Yes, I'm a slacker.

It's been far too long since I've posted anything here.  So, what's been going on?

Buskers festival happens every August and it brings thousands of people to the waterfront to watch street performers from all over the world.  These thousands of people get hungry and we at Salty's have been busily feeding them.  Truth be told, most of the volume of people are looking to eat out on the the patio, so we don't get crazy busy during evening service, but we are all involved in preparation for feeding that many people.

When people think about working in a kitchen, most think about what they have seen on Food Network.  Glamourous footage of flaming pans, intricate plating and a well-oiled staff dutifully executing the chefs commands.  Well, there is some truth to the last point, and you do see lots of flames coming off pans during service, but primarily working in a kitchen is about prep.  Hours and hours of slicing, dicing, peeling, par-cooking, portioning and stocking. 

We use the term Mise en Place (or sometimes, just Meez).  It's french for "Everything In place" and it basically means having everything you need to do your job ready to go before you do it.  You never really know how busy you are going to be during service, so you prep for the busiest possible service.  Every element of your line is stocked and backed up.  In addition to that, when getting ready for a busy service, we help each other out.  Cooking and porioning of starches takes time.  We do rice, risotto, potatoes and pasta.  These all need to be pre or parcooked, cooled, portioned and stored so they can be grabbed quickly and added to plate.  It takes time and a good deal of focus to consistently do these tasks over and over. And consistency is what keeps customers coming back week after week.

Often, when preparing for a busy weekend, we will start at 10 or 11am, and prep straight through until 5pm, when service starts.  But it doesn't end there.  "Back-Prep" happens right through service as well.  Often we aren't really busy until 7pm, so we continue to prep for the next day.  Sometimes, you end up doing back-prep right through service.  Imagine that - 12 hours of peeling, slicing, portioning, labeling and storing food.  In a hot kitchen.  Standing in one spot for hours at a time.  It makes you appreciate that dinner out with family or friends even more.

Happy Saturday!

So, when I was hired to work at Salty's, I was told that I would be starting on salads (the cold line) and would probably get a chance to do some shifts on the 'the line'.  The line is the hot line where the main entrees and hot appetizer are done.  It is where all the action, pressure and most of the learning would happen.  I've had an hour here and there over the last few weeks, but this week I had the opportunity to spend two nights on the line.  It's most definately busier that the salad line.  A larger menu of entrres and hot apps.  Not everyone orders a cold appetizer or salad - or even dessert.  But everyone orders a main entree.

It was a busy couple of shifts. I couldn't tell you if it was a busy night or a quiet night - I know it was busy for me!

It has been another great opportunity to learn and the guys on the line have been really good about showing me the most efficient ways to do simple tasks.  If you can save a step - or a movement - or just a bit of energy when doing a task, and you do that little task 200 times a night - you can save a lot of energy.  Keep your arms close to your body, it reduces your space footprint and you are less likely to bump into someone/get burned/poked/poke someone/burn someone/etc.

I guess that would be Matt's Tip 'o the Day!

So back to the kitchen...still hot in the city (and hotter in the kitchen), but it seems to be cooling down a bit today.

It's amazing the little tricks you can pick up watching the grizzled veterens.

As the mercury was pushing 35-40C in the kitchen, the butter balls for the bread service were melting in their dishes.  Dropping them into a clean fish tubs with an ice bath underneath them in another fish tub, extended the life of the butter for a few hours.  Simple and effective.

Not sure what the weekend will bring.  The jazzfest is going on uptown right now, usual busy-ness on the waterfront. 

Last night was slow on reservations, but we had a lot of walk in traffic.  Steady all night, was quite good fun.

Probably around 180 covers when all was said and done.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Hi All

Well I finally understand the saying...if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!  The last 3 days have been unbelieveably hot in the kitchen...each day hotter than the next.  8 hours of 35C+ takes a toll on the body and it's probably well over 40C on the hot line.

Overall it's still a lot of fun, everyone still has a good attitude about it and it's amazing what the body can get used to.

I had the opportunity to break down a 50lb halibut yesterday. I've done smaller ones before, but that is definately the largest fish I've even broken doen into filets.

One more shift and I'm off for a few days!  Enjoy the heat everyone, the rain is coming!

Here are a few pictures of some of the things I prepare in the cold line of the kitchen.

Although it was a slow start last night, it picked up as the evening progressed.  The beautiful weather tempts many people to dine on the patio and the downstairs kitchen is extremely busy on sunny afternoons and evenings. 

One of the cooks working the hot line is a young fellow with a lot of experience.  He always has a useful tip to improve my kitchen learning experience.  I'll try to include one with my updates.

Matt's tip 'o the day:  Cut lemons and tomatoes with a standard serrated kitchen knife.  The acids in those foods will prematurely dull a nice chef's knife.

Now...on to the food!

Cadix - Salty's signature dessert

Cheesecake - available with raspberry, blueberry or chocolate sauce

Lemon Creme Brulee - enough said!

The seafood sampler

Hi Folks

Time to test my picture posting skills.

These are a few pictures of Salty's. I'll be adding more shortly.

So this is my first foray into the wonderful world of blogging as well as my first job working in a professional restaurant kitchen.  I hope to be a faithful poster as the rest of my summer unfolds. 

I'm working at Salty's on the Waterfront in beautiful downtown Halifax.  Over the past 20 years or so, Salty's has become a destination for locals and visitors alike.  It has that elusive quality of location, atmosphere, and really good food.  On the 'cheap and cheerful' side, there is the patio, bar and grill downstairs.  Mostly lighter fare, downstairs is open for lunch and supper.  I work in the upstairs kitchen which services the fine dining in the evening.  It's a full menu, but Salty's is known for its fish and seafood.  Fresh halibut, salmon and haddock arrive daily, along with excellent scallops, shrimp, calamari and oysters.  For the land-lubbers, there are steaks, lamb and chicken on the menu as well.

I'm currently working on the cold line, which means I handle the salads, cold appetizers and desserts.  We have some delicious salads and cold appetizers, and it allows me to work on my artistry and creativity.

I will be posting some pictures and highlights of my first two months in the kitchen soon.  Yesterday was Canada Day - one of the busiest days of the year for our kitchen.  I hope to provide regular updates of the volume of people we are serving, special events for the summer and my progression through my first job in the industry.

Happy Reading!

Getting ready for a busy Canada Day at Salty’s on the Halifax waterfront. Stay tuned…