05.18.07
Day 1 At Rustico
The alarm clock awoke me at the ungodly hour of 6:15, and I struck out the door with hopes that I had left myself enough time to get to work for my first day on time. My commute is now 25 minutes each way, and thankfully I seem to be missing rush hour by just a little bit on both ends. Ahhh.. to not have to listen to the traffic report is still pure heaven to me.
I arrived at work ten minutes early, and was greeted soon thereafter by Chris who walked up and let me in. We were the first ones there. This is to be my job. To set up the restaurant before anyone else shows up and make sure we are ready to go as far as prep, inventory and overall cleanliness are concerned. The job seems to have a lot of the elements of a senior position - there is the responsibility of getting the place in shape for lunch, there is the all-important mid-day inventory and food ordering. There is the calculation of food costs with the ongoing spreadsheet, and there is the work that has to be done as an expeditor to make sure that everything is going as smoothly as possible during lunch.
This job seems like it is the next logical step forward in my career. The cooking is still there, but the added skills of office work - like taking an inventory and running line checks - will only help to further round out my skills for running my own place some day.
Back to the story though, the lunch rush was not ever incredibly busy, but the head chef, Frank, did place an order unbeknownst to us in the middle of the service. When the order was delivered, he called the two sous chefs and me (since I guess I am approximately at that level) out there to take a look at what was sent to him.
“Can anyone tell me what is wrong with this dish?” he asked putting the fish in front of us. I had my guesses, but this was one of those moments where I could tell that being quiet would only work to my advantage. It was my first day, and I had been on the payroll for all of about 5 hours at this point. To chime in and explain what I thought was wrong with the food at this point would just be a really stupid idea. So I kept it zipped.
We went through the dishes, and Frank showed to me that what I had heard about him was true - he is a no-nonsense kind of guy when it comes to his food, and he is dedicated to improving the menu and overall quality of Rustico by leaps and bounds. He possesses great skill and a lot of knowledge about cooking and kitchens, so this will surely be a place where I can learn a lot.
That is, if the morning commutes don’t kill me first…
So in that vein, since I have to switch my internal clock to get in touch with my new schedule, I think I need to go to bed. Sorry no pix with this post, I just need to get some sleep instead of researching funny picks and thinking up funny captions. More will be on their way for sure.
I just wanted you all to know I love the new job so far, and yes, I survived day 1. Here’s hoping to many more!
Stumble it!
Eize said,
May 20, 2007 at 8:37 pm
Whoa—from night shift to the daylight hours. That’s some adjusting you have to undergo there.
So, what WAS wrong with the dish?
Chris said,
May 21, 2007 at 7:28 am
I think the most interesting part of this was the tracking of food cost via spreadsheet because I have to do the same for my job, tracking things such as salary plans, mileage reimbursements, etc and until now, I hadn’t given much thought to how restaurants set menu prices.
Is there a magic formula or ratio of what makes a dish “doable” from a financial standpoint? For us, salaries should stay under 56.5% of gross revenues. So is there a number or general rule of thumb where a dish costs x% of the dish price point? Also, does your cost tracking include labor in the cost of prep or is it solely cost of ingredients?
Sorry so many questions but you stirred up my interest:)
Phil said,
May 21, 2007 at 6:42 pm
So, I take it you are only going to work at places that end in an “O”?
Eize said,
May 21, 2007 at 9:53 pm
RE: Phil’s comment…
Cafe Tirolo, Vero, Rustico…yeah, there IS a pattern!
Alejandra said,
May 22, 2007 at 3:35 pm
I think it’s more of an italian thing than an “O” thing…
Congrats on a great first day, Matt. But I still want to know what was wrong with the fish…
Darcy said,
May 23, 2007 at 4:13 am
This enquiring mind too needs to know what was wrong with the fish.
Matt said,
May 23, 2007 at 7:51 am
Wow - I never would have thought that this comment about the fish dish would have generated so many questions! So allow me to put your collective minds at ease, and explain what was wrong with that one fish we made. First of all, there was too much oil on the plate. We garnish the fish with a fantastic green olive/roasted tomato/lemon/crouton garnish that has extra virgin olive oil as the “binder”. There was too much oil in this spoonful of the garnish, and it was pooling under the halibut. Also, the tapenade was not built well on top of the fish, and it probably could have used a fresh herb garnish as well. So there you go - that is what was wrong with the fish. The taste was right on the money, we just had to clean up the presentation.
As for working only in places that end with “O,” I would leave it to you Phil to notice that… I had not. Though as an interesting side point, only Tirolo was really an “Italian” place. Vero was named after one of the owners (Veronica) and was a fine-dining American restaurant - not Italian. And Rustico, while we do make pizza and some pasta dishes, the menu again is much more American (wood grilled entrees) than Italian.
And finally, Chris, you ask a question that is worthy of a whole post in and of itself. However, the quick answer to keep you satisfied is that as a general rule of thumb (this is just a basic guideline, not the same everywhere) is that when you calculate how much the food in a dish costs (taking into account only the cost of all the ingredients in one serving of a dish, or the “cost per plate”) then you triple that number, and that is what you charge. That is, food cost is generally one third of expenses. The other two thirds cover labor, rent, insurance and so forth, and if you’re lucky, maybe some profit. Like I said, 33% food cost is just a general rule of thumb - not necessarily what we aim for at Rustico, and as I learn more about this role, I will be sure to keep you all updated.