2 p.m.: Executive chef and co-owner Victor Barry joins us in the kitchen and I graduate to using a knife (I don’t own any knives good enough for the work here, so I have to borrow one from Alain, which makes me feel awkward; chefs have intimate relationships with their knives). I prep shallot rings, trim endive spears and slice compound butter into half-moons for the fried egg course. Barry suggests I warm the metal tools with hot water to ease the process. Meanwhile, Barry and Kriss break down rabbits. Their knife work is breathtaking to behold.
4 p.m.: Oran (who’s off that day) swings by the kitchen to say hi. There’s a photo shoot happening in the dining room, and most of the cooks are helping prepare the plates in addition to getting their prep done. I overhear cooks talk about making boudin tomorrow. One of them will be coming in to learn despite the fact that it’s his day off. I suddenly feel lazy.
4:15 p.m.: Barry brings some freshly plated foie gras mousse from the photo shoot and tells me to dig in. Feeling guilty about indulging while everyone else is working away, I try to share with Alain (I was using his knife after all), but he’s too polite to accept. So I scarf it down, savouring every insanely rich bite. Later on, Rob gets his own plate of foie and I feel a little less guilty.
4:53 p.m.: Carlo Catallo (co-owner and general manager) invites me to the dining room for the front-of-house staff briefing. Matthew Roulston (manager and sommelier) runs through the evening’s guest list—a quiet night of 24 guests over two hours. I’m awed at how well they know each customer’s particularities (I start to wonder what my file says). Kriss briefs the front of house on new menu items, including a steak course that’s served with fried smoked oysters and tarragon jus. The wait staff take diligent notes and ask some very specific clarifying questions on the ingredients and techniques employed. I’m impressed: these are not the waitrons of Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential.
5:24 p.m.: Staff meal! Tonight it’s falafels with various pickles made by Matt. Everyone digs in. I share the back stairwell with Alain for two minutes before Kriss comes by and asks him to start making rabbit stock. In the eight minutes it takes me to eat, half the staff have already buzzed by to start evening service. I won’t even try to describe how busy the dishwasher was. I head down to the pastry kitchen and ask Jeung if I can help. He shows me how to make chocolate branches.
5:58 p.m.: The first amuses are sent out to the dining room.
6:16 p.m.: Kriss presents Barry with one of the sunchoke chip–encrusted smoked oysters he’d created earlier. It gets the big boss’s approval. Kriss pushes the other bite over to me. It’s really good: the soft, creamy body is enriched with sweet cherrywood aromas and surrounded by a delicate crust. I think I let out a too-loud giggle, which leads Barry to suggest that I should stage more often.
What an awesome experience which I am sure all foodies envy you of!
Hope we can see a series of your staging experience in Toronto soon!
January 27, 2012 at 5:32 pm | by BetsyWow this must have been really fun, if not really tiring at the same time.
I think it should be noted that a lot of the restaurants Tony Bourdain worked at were much larger than and perhaps not as haute cuisine as Splendido.
January 27, 2012 at 8:47 pm | by oppohRenee,
Absolutely wonderful piece of an inside behind the scenes review of line on the line in the kitchen. Thanks for being so brave and taking on this task. So much romanticism about being involved in the rest business. At the end of the it’s a whole lot of hard work in the pursuit of excellence and happy customers.
Christine
January 28, 2012 at 1:50 pm | by coopSpeakRenee,
(In the real world) Never would you dare kid with the chef about your shoes being too big or whatever. that casual attitude would be snuffed out immediately-no exceptions. They knew about the story and were on their best behavioursically.
This might be the silliest article i’ve ever wasted my time on.
‘Emotionally taxing’? How were you able to gather that insight? YOU ‘WORKED’ ONE SERVICE!!! They must be chuckling to themselves (as I am).
Maybe you understand Navy SEAL training too because you toured the barracks.
Next time work a few weeks at least…then tell about your ‘inspirations.’ hahahaha
January 28, 2012 at 3:10 pm | by djnBe nice. She just wanted to see what it was like and went in with an open mind. Everyone in the industry had to start somewhere with their first day, including you, and I’d bet it went a lot like this article. I wonder if your sous was “chuckling” to himself the first day he watched you cluelessly pick herbs.
January 29, 2012 at 1:48 am | by Johnny DangerousWow. What an experience. What respect for the food and for the customers. All I can say is ‘Wow’.
January 31, 2012 at 8:11 am | by Catherine ArcherI can’t help but have a laugh at this article.
Being a stagier is one of the most gruelling and emotionally abusive parts of becoming a cook. You got a chance to eat and sit down during those 12 hours? How quaint. Did you get a chance to not be able to afford your rent because you’re an apprentice?
I feel like this is taking the unintentional piss at us cooks. I like Renee’s work and I think she does a good job.
I wish you were doing this with the intention of becoming a cook, not to “dabble” in our profession. I would welcome you with open arms, but you’re either in or you’re not.
January 31, 2012 at 8:40 am | by Kristina GroegerHaving read this through, and noting that Renee is a writer with no culinary school experience and no stated desire to work in a professional kitchen, I’m gathering that the point of this stage was to offer Toronto Life readers a glimpse into one of Toronto’s better restaurant kitchens, rather than some sort of expose on the life of a stage. So you’re a culinary grad looking to build a career as a chef, and you have to stage for several weeks at a time for no money. So they work you hard during your stage. So you struggle financially as a young person just entering the workforce. So what. Most of us have been through similar experiences working internships in our chosen fields during or after school. Suck it up and quit pissing all over a well-written article from someone who’s a journalist, not a chef.
