Hi Family. Well, this is my first blog entry, and it's an important one. As all of you know, I have been offered a job at The Mill on the River. I was back and forth between the Mill and NJ three times in nine days. The last time was Friday the 10th. I got there at 11AM, a full hour before their current "chef" arrived (even though that's when I was asked to be there). I spent the time meeting the team and inspecting every inch of the kitchen, trying to judge different aspects such as cleanliness, organization, equipment and food products in house. Some things were to my liking, but more things were not. There was a cook smoking in the kitchen, moldy food in the walk-in, and some kind of brown goo on a can in dry storage.
I spent most of lunch service prepping the 2 items I was creating for the owner and three other people at 5PM. The served 80 people at lunch and it seemed to go OK. At 2, most of the team left the kitchen and were due to return at 4. During the break I finished preparing my dishes and had lunch w/ the "chef". I asked him specific questions about the restaurant and some red flags popped up. The main red flag was the front of house manager, Amanda. She started working there as a hostess at 19 and now at 24 she runs everything. Which is ridiculous. She honestly believes that her restaurant is as good as they come. The "chef" pointed to a napkin and said if she told the owner it was white, he would believe her. At the end of the night, I heard her speaking to the owner about a new menu item and how she didn't like the sauce the "chef" had chosen. She said the owner shouldn't worry about it because she would make sure that the "chef" changed the sauce to one she would have chosen and have the cooks learn it before service the next day. Unacceptable to me. Later I caught a glimpse of why the owner might trust her so much when she bent over to have him sign some papers and made sure he could see down her blouse.
When I plated both of my courses, I felt very happy with what I had done, and I was ready to see what dinner was like. I met the rest of the team and asked about the specials. They were a joke. Apparently the owner wants one soup, three appetizers and five entrees every day. Where I come from, that's not a list of specials, it's a small menu. When I inquired of several people from the "chef" to the owner, to other cooks as to how often they need the change, I was given a range of answers from weekly to daily. What?? Service was a disaster. They did 175 covers from 6 to 9. It was chaos with servers just yelling items and table numbers at anytime, in any order. Cooks were walking off line while a large number of tables were being fired to "catch a breath", and they ran out of several items that were on the menu.
When service was over, I said my goodbye's and the owner wanted to speak with me. He told me that should I take the job, every dish to leave the kitchen should have my name on it, and I should be happy with it, and I agree, that's how it should be. However, when I have a team that has been in place for a decade and they still don't know enough to sweat onions and garlic properly before adding mussels, I doubt I will be able to fix that. And that's just a small detail to work out when the team is supposed to handle a Saturday w/ 250 covers and a banquet of 200 coming off the same line. And that's not rare.
Nora and I spent Friday through Sunday looking at every possible angle trying to squeeze a square peg into a round hole. Yes, the money is good, and the benefits were supposed to be good, but after a week, the owner was still unable to get the info to us. But most importantly, the location was perfect. For that reason alone, I wanted this to work. I want my girls and I to live near all of you. I want to watch the "Mission Impossible" trilogy w/Ann and Frank (in the summer). I want to watch both of Chad B's copies of "Ski Patrol" w/ him and Martha (in the winter). I want Maggie to spend so much time w/ Maureen that she has to like her. And most of all, I want Kathy's (your mom's) dream of a five year old Maggie living in and loving CT to come true. So, thank you for all of you prayers and please keep them coming, because eventually, I know it will happen. We are just so sorry it couldn't happen now.
Love,
Sean
I spent most of lunch service prepping the 2 items I was creating for the owner and three other people at 5PM. The served 80 people at lunch and it seemed to go OK. At 2, most of the team left the kitchen and were due to return at 4. During the break I finished preparing my dishes and had lunch w/ the "chef". I asked him specific questions about the restaurant and some red flags popped up. The main red flag was the front of house manager, Amanda. She started working there as a hostess at 19 and now at 24 she runs everything. Which is ridiculous. She honestly believes that her restaurant is as good as they come. The "chef" pointed to a napkin and said if she told the owner it was white, he would believe her. At the end of the night, I heard her speaking to the owner about a new menu item and how she didn't like the sauce the "chef" had chosen. She said the owner shouldn't worry about it because she would make sure that the "chef" changed the sauce to one she would have chosen and have the cooks learn it before service the next day. Unacceptable to me. Later I caught a glimpse of why the owner might trust her so much when she bent over to have him sign some papers and made sure he could see down her blouse.
When I plated both of my courses, I felt very happy with what I had done, and I was ready to see what dinner was like. I met the rest of the team and asked about the specials. They were a joke. Apparently the owner wants one soup, three appetizers and five entrees every day. Where I come from, that's not a list of specials, it's a small menu. When I inquired of several people from the "chef" to the owner, to other cooks as to how often they need the change, I was given a range of answers from weekly to daily. What?? Service was a disaster. They did 175 covers from 6 to 9. It was chaos with servers just yelling items and table numbers at anytime, in any order. Cooks were walking off line while a large number of tables were being fired to "catch a breath", and they ran out of several items that were on the menu.
When service was over, I said my goodbye's and the owner wanted to speak with me. He told me that should I take the job, every dish to leave the kitchen should have my name on it, and I should be happy with it, and I agree, that's how it should be. However, when I have a team that has been in place for a decade and they still don't know enough to sweat onions and garlic properly before adding mussels, I doubt I will be able to fix that. And that's just a small detail to work out when the team is supposed to handle a Saturday w/ 250 covers and a banquet of 200 coming off the same line. And that's not rare.
Nora and I spent Friday through Sunday looking at every possible angle trying to squeeze a square peg into a round hole. Yes, the money is good, and the benefits were supposed to be good, but after a week, the owner was still unable to get the info to us. But most importantly, the location was perfect. For that reason alone, I wanted this to work. I want my girls and I to live near all of you. I want to watch the "Mission Impossible" trilogy w/Ann and Frank (in the summer). I want to watch both of Chad B's copies of "Ski Patrol" w/ him and Martha (in the winter). I want Maggie to spend so much time w/ Maureen that she has to like her. And most of all, I want Kathy's (your mom's) dream of a five year old Maggie living in and loving CT to come true. So, thank you for all of you prayers and please keep them coming, because eventually, I know it will happen. We are just so sorry it couldn't happen now.
Love,
Sean
5 comments:
Hi Sean,
You don't need to make apologies! Sounds like a tough decision but it also sounds like it's a real nightmare in there and you definitely made the right call. Some people might even tell you that this happened for a reason. Who knows. When the right fit comes along, we'll be here as will our good friend Ethan Hunt - although with all of the realistic masks and voice disguising technology in that movie it's hard to tell when it's really Tom Cruise and when it's somebody else - but we'll be here anyway.
You'll look back on this decision in a few months and think you really dodged bullet. Hang in there.
Call it great practice! You've now been able to work thru so many questions once, and will be more ready next time. And merciful in a way that the decision was SO clear.
We'll be here waiting when it does happen!!
(What a gross place, btw! GTK!)
As long as you don't wait until Maggie is five..
but, yes, I agree that you've both made the right decision here. And the "practice" shot will serve you well in the future.
No more "We're Sorry" signs(how cute was that?), just a "See you as sooon as we can!" will do the trick.
All my love and prayers.
Sean,
You've just reaffirmed what I already knew...that you are the best there is for my sister and your daughter. The right thing will come along and you'll know it then. I love you very much and will continue praying for a way to get you three here finally. Give Maggie kisses from me whether she wants them or not!!
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