Tom Douglas is Seattles Celebrity Chef most notably for his win against Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. Needless to say I was most excited to set up an interview with him. I thought that the interview went well and he asked me to return on Monday to work in the kitchen for a trial run.
I showed up and had a nice conversation with the Pasta crew while I waited for the Sous Chef. He took me to the kitchen and introduced me to the Cook I was to work with that night and what he gave me were bags and bags of herbs they wanted me to chop up. Then run mirepoix through the robo coup. In between this I was to go into the walkin and fetch stuff for the cook that he might need during crunch time. Then he took me into his cooking station and all I could think about was, OMG how am I going to work in such a cramped space. (can i just say "CLAUSTROPHOBIA!!!) You got the order from the server, grab a pan pivot, get the ingredients, pivot to the stove directly behind, pivot grab more ingredients, pivot cook, pivot plate up and call up the server. And all the while there are 3 or 4 other people working beside you doing the same pivoting motion and sometimes rubbing elbows.
And so at the end of the night the Sous Chef Jack somethingorother tells me he spoke with the Executive Chef and he'll call me at the end of the week. The End of the week, Friday, comes along and still no call and I was advised by Student services to call him back after school was over on Friday...No answer, no answer, no return call, no answer. I get a call on Sunday and was informed that they are looking for a Chef/Cook NOW and I need a little more experience under my belt. Come back when you get more experience... UM I was applying for an "Externship" not a freaking Job. I'm frustrated and relieved at the same time. I don't know what I would have done if he said "okay, you can start right away" Then I would have been unhappy pivoting my life away and wearing my skin down to the bones rubbing elbows with the 2 cooks standing and cooking beside me. So back to the drawing board I go.
I was looking into working in catering before I was Star struck. I had already recieved the "sorry we're not looking for externs right now, please try another" or "Sure, you can wash dishes for 2 hours and prep for 2 hours" and for some people they are like "so? what's wrong with that?" and my reply is "I didn't go to school so I can wash dishes for 2 hours..." So I may seem snobby or silly but that's just how I feel. I just didn't feel like I'd be learning very much by chopping cabbages for 2 hours or scrubbing pots. There had to be more...
So I've worked for Lisa Dupar Catering twice now and Chef Grover Ramsey is an Excellent Exec. Chef and runs his staff extremely efficiently and I was in awe, intimidated and scared to death about calling him to set up an appointment for an interview. I've tried 3 times before and each time someone else answered the phone, routed me to the kitchen and he was in a meeting, just left, unavailable/too busy for your sorry ass... So I grit my teeth on Monday morning, the Day after my rejection from the Tom Douglas people, and dialed the phone for LDC. Riiiiiing, riiiiing, "Lisa Dupar Catering, Grover Ramsey..." SHOCK!!! "uh...Chef Ramsey?" Yes, I stammered badly. I SOOOO was Not expecting him to answer the phone and I'm sure I fully sounded like an idiot with my "UH?" But I swallowed my suprise and fear and continued to speak. He remembered me from the previous gigs and he was all "well, Eric is the person you should speak to but he leaves tomorrow on vacation can you come on the 16th?" me..."well, my only problem with that is that I was supposed to have my externship contract turned in this past Friday but that fell thru..." (holding breath) "Can you come in tomorrow at 2?" "well, I'm in school from 10-2 and don't get home til 3" (turning blue) "well lets do this come in on Thursday after school, anytime, I'll be here" "Thank you Chef I'll be there" (inhale&exhale)
Interview went well, he asked me back for a trial on Saturday and somehow worked me into a gig that Saturday night as well lol. Carlee, the HR person walked into the office to ask him a quick question and he rattled off something and along with that something was "and this young lady would be happy to work with us on Saturday night. She did the Zoo event and the Solomon wedding party..." SHOCKED again. He remembered exactly Which gigs I did with them. "Sure, I'll be there..."
And so I did my stage Saturday morning and worked from 730 til 230 and was told to go home and he would talk to me after the Event that night. Again, left in suspense... I did the event and at the end he calls me aside and says, "so you need to turn in this contract by Monday?" Me with eyes Wide open in the dark, under the stairs at Husky Stadium..."so, I did okay? You'll keep me as an Extern?" "Oh yes, You did just fine, I just wanted to scare you." chuckle chuckle..."well, it worked!" Big exhale and sigh of relief...
And Here is the final note. As I was standing in the Chefs office that morning before my stage, I glanced around at the desk of the man that I was hoping to work for and what caught my eye was the calendar. On the calendar was a picture of a Mormon Temple. I emailed Darcy and told her about this and she replied (copied and pasted) 'I'm so proud of you hun, you got your externship....see the folks up above saw that picture of the temple and said "okay...this is the place for our Soloau." :)
' It made me cry. My parents... I love and miss them Sooo Much and yes, I believe this to be very true. God works in mysterious ways and with the people in heaven that are pulling for their loved ones. They let me see what the grass was like on the other side, then handed me what they thought I would really enjoy. I loved the time that I spent at LDC for my stage and the Kitchen is a Dream come True for me. I really couldn't ask for more...I want to Give my Thanks to the Lord above for the blessings that he has bestowed upon me and my loved ones. Thanks to all my Family and Friends for the love and support that they give me. And last but not least, my Thanks to my Mom and Dad for the Love and Support that they showed me in this life and the life hereafter, for without them I would not be the person that I am today...Families are Forever!
That's my blip for my BFFs today.
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