:: Life on Planet Dan-E ::

:: Olympics ::

I didn't really pay much attention to the Olympics beyond men's basketball, baseball, and women's beach volleyball and softball.

But I'd flip it on every now and then and I would occasionally see an event where my first thought is "this is considered a sport?"

Handball? "Race Walk?" Trampoline? Last time I checked, trampoline is something drunk people jumped on during a backyard BBQ. At this rate, beer pong should be a "sport" by 2016.

Labels: sports, unintentional comedy, wtf

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 12:02 AM [+] :: | 0 comments
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:: Nothing to Worry About ::

I've lived through some disasters and have been lucky enough to live through all of them. I grew up Southern California, which is earthquake country. Luckily, my city was out of any major quake areas so even the big ones that caused major damage in other cities spared my family and me from any harm.

Naturally, I move from earthquake country to hurricane country since life without the possibility of a natural disaster would just be too boring. I lived through Charley and Francis. Wilma went over fairly close to South Beach but I lived to write about it. I survived a few earthquakes, a few hurricanes, and this so the prospect of Fay was of little concern to me.

When I saw it bearing down on last week and saw it was still a tropical storm, it didn't seem like a big deal. The GM told us Saturday during pre-shift about possible precautions the company would take if Fay were to become a real threat. But he's a native, 3rd generation, Cuban Miamian and he's lived through worse. As he said this I sensed very little consternation in his voice, as if he could tell that it wouldn't be a big deal. Just to be sure I kept an eye on the news. Sure enough, the next night at work, the GM says to us that as of 4:30 Saturday, Miami was out of the "Cone of Error." This must have been common knowledge as we served over 200 people that night.

Work tonight was slow. It was mostly tourists who were determined not to let a non-hurricane deter them from enjoying their vacation. The Steakhouse has large windows on one side so we're able to see the rain falling and the wind whipping. But honestly, it didn't look any different from any other major rainstorm I've seen in my almost five years here.

One bad thing about working: I was invited to a Hurricane Party but declined since I had to work. No big deal. I'm sure another will be along soon.

Image courtesy of weatherunderground.com

Labels: disasters, earthquake, hurricane

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 11:24 AM [+] :: | 0 comments
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:: Training Day(s) ::

I started my new job at The Steakhouse last Monday. I arrive and greet the Floor Manager. He hands me some paperwork I need to fill out, after which I meet some of my new co-workers. Everyone seems laid-back yet work very efficiently in setting up the restaurant. Just before we open, the FM discusses my training schedule. He offers me a day off on Thursday but I tell him I prefer to just work six days straight (because I'm crazy). No problem. My first three days are on the floor shadowing a waiter. Thursday, I'll be in the kitchen behind the line (Really? Sweet.), I'll be working the bar Friday night, and Saturday.. if I make that that far.. will be my last night and I'll be taking tables.

The first night is pretty easy. It's busy for the Monday but nothing too crazy. I follow my trainer, who's working a party of 27 people. We go over our opening spiel, procedures, service methods, and he shows me how to work the computer. Other than being a family-style restaurant, it's not too different from Swank since it's also semi-fine dining.

The party is easy and he asks me to see if I could sell any after dinner drinks. I think I raised my stock when I sold eighteen shots of Lemoncello at $10 each. This was in addiction to the three extra bottles of wine I sold during the meal.

Tuesday and Wednesday is more floor training though it's with a rather intense guy who's been working there for about five years. He's one of the head waiters so he's accustomed to taking charge and does so with a very straightforward manner. His demeanor is a very straightforward, no bullshit, type and I'll learn later that he's like that even when he's making fun of his co-workers. Otherwise, training is more of the same, and I break only one glass.

Thursday was spent in the kitchen learning the menu. I've spent a few training days in a kitchen but this was the first time I had to go behind the line and actually help cook. One of the line cooks was a former co-worker from Seafood Grille (when asked how we knew each other, I joked we met in prison and were cellmates) and I'd be helping him out in the grill and broiler section.

