Barchef

     Saturday night out. After having dinner at a cute Italian place (Cinquecento Cafe) my friend and I wandered North towards home looking for a bar to have a drink or two before we called it a night.

     Getting to Queen street we headed East and ended up in the centre of the rock bar/club district. I love the vibe and the music blaring out of all the venues, people littering the sidewalk smoking, wearing dark clothes, chains, lace, and oh so fun items I have grown to adore. We stopped at Barchef and upon my friend's remark of "never been," I dragged her in. 

We entered the darkened room full of people who clearly didn't fit in with the rocker vibe of Queen West. I noticed people seemed to be slightly dressed up, as my eyes trailed along the lush fabrics, and modernized victorian decor. We maneuvered our way through the packed room; headed for the bar. Deep smells of herbs, oils, and fruit filled my senses, as loud fifties dance music pumped from all walls. 

     All the patrons have smiles, and I noticed a giant screen playing black and white Charlie Chaplin-esq films. This made me smile… as did the two seats that opened up at the bar directly in front of us. 

Sitting down, I wrestled a menu from my distracted neighbours and began to see the beauty of true mixology. House-infusions of molecular gastronomy, and flavour combinations of eccentricity, sent a tingle up my spine in excitement. 

It took us about ten minutes to get the attention of a bartender and we ordered our first round. Given, I understand it also takes ten minutes to make certain cocktails. 

     I decide on the "Four Seven Two" which is a deliciously smooth bodied bourbon mojoito with cola bitters. My friend ordered the "Strawberries and Lavender", which takes a little more time to prepare. Upon smelling it, the lavender was in the forefront with the strawberries to follow. When tasting, it was the complete opposite, strawberries filled your mouth with a remanence of lavender for a pleasant moment afterwards. This drink is geniusly created with strawberry infused gin, Lavender infused grand marnier, with fresh lime, elderberry bitters and a lavender sugar rim of delicious.

As we wait for, and enjoy our first round of drinks, I notice the "very" busy, good-looking bartenders. They all are wearing fifties-esq apparel, with Modernized vests, fedoras, and collars with ties. All three of them are tossing, and preparing quality cocktails as fast as they can. 

     I watched one make the "smoked manhattan". He used a blowtorch to ignite a dish of hickory vanilla wood chips. As the wood chips burned, he took a chunk of ice and hand-carved it to the perfect size. Placing that it a cocktail glass, he mixed the manhattan, which contains crown royal, cherry vanilla bitters, vanilla cognac, and hickory smoked syrup. The wood chips finish burning, and he placed them into a container that allows the martini to sit on a platform above the smoking wood chips. The dome (of the container) is closed and the smoke stays incased inside.  The drink is then served to guest further down the bar, who looks excited. Once most of the smoke is dissipated from the dome, a server removed the drink and gave it to a guest. Once this drink has been served, the bar is left with the ambrosial fragrance for a pleasant while. Although I was incredibly tempted to try this concoction, my wallet would not allow me to do so ($45 for the manhattan).

     The man to my left strikes up a conversation about the establishment, and seems completely fascinated. He is a visitor to the city, and the three of us have some decent conversation. He's not creepy or trying to pick us up, just genuinely having a good time.

      I got playful with the busy bartenders at one point or another, and they were friendly enough given how busy they were. Overall we had an absolutely great time. I highly recommend this place to absolutely anyone who has an interest in mixology as an art form. This cocktail menu is leaps and bounds away from a rum and coke, that will leave any liquor lover begging for more.

Dinner at Cinquecento Cafe

I had this past Saturday night off! That NEVER happens in the restaurant industry, so I decided to take full advantage of it. I met a friend and we headed to Queen West to check out the legacy that is Terroni. However, after arriving there and seeing the line out the door and down the block we decided that we were in need of some other delicious eats. 

I pulled out my trusty I-phone (Glitz) and checked on Urbanspoon. We ended up at Cinquecento Cafe (791 King St. West, Toronto). We were impressed finding a Italian place not too far away. 

Starting the evening off right, we ordered a decently priced bottle of Malbec, and decided to split the Antipasto plate to start. When it arrived we were pleasantly surprised. Although there was only a small amount of meat (some salami and Mortadella), the fresh grilled vegetables were so plentiful. There was shaved parmesan, grilled eggplant, olives, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, grilled zucchini, pickled eggplant, and even a mini caprese salad with fresh basil and all. Each of the vegetables had been brushed, grilled, and/or seasoned differently and the flavours were very impressive.

We followed this with Nona's recipe of stuffed shells. The three groundmeats were cooked and seasoned delightfully, and packed into larger sized pasta shells. Presentation was good and each were neatly decorated with a light amount of herbs. It was a perfect amount of food to finish off with dessert. 

