1981-1982 Summer: Store #64 and the Beaches of Galveston

     The summers of 1981 and 1982 was the first time I had worked at a formal job.  Before that I had always had my own business.  Lawn mowing, lemonade stands, selling seeds and greeting cards door to door.  These had all paid intermittently but it was time for me to get a "steady job".
I went down to the local restaurant row.  the Meadows was a suburb of Houston and this street had all the ususal suspects for that time.  Taco Bell, Wendy's, McDonald's, Dairy Queen, Schlotsky's and few Mexican places that only hired immigrants.  So I chose Wendy's.  They made everything fresh every morning and i would start at $7 an hour as a closer.  SI began to work the line, make burgers all day and clean the griddle and the fryers at night.  We would have contests to see who could work the fastest and neatest.  By the end of the summer I had become the lead closer and was making $8 an hour.  The first summer was a blur of 60 hour weeks and no days off.

  
     The second summer at Wendy's was where the memories are.  I started as the lead closer for the summer.  My friend Jon Vermillion had taken a job at Taco Bell as a closer as well.  And then there was Jasper.  He had a Camero.   We would work all week, staying up all night and sleeping all day.  then on the weekend five of us would climb into the car and head to the beaches of Galveston.  We would play on the beach until Monday morning and head back to work Monday night.  This went on for most of the summer.

   
     We were one of the lucky stores that summer (number 64) Dave had picked us as an award store.  We cleaned the walls, floors, polished the brass and got the store in top shape for his visit.  He came through with the regional managers, the district managers and the general managers. (Lots of managers) and shook all our hands, saying what a great job we were doing.

     The next summer I tried to change it up a bit.  I worked for a bit at both McDonald's and Burger King but they both fell short compared to the team spirit and freshness of products for the fast food vendors of restaurant row.

2011 July: Welcome Back NY

     My eight hour flight is over and We land in Albany on a hot Saturday evening.  My luggage made through albeit the security checks and the broken zippers.  It was a good thing I tied them with belts.  The TSA left me a note stating that my luggage had undergone a thorough search and all items had been returned.  Ah Big Brother at work.
    
     Anyway, Karin was there to pick me up and she was dressed to the nines.  WOW! I am a lucky man to have such an awesome wife.  She had made dinner eservations for us at a local restaurant call "The Ginger Man".  We pulled onto a shabby street in an older part of Albany and there it was smack dab in the middle of this seedy neighborhood.  Parking was ample in the rear and we had a great seat up front by a selection of prints of various American poets.  So far so good.  A cool rustic feel with a casual atmosphere was perfect as the heat began to dip with the evenings cool breeze.
   
      I started my meal off with a Single malt Scotch tasting, Talsiker, Craggenmore and Glenmorangie.  Each a healthy portiona an Scotsman would be proud of.  Too this we had a charcurterie platter with a selection of truffled pate, cured lox salmon and smoked trout along with a house blended cheese spread.  MMM!  For dinner I had the duck two ways.  Cooked MR breast with a crispy skin and confit underneath.  It came with delicious vegetables and fresh mashed potatoes.  The tequila fig sauce while a nice sauce, in no way went with anything on the plate so I left it.  The rest of the meal was superb.  Karin had the Swordfish, baked without any fats of gluten to fit into her allergy diet and it too was remarkable.  What a great way to be welcomed back to New York.

Now I have to move all my stuff from storage in Valatie to storage in Hyde Park until Aug 2, when I move into the dorms.  A busy vacation this will be.

2011 March - July: HMS Host Externship - Final Recap

HMS Host Seattle Airport  (SEA-TAC)

lost on the bus I arrive in Seattle  Preday 1

1 week      HMS MIT Induction / HR Training
     The first week in Seattle was focused on HMS Host culture and policies.  I needed to get my security badge and go through all the computer training.  I toured the airport and got a quick glimpse of all the locations and people I would be working with.  I learned about Union collective bargaining, the inventory tracking sytem used at SEA-TAC and so on.  All in all it was a mentally exhausting week.

SEA-TAC  My home for next 18 weeks

8 weeks     Anthony's
     Production Week - I worked all week in the prep kitchen, getting to know the staff, how the par levels work and I made every single prep item for the restaurant at least once.  So as many as three times depending on usage and prep size.  Some items should have had a bigger volume of prep but the space at the airport is a premium and there is no where near enough.  A knife log is used to distrubute knives each shift and they are locked up each night.    There just is not enough room to increase some pars. Airport security places a huge role in products available at the airport.

