February 4, 2012

Directly across from the grill is a four-feet-long stainless counter top that the appetizer-man and the broil-man share. Under this counter sits a three-door refrigereator. The refrigereator holds foods such as soggy-breaded eggplant, chicken, and veal slices; raw, marinated chicken; wooden skewers of shrimp; unwashed Romaine lettuce; stiff pizza dough; bags of spiced scallions and calamari soaking in milk.

Behind this counter on the wall is a rail similar to the one at the saute station filled with sliced pepperoni, pizza sauce, garlic-ranch and Caesar dressings, sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella and Romano cheese, and seasonings for steaks and appetizers.

Most of these items are for the appetizer-cook's use. Working appetizers is Popeye, a bald man with a brown beard, who is covered in colorful and vile tattoos.

Sealing off the kitchen's west end is a grease-splattered baker's oven with a horizontal stone shelf inside. Below the oven sits a freezer that holds beef raviolis, breaded chicken strips, and four, five-pound paper bags of seasoned curly fries. The kitchen's line is buzzing with action and sounds. Kevin and Vinny call orders to the line crew and we cook the night away. Despite the slave-like conditions and crap for tools we have to work with, we manage to have a pretty good time and cook some decent food in the process.

End

Setting up a commercial kitchen: Pages Taking Position Behind the Burners Checking Drawers Stock The Assember's Station Sells a Ticket Appetizers End of the Line