Sous Chef: Sara Nguyen
There’s so much that goes on in an opening of a restaurant. It’s a lot of time, a lot of money and a whole lot of EFFORT, on everyone’s part. When a restaurant first opens, all it needs to do is survive. Monetary wise mostly, but morale is a close second. Keeping integrity can be difficult during the lull of the beginnings of a restaurant. When you only have 4 reservations on the book, it’s easy to not care as a cook and as a chef, as a server and as a manager. You will be slow when you first open. That’s inevitable. At first, all you can think about is survival. Get people in seats, butts in chairs etc… Trying to break even is always a good goal when it comes to THIS industry. Then, (if you’re one of the few fortunate ones), it hits. THERE’S the RUSH…
People are paying attention and they ARE coming in. A lot of people are coming in… With that, come the expectations. Expectations from guests and ourselves.
The bar is raised.
I feel as if I’m going crazy. I’m at that pivotal point from slow to lighting speed. Days meld, weeks rush, yet minutes somehow feel like hours. Especially [while cooking] on the line. Did this really happen in just 6 months? I’d love to say that our kitchen, a well oiled machine, is having a difficult time organizing with the volume of success we’ve seen. Really, though, it’s me who is having a hard time. It was so easy to organize when we were slow. Time is a luxury that I can’t afford to take for granted.
I’m aware that this may sound as if I’m complaining. It is quite the opposite. I am overwhelmed. Proud. Challenged.
The bar is raised yet again. Bring it.
by dale on March 23, 2010
Hey There.
Sorry I have not posted anything in a while….
But…. I have been wicked distracted and “busy”….
SOOO much has happened at Sprout lately that I have no IDEA how to explain. It is all good and we are all heads down working to make this our little dream neighborhood place.
This is a total A.D.D. touch base blog.
So here is the dirt.
For the past month we have not had a manager and I have been doing double duty. I love it as a control freak, but realize that it is not made for me. I hate it. I am a working chef. I live to be in the kitchen all day. Helping futz out front of house operations sucks. But it has to be done. It has shown me how and why I LOVE this industry, and how and WHY I love being a chef. That said, Sprout is very proud to make a few announcements:
First.
We officially have a new fantastic wine and beverage program. There will be a video blog soon about it….:-) I am tearfully proud to say that Marisa Van De Velde is our wine director. She is a new up and coming tour de force to be reckoned with. She has a Palate Of Death! I love love love her and cannot explain the work she has done in the past month. New Wine List. Aggressive Pricing. AND! She in TWO WEEKS got our liquor and wine overhead under control. We will show you her stuff in a bit. Put it this way….If I was straight I would totally ask her out!
Next.
YESTERDAY. We brought on Brittney Green. She is our New and Improved Front of House operations manager. It is her first time in this position and I cannot wait to see what she is capable of. From the moment she walked in the door I knew she was the right one for the job. She is the new front of house face of Sprout and I am sure that she will knock your socks off….. yet again.. we will video blog her introduction.
At the same time this has all been going on….… SPRING MENU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have been out of our minds planning these dishes…
I truly believe that this new menu is the start of new ground for me as a Chef in style and confidence. The reason for that is my staff. We are so proud and committed to the food that we are giddy nerds over these dishes. Case in point….Our Chicago Tribune Review will be out in a few weeks. I talked with Phil Vettel about the new menu; he was so interested in the offerings that three of them are being shot for the review pictures. He hasn’t seen or tasted them! Talk about TRUST! Thanks Phil! SNAP!
There are SO many things up and coming at Sprout. I don’t want to give them all away right now… The BIGGEST is Joan’s Table. Our in house Charity named after my mother who passed this fall.
Peace and Love
Dale
