The past couple weeks have been busy for me, as I have been job-hunting relentlessly in the bay area. After a handful of interviews and a few stages, I decided to take job at a new restaurant in downtown San Francisco called Zinnia. They just opened a few months ago, and business is slowly picking up. The food is fantastic, the chef is a really nice guy, and all of the cooks are a lot of fun to work with. Here's the website where you'll find the menu if you're interested in checking it out:
http://www.zinniasf.com/
I took a position there as a morning prep cook. Recently I've become interested in being a prep cook for at least a short period of time so I can concentrate on learning the finer aspects of braising, stocks, receiving, and eventually charcuterie. The only catch is that I have to be at work very early for me, by 8:30 when deliveries start coming in. And the commute to Zinnia from Martinez is pretty long, so I have to get up at 6:30! Suprisingly I've been fine for my first few days, and I'm getting used to it.
Today, with the agreement of Chef Sean, I started a food literature library for the staff at Zinnia. It's an idea I have been toying around with for quite some time. Basically, anyone can borrow from the library at will, as long as he/she contributes at least one food-related book to the collection. When I become a chef some day, I definitely want to promote reading industry-related books to my staff, and I think this is a great way to do it. Good food writing can be hard to find, and it's not cheap. Also, I currently have a 1.5 hour commute to work on the bus and BART, so I will probably benefit the most from the library if the idea catches on and the collection grows like I expect it to.
-Ben
Thursday, January 15, 2009
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