On Sunday I posted about attending an etiquette dinner. Tonight I saw the other side of the coin while working in the kitchen for the second etiquette dinner which started at 6.30pm. On these days the kitchen staff has a lot more food preparation to do - providing the usual breakfast and lunch then three different meal groups have to be prepared - etiquette, wacky games and faculty visit. The campers are divided into three groups which attends these different activities on the same night.
Around 4.30pm the girl dorms started transforming the cafeteria into a classy restaurant. Meanwhile, I was plating 90 salads (spinach, strawberries, feta, toasted pecans) and other staff were preparing the squash, mashed potatoes, baking brownies and so on. Other items had been prepared during the day for the meal. I put 15 trays holding 6 plates of salad, onto a bakers rack and rolled it into the fridge to stop them from wilting. Plates of butter were set up and fresh bread cut and put into bowls ready for the wait staff to take out to the tables. In addition glasses of sparkling grape juice were set out for the toasts.
The wait staff consists of local singles and young marrieds dressed in black pants/skirt and white shirt, black tie for men. During the courses the staff get to eat the same dishes as are being served.
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| Lauren and Josh enjoy Bruschetta starter |
It's a tightly timed operation to get the food plated. For most courses the food is already plated ready to go out but for the main course it is done at the time so that it is hot. This is done as an efficient assembly line operation. While the evening events are taking place outside we get to hear most of it through the speakers coming into the kitchen.
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| Beef, chicken tenderloin, Asiago cheese potatoes, creamed butternut squash |
The evening ended at about 9pm when we started cleaning up, washing stacks of plates, dishes, pans, glasses, cutlery, putting away unused food, wiping down counters. By 10pm most of the work was done and just for Mr Schlote to finish mopping the floor. This was good time since on Sunday it was 11pm before cleanup was done. On these days we are all typically working an extra few hours. It's worth it to provide an experience of fine dining that many campers would not otherwise have. Tomorrow is the final Etiquette meal.
Around 4.30pm the girl dorms started transforming the cafeteria into a classy restaurant. Meanwhile, I was plating 90 salads (spinach, strawberries, feta, toasted pecans) and other staff were preparing the squash, mashed potatoes, baking brownies and so on. Other items had been prepared during the day for the meal. I put 15 trays holding 6 plates of salad, onto a bakers rack and rolled it into the fridge to stop them from wilting. Plates of butter were set up and fresh bread cut and put into bowls ready for the wait staff to take out to the tables. In addition glasses of sparkling grape juice were set out for the toasts.
The evening ended at about 9pm when we started cleaning up, washing stacks of plates, dishes, pans, glasses, cutlery, putting away unused food, wiping down counters. By 10pm most of the work was done and just for Mr Schlote to finish mopping the floor. This was good time since on Sunday it was 11pm before cleanup was done. On these days we are all typically working an extra few hours. It's worth it to provide an experience of fine dining that many campers would not otherwise have. Tomorrow is the final Etiquette meal.
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