First Week Down

...celebrated by a huge sigh of relief, and still being in my sleepwear at one in the afternoon. 

Oh, my word.  This might just be the most challenging job I have ever dreamed of, much less done.  Worth it, though?  Yes.  In spades.  No spoilers or leaks for the menu at my restaurant, but it wishes to become the premiere seafood destination for the Bay Area and earn a Michelin Star in the first year.  Do I think it can?  Yes...I do.  The quality we're talking about is breathtaking, and if some of my colleagues are an indication, the service should match. 

Biggest worry?  Memorizing.  Just got the tasting menu in last night.  An entire set menu on top of everything a la cart I was already working on...I'm beat.  It's a lot to learn, and I'm a bit of a perfectionist.  I want 100% on the test at the end of next week so badly I can almost taste it.  Even dreaming the menu last night; woke up explaining to an imaginary audience what vadouvan is!

Goal for now though is  to practice describing things so I don't catch or stutter trying to recall. Children make excellent guinea pigs--want to learn how to hold someone's attention?  Explain a dish in a way that makes a first grader want to try caviar.  I dare you. 

Wine Files

As previously mentioned, new job starts this week.  Am I nervous?  Yes, yes I am.  For someone who has never worked as waitstaff, the difference between a family-style restaurant and fine dining might not seem like a big deal, but trust me, this feels more then a little like training for years to be, say, a dentist, only to discover you're needed as a veterinarian.  Hopefully most of that is just nerves.

One thing I know is NOT nerves...I need to get a good grip on wine, and fast.  I never anticipated interviews for a fine-dining location starting with a written test(left those--and the heart-pumping anxiety they produce--back in college, right?).  Didn't do too badly(thank the foodie gods)...except for wine.  No, I do not know what grapes go into Bordeaux. I can't list five types of after-dinner drinks, either.

Fortunately, I was able to explain during the interview why, despite many years in food service, my knowledge of wine is limited to a degree that might make it difficult or impossible to get a job at a nice restaurant in Northern California(and thus, why they should give me a chance anyway on enthusiasm and willingness to learn):  I was raised in a very devout culture which does not drink tea, coffee, or alcohol.  As much as I respect the family values of this faith (if not necessarily their application), and am intensely proud of my heritage, I left the faith formally a year ago.

Since then, I have experimented with small amounts of alcohol in a way that would seem rather clinical to most people raised in a enthusiastic alcohol culture(like the stereotypical big Italian family).  I keep notes on what I drink, and rarely have more then one drink at a time, saving it for nice meals once or twice a week (well below the glass of wine per day some doctors now recommend for health reasons, as well as substantially below the threshold of what it would take to get drunk).  The results have been interesting: I am calmer and less anxious, it is an excellent way to insure a "time out" at dinner where we slow down and talk as a family, and it seems to help with my weight loss efforts, making it easier to stick to the low carb diet my doctor suggests and seemingly reducing my carb cravings.

On the whole, though, my experiments have mostly been with local small-brewery beer, and the occasional mixed drink including reasonable amounts of good-quality rum, vodka, or gin.  Not so much wine.  I've tried a couple of times...and had some decent results for very light, dry white wine, and sweet dessert wine, however, red wine is something that I really need a better understanding of. The ones I've chosen blindly smell like my grandmother's Concord grape vines left unpicked at the end of summer, when she'd shoo me away from the now over-sweet and borderline tangy fruit. I'm hoping that's because I'm doing it wrong, as having my nose spontaneously wrinkle at a job that not only requires me to be able to suggest pairings, but has required wine tastings as part of their staff education could pose a problem and imply that my new boss was wrong to give me a chance. 

So far, my efforts have consisted of putting a stop to the occasional blind wine trying based on a pretty bottle or sale.  Now, I'm slowly inching my way through the omnibus of Wine All-In-One For Dummies, the first in a small stack of books compliments of the public library.  Chapter 6: Pairing Food and Wine suggests that yeah, I've been doing it wrong.  I have a lot to learn, and hope that starting now will serve me well working and living outside of one of the most competitive food cities in America. 

Goodbye and Hello

Since 2009, I've run a blog called Great Grandmother's Kitchen.  It's been quite a learning process, and a wonderful place to show interest in historic food, and experimenting with food from scratch.  I've run tea party ideas, book reviews, and biographies.  And I'm going to miss it.

Over the past two years, though, my life has changed.  I see more beauty and hope in the world, despite problems.  I have been diagnosed with an illness that means that most traditional Western European food does not work for me anymore, especially the home-cooking style full of sugar and flour that I'm used to(while simultaneously having less time to cook).  I've moved to the SF Bay Area,  a food paradise with some of the best restaurants, farmer's markets, ethnic cuisine, and opportunities I have ever seen.  This week I also start a new leg of my professional career; fine dining. I will be starting out as a backwaiter (a sort of jr. waiter who keeps things going smooth behind the scenes while the frontwaiter primarily deals with the guests).  This is a huge opportunity, and I'm both excited and nervous...not to mention working my way through Wine for Dummies.

I've thought long and hard about these changes, what they mean and where I'm going.  While I could try to pull GG's Kitchen in a new direction, it makes more sense to have a fresh start.  I look forward to talking about new discoveries, the old food things I have time for around work (like the leaf lard sitting in my freezer waiting to be rendered), and my growth as I move into modern cuisine.  I hope you join me on the journey.