Prep kitchen  10 million dollars in sales a year.. prepped here

     Fish Bar Week - I worked the fish prep station this week, cutting around 500 pounds of fish a day.  The restaurant goes through it and often runs out.  I also worked the "Fish bar".  It serves fish tacos and fish and chips "to go"  there is a line all day long and sales usually run in the range of 5-8,000 dollars a day.  It is a simple menu but volume is high.  One or two cooks and one or two cashiers keep the food moving non-stop.

Fish bar line

     Fry / Oven Station Week - This week I worked Anthony's fry station and the ovens.  The fried fish was simple as I had an introduction to it the previous week.  And the oven dishes had been designed to be simple.  This station also includes the vegetable prep and cooking for the line.  With the huge volume of this station one must listen to the ticket calls and pay attention while rotating the fried items and keeping up with the chips so they stay fresh and crisp.
     This week was the first field trip and I went to Whidby Island.  I visited Penn Cove and Mukilteo Coffee Roasters.  I saw Grey whales in the sound when I crossed over on the Ferry.  It made for quite a day.

     Pantry and Set Station Week - This week was spent shucking oysters from the many inlets and coves along the Washington, Oregon and California coastline.  Fresh dungeness salads, salmon and halibut salads and prawn cocktails dominated the orders.  All extremely fresh and full of awesome vibrant color and flavor.
My favorite was the grapefruit, crab, avocado salad.  This station has its own ticket printer and works independantly of the other stations and lead.

Pantry Station

oyster bin

 Saute and Broiler Station Week - Pan fried oysters..Ohh so good.  Cajun shrimp and potatoes, Clams and mussels keep the saute cook busy along with seafood fettuccine, fresh ling cod, Petrale sole, rockfish tacos, and a Seattle version of Ciopinno to top it off.  The broiler cook maintains the grill cooking silver slamon, halibut, mahi mahi tacos, swordfish, ahi, king salmon, London broil, beef and salmon burgers.



Saute Line





Grill and set stations

      Lead Station Week - The lead runs the line and the set station if a set cook is not scheduled.  The lead calls the tickets, sets the flow of the kitchen and finishes all the plates before placing them in the window.  This key station is also responsible for assigning and tracking all the cooks breaks for the shifts.
This weeks fieldtrip: Pike Street Market, Pike Brewery.  The market is a key tourist point and full of food vendors of all sorts as well an many other local product vendors.  The Pike brewery is a very special place.  Family owned and operated, it produced over 15 styles of craft beer and has a massive following.  The owner is a key player in the modern craft beer movement and their food and pub is a sight to see.  One of a kind.  I had to go back on saturday to see it all.



slow time after lunch rush. the line only has a few tickets



Lead station at breakfast

     Sous Chef Shadow Week - This week I followed the am and pm sous chef.  This culmination allowed to see everything from opening to closing in this restaurant at all levels.  The sous chefs assist in breaks, locating product, keeping things running smoothly and many other detail orineted tasks.  This weeks final Fieldtrip: Click wholesalers, Chateau Saint Michelle, Redhook Brewery.  At Click we saw over 300 craft beers that they carry and were given several samples to try.  The Chateau St. Michelle tour was spectacular and I was able to get two bottles of fabulous wine as samples here.  Did you know that they make more Riesling than anyone else on the planet?  Redhook was a bonus tour with more samples.  Seattle is a city full of craft beer, food, wine and the people who appreciate them.

1 week      Wolfgang Puck Express




Wolfgang Puck's - Pizza build line



Wolfgang Express is focused on simple salads with clean distinct flavors and fresh pizzas cooked in a hearthfire oven.  The pizzas are formed, mad and cooked to order.  This is an task in inself as the customers at the airport are in quite a hurry and want those pizzas fast.  There are a few choices of fresh made to order sandwiches and soups as well.  The staff is busy all day keeping up with the prep and the orders.  This is a restaurant that has a great feel with the line right there for all to see with interaction with all the guests.



Chinois Salad





Wolfgang's Brick Oven



1 week      Chili's Too

Chilis Too has a condensed menu and was designed to allow for quick service within the Chilis menu brand.  This week was spent working the line, expiditing the line and running food to the customers.  I performed QA audits and reviewed all the Chilis training manuals for their managers.  They have a ton of systems in place to ensure quality food with minimally skilled kitchen staff.  They are huge on fresh product and food safety.  However the food was seasoned before it is cooked, during the cooking process and after it is cooked.  Everything was way to salty for my tastes.  The staff and manager here are a fantastic group of folks.

