Kitchen Ballet

Chef and I did our ballet thing big time. God today was a day where I realized why I do what I do for a living. I am passionate about food yes, I do enjoy filling bellies and seeing smiles of contentment and all that. But my secret lies within the being "buried" being "weeded" all restaurant terms. Bear with me a moment as I do some stream of consciousness. There is a rhythm that happens working the line. A moment when orders pile up on the stainless steel ticket holder. A moment's hesitation can undo and unravel all played food plans. It will happen you don't know when or what time it will occur but the inevitability is as sure as the morning sun. A random monkey wrench tried to bring those well tuned gears to a halt. Not on my watch. I am a falcon, an eagle, a dogmatic son of bitch that when push comes to shove, that seamless line of tickets becomes my well ordered and behaved army of culinary delight. I scan those tickets with a penetrating eye.. Party of 10 with only eight items on it? I will question the waitress and know either way are there 3 people not eating? Otherwise a non accounted for well done burger can throw that monkey wrench into the system. This is what I live for.. This is why I do what I do. I love the pressure, I live for cranking out food at an unbelievable rate and know so well that every food product I put up had a part of myself in its creation. And if they do not appreciate the care, the thought, the madness that goes into creating every dish we put up then they will not be welcomed back again. I work for bosses that thank god know this and appreciate this.. No the customer is not always right and if a fuss is made, if a gauntlet is thrown down, you will be escorted out of here and asked to never return. We work too hard, too fast to not be appreciated. So yes we danced tonight and the smiles were aplenty.