:: Life on Planet Dan-E ::

:: Sunday, September 28, 2008 ::

:: Carb Overload ::

Working in a restaurant, whether you're a chef, dishwasher, or waiter means you're always around food. Most places let the Front of the House (FOH) staff munch on some bread or salad or any leftover prepped items if we get hungry before, during, and after a shift. That free bread you enjoy at many restaurants has satiated many mid-shift hunger pangs.

It's great and all if you're hungry at 9:30 and you have two more hours to go before closing but it's not hard to overdo it, such as my case.

The Steakhouse has garlic bread on the menu that's just amazing. It's garlic, parmesan, truffle butter and white truffle oil baked on a ciabatta bread and there's always a few pieces floating around the line and left over at the end of the night.

We also have a wild mushroom risotto (this steakhouse has a strong Italian influence) that's awesome. Since I'm one of the few waiters that don't give the cooks a hard time, they usually ask me if I'd like a plate of risotto when we close. Of course I say yes.

(It's crucial to get on the cook's good side. It helps that if I have a customer that doesn't finish a bottle of wine, I get fresh glasses and treat the chef to a drink.)

They also provide a pre-shift family meal. Sometimes it's hot dogs. Other times, they make ribs with black beans and rice or spaghetti and meatballs.

Another thing that doesn't help is all the available dry good available in the back. The chef isn't so anal about inventory that he'll freak if I take home some peppercorns for my grinder (I go through a lot of pepper and I haven't had to buy any since I started working here). Just the other week, I wanted to cook my coriander-crusted red snapper with a tequila-lime cream sauce. One problem: I was out of coriander. I asked one of the cooks if they had any in the back, which they did, which I ground up that night and enjoyed a nice dinner.

I've also taken home some Old Bay, fennel, ancho chile powder, and some of that killer truffle oil, among other things.

(I'm not stealing from the company or anything. This is almost the same thing as working in an office and "borrowing" a stack of post-its or some paper clips. It's not like I tried to sneak a ribeye out of there.)

Combine all these factors and you can see now why I've gained about 8 pounds since I started my job at the Steakhouse. Trying to lose that weight working as a waiter is like trying to quit a cocaine habit by moving to Miami. (Not that I know anything about that.)

Labels: cooking, food, i'm a fatass, steaks

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 7:34 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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