Getting the hang of it

Today was my third day at Primo, and I'm starting to feel a little less anxious and a little more comfortable. Today I worked the morning shift with Chef Kelly starting at 9:00. I was exhausted after working the afternoon-night shift the past two days, mostly because I haven't been working for the past few weeks, but today after work I feel completely energized...and hungry.

I'm still in the mouth-watering phase of wanting to eat every plate I see at the pass. I feel like after a while working at a restaurant, I get desensitized from the food. Even though everything still tastes great, working with the food day after day after day makes you crave it less and less. I'm pretty sure I won't even approach that phenomenon during my two weeks at Primo. Lily and I are going to eat at the bar in a few minutes.

I'm very impressed with how thoroughly Primo is cleaned on a nightly basis. Breaking down and cleaning up after service is a two hour process, as the whole line gets thoroughly scrubbed every night, including all stovetop burners, grill grates, and hoods. Chef likes it spotless when she comes in every morning, rightfully so.

Lily is staying busy by helping out in the gardens. Yesterday she harvested two bus tubs of favas (of which I ended up shelling most) and lots of garlic, which gets hung under the porch to cure for a few weeks. Almost all garlic you buy at the grocery store or use at a restaurant is cured, but yesterday we peeled some of the straggly bulbs that Lily helped harvest right away, before curing. Chef explained that the straggly stuff would go moldy if it cured, so it's best used right away. Fresh garlic has a wonderful aroma, and to me it tastes much better than the cured stuff. But then again, I haven't tasted Primo's cured garlic yet.

So far I've been doing a lot of prep work and then I've been observing and shadowing during service. Hopefully towards the end of my stage I'll get to work a station or two on the line for a couple nights. The system of fire sequence they have is very tight and logical, which is just one reason why I really want to work my way onto the line. So far Chef Kelly has been very accommodating with everything I've wanted to do in the kitchen, but we'll see. First I have to remember everyone's names!

-Wax