Wednesday, August 30, 2006

When I first started at The Jones, Jeremy used to make a point of asking me "Are you sure you want to be a cook?" at moments of stress or inconvenience. Like when 5 new tickets came up and the board was already full or when I returned from a some random task to find the dish pit piled really high. It always made me laugh. This went on once or twice a week for the first month or so then trailed off. He few days ago he asked me for the first time since May. When I asked him, why the sudden resurgence? He said "well, 10 years from now I just want you to remember that I gave you plenty of chances to back out." This made me very happy. Jeremy, the motorcycle riding, houseboat living, offensive lineman resembling, stoic, veteran "chef's chef" implied that I might have what it takes to do what he does.

In other news, when I was clocking out the other day, the server who clocked out before me forgot to click continue so her hours and tips were still right there on the screen when I sat down. I couldn't help but notice that in the past week she made significantly more than me in tips alone. I was well warned before my first day in the business of the realities of making way less than servers and thus was not shocked. Oh well, at least a cooks wage earning potential has a much higher ceiling.

Friday, August 18, 2006

Food Handler Permit

Jason, Jeremy, Joe and I all went to get our food handler permits on Wednesday. I assumed we were going to some random government appointed testing center, but we drove out to Woodinville to take it at The Herbfarm where Jason used to work and his wife Anne still works. The Herbfarm is probably the most well decorated restaurant I have ever been in.

Getting a food handler permit is just about the stupidest thing I've ever had to do. There was a 1.5 hour class which basically amounted to "wash your hands after handling raw meat.", a 15 minute beyond easy test, and a 15 dollar fee. I spent most of the time focused on the Herbfarm's unbelievably hot sommelier. I think being a sommelier bumps any woman up a notch or two on any scale designed to rate their beauty. I did enjoy being in the same group of 15 some people being lectured by some smug asshole with a community college certificate as Jerry Traunfeld. What an equalizer. I will have to go through this bullshit once every two years for as long as I handle food in Washington state. Write your legislator.

Monday, August 14, 2006

Front vs. Back

I've heard a lot about front of the house/back of the house conflicts and tensions. Apparently they are common in many restaurants. I've never really understood why/how that could happen. Last night, while I was working on the line(!) was the first time I've ever become annoyed with a server. It was very insignificant but now I can see how these things get started. I'm not sure I should go into specifics because I have no idea who reads this thing and it has been requested that I not say negative things about the restaurant (this isn't a negative thing about the restaurant is it?). But I will say this: I am confident that it is the front's fault 9 times out of 10. Am I biased? Yes, very.


In other news the schedule has been tweaked giving me two days when I'm likely to get to work on the line rather than just one. hooray

Monday, August 07, 2006

On the Radar

Saturday night none other than celebrity chef Tom Douglas came and ate at The Jones. I left early that night because things were extremely slow. Apparently they got a late rush and weren't able to leave until 11:30. He ordered the scallops and the tagliatta. Said he was too full for desert. Not sure what the others in his party ordered.

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Blog Turning Point (BTP for short)

In the nwsource.com "People's Picks" annual survey The Jones won both best winebar/bistro, and best new restaurant. The Jones was also listed as being one of the top vote getters in the burger, French fries, outdoor dining, romantic, bar happy hour chow, and dessert spot categories. So it seems like we have, at the very least, a handful of regulars devoted enough to stuff the ballot box on our behalf. Nothing wrong with that though. Who actually votes in the nwsource.com "people's picks" survey anyway? Apparently people who eat at The Jones. How convenient.

As I approached the bar for my 5 o'clock Shirley Temple today the most regular of all the regulars (in terms of patronage, and not necessarily personality or digestive health) whose name escapes me right now (People's Pick voter?)looked at me and said "Nice blog". I knew my superiors would find out about this eventually and it seems that day has come at last. It's one of the first 10 links that show up when you google "The Jones Bistro" anyway. The question is, how long until everyone knows? I'm hoping no one is interested enough to check it out. I guess we'll see soon. Either way I can't talk mad shit about my co-workers anymore. I've just deleted all the really offensive/vulgar stuff. I hope no one got a chance to read it. (edit: that was a joke. I haven't been saying mean things about people.)
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