Now, I love cooking so I was really looking forward to this. The first hour was spent observing the grill, the pasta section, and the sauté area manned by the Head Chef (who does look like he might have been in prison). Then I started getting my hands dirty (um, so to speak) with actual cooking. Nothing too complicated at first but it got busy, so I ended up helped with grilling, slicing and even plating.

The last two hours I went from being a trainee to a cook. (Pete was impressed that I picked up the menu so quickly, to which I reply, "I know what I'm doing. I watch Food Network.") And let me tell you, it was a blast. It's one thing to cook on a stove in my tiny kitchen but to work the line during a rush, keeping track of everything, and properly plating the dishes (as opposed throwing it on a plastic dish like I do at home) is a whole different world and it was pretty cool. Especially since their knives are much better than mine.

Once it slowed, Pete took a break and left to man the grill while he went on a smoke break. I chatted with the Head Chef, asking many questions, which he answered patiently and thoroughly. As thanks for helping them out, he let me cook up the lamb dish for myself. It was a half rack of Australian Lamb with a fennel-orange marmalade, pine nut crusted goat cheese, and a mint-balsamic reduction. It was outstanding. I think the Chef wanted to hire me as a cook right there.

Friday was spent training behind the bar. Again, the first hour was just learning the procedures, the computer, and some of the house specialty drinks. It was relatively slow and the bar guys knew me somewhat by now so after a while they mostly left me alone at the service bar while they tended to the bar customers. I hadn't bartended in a few months but most of it came back pretty quickly. Luckily, I didn't have any orders for odd drinks (like say, a Bahama Mama or a Red-Headed Slut) even though I had my recipe book just in case. And I didn't break any glasses either (that the floor was lined with rubber mats helped).

Saturday would be my last night training and I had to pass the menu test. It's a relatively easy menu and seeing how the food was prepped, cooked, and plated was huge so I passed easily. I ran a small station on my own and did okay considering my first night started off with two high-maintenance, pain-in-the ass tables. My final test would be at the end of the night. The GM sat at one of the tables outside and I helped set up his table. Once that was done, he told me to pretend he was a customer and perform my opening waiter spiel. Oh, umm... shit.

"Good evening, welcome to Swanky Trendy... um... The Steakhouse."

Fortunately, he has a sense of humor and he's been drinking since 9:30 so he laughed and said he hoped I didn't do that to a table (I didn't). I started over went through my introduction. I did well except for the fact that he said I talk a little fast (not the first time I heard that). He shook my hand and said, "welcome aboard. You're going to do very well. Don't fuck up." (I may have made that last sentence up.)

Labels: bartending, cooking, food, new job, waiting

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 10:33 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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:: Job Hunting. Again. ::

Didn't it just feel like I was out looking for a job and trying to get acclimated to working at a new restaurant?

Well the rumors about Swanky Trendy Restaurant closing proved to be true, only it happened much later than any of us expected. We all knew it was coming. The owners are planning on putting all their resources into opening a new high-end steakhouse just across the street and they didn't want to the competition. When I first heard the rumor, it was early May, then late May, then it became late June. Some of the staff found other jobs, few of the guys stayed. Jed stuck around since his employment is guaranteed at this new place and he'll be grandfathered in as the head waiter.

Otherwise, the few of us left kept working as if nothing happened. There was a lot of talk about when we'll close and whether or not we wanted to help open the new place. A few wanted in. I was split, though leaning towards "nah" mostly because the GM is a colossal douchbag and I can't stand the idiot. What most of us were worried about was the amount of time between the old place closing and the new place opening. Ideally there wouldn't be more than two weeks so we wouldn't be strapped for cash but construction in Miami is perpetually delayed. I finally heard that there would be a three-week gap, which anyone who's familiar with the area would know that translates to four weeks to three months.

Management tried to keep this under wraps but this was the worst kept secret in a long history of worst kept secrets. The thinking was just in case the staff might be tempted to snatch a bottle of wine or something, which was utter bullshit (I prefer Scotch). I had a feeling that night was close to being our last since we were 86 half the wine list, Bacardi, several high-end vodkas and we were down to four bottles of sparkling water. The timing was a little odd since we had over 300 covers the night before, and we were consistently busy. That Sunday, I sold over $2000 without breaking a sweat and walked home with almost half my rent.