We choose the tiramisu… probably not the best part of the meal. There was a lack of flavour to it, not too strong espresso taste or lady finger sponge, and it seemed drenched with whipcream, covered in caramel sauce. Overall a good experience. The owner was kicking around and made a point to check on us during our dinner. I plan to go back at some point, looking around the restaurant I noticed the pizza's looked huge with a great Italian thin crust. The other pastas looked packed with flavour and like quite generous portions.

Interview me

So far I think I've been doing a decent job at my new position. Some days are much more trying than others, but I do what I can. When I first started doing the position I could tell the owners didn't trust me, and were really nervous that I wouldn't cut it. Lately they've been hanging around me less, and asking more of me. Each day I get a little nervous when the boss walks in, because I fear he will ask more of me, and I will still have to get all of this extra work done, not to mention my old responsibilities as well.
In the last week one of the oldest employees quit, and I was asked to "get someone". I set up a bunch of interviews when the boss told me when he wanted them booked in.
Ten minutes before the first interview I called him to ensure he would be showing up. He told me he was busy and to do them. In the last two days I've conduced eight interviews. I tried to keep it interesting, mixed it up a bit, and listen to them. I've decided I don't like the idea of having to screen people. Most of the people I spoke with were strong minded, well sorted and had so many aspirations, goals, and dreams. As people, there were really only two, that I thought were not amazing. The two with the loudest personalities, have schedules that don't completely comply with what we are looking for. The two others are tied for the job right now, are both equally qualified, with good experience, good wine knowledge, and seem that they would both fit in with the restaurant well.
The owner said if I couldn't choose he would choose. I'm suppose to book them in for their second "interviews" on Monday. I hope the owner shows up. I'm not good at saying no, and I feel as though now I must say no to a whole bunch of people.
I did not sign up for this, and I do not enjoy having extra responsibilities just dropped on me. Yes, I do continually rise to the occasion. Yes it does make me a better, stronger worker...
I have slowed down on the drinking. Having to be up each and every morning at 6am makes it a bit difficult to meet up with my friends who only begin to go out at 10pm. My social life is not really happening right now, which is okay because my home life is a disaster. I am so far behind on so many of the little things I have to do. I keep telling myself I will get to it, but never do... eep!
In the last week I have played catch-up with a couple old friends. Annoyance came at one, when I could clearly tell they were not listening to me. For one who was insistent on chatting and catching up, it was clear that they have absolutely no interest in actually catching up. I couldn't help but feel sad as well. I hate when you know something isn't half of what of you thought it was.
The other friend was great, continually asking me question after question, wanting to know everything about everything, and genially interested in what I've been up to. At one point he said to me that it seemed things were pretty well put together in my life. I felt shocked by this. I feel so torn at the seams, and as if I move just the wrong way everything will just fall to pieces. I feel mentally exhausted and slightly broken. I guess my mask and facade are far more convincing than I perceive them to be. Had a great time with this friend as I always do. Thanks to REAL people. Good people! (The few that exist)

The Myth about Napkins

Today I was told not to fold napkins in front of guests in a restaurant. When I thought about it, I found it funny. Do people think that a machine folds them and magically resets the tables?
Think about it.... How sterilized is your napkin? How many people touched it, and were their hands clean?

It was washed by a linen company, then pressed in half a put into a giant stack of around twenty-five, and folded in half. Four of these stacks get saran wrapped together. This is one or two people.
The saran wrapped stacks then get placed into large bags by someone.
Someone delivers these large bags to restaurants on a weekly basis.
Someone else unloads these bags at the restaurant.
Server usually them fold napkins in large stacks. That is right kids, the same person that cleans up your dirty tissues, glasses, and plates, is the same one who folds up your napkin.
They do this in groups of two or more when restaurants are outside their peek hours.
These stacks of pre-folded napkins (or cutlery rolls) go onto shelves, and can sit there for hours or days.
Another server, bartender, or bus-person, takes them from here and places them on the table.
Then you sit down.
So, how many people did the napkin go through before you?
Why is it such a hidden thing in restaurants that servers should not fold napkins or roll cutlery in front of guests?
Are guest really unaware?

(The napkin cycle finishes by you using it. The server or bus-person places it into a large linen bag. The linen bag goes back to the linen company and the cycle starts again.)

