One day in the middle of the season, while I was outside during a short break, our manager called me over for a "serious talk." Honestly, I was a bit scared, because even though we were officially allowed two 5-minute "smoke breaks," which I used, she could still find fault with it. The conversation started with some background about how our prep cooks were weak—inexperienced and slow. Plus, we simply didn't have enough of them. She continued by reminding me that I had worked in that exact position for almost the entire previous season. Even though I was trained on the line toward the end, I preferred prep work because I enjoyed it more. At the same time, I was a sort of kitchen hero, constantly saving the line during the biggest rushes by jumping in to cook orders whenever they needed me. Amanda (the manager) said that the restaurant owner had brought up the question of changing my position and, at the same time, giving me a promotion. Thus, I became a prep cook again, but also the lead among the others. In this way, I was supposed to pass on my two seasons of experience to the new cooks.
This was a very interesting moment in the season. Why?
Background.
After Weldon left, a new lead line cook was hired—an Italian-American named Mike, with whom I didn't get along from the start. As soon as Weldon left, Mike started introducing new rules that I didn't like. Because of this, we clashed pretty hard a couple of times. Even though I knew 100% that I was right in those situations. Our kitchen manager confirmed it.
On the line, Mike made a lot of mistakes and blamed them on me. I especially remember a stupid moment when we were warned about a large order for the owner's family on the patio. And if the table is outside, it means the food has to be on special baskets. So, we paid huge attention to this order. But when I received the almost ready (!) plates at the window, almost every one of them had some flaw. While we were fixing it, another rush of customers happened, and we had to call Weldon. At that time, he was still there. But when he left, all such situations seemed like disasters.
Back to the present. It turns out that one of the prep cooks is moved to the line, and I am returned to prep. When I told Weldon and Evgeni about this, they only congratulated me—not even on the promotion, but on the fact that I got off the line. Why? Because the line is one of the most stressful jobs overall. Although I understood that to some extent I was just being pushed out, and it was Mike's idea because his opinion was now valued here. Yes, there are such intrigues here. But it really didn't bother me much anymore, as this change didn't change much. I was interested to see how they would manage in the middle of the season with a new, inexperienced line cook.
Personally, I got my favorite job, which I do better than anyone else in this kitchen. I know the recipes for all the prep work that needs to be done in advance. I know how to properly stock up on products, how to cut, store, sort, clean them, etc. In that regard, of course, it was pleasant. A small perk of being here for the second year and getting a small promotion. Thus, I wasn't just training cooks, but could give them instructions, etc.
