weekly journal

The first couple of days are over and basically I'm pretty satisfied with my placement i know a hotel was my first choice but the Niblick turned out to be a great place to work in and i have no regrets about not taking the hotel placement at the country inn. I still have a lot of learning to do, mostly to do with the preparation of the dishes but i think i have the basics about how the kitchen works down and the people there are great teachers. I learned how to do a lot of prep-work that is essential to being ready when the rush comes. Prep work includes making the portions of various items like rice, beef, pasta. Additionally it also includes chopping up different vegetables that go into the sauces and making the sauces. I met the manager and owner who are both pretty down to earth guys and also some of the day staff. I look forward to learning more about the kitchen and eventually getting some experience outside of it Sometimes there is not much for me do do because im waiting for stuff to get cooked which takes some time but it isnt a peoblem because its a pretty busy kitchen so i usually just shadow agatha making the salads or use my free time to help the servers with the dishes in the back. Its been a great couple days so far, i cant't complain and i am curious to see what ill be doing on monday.

Friday February 23rd

On friday it was my second day goin to my co-op. Tania gave me a ride and i got there around 12:15. In the kitchen it was the same people working but today was way busier than my first day. I got to work helping with the orders making niblick nachos and then i began doing some prep work. I drained the sink with the chicken wings and followed to prep them with the flour and spices and then cook them about 80% to leave them ready for the orders. The next thing i did was more prep work for the chili "con queso" salsa and also the curry. Today i also met the owner who is a nice guy, and refused to have me call me sir so from now it its just jim. It was overall another good day and i look forward to going there tomorow.
Worked from 12:30pm-3:00pm

Thursday February 22nd

Today was my first day at my co-op placement which is at the Niblick restaurant/pub on eight line. I arrived at 12:30 and walked in the back were i spoke to Fernando who is from Ecuador and also speaks spanish. I had alredy previously met him during the interview. I also met a couple of the servers and two of the daytime employees in the back, Agatha and Tambi. I worked mostly with Tambi who is form Sri Lanka and runs the kitchen when Fernando is not there. He taught me a lot of the prep-work that is done during down-time were there are no orders coming in. It wasn't that busy so i ended up doing a lot of prep-work which i didnt mind at all. Also, i learned how to prepare the special of the day - ham sandwich with bacon and melted cheese with a side of either fries, and variations of soups as well as salads - that ended up selling out. More over i learned how to prepare the Niblick Nachos and also helped Tambi, who is pretty funny, finish the orders. Overall it was a great first day and i look forward to working in the kitchen as well as to eventually moving up to working at the bar. When i was leaving i ran into Mr. Kelly and discussed my placement for a couple minutes and he gave me some useful tips about the placement.
worked from 12:30-4:00

1st blog

Today i finished the passport to safety 101 test. I still don't know were my placement is going to be for sure.