Well, today was disappointing.
I didn't feel very well last night and still didn't feel well this morning, but went to work with the hopes that I would feel better by the time I got there. That was not the case, I still did not feel well. I went to find David and he began to get me started on making another batch of kimchi, but when he asked how my weekend was and I answered with an unemphatic, "okay...", he inquired further and I admitted to having stomach issues. David asked me some questions concerning my symptoms and then asked if I thought that I would be able to work. After some internal deliberation, I told him that It would probably be best if I didn't work today, just to be on the safe side. He said that he completely agreed.
However, I asked if he thought it was okay for me to stick around and work on my HACCP plans because I had planned to meet with Jason at 11:00 anyways. Plus, then it wouldn't be a complete waste of a day. David said that that would be fine, so I got all my stuff together and waited in the bar area for Jason to get to work.
I was disappointed that I couldn't work today because I was ready to get back to work. Over my days off, I had purchased a new short-sleeved chef jacket, a new knife case, and new shoe inserts to help with my foot and back pain, and I wanted to try everything out! Now, I not only didn't feel well, but I also felt bad because I felt like I was making more work for everyone else. I know that it's best that I wasn't in the kitchen, but I still felt like I needed to do something to make the day easier for everyone.
Jason had a meeting to interview another guy at 11 and then I was supposed to meet with him after he was finished, so I had some time to kill before I could actually do anything. I noticed that Rob (the Director of Events) was in the dining room moving tables and chairs around. I told him that I wasn't going to be able to work in the kitchen today and asked if he needed any help. Rob told me that he was setting everything up for two large parties that we were hosting that night and that we needed to clear the tables of the silverware and dishes so that we could iron the tablecloths, so he could definitely use the help.
Rob then left briefly and turned the classical music up in the dining room. I thought, "Great. This will give us something to talk about." This past semester at Clemson, I had taken a music course where we studied everything from Gregorian chat to jazz, so we made small talk about the music. He told me that he loves to work to classical pieces and that his father used to play classical music for him to fall asleep to, so it's also a nostalgic thing for him. I asked Rob if he played any instruments and he said that he has a guitar that he strums about once every year. It was some very pleasant small talk while we cleared tables.
Rob, I must say, is the perfect for the Director of Events job. The Director of Events is the person that you talk to when you call to make reservations, the person that calls you back to confirm your reservations, and the person you talk to if you are planning an event at the restaurant. Because of this, the Director of Events should be charismatic and Rob is extremely charismatic. In the small percentage of calls that I witnessed, calls that could have lasted 5 minutes took 10 or even 15 minutes because these people wanted to talk to Rob and Rob wanted to talk to them.
After helping Rob with the table setups, I still had a good amount of time on my hands as Jason was running late, so I flipped through an issue of The Atlantan Magazine. I read some interesting articles, but was drawn to the back of the magazine where they give brief reviews for local restaurants because I saw a review for Restaurant Eugene...
"Executive Chef Linton Hopkins embraces local farmers, growers, and producers, and bases his restaurant's menu on the organic ingredients they harvest daily. Small plate favorites includes chicken livers with grits and pickled peaches; skillet greens with sorghum gastrique; and lamb shoulder with glazed turnips and mint. Tasting menus, Sunday supper and Cheese Eugene are also wildly popular"
That's right, they were talking about the pickled peaches that I made!
By this time, the guy Jason was supposed to interview had shown up and had begun taking his food test (a test they administer to everyone to gauge where you are), but Jason still hadn't shown up. I decided to walk around and take a good look at the dining area.
I had often wondered where the names for Restaurant Eugene and Holeman and Finch Public House came from and I found a plaque on the wall that gave me a lot of answers. The plaque was about Eugene Holeman, Chef Hopkins' grandfather.
Eugene Holeman grew up on a farm near Memphis, Tennessee and was a chemist by trade but later became the President of the Tennessee Food and Drug Administration. When Chef Hopkins was a child, he would often go with his grandfather to inspect farms. It was on these trips to farms that he taught his grandson that food comes from someone - a person. Eugene would cook everything at home and often used ingredients and produce from his own garden. Chef Hopkins has said that his grandfathers homemade peach ice cream on a hot summer day is is fondest memory. Eugene Hopkins also taught his grandson that cooking goes hand-in hand with bringing food to the table. His combination of cooking and graciousness is what shaped the vision for Restaurant Eugene. After reading the plaque, it is easy to see that Chef Hopkins' grandfather was not only the inspiration for the name of Restaurant Eugene, but also the inspiration for the restaurant as a whole, as well as a monumental influence on Chef Hopkins both as a person and as a chef.
At this point, I had come to the realization that when Jason does arrive for work, he won't have enough time to conduct his interview and sit down with me to talk about the things I need for my HACCP plans, so I reluctantly headed home for the day to try to get better before 10am tomorrow.
Till next time,
Ben
0 hours worked today, so still 343 hours left
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