Day 1

Oh me.

What did I expect today? I was told I was going to be cleaning.... so I wore a standard jeans, t-shirt, and tennies. When we got there, we were led outside.

Our first task was to going to be unloading a semi-truck full of supplies. Remember, this is a hotel from scratch so EVERYTHING had to be delivered. The truck backed up and we started unloading. It wasn't so bad. We had the help of carts and whatnot, so.. ya know... 32 pallets later we finished. Oh-so-tired we went to lunch at McDonalds and then headed back to the hotel.

From what I thought was going to be an "oh no" kind of day, became a "oh yes!" kind of day. People, this was like Christmas morning for a person who has an affinity for kitchen gadgets. We unpacked it all: wine glasses, champagne flutes, buffet pans of all shapes and sizes, carafes, KitchenAid mixer, food processor, cambro bin after cambro bin, plates, room service trays, carts, saute pans, stock pots, and silverware. ALL OF IT.

Not only was the stuff amazing, but the people I'll be working with seemed to have a good attitude as well.

The sous chef is from the Bahamas. I shall refer to him as Baha Man from now on. Baha Man is hilarious. He has a calm gentleness about him, but the wealth of knowledge he has is incredible. Let me just say this. The man can make a hummingbird from a squash. A hummingbird! From a squash! I believe that Baha Man will be a good go-to person for any questions.

The head chef "Chef G" is a Columbus native. Born and raised in German Village. Fantastic. So much of what you would expect an Executive Chef to be. Great leader, fun to be around, and not afraid to get in there with the rest of the crew and get his hands dirty. Chef G will forever be the person that gave me my first shot. For that, I shall be eternally grateful.

The rest of the crew varies in experience and education. I was relieved to know that the other omlet cook had not been to culinary school either. However, he has been making omlets professionally for much much longer than I, as evidenced by the many scars on his forearms. Thankfully, he's really nice and is already schooling me in the ways of the egg. I am no longer terrified, because I know he'll help me learn the ropes. Out of the other 4 cooks, 3 are still in culinary school at Columbus Culinary Institute. The other has never been, but in my opinion, doesn't need to go based on her claimed experience.

Oh, and for all of you who worried about wasting my accounting degree, FEAR NOT! On my first day of work in a non-accounting field, I managed to help an entire crew of people understand the federal taxation system and determined their federal withholding. Thank you $45,000 degree for helping with that today.

Wednesday I will become P.I.C. certified. What is P.I.C.? Well, it stands for "Person In Charge" but from what I gather it's just a food safety and handling class. Temperatures, locations, all that fun stuff... So that'll be something different and another something to stash under my belt.

This morning I handed in my application to the Columbus Culinary Institute. :D More to come on that, I'm sure.

I also found out I'll be working from 5am to 1pm with 2 days off together in a week. Then, once I start culinary school in November, I'll be working 5am to 1pm-ish and going from there to school from 1-6:30. It will be busy and tiresome, but I'm just glad I have work first and then school...

So I think I'm going to make it.

Ok. Time for some Pampered Chef-ing. I've got a long to-do list as a new consultant! And if anyone reads this...

Pampered Chef party at Dad and Marsha's house
(123 Hilltop Lane, Piketon, OH)
7:00pm
Bring a friend!!

Until tomorrow!