On the way to the restaurant for my stage day 2, I had decided on what dishes to make for my tasting. They told me I had to use things they already had in house and said I had as much time as I needed. I had to make two things, an appetizer, and a main course. I felt this was not that challenging, but was still fairly nervous about the whole thing. I really needed a job, my money was almost gone and I also had liked what I saw the day before. It seemed to me that the cooks liked working there, the food looked good, and the chefs seemed ok, although a bit intense, which I was used too anyway. It was an independent restaurant which I liked, and the vibe seemed chill but serious. I figured I would stick with food I knew really well, I didn’t want to take chances on something I hadn’t cooked before. So I chose a shrimp ceviche and a beef filet with chimichurri and fries. Two very simple dishes but I knew I could execute them on a really high level.
When I got there they were in lunch service but the grill cook told me it wasn’t very busy and I could work at his station. The first thing I did was make the marinade for the shrimp ceviche. I took some spanish onion, whole tomato, a jalapeno, and red bell pepper and placed them on the wood grill, and let them char. I sliced the onion in thick slices but left everything else whole. When they were almost black on the outside I pulled them off and place them on a sheet tray to cool slightly. Then I cleaned the seeds from the bell pepper and placed everything in a large blender with a little bit of tomato juice. When the mixture was smooth I added lemon juice, lime juice, and a little orange juice. I liked the little specks of black in the marinade from the charred skins of the vegetables, it gave it a slightly rustic feel I guess. The marinade went in the cooler. Next, the shrimp I had to work with were very large. Normally for ceviche, I would marinade very small shrimp in lime juice and serve it basically raw. But here I had u10 shrimp which were too big for that so I decided to grill them on the wood fired grill. Once they were cooked I cut them up into bite-size pieces and put them in the marinade. I also fried some super-thin cut tortilla strips for a garnish and seared some cut limes in a saute pan so they were caramelized. I was going to add chopped cilantro right before serving.
Next, I cut up some potatoes for french fries, leaving them slightly larger. I rinsed them in cold water until the water ran clear, blanched them in a 300-degree fryer, placed them on a sheet tray, and put them in the freezer. To be honest, I didn’t know the science behind it but I saw a cook do it that way before and his fries always came out super crispy so I gave it a shot. The beef filet I place on its side and cut it into a long strip, making an initial cut of about 1/2” and rolling the beef filet away from me and cutting with my knife. I turned it into a long thin piece of meat instead of a round thick piece. It’s something we did at Patria in New York and thought it was a cool idea. Then I made the chimichurri. There are a lot of ways to make chimichurri, but the way I make it is the way I was taught. I take a whole jalapeno, about three cloves of garlic, about 4oz of apple cider vinegar, and puree it all in a blender, it will turn into a bright green liquid. Then I take one bunch of cilantro and one bunch of parsley and chop it finely. I add this to the mixture and slowly add oil, most of the time canola oil. You don’t want to use good olive oil because you will only taste the olive oil so a more neutral oil works better. I add just enough oil to make it look like a pesto, maybe a bit thinner. Season with salt and that’s it. I’ve made that chimichurri thousands of times over the years and it always tastes delicious. Some people add oregano, some people put red chile flakes, I’ve seen finely diced green bell peppers as well.
When the time came for me to present the finished dishes to the executive chef I plated the ceviche, added the burnt lime wedge and a tiny salad of tortilla strips, cilantro, shaved red onion, and radish, and put it in front of him. I was still pretty nervous but I had tasted everything and I felt it was good. To be honest, I thought it was better than good, I was a bit cocky, but it was solid. I didn’t even wait for their reaction, I went back into the kitchen and started cooking the steak. While the steak was cooking I threw the fries in the deep fryer. The plating would be super simple and straightforward, which I personally like, but some chefs like to see creativity when it comes to putting food on a plate. This was the only thing I was worried about, I knew the food tasted good. My philosophy then and now is that the food should be very simple but well executed. Taste is more important than looks. It’s not that I don’t want the food to look great when it goes in front of a customer, it’s that I feel the focus should be on how the food tastes first and foremost.
I brought the steak out to the chef and noticed he was now joined by the front-of-house manager and one of the owners. This made me really nervous. I placed the steak down in front of them and explained it. Then I went back into the kitchen to clean up. I was thinking that my food was pretty simple but it was good. I was also still thinking that this was a lot of drama for a line cook job. I had another interview at a restaurant down the street because I was worried that this could fall through and I was broke as fuck. When I got back to the kitchen one of the cooks came up to me and told me he thought I did a good job. That was nice to hear, especially being a nervous wreck. To this day doing tastings for people makes me seriously nervous, even though I’ve done so many of them.
The executive chef came into the kitchen and asked me to join him in the dining room.
“Ok, this is it,” I thought to myself.
“First I want to tell you what a great job you did the past couple of days.”
Ok that was a good sign. But then I thought maybe he was trying to let me down easy. Then my brain just went haywire and I started to think of all these horrible things that were going to happen to me if I didn’t get a job soon. A tiny voice in my head just kept whispering awful things to me.
“That was your chance and you blew it. You’ll probably be homeless in about a week.”
“You suck, you should get a real job.”
I’ve learned to ignore most of my own negative self-talk but when I was younger it haunted me. All these negative ideas and emotions would run free in my head.
Now the chef took a good look at me, then said.
“We’d love to have you come work here. We wanted you to cook for us because we felt if you really worked at the places you listed on your application then you are probably sous chef material.”
Now my head almost exploded. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I remember just mumbling thanks and asked him when I could start. I didn’t even pay attention to what he said. I just kept thinking about how I was going to spend my first paycheck. The first thing I was going to do was treat myself to a great cup of coffee. I also wanted a sandwich from Bari, a big one.
I danced out of there, so happy I think I grinned the entire way home. Although I soon realized it was going to be a while before I got paid, about three weeks. I would have to live very lean for a couple of weeks but I didn’t care. I also knew I could now drink coffee at work and grab employee meal there as well so all I had to worry about was money for transportation. I felt so lucky. I still do. I’ve been lucky my entire career and fell into great jobs, usually when I was about to give up hope or quit the industry entirely. It always seems like something great comes along at just the right time. Probably a coincidence, but I’m grateful nonetheless.
Mark, I was absolutely thrilled while reading part I and II just now. I stopped everything I was doing to read it all. You're a great writer!
Great story, Mark. You may have problems in Japan where they are obsessed with how the food looks, but I'm with you: taste is everything.