so, i've a bit of news for ya...i took a new job! it was a tough decision to leave the old joint and the bossman (who i've spent 11 years working for), but i got a great opportunity to advance my career and i had to jump on it.
now, anybody reading my blog on a regular basis should have noticed that i've never actually mentioned the restaurant i work at by name, nor have i named my boss. i dunno why i started that in the first place, but i think i'm gonna keep it going. i guess if you really wanna know the names of either of the places you can poke around my facebook page, i'm sure they're both on there somewhere. i don't know why i keep the names off this page...i just do. jamie and eric...your thoughts on the subject?
anyway. the deal was this...i guy i used to work with like five or six years ago, i heard he was opening a new place downtown. i let him know (through the cook's grapevine) i was interested and i heard back he was interested and we finally met up yesterday and lemme tell ya...the new place is gorgeous. it's actually in the spot of one of my old favorite breakfast joints, but the dining room has been redone. it's in downtown missoula, and it's a wicked historic building (i guess). it's full of mirrors and molded wood and high ceilings, and it's getting a new circular bar right in the middle (that's right, folks...liquor license! boo-yah!) and the kitchen...aah, the kitchen...it's beautiful. now, someone who doesn't cook would look at it and say "wow. it's big.", but from a professional line cook's opinion, the place is amazing. there's so much more space than i'm used to, both counter space for prep and plating but just the space inbetween things, there's just tons of room to move around and not bump into the guy you're working with. i'm used to working in fairly tight quarters, where if you had three cooks in the kitchen you had to stick to your station cause there's not room to get past somebody else. this new kitchen could easily have five or six people working at their own stations with loads of room for everybody. it's got either new or pretty new equipment, and we're getting TVs put in so we can watch the world cup this summer. it's got an upstairs and a downstairs (downstairs there's three more walk-in coolers, and a big prep room we're planning on catering out of...also got an offsite food and liquor license).
anyway, the kitchen is bomb. and the chef/owner is someone who i can learn from every single day. i wasn't really learning or advancing at my old job. loved it, but that's the truth. i'm so excited to push my limits and learn new stuff and see what i can do when given creative freedom. i was told i can make soups. i love making soup! i was also offered a schedule that's waaaay more compatible with my wife's schedule, and that was important. it's pretty much gonna be regular job hours..9-5 m-f, and that's gonna take some getting used to, but in a good way. also, since it's part of the downtown association i can have a free bus pass so i don't have to drive to work or find somewhere to park...and since i used to work outside of town where i had to get on the highway to get to work, that alone is gonna save me tons of money over the long haul. pretty excited about that. the chef is somebody who i can apprentice under and eventually get my own chef papers, which was a huge part of my decision. that, and the schedule offered to me, and everything else on top of it, just made this a opportunity that i couldn't pass up. i'm taking a pay cut to start out, but i'm fine with that. i'm confident that we can make this place a moneymaker, so i'm not worried about it. i'm really excited to get into a brand new place and see what we can do with it, how far we can take it. i've always worked at places that had established customer bases so it's gonna be interesting to try to build a fresh one. our skills are gonna be put to the test, but i'm willing to go one on one with any restaurant in town. we don't just have some cooks, we got a fucking all-star riot squad. it's gonna be a fun ride.
but first, i gotta knock out a few more shifts at the old place. the boss was really happy for me and told me i made the right decision when i gave my notice yesterday. which was incredibly hard, by the way, just because i've been with him for so long and he's always treated me with respect and dignity, and in addition to being my employer he's been a great friend. i knew he'd be happy for me, but it's kind of like leaving your family. restaurants are like that, more so than any other area of business, it's always more of a family thing than a coworker thing. the people that tend to be lifers in restaurants are a different breed of human, and we recognize eachother and stick together.
anyway. changes are afoot, my friends...keep reading. it's gonna be awesome.
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3 comments:
Let me preface this by saying Congratu-fucking-lations! It sounds too good to be true, but I'm a glass half-full kind of guy, depending on how close it is to last call (1:00am in Delaware). Seriously, I will have to read this post a few more times because it is long and informative and my brain doesn't process things so well until Saturday night's anal fissures are a memory. Sorry to be so graphic, but it really hurt. Just ask Eric about the first eight top. FYI: as a non-principal in any business, restaurant or not, do not mention anyone's name or any sales figures on the off chance that it will come back to haunt you. I got burned once and only once and it was in a town the same size as Missoula. You're doing just awesome and so keep on keeping on. You are still my hero.
I am very happy for you. Arriving at a new restaurant is like taking the virginity of a General managers daughter, You are the first of many but set the precedence for everyone else. I can't wait to hear what you have to say about it. I would love to see the menu and some pictures if you have a chance.
Leaving restaurant family behind is always hard to do. I have always related restaurant work to military service. Mostly because my stepfather thinks everyone should serve in the armed forces and my response is everyone should have to work in a restaurant if my want to eat in one. We do battle in hot/cold trenches, sling pans, work in confined spaces, drink wine out of a bag, collect knife wounds and burns, and hopefully have enough energy to get to the bar, hit on a some chick and mutter the words GIN and Tonic before I pass out from exhaustion. I have met some many people in the business over the years. If you can leave a job one true friend, that is amazing. Sometimes it is better to not work with your friends. Then getting together to bullshit about work is something you look forward to rather then a necessity.
As far as badmouthing previous coworkers and employers. I have thought about this for the past few days. I would think a blog is the perfect place to vent all frustrations. Unfortunately written words are forever and I understand why you don't use names; you are a better man then I am. I am sure I would have no filter on the words or subjects I would choose.
Good luck to you and hopefully you have found a new home and new friends with your new job.
goddamn, thank both of you. i appreciate the thoughts and the words of encouragement and i'll most certainly keep everybody posted on how it goes. wish me luck, my first shift is on friday!
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