April 28, 2004

Kitchen Nightmares

We have taken a break from our non-trash-TV-watching crusade, to check out Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, which was entertaining in a truly horrific sort of way.
It reminded me of those long gone days when I were just a lass, and the manager of a quite pleasant hotel in a large Yorkshire town allowed his hotel to be taken over by the post-graduate catering management diploma students, for a week.
For most of the week, we were pretty much empty, and therefore none of our untrained potential was taxed. And then on the Saturday night, for some reason, we found ourselves fully stocked with guests, and facing a full restaurant.
[Aside: Being a post-graduate catering management diploma student means that you know nothing about catering, or running a hotel, or institutional management, whatever that is.]
So, anyway, full restaurant, inexperienced staff, no supervision. One of my flatmates and her boyfriend had booked a table, and she ordered salmon steak. A few weeks later at a party, she spent a great deal of time complimenting the poor lad who had been the chef that night, and asking what he had done to make the steak so nice.
The room was full of post-graduate catering management diploma students, all holding their breath, waiting to see if Dominic would admit that the salmon steak had fallen off the grill on to the floor, been run under the tap, and sprinkled with ground black pepper, as it was the last one we had.
One thing we learned from the Blue Bridge experience, was that what the public doesn’t see, the chef gets away with.

Karen

16 thoughts on “Kitchen Nightmares

  1. When I were at college I worked in a department store cafeteria (not the same thing as a hotel, I know) and the manager said we had to put one slice of tomato in opposite corners of a sandwich and cut it diagonally so that it looked full of tomato.
    To a man, he was roundly ignored.

  2. what anna said, with knobs on.
    I be workin’ on it. patience dear hearts.

  3. Just remember – you have to get to the end of the alphabet by Friday night.
    Or it will be 20 lashes each.

    Pete on April 29, 2004
  4. Put that eyebrown down. You don’t know where it has been.

    Pete on April 30, 2004
  5. Probably the same place as the salmon steak.

    Karen on April 30, 2004

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