From this room my journey begins. Looking down the hallway to my future, my palms get sweaty as I'm filling out new-hire paperwork. I ask myself, "Am I really doing this?"
A friend of mine from JCFC is the head chef and kitchen manager at the local Cheesecake Factory and after finding out that I recently got laid off, he asked if I wanted to join his team. He knew from previous conversations that I'm a food nut and after telling him I had some fryer and flattop experience from a small cafe job I had in college, he offered me a shift on his appetizer station.
Why are my palms sweating then? Let me expound on said cafe experience: In college (4 years ago) I worked at Marty's. A small coffee shop in the lower level of our student union that had a kitchen attached to it. This cafe prepared pannini's, burgers, and pizza's along with various fried foods as a secondary lunch option to the student body. Just about everything at Marty's was pre-made and my "cooking" duties could be better described as "reheating and assembling."
The Cheesecake Factory is in an entirely different league. This place does roughly 1000 heads on weekdays and 5000+ on Saturday alone. The student body at the college didn't even exceed 5000, not to mention Marty's only comfortably sat 150. The CCF sits 550 inside with another 150 capacity on the patio. CCF also makes everything from scratch. No pre-breaded chicken strips and partially cooked frozen french fries here. They dredge those chicken breasts to order and cut those potatoes daily. I was impressed to find out that their salad dressings and sauces are made in house rather than slopped out of gallon jugs like those at the Applebee's I waited tables for in high school. We're talking two vastly different ball-games here.
It is with this frame of mind that I finish my paperwork, receive my chef coats and CCF hats, and await my first day as a professional cook. Thanks for joining me and I invite you to continue doing so as I get thrown into the proverbial fire.
Your prayers and well wishes are much appreciated!
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