Internship: Day 5, 10/17/05

My first day on the line, and it wasn’t bad, but I can’t imagine ever being able to do this by myself. They all assure me that I’ll get the hang of it, and that they felt the same way when they first started out—but still, it seems a daunting task and it wasn’t even that busy.

The nice part is that the lunch guys are all really nice and very supportive. Lunch seems to be a lot less stressful in general, so I think they’re able to enjoy it more. It’s also nice being upstairs where there’s windows and natural light instead of always being in the basement prep kitchen.

T gave me an overview of the dishes that the pantry side of the line is responsible for—all of the hot and cold appetizers as well as the daily soup. There are nine dishes total. I plated some salads, and helped out with some of the hot dishes. T gave me a copy of the prep list to look over—it’s an overwhelming amount of information since each dish has a number of ingredients, but hopefully it’ll start to stick soon.

After service, I did some standard prep work. I also made up a Green Goddess Dressing for a private party happening that night, which included avocado, eggs, lemon, lime, champagne vinegar, cream, extra virgin olive oil, shallots, and a variety of herbs.