Teamwork

During my externship, I noticed that we either had really good nights, ok nights, or let's just crawl into a hole nights. The night that we would have, would depend on how well we worked together on the line. A good solid team of people that get along with each other and all have a common goal will produce a great product.

Everyone in that kitchen wanted each and every person to succeed. If someone was in the weeds someone else would jump in, no questions asked. There was never a point where someone said "let them burn." It was a big family rather than individual employees all looking out for one another. About three months in to externship, 4 people in the kitchen were gone within 2 weeks. An overnight cook quit, one had to take a sudden leave of absence from an aneurysm, one was diagnosed with kidney failure, and a kid that had been in the kitchen for 2 days took out the trash and never came back. Everyone, of us was willing to pick up the extra slack, whether it was picking up shifts, working doubles, or split shifts we were willing to get it done. We even all took turns working the overnight shift and managed to put together a collection fund to help pay for medical expenses of the two guys that were sick.

One night, an unannounced group of 50 people came in at 12:30AM after a Red Sox game and the manager decided to sit them, even though we were technically closed, because the main host was known at the hotel. The kitchen was completely closed down, and these people were ordering everything even though my Sous Chef gave the FOH a strict list of available items. Tickets started flying in and pounding grill/fry and saute/hot apps. To top it all off, Steven Tyler walked in the door. It was a mess, stuff was flying out of the walk-in, stations were torn apart, no one knew what was going on, and servers started giving verbal orders instead of tickets. Through the mess, we pulled through and developed a system/flow and pulled through. When it was finally over, the kitchen looked as though a tornado just ripped through. Not one person even tried to just go home because they felt it was not their station. This was a night that I will remember.

These experiences are ones that I will remember and pass off to others along my career and express when I'm in the kitchen.