Everybody gets hungry and sometimes the thing people remember most about a vacation is the food. Turns out that oddly enough this season the food is the most remembered. Which is funny because of the interesting dynamic that there is amongst the kitchen staff. I guess their best work is always done; therefore, the guests are happy.
The kitchen consists of three chefs, two pastry chefs, two dishwashers, a handful of servers, and a bartender. Each person working has their own personality and frankly people crash—but every department has this problem.
The pastry chef’s are my favorite. Both of the lovely ladies are spontaneous in the kitchen. They’re willing to make cakes, cupcakes, pudding, and even peanut butter cookies on command. Both are kind and give the kitchen a touch of sugar, but don’t let that fool you each can give you a little spice.
I sat down one evening with one of our pastry chefs and she filled me in on the story of the kitchen and how they have all become one big family. “The pastry area is separate from the rest of the kitchen so when I step outside of my ‘cave’ there’s constant laugher and fun.” Apparently, inside jokes are huge, as well as towel snapping—OUCH!
Seasonal work can be hard because of how much time co-workers spend with each other. We work together, live together, and hang out together. But, with us being so close it’s easy to “also get angry with each other.” The pastry chef goes into detail about how “Everyone we work with comes from a different background and has interesting personalities that makes it a struggle to with work with them. We have to understand their habits and let go them… try not to complain about them.”
The pastry chef was honest about when she started working at the ranch. She thought she was open minded, but then realized she wasn’t. “It was really cool meeting everyone but then I had to get used to how difficult some days could be.” She said.
For those of you who haven’t worked seasonal work before, it’s a lot different then having a full-time job with a home to go home too. We get to know people so fast because of the amount of time we have with them. The funny thing is, seasonal work really is for a short amount of time but it’s scary how fast these people play a huge role in our life. But if you think about it—this summer is just one sentence in the book of our lives.
From the outside, all I can see is the drama that comes with cooking for guests and avoiding allergies and having to work in a fast pace environment. Not only do the chefs and servers have to deal with guests, but they also deal with little critters that somehow nibble their way into the kitchen. “We’ve had bats flying around the dinning room and even once a whistle pig got in. We chased it around!”
To end our session, I asked her what she was going to miss most about working at the ranch.
“The freedom. She said. I don’t know what I’m gonna do yet, the production, the uniform, and being able to be myself, and basically do what I want. I don’t know if the next place is gonna allow me to do what I want to do.”
With being a pastry chef she is able to bounce ideas off of the other pastry chef and create delicious treats. The rest of the workers in different departments really enjoy all the leftover treats. We really do appreciate the kitchen because we know how hard they work to please the staff and the guest. And of course, everyone has to eat!