January 31, 2012 at 10:40 am | by BThaha, wow, cooks who moonlight as internerds at 2am after service, grumpy about their lives.
Of course this was a fluff piece, but again, it was still interesting to rich white folk (TL readers). She’s a known customer/writer to the restaurant and will be in the future, no way they’ll yell at her. Did you really want to read about her getting a second degree burn on her arm that puffed up like a balloon because she didn’t know how to clean the deep fryer properly?
Stagiers usually get the shittiest jobs in the kitchen. Mind numbing work like scrubbing 200 oysters in freezing cold water, getting your hands chewed up by the sharp shells. Yes that part was inaccurate, they took it easy on her. Authenticity wasn’t the agenda on order, showcasing the kitchen’s precise order def was.
I’ve staged at Splendido a few years ago, and it is a pretty quiet/tight ship. That part is certainly true. It’s a good place to learn for sure, closest to a Michelin star restaurant in Toronto imo.
The good thing out of this, she has gotten perspective on the harsh life of line work. Perhaps it’ll change her perspective as a future diner. Maybe instead of leaving a fat tip that cooks never see, she’ll bring a 6 pack of delicious Southern Tier ipa for the BOH.
Shining light on the foot soldiers is always a good thing, thank you Renee.
February 1, 2012 at 1:30 am | by aserI am a total internerd. That’s for sure.
I’ve known Renee for a while through passing and I really love her work. She’s an excellent photographer who works hard and she is really passionate about food. It’s not her fault I’m jaded from overworking myself.
I really like the Splendido’s goals board. I think one or two Michelin stars would be well deserved.
February 1, 2012 at 5:27 pm | by Kristina GroegerThis must be a good topic in order to generate all these high quality comments!! I am just a simple diner who enjoys food and dining experience. I hope this will turn into a series covering not just fining dining like Splendido but also other classes/types of restaurant..with her gettin injured in the kitchen of course. Having a good glimpse in what’s going on in the kitchen would definitely help diners to appreciate what’s being served to them in addition to the presentation and taste of the food. I have a question though — “Maybe instead of leaving a fat tip that cooks never see, she’ll bring a 6 pack of delicious Southern Tier ipa for the BOH” — I thought tips are shared amongst server, kitchen crews and bar?
February 1, 2012 at 7:00 pm | by Betsycorrection: WITHOUT her getting injured in the kitchen
February 1, 2012 at 7:02 pm | by BetsyIt’s up to a restaurant to tip out the BOH, most places don’t. Servers certainly don’t like working at places that tip out the BOH, it takes a chunk out of their pie. Servers for most restaurants are not in it for a career, it’s a quick money maker that allows them the freedom to do other things. There are exceptions though, Adley at the old Splendido was a gem.
Even if BOH does get tipped out, it’s chump change as it’s only a token 2% or something, split amongst all the cooks.
I do like the concept of restaurants that allow kitchen staff to work one shift a week as a server. Incanto in SF does it, just gives cooks a little breathing room in terms of income. Yours Truly has cooks serving food and describing dishes, it’s a good thing.
Again, if you want to reward BOH, buy them drinks. They’ll need it to dull the aches & pains of a long day.
February 1, 2012 at 10:36 pm | by aserThis piece is a lot of fun to read – well written and beautifully photographed. I love the tongue-in-cheek attitude Renee uses to describe a glimpse into the life of a stagier
February 2, 2012 at 11:51 am | by jaimeTo the naysayers and slightly jaded commenters here and in the twitterverse, I would argue the opposite – one respects the BOH more after reading this piece. It’s a great light hearted look at a restaurant and chef that she clearly admires. It’s a fabulous point of view for Splendido and Patrick Kriss that highlights their commitment to their goals and to their patrons. I’m sure the attention this piece will garner will be appreciated.
For a regular TL reader, and an extremely frequent restaurant diner, it gives a bit more insight and understanding into a world that is usually hidden behind a pair of swinging doors. I highly doubt the average diner has ever put much (if any) thought into what goes on behind the scenes and it’s time they did so that they can fully appreciate the care and effort that goes behind the creation of a beautiful plate of food. We’ve all known those ultrademanding clients who expect the world handed to them on the gold dusted plate. Perhaps, if nothing else, this piece will help to bring down their sense of entitlement a notch and help them enjoy their food and not scarf it down as an afterthought to the business they’re discussing.
Stageing/interning regardless of the profession/career is never glamourous or fun, but everyone has to pay their dues and start from the bottom in the hopes that they will gain the experience they need to follow their dreams. Is it ever fun to mop the floors or scrub 200 oysters, heck no, but in the long run a professional chef will be able to see the positive side and focus on the knowledge they’ve gained themselves. I’ve chatted with many chefs who have staged around the world, and if anything they’ve spoken fondly of their experiences and extremely well of what they’ve learned.
Well done, Renee! I applaud your courage and I certainly hope TorontoLife puts out more of this type of feature (online and definitely in print)!
ASER Thanks for the Insight! I do like the idea of having BOH (provide them with some training for FOH) to come work as serving staff one shift a week …not only they get a breather but also get to interract with diners (especially the regulars) and see what they think of the dishes as feedback and idea generation.
February 2, 2012 at 12:03 pm | by Molly