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My FareStart dinner is over, and what an event. Doing this event was fairly similar in effort to my Gypsy dinner, but different in significant ways. Gypsy was fine dining, all about exquisite food for 24 guests. FareStart was an exercise in volume cooking, serving 250+ guests three courses with the goal of raising money for FareStart.
Prep for this event wasn't difficult, just high volume. Gypsy had so many little elements, I could barely keep them all straight. FareStart had only a few elements, but we're talking huge volumes: 264 chicken breasts, 100# onions, 14 gallons of stock, etc. I started several weeks ahead of time and paced myself. I wasn't stressed too much by the work load, but it did take careful planning to make sure it all came together.
In retrospect, I should have done even more prep ahead of time. I showed up at the FareStart kitchen at 1:30pm with loads of prep to do: 35# beets, 72# squash, 115# onions, etc. Fortunately I had as many as 14 students ready to help, and I certainly put them to work. They were without exception very pleasant to work with, energetic and friendly, eager to learn. I really enjoyed my time working with them!
The staff, however, really earned their keep. I was in over my head a little, with the timing and the volume of work to be done day-of (again, I should have had more done ahead of time), and the staff-instructors helped keep things on the rails. They weren't critical at all, nor did they second-guess me, they just were there to move things along and make sure it didn't fall apart; I'm very grateful for their assistance.
When 5:45pm rolled around, we had to present the plates to the servers. This was fun, I'd never done this before! Something intrinsic to restaurant service. I tried to be easy-going all night, but during the presentation I got all cheffy on everyone and said that servers don't touch food, only cooks touch food. It's the one thing I get fussy about.
The dinner was completely packed with my friends and family, seemed like I knew everyone there! Especially my mom, who flew in from Toronto, just for dinner. This is my mother who's claustrophobic; she got on a plane just for dinner! I had so many other friends there that night, I can't name them all. If you were there, thank you so much for your support!
Also, a huge thank you to Nadia, Melanie, and Wendy: Without their help, I would have been completely lost. Each one of them did many different tasks that night, each one vital which helped keep the quality up!
During service, my job consisted of running between the stations, checking on the food to make sure everything was right, but also going out to the floor to say hi to everyone. In retrospect, I hope I didn't appear an egomaniac to the kitchen staff, but I was having fun. I got the opportunity to work with the cooks on the line, making sure the plates were what I wanted, and they did a great job. I feel like I finally have a good handle on what restaurant service is like now. This was my big concern going into this event, but with such a limited menu it was very similar to catering a big banquet: Plate 40 at a time and the servers will pick them up, then do it again!
Dinner service was supposed to stop at 8pm, but I think they kept seating people until as late as 8:25pm. They kept coming in! When all was said and done, I think we probably served over 250 people. All-in-all, a very successful night. I'm lucky to have had the opportunity to cook at FareStart, and I hope I get the chance to do it again!
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