Working the Plate

My externship was at Quaker Ridge Golf Course in Scarsdale, New York. My chef Raymond Hollanda is a very, very patient man, he pretty much has the perfect demeanor for a chef. One day, a couple weeks into the externship we were in the middle of a rush and they needed a fruit platter; Raymond asked me to plate one, after getting the fruits, knife, and cutting board, I started hacking off the skin and clearly did not know the proper way to de-skin a honeydew, cantaloupe, or the pineapple, we did not have any classes at CIA that taught us how to properly break down whole fruits, so I did what I thought was right... next ting I knew Chef came over during the middle of service and all the busyness and called over Alex. He showed Alex and I how to properly break down the fruits and how to place them on the platters. Raymond did not yell, he was not angry, he was just happy to teach us something to us that we needed improving on, he showed us how to curve your wrist and contour it to the different fruits and stayed with us until we got the hang of it, he was not glaring or impatient waiting on us to get it correct, he helped us until we had the finished product. From then on, we were assigned to do all of the fruit platters when asked. The Sous Chef, at Quaker Ridge, Chris is an Italian man who is sort of impatient but full of life. Chris is always looking for the next project to complete and the next task to jump into. He did not beat around the bush, what ever is on his mind; he will let you know it without hesitation. Chris and Raymond make the perfect team. I feel I was lucky to find a very welcoming, informant, externship. Chris and Raymond have pretty much mastered how to teach and treat people in the hellish kitchen settings.