After finishing culinary school and having zero previous restaurant experience I accepted a position to extern at Eleven Madison Park. If for no other reason than the awareness that if I didn’t take it, I’d always wonder what if. Truthfully, I knew I wouldn’t get as much applicable, real life experience with the food, and definitely wouldn’t be cooking… but I chose it anyway. I took the chance that the unique experience and what I’d be able to observe and learn professionally and personally would be worth it. It has proven to be incredibly difficult, enlightening, and thankfully still rewarding at times. If you think you don’t have any more character to build… I recommend taking a job as a commis chef at a 3 Michelin star restaurant.
Each of the following points could be a post in themselves, and most likely will be, but in an attempt to streamline my takeaways so far, these are the top 10:
Directness isn’t criticism. Take it, brush it off, keep moving. Keep perspective.
Ask people how they are, people need to be seen especially in the thick of stress and monotony. Your teammates come first, you can be the determining factor of eachother's day. Look to where you can lead but never let ego or the feeling of competition get you.
When you want to be anywhere but there, when you keep checking the clock, take a minute to check back into concentrating. Be there instead.
Everything can become a new norm, but you have to give it the time to be. It takes 100 times, not 10 times.
If you make it to 10 hours, you can make it another couple. The last few are always easier than the first few.
Everything is hard at first. Everything.
There are 50 different ways to lead. Observe them all.
PAUSE. Reset. Be clean. Staying organized will make you look and feel at least a little more like you know what you’re doing.
You’re in a stressful, intense energy but you don’t have to take it on as your own. You can you work well and fast without taking on the energy of others. You have your own energy, own it.
When in doubt… focus on your NEXT THREE STEPS.
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