Main entrance for Chilis on D concourse

1 week      Seattle Taproom
The taproom menu is very pub oriented.  Brats, burgers, nachos, wings and the like.  I learned the line quickly as it was just one line unlike the other kitchens I had previously worked in.  On Friday it was so busy that we had a line all day long, I was the expo and busser for the servers, they even tipped me.  Inventory fell this week so I assisted Thor the assisstant manager in the inventory process.
Chopped aired this week. People would point at me and a bus driver actually got off his bus to come shake my hand.  Imagine what would have happened had I won the big money.  Anyway This was a good week and the first in the standard "bar matrix" menu that is used all over HMS Host establishments.  I worked with another group of great employees.  It is refreshing to see the constant positive attitudes under the extreme pressure of the high volume these restaurants do.  HMS has set a high standard here at Sea-Tac.

1 week      HMS Commissary

4am all week is a bit early but it is what it takes at the commissary to get all the product to the stores before the other traffic at the airport slows to a crawl.  They pick and pack and deliver with streamlined precision.  It was good however to see how the support role is so neccessary to keep the airport functioning.  Dan and his team have developed several sets of checks and balances to ensure all the stores get their needed items on tim.  I also was able to go on another Field trip to the FSA wharehouse in Kent, one of their biggest.  It was super new and modernized with regards to how the store and pick items and control the inventory.  I wanted to take photos, but Homeland Security deems food wharehouses of this nature a protected source in the food chain of our country.

Cages waiting to be filled with orders for the next day

By the end of the day these will be full of sandwiches, parfaits and fruit for the Starbucks

1 week      Burger King

The Staff was energetic and most did their best to make great burgers.  They worked well as a team and had smiles all day long.  Having worked at BK when I was in high school I would have to say this was not a new experience for me.  Some of the technology had changed bu the whopper was still the same.  this store is one of just three I believe that has an electric broiler.  Pretty amazing technology.
Not much else that I can say here except that I had an angry whopper and some onion rings with zesty sauce.

Familiar Store Front

1 week      The Great American Bagel Company
Fresh Bagels everyday, made locally with top end ingredients ( I toured the factory), super helpful employees building custom bagel sandwiches.  Super fun, super busy and sales up to $10,000 a day and I have to say what a great learning experience.  And Once again another group of smiling employees ready to help the customer.  Many of the ladies that work here have been with the company for twenty or thirty years.  that speaks volumes on how HMS treats its associates!
Try the Bagel Dog!
http://vagabondchef.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-june-3-bagels-and-buses.html

Customized Bagels for the masses

1 week      Dish D'Lish
Created by a local celebrity chef, this concept focuses on boutique style food, panini's and shaken flavored teas.  Everyday prep of the sandwiches, dressings, salads and sauces is a feat that is hard to keep up with demand.  The space is so limited in this prep kitchen compared to Anthony's.  I watched as we sold the food as fast as it was prepared.  The goal was to get ahead.  The airport has such a huge volume.  That even this "slow" store has huge volume.  Great concept but the creator is not very flexible in a company that is very flexible when it comes to customer demands and profitability.  I tried all the panini's and my favorite two were Kathy's Favorite (brie, chicken and apple chutney on focacchia) and the pesto (turkey, salami, pesto and spicy peppers on sourdough).  THe team here is usually larger than many of the other stores as more customer service is required by the design of the store.  These ladies and gents have such a positive attitude and made me feel like part of the team.  This company just keeps getting better and better.  In the prep kitchen I was surprised at the freshness of the ingredients and the local nature of many of the products.

Kathy Casey's Concept Eatery

1 week      Starbuck's Coffee
As an extern with host I have a swipe card for food and beverages.  I have become a Starbucks daily addict.(really like 3 or 4 times)  Coffee has become a part of my blood and the caffeine a part of my soul.  I begin and end my day with a venti iced shot in the dark.( now a quad espresso machiato with 2 shots classic)  For more of the story on this week, check out the Starbucks specific blog.
My day as the Starbucks barista was the most mentally challenging position.  It was like learning a whole new language on the cups.

North Satellite Starbucks

Pre security Starbucks

http://vagabondchef.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-june-solstice-at-starbucks.html

1 week     Dungeness Menu Prep - Anthony's FOH
This week ended getting changed up a bit.  I spent the first few days preparing mise en place for the Dungeness Bay Seafood House menu rollout for one of the Corporate chefs.  Andy the Sous Chef and Geoff the Executive chef of Anthony;s would finish the food on thursday presentation but I was in charge of getting everything ready.  All the base sauces, and other ingredients for 19 menu items.  That was not only fun but it was a compliment that they choose me to do this important task.  The rest of the week I worked in the front of the house at Anthony's with Greg and learned to expedite the line for the food runners.  With the lead on the hot side and the expo on the FOH side.  The food has a 99.9% accuracy rate that keeps the service flowing smoothly and the customers happy.

