Some good advice from a friend
“I just looked at the menu and read you blog. REALLY, your worried about the fact that they dont serve you free coffee, that there is discipline and no talking inthe kitchen and that they are focused on perfection and that the food is too precise, ITS FINE DINING, THATS WHY ITS CALLED FUCKING FINE DINING!!!!!! Your not staging in a diner or anywhere remotly rustic. The techniques you will learn will be useful to you at any level just stick with it, excell and stop being snobby and picky. I saw at least five items on the menu that i bet you have never worked with or seen that fresh. LEARN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
He’s absolutely right. I feel like such an ass for writing what I did. I just expected something else. One thing that people have pointed out to me is that I often visualize something that I want and then when I go out to find it I have a lot of trouble finding it because of my pre-conceived idea of it. I do it with clothes all the time. I’ll imagine the coolest pair of boots that I want, but then not be able to find them because none of the boots out there will be quite what I have in my head. Sometimes if I search hard enough, long enough I can find what I’m looking for. Which leads to another lesson, I can’t settle for something that I’m not really stoked on, it doesn’t work for me. I’m just a little cry baby. I’m going to keep working as hard as I can at this stage, until it is over.
I was going to say, “what happened to being in the moment and not being judgemental?”
I mean, you have only been there for a couple of days. They always give shit jobs to stages in the first couple of days just to see what they are made of. And the coffee comment is bullshit if you don’t even drink coffee anyways. I only ever drink water at work, and don’t expect a drink at the end of the night.
This is about learning, but the thing is if the place doesn’t hold the values that you agree with (i.e. wasting time & product) then that is something that you have learned. Whether you agree with it or not, it just shows you what you want and don’t want when you are crazy enough to open your own place.
A16 is very cool, but very rustic. What are the values that you want to uphold when you open your own place? Do you want to work with cool ingredients and techniques, fine dining or casual, or play around with molecular gastronomy, or do the local organic thing? Find restaurants that hold the values that you agree with, and then stage there. Gary Danko might be more up your alley next time. (I believe that a guy I used to work with is the Exec sous there now.)
But as Brian says, quit your whining and get on with it. Ask questions. Stop confusing what you need with what you want.
Wow. Harsh stuff but you are showing what you are made of in acknowledging and accepting the harshness of it and taking something back from it. I’m proud of you!!!!
me too
hi, if you don’t like it now you’re not going to like it in 2 weeks. i know what i mean….i was in the same situation. you know if you like after 5 minutes in the kitchen..
go see something else..
good luck
x
Concerning Expectations
If you can’t find what you’re looking for, why not make it yourself?
Concerning One of the Best Restaurants in America
Pardon my French, but shut up and learn.
Colleen! How did you know it was Bryan? I was trying to protect his identity because I posted it from facebook without asking hahahah. I’m trying my best out here, thanks for your support.
You gave him away in another one of your posts. But at the same time, I know that there are only a few people in your life that would talk to you that way. He is one of them. Educated guess.
Sometimes we need a kick in the ass, and sometimes we need to be out of our comfort zone and expectations. That is how we learn.
P.S. Marc-Andre told me once how he went and staged in a famous restaurant in Australia, and all he was allowed to do for the entire month was chop parsley. You can bet that he kept his eyes and ears open the entire time though!
Swallow your pride and steal something really dope on the way out