Onward to the battle!

It was a holiday weekend, and like all holiday weekends the restuarant was busy, busy, busy.

The Sat.rush was expected and planned for. everything was in place and the flow was great.

Sunday ,well , well Sunday was a romp allright. We got our butts kicked all morning and all evening. I didn't stop to think , save for fleeting glimpses of freedom that would evaporate before my eyes as tickets came rolling in off of the printer. We as kitchen team , ran , hustled , sweated , humped, chopped, diced, minced, sauteed, sweated, ran some more, braised, melted, roasted, grilled, prepared, tossed, chopped, sliced, pan-fried, pan-seared, pan-roasted, Well into the night. No breaks baby!

Tough. That's what we do.

Now Monday was the kicker, we went into overdrive, and broke even, it was scary we worked so hard and well that we should have by all rights been working for Olympic Gold medals in cooking. It was as insane, as I have ever seen work. I felt like a military commander who had the fine job of rallying his troops to battle. We were fighting the dining room and we were not winning .The odds were against us yet we managed to turn the tide and keep our side's casualities low. The night got long and while I feel like the performance of all my line cooks was outstanding. We still got rocked all evening. The hard part was at the end of the night when we were cleaning up , to remember to tell the guys just how proud I was of all their hard work and locked on attitudes. These guys put out 150% and were rewarded by their chef saying good job. Now I've been there but it's still not as cool as getting medals of honor from the gov't.

I have told the Military Commander point of view part of the story to my bosses and they all laugh when I put the General Custer spin on it.

But I'm waiting... for you Mr. Dinner Rush, bring the pain and I will reap the honor of the battlefield. You can stand me up at the gates of hell and I won't back down.
You can try your hardest and I will wheel about on my steed and steadfastly conmmand the loyalty of my men upon even your darkest and bitchiest minions.

Onward to battle!