Recipes for Dungeness Bay Seafood House

1 week      Anthony's - Final Exam Week
For my final challenge I was assigned a dinner that I had to prepare for 16 of the managers and some special guests.  I had to use only items that were in stock at the airport and commissary as part of HMS Hosts food inventory. I also had to use at least one ingredient from each concept that I worked at.  Originally the assignment was for a four course menu but as always That was not enough, I served a seven course menu.  It was a hit.  Everyone loved it and at the end I was given an award and something extra to help with school.
WOW!! I never stop getting overwhelmed with generosity and postive energy.  This externship has truly been a blessing.
http://vagabondchef.blogspot.com/2011/07/change-in-air.html

Amuse Bouche

The last thursday night they took me out to dinner at a local Prme steak house on the water. I had so been wanting a steak dinner over the last four and a half months and Pat the GM delivered it with style.  I had the 36oz Prime Portehouse.  Grilled medium rare (perfect) with a crunchy char on the outside.  It was the best steak I have ever had.  Another manager did not finish here ribeye so I had too. I thought it was going to be fatty but it too was super.  I had a shot of Laphroig Single Malt Scotch for dessert and it was the perfect meal.  They presented me with a photoalbum that they had been secretly making and cards that all the store managers and assistant managers had signed.  Bob als presented with a gift from Dish D'lish, cookbooks, treats and snacks for the flight home. WOW!! I can't wait to come back and work with this team.  I hope Seattle needs me when I graduate!

Freshens juice bar on the end of the C Concourse.

2011 July: Change is in the Air





 

Mount Rainier viewed from Sea-Tac.

  

   Four and half months and I just now was able to see Mount Rainier.  It is absolutely amazing.  So I went to the 8th floor of the parking garage at the airport and got some great shots.

   The last week of my externship is finally here.  I have passed through the trials of the airport and its high volumes of service.  Anthony's Fish House, Anthony's Fish Bar, Wolfgang Puck Express, Dish D'lish, Chilis, Seattle Taproom, Great American Bagel Company, Starbucks, Commissary and Burger King, plus working on menu and recipe development for two new concepts, "The 12th Man" and Dungeness Bay Seafood House. 

Anthony's Seafood House

Anthony's Fish Bar

Wolfgang Puck Express - Brick oven Pizza

Starbucks at Sea-Tac

  For my final week I have to prepare a 4 course meal for sixteen people.  I have chosen to prepare a 7 course menu.  I have to use at least one ingredient from each location that I worked at and I can only use ingredients that are in stock within the HMS Host inventory at the airport and commissary.

Here is the menu for my final exam dinner.

d Caprese ala Shawnc

Chevre ~ Basil _{Wolfgang Pucks}

Cherry Tomato _Anthony’s

Queso Fresco _{Casa Agave}

Grapes  _Commissary

Horse Haven Sauvignon Blanc

d Housemade Loxc

Copper River Salmon _Anthony’s

Red Onion _{Great American Bagel}

Cucumber _Chili’s

Le’cole Chardonnay

dJune Harvest Saladc

Parmesan ~ Thick Cut Bacon ~ Dried Cherries _Chili’s

                                                  Pumpkin Seeds _Commissary

Olive Oil _{Wolfganf Pucks}

Arugula _{Dish D’Lish}

Avocado _Anthony’s

Jicama _{Casa Agave}

 

dCream of Carrot Ginger Shooterc

Carrot ~ Mushroom _Taproom
Bagel _{Great American Bagel}

Ginger _Anthony’s

Pike Place Wit

 

dMinted Washington Sorbetc

Cold Creek Riesling _{Washington Wine Bar}

Mint _Anthony’s

d Grilled Halibut ala Grequec

Smoked Salt ~ Potato ~ Red Pepper _Anthony’s

Whole Bean Coffee ~ Milk _Starbucks

Halibut ~ Clam ~ Mussel _Anthony’s

Tomato _{Burger King}

Leek _{Wolfgang Pucks}

Dunham 3 Legged Red

dHazelnut French Silk Pie / Salted Toffeec

Hazelnut ~ Chocolate ~ Egg ~ Butter ~ Cream _Anthony’s

Salt ~ Sugar ~ Butter _{Anthony’s & Starbucks}

Coffee _Anthony’s

Cloudline Pinot Noir

 

d Table Breads c

Pizza Dough _{Wolfgang Pucks}

Bagel _{Great American Bagel}

Sourdough _Anthony’s

Chef Shawn Dickensheets ~ Wed July 6, 2011