My First Time in a Professional Kitchen

Prep List

When I created this space, I thought I was going to write more often; but obviously, that did not happen.

Approximately one year and two months ago, I got my first job as a Pastry Cook, and through this post I would like to share what I still remember of that day, and other details of the following first weeks at work.

Prep List

On May 21^st 2012, I went to school, and after, I drove to my new workplace. My shift started at 3:00 pm.  I knew the first things I had to do: go to uniforms and get both my chef’s jacket and pants; after that, Hillary, one of my colleagues, received me and guided me to the Pastry Shop.  There, I found my Chef, who told me I was going to be working with Hillary, and so my shift began.

Hazelnut Mousse Cake

She told me to take notes about everything, because that is what has to be done every day.  All prep had to be done by 6:20 pm in order to go on break for 30 minutes, and then readying the station upstairs in the restaurant, which opened at 7:00 pm.

Service was unusually slow that night, but that gave us time to talk about the job, the desserts, its components, and also, seizing the rare opportunity of time  between orders, to advance on some side work, like cutting fruit for other recipes, scooping cookies, filling macaroons, etc. On that particular night, it meant filling around 10 dozen Raspberry Macaroons.

Manjari Chocolate Pyramid

Hillary taught me to be on top of the servers after the restaurant closed its doors (11:00 pm), in order to know how many tables in the restaurant still had patrons sitting who could possibly order dessert.

After our last table was served, we started breaking down the station, wrapping the ice cream and sorted desserts, loading the cart to take it all back downstairs, to the Pastry Shop, and finally cleaning the tables where we worked at.

Goat Cheesecake on Almond Cake

Once in the pastry shop, we put everything in its place, and as a last note, Hillary showed me how to make the daily pre-ferment, for our bread to be made for the following service. 

And so, my first day at work officially ended.

Peanut Butter Mousse on Chocolate Tart

The following days were about catching my own rhythm for prep and service. I never thought after two short fast-paced weeks, I was going to be able to accomplish service by myself, all alone and unsupervised by my Chef.