarella, and then one of the other cooks wanted to make a barbecue mozzarella. The sun-dried tomato herb was really good! Unfortunately, the barbecue tasted just like regular mozzarella. They decided that during the process, if they tried that flavor again that they would need to use more barbecue and less water in order to really incorporate that flavor profile.

During lunch, I helped Derek on outside expo. As orders came up, we made sure that they were correct and all parts of an order were together before the servers would run the meals to the guests. We had a nice lunch rush that day, so Derek had to hop around to the kitchen to help keep the flow going. I stood back and asked some questions and watched how everyone comes together to create the meals in a time effective manner. At the end of lunch, I helped clean up and then was free for the rest of my day.

I returned on Friday to Chuck and Augie's to see the front of house operations. I learned a little more from Michelle about some of her managerial duties, and then was introduced to Andrew who was working in the Blue Cow (an ice cream shop right next to Chuck and Augie's) that day. He gave me the quick run down on what he does to get the ice cream shop up and running for the day. I helped bring up some stock from the stockroom, and then helped pop popcorn. When my trainer for the restaurant arrived, Michelle pulled me out of the shop and introduced me to Brittany. She is one of the servers, and I was going to be her little minion for the day. I helped with some of the server prep tasks, and then we just waited for lunch to start. I followed her around and learned the ropes of what she does. I helped check on tables, run items to tables, and clear tables. At the end of Brittany's shift, I helped complete her clean up duties which consisted of sweeping the floors and making sure silverware was rolled. Before Brittany could leave, she had to close out her tickets for the day and make sure her funds she was accountable for that day proved to what the register tape said. Michelle let me stay till the end of my shift, and I got to see how she closes up for the day, including some of her paperwork she must fill out on the computer. So ends my time at Chuck and Augie's. It was a lot of fun!

:)ly