The asshole GM, who knew we were closing, went so far as to print out fake schedules for the following week. I couldn't help but laugh at this but I'm just happy not to be working for that pile of human garbage any more so I wasn't too broken up when I got the call from him the next day that Swank was "officially closed for business." He said he'd call me and let me know when the new place is ready but in the meantime I have a "three week vacation." Great, I thought. He's gonna call me in September. I had about three months worth of savings so I wasn't too worried.

Right after he called I went on Craigslist and started looking. I found a few postings for good places, one of those being a well-established steakhouse. They were holding interviews the next day at 2pm. I updated my resume and printed some out that night. I looked up steakhouse's website and did a little research about the history, menu, wine list, etc.

I get dressed and show up at 2:00 exactly. There's already about eight people ahead of me and I wonder if I should have arrived sooner. I start filling out my application, which didn't include a food and wine quiz (which I hoped for since I now know wine regions in France and Italy... thanks again Joo). The GM starts the interviews about 5 minutes later and the first few applicants are in and out in less than three minutes each. I was a little worried at first since I'm not sure if I'll be able to sell myself in such short a time. I find out later that the first few were fresh off the boat girls who were either under-qualified or tried to get hired by showing a lot of cleavage.

It's finally my turn. I'm nervous. I introduce myself, and he looks over my resume. You worked at [Swank]? That's a good place, why are leaving?” Because they closed. "Really?!"

We talk a little about my experience there, and I give him the highlights. He scans further down and sees I have bar experience which is good because he expects me to pick up a bar shifts, which would be really cool. We discuss my wine knowledge, which is decent. I know my Californians, some Australian, New Zealand and a little French, but they have an extensive Italian selection. No problem, I could learn.

He asks if I could come back later in the day to talk to the floor manager so he could get an impression of me which I'm fine with, since any sort of second interview is a good step (though I've been asked back before and that didn't work out so I wasn't overly enthralled). Just then the floor manager walks in. The GM asks me to hang out for a little bit to see if we can just do it now. Of course. (What else was I gonna say?)

After a few minutes, the FM introduces himself and we talk. He goes a little more in-depth with the food - I passed the impromptu steak quiz - and wine but he's also responsible for the bar so he ask me questions about liquor and mixed drinks. I know how to make all the popular drinks (cosmos, mjoitos, manhattans, etc.) but he seemed impressed with my knowledge of whiskies. "I'm glad you mentioned this because I've worked with some people who were waiters for over five years and they couldn't name me one Single-malt Scotch."

The interview ends and we all shake hands and they tell me that I'll hear from them by Friday. Great, I think. Solid interview, but I've heard that before. I'm only one of the first few applicants. They're doing interviews until four and then they'll do it all again Thursday so with all the available help out there, they might find someone more qualified. Still, I'm cautiously optimistic and I feel pretty good the rest of the day. I spend the rest of the week looking mostly online since this time of year it's hard to find work because it's slow everywhere. I interview at a sports bar and I send out my resume to several places but most of them don't seem promising.

I get a call Friday and it's the GM of the steakhouse. I'm in. I start my training on Monday at 4pm sharp. When I hang up, I clap my hands and do a couple of fist pumps. AWESOME. I don't have to look for a job any more and I missed only one week of work (well, two if you count training).

I enjoy the rest of the weekend and look forward to my new job. That's in the next post.

Labels: idiots, job search, moving on, waiting

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 9:20 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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:: Oh by the way... ::

... I start a new job at a steakhouse today. Wish me Luck.

I'll write about the details later.

Labels: job search, new job, waiting

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 3:45 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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:: Geez, You're Killing Me ::

Like most people, I don't know when I'm going to die. But I just discovered how I'm going to die.



It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't know how to make it but I found the damn recipe. It was nice knowing all of you.

Labels: awesomeness, bacon, eating, food, i'm a fatass

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 1:20 AM [+] :: | 0 comments
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