next one please

After two more services with no customers and more insight into how badly this new restaurant is managed, how clueless the owner is about work in the kitchen and how few emotions I will be able to put into that type of cuisine, I told the owner yesterday evening, that I will pursue my search and trial cook in other restaurants, but would remain available for "extras" (jargon for working on a paid-by-the hour basis without long-term contract). As Sydney said, I really learned a lot about how not to open a restaurant. No recipe was documented, no one in them team had a clue how the owner wanted us to do things, and without his German-chef mother-in-law it would have been a desaster. The fridge is overloaded with fresh foie gras for the next years to come. I have never seen so much foie gras at a time in my life. No kidding. He said he bought a lot, because he got a good deal. Right. Unfortunatly the DLC (Date of latest consumption) is today, three days after restaurant opening, and also each foie gras weighs about 800g, which means rather bad quality (better is between 500-600g), which was confirmed by his mother-in-law. Pretty clear why he got a good deal. Now he transfers about 100 packages of foie gras into the freezer. Sure this will increase the quality.

The other thing that led me to refuse his offer was maybe just a little thing, but enough of a turn-off for me. One of the other "cooks", that has been there since 8 years, and will not move from there, when he cooked the hamburger for the dummy order, tested whether if it was "a point" (medium well) by pushing his index finger into the meat, moving the finger in the meat, until he had destroyed it, to see whether it was still red or not. Jesus. this will take me too much energy to explain to a 45 year old "experienced" guy that this is NOT the way to check the cooking degree of meat. I cannot do this. Sorry.

So yesterday night after that decision I wanted to have a good-decision-celebration drink in my favourite bar in St. Germain (La Rhumerie) and decided I need a better plan, than just reaction to ads. So I wrote down a list of people / restaurants / mentors I would contact first for advice, on what should be my next steps. Then I wrote down a list of restaurants that would meet 100% my initial criteria that I had established, that I would start to contact to check whther they would have openings now or later. Some Pina Coladas later I felt pretty good about my new fantastic plan.

So far for plans. This morning I did it again. Looked on the restaurant recrutment website, and just before logging off, at 10a.m. an ad for a fish restaurant with an excellent reputation in my neighbourhood popped up. Not meeting a lot of my criteria, but definitely the one about learning about products, techniques, recipies, and working next to a chef who knows what he does. I didn't even bother to call, thought I need to be the first one, picked my CV, and 2 minutes later I sat in the restaurant presenting myself to the Chef. Unbelievably he had at that time already talked to two other very qualified people, but accepted me as a third potential candidate. He wants to hire Thursday morning. This confirms again how important it is to be available right away, if you want a good job in a Paris kitchen. No restaurant will wait 2 weeks. So my test cooking slot for this fish restaurant is tomorrow night. I know it is going to be hell, no fun, lot of pressure, but if I get this one, I will deal with quality food and learn a LOT.

Tonight I go test cooking to the modern art-deco bistrot in the 9th arrondissement, where I am also one candidate out of three. A bistrot I had never heard about before, but responded to their ad because of their interesting menu. I am writing it down below as an exercise for tonight....(no time for translation though, sorry):

Starters :
- Foie gras chantilly et creme de boudin noir aux echalotes
- Bonbons craquants de gambas au caramel de porto et fruits secs
- Huitres panees au pesto de mache
- Verrine de betterave rouge au citron zeste et crabe aux herbes
- Trilogie autour du saumon
- OEuf meurette a l'huile de truffe
- Veloute de panais et potiron a la creme de mandarine et chips de pomme

Main courses :
- Foie de veau glace au miel et soja
- Magret de canard mi-cuit a la creme de poireaux et nouilles Soba
- Roulade de poulet farci aux langoustines et kiwis
- Medaillon de rable de lapin a la moutarde violette et lard caramelise aux endives braisees
- Cocotte de Saint Jacques au jus de geranium bourbon
- pave de sandre au jus de volaille et poires confites
- Filet de bar aux chataignes et sa creme

Desserts
- Baba au rhum traditionel
- Coupe de cubes agar-agar au sesame noir et clementine a l'Amaretto
- Verrine d'ananas confit a la vanille et sa mousse coco
- Tarte aux pommes facon 3 etoiles
- Feuillete de poires a la glace Amarena
- Salade d'orange et pamplemousse au sorbet d'herbes et palet breton
- Mi-cuit au chocolat et menthe poivree

The job I am trying tonight would be in charge for the 7 startes and 7 desserts. Working from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Tuesdays to Saturdays. Never seeing the chef or the servers not to mention customers. Alone with a dishwasher in the basement.

I am tempted to say 5% chances I will sign there, but I have been rather bad with my predictions in the last days, so I will be better able to judge after trying. I know one thing for sure though : I need to go there for dinner...... It just sounds like amazing food.

Comments

[Joan]

Wow that sounds exciting! (And tough). You are lucky to be in a place with an abundance of great bistros and gastros (and jobs!). Bonne courage !

Joan

[Bolli'sKitchen]

Aha, Rhumerie....da wäre ich ja eh nicht hingekommen....

Ziemliche Odysée dieses Mal Deine Jobsuche! la crise macht's dann sicher nicht einfacher, möchte aber doch gerne mal wissen, wo dieser Laden ist....