Worst Table EVER

After serving in restaurants for a couple years now, I thought I had experienced some very shitty tables. The most typical example is where the guests were very cheap, their bills were about $10 per person.
There have been incidences where they left you a very crappy tip, or sometimes no tip at all, and you (the server) had to pay (tip-out) to serve the table.
There have even been times where the table stayed all night, drinking water after their meal. "We’re fine" was their exclamation each time you approached to see about bringing the bill. Or maybe they are holding the bill, suddely refusing to pay or leave.
I even had a table where I had lost the host's credit card (it had fallen out of a broken billfold). The guests told me how stupid I was, and cancelled the card. Of course they didn't tip me, and the restaurant decided to take some things off of their cheque, to which I then had to purchase (and tip on). The other tables in my section didn't leave me much money either, agreeing with the ladies that I was "stupid". Net Sales that night: $800, tips made: $8.

I thought all of this to be horrible and painful until tonight...

For the first two hours of my shift I hadn't got a table. It wasn't that the restaurant wasn't busy; it's just that I wasn't getting sat. I was getting feed up, and at the point where I received my first table, I had mentally thrown in the towel and gone home.
Pulling myself back into the game I approached my table where one guy and one blonde girl, had been sat. They order drinks. Dropping of their drinks, I wait to get the attention of the new guest. After about fifteen seconds of being ignored I politely interrupt and offer this new women a drink. Let's call her Ms.Picky, and she orders a lime margarita on the rocks. When I Return with her the drink, she looks repulsed. I wait to hear some complaint. She takes a sip, says nothing so I smile and leave; now having other tables to tend to.
Upon returning she has flagged down a hostess, trying desperately to get rid of the drink. With the offer of something else, comes annoyance on her part. Everything she wants we do not carry, and our substitutions are not up to her standards.
With the backwards brushing of her hand, she waved me away "Bring me some ice water while I think about it."
The time doesn't help her decision, and with her water fixed as ammo, she settles on a cheap draft beer.
The three order some appetizers.
Another older woman joins them, and orders more appetizers, to which I verify that these will be coming after the ones already on the ways. She says no, they should be fine with just the original order.
After they eat their appetizers, she asks me what happened to the appetizers she had ordered. I explain that I was under the assumption that she had said that the original order would be enough food. I apologized, this was not my mistake, but I understand that you need to make the customer feel in the right.
By this point, at each trip to the table I feel I am fighting a wave of conversation and ignorance, to attain their attention, and keep it long enough for them to answer my simple questions (Another drink? May I remove this? Ready to order? May I bring you something else?)
At this point I tried to pawn the table off on another server, no deal! I can feel the black hole getting deeper each second, and this table swallowing me into it.I also knew at this point I would not be making any money off of this table.
The blonde girl orders her wine by pointing to her the almost empty glass, then pointing to me, and lifting her eyebrows in a challenge.
The guy seems nice, but really it's a mask for his underlying alter ego, that loves to tell me how to do my job. Some Examples?
Upon dropping off cutlery.... "You need to bring me a steak knife"
Upon taking drinks orders... "You can bring this drink with that one, (or) I'll take another when mine is done."
Upon trying to take the dinner order... "Come back in five minutes" (Four times!)
Upon clearing the table... "You can take this plate"
As I'm holding an empty plate... "We don't need that anymore." (REALLY?)

Before the food arrives, the guy flags down another server to order the table a round of shots.
When the food arrives, Ms. Picky takes one bite and flags someone down to tell him or her to get me immediately.
"This is the worst salad I've ever eaten, it's drenched in dressing! I can't even eat it. Where's the manager? Get them to come by, and his steak is not cooked enough," she blurts out all in one breath. I remove the salad, and asked the guy about his steak. He assures me it's fine. So I go to speak with the manager.
The manager tries to offer the girl something else. They take the salad, and an appetizer (just to be nice) off the bill. A drink was ordered by the manager for the table and I bring it to the older lady. Upon checking on them I was told, the drink was awful, and no one would drink it "remove it!"

When they were finally ready for the bill all my other tables had left (came after them and left before them). I asked and may sure that it was just 'one bill'.
Once I had printed it and left it on the table, I immediately tried to walk away. The older woman cried "wait!" and tapped her fake nails on the bill, "this is not right. We had an agreement with your manager, and it's not in here. Why don't you go get them?"
After ten minutes of speaking to the table, more drinks were taken off the bill. Let's recap shall we
One Lime margarita
One salad
One appetizer
One 'removed' cocktail
One cooler
One beer
Two glasses of wine
And the round of shots (4)

I went to process the bill. The guy once again told me how to do things, "Can you bring us separate cheques."
Our computer system is slightly older and once you have printed the original bill, you can not separate it. I tracked down the manager and got the cheques separated into what they had asked me for.
They then wanted items moved to other bills.
The pointing blonde yelled at another server to process her interact, and got very disgruntled when the server replied that they couldn't because they didn't know which server was assigned to their table.
Of course after all that trouble no one tipped a cent, and I had to pay to be treated like crap by those assholes.
Worst table ever. I hope so, if there can be worse, I wish you good luck, and patience.