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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
My favorite was the grapefruit, crab, avocado salad. This station has its own ticket printer and works independantly of the other stations and lead.
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| Pantry Station |
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| 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.
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| Saute Line |
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| 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.
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| slow time after lunch rush. the line only has a few tickets |
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| 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
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| 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.
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| Chinois Salad |
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| 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.
1 week Seattle Taproom |
| Main entrance for Chilis on D concourse |
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.
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| Cages waiting to be filled with orders for the next day |
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| 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.
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| 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
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| North Satellite Starbucks |
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| Pre security Starbucks |
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.
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| 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
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| Amuse Bouche |
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| Freshens juice bar on the end of the C Concourse. |
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