The new restaurant is straightening out problems, training cooks, stocking up on tableware and supplies, and having “mock dinners” (we invite a sympathetic and patient audience and practice serving and feeding them. They give us feedback and we give them a free meal). In other words, we’re not open and aren’t sure when we will be, but the process is underway. So it’s back to temping for me. But whether I’m earning a living as a server or as an office temp, it’s HUGELY better than being a hostess at The Grillroom.
On Wednesday and Thursday this week, the chef will oversee “tastings” for the servers which means the cooks prepare all the dishes for the servers to see and sample. Yes, it’s fun because the food is great and it’s a free meal, but it’s also real work because we’re responsible for memorizing every spice in every sauce, every ingredient added to every dish and every flavor on every plate. Remember, this is an upscale Indian restaurant that, in part, targets people who know nothing about Indian food, so we really have to be cultural guides. We have to be able to tell customers exactly what each dish tastes like (flavor, heat, spiciness, moisture, etc.), how big the serving is, how they’re supposed to eat it (if that’s not apparent), what possible allergens are in it, etc. Eventually we’ll have to be able to tell them which wine(s) go with each dish too, but fortunately we don’t have to know that yet. In contrast, our Indian customers don’t need any of this information and thank god for them.
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