Blog #15; May 13;

            I’m anticipating a pretty stressful week ahead of me due to the fact that I just got over a three-week concussion. With this blog I will have finally caught up after missing so many of them over the past couple of weeks; however, I haven’t quite caught up on my rough draft…I am extremely excited to get back to work because I’ve missed it and because I have just been so insanely bored these past three weeks! My excitement isn’t taking away from my stress though…I feel so far behind! I interviewed the owner of all of the serenity restaurants a while ago, which was incredibly intimidating, and gathered some good information from him; however, there are still quite a few other interviews that I would like to complete; hopefully I can get them done this week! My plan is to interview my boss, Zach, the owner of Apple Street Farm and the head chef at 15 Walnut. Interviewing Zach will give me a manager’s point of view and the owner of Apple Street Farm will give me a grower’s point of view. 15 Walnut is one of the serenity restaurants that is strictly farm to table so interviewing their chef will give me an understanding of what the benefits and drawbacks are of cooking locally. Hopefully after completing these interviews I will have a better understanding of farm to table; therefore, I will have a better idea about how to shape and organize my essay. My fingers are crossed! 

Blog #14; May 13;

            So at this point I’m not really sure what to write about in my blog because one, I wasn’t able to work all last week because of my concussion and two, because prior to my concussion I was doing the same thing every day. As I wrote about in my last blog, I am really enjoying my internship thus far; however, it is very repetitive. I’m not sure if it feels that way because of the role that Zach plays at the restaurant or because there is only so much I can do at the restaurant; I’m sure it is a combination of both. Unfortunately because I’m not an actual employee there yet and because I’m not eighteen yet, I am limited to what I am allowed to do. However, my score internship has allowed me to train for my summer hosting job there, which has prepared me rather than just being thrown right into it this summer. The training has been slightly stressful because there is so much information to take in and because the restaurant is so huge; however, I am so thankful that I am able to get it out of the way now rather than during the summer when it is super busy. The thing that makes hosting so incredibly stressful is the fact that we have to manage 95 tables at a time while taking the take-out orders and answering the phones. I worked on a Saturday the other night with two other girls and they were super helpful so that helped settle my nerves. 

Blog #13; May 13;

            As I mentioned in my last blog, I am really enjoying my internship thus far. Not only because I like everyone that I work with but because I’m really enjoying working in the position that Zach holds. Zach is the manager and head chef at Lat 43; therefore, he basically runs the place but also gets to cook some nights of the week. I’ve always said that I never want to work behind a desk when I get older because I personally find it to be extremely boring to be sitting down all day researching or filling out paperwork. However, Zach has the best of both worlds with his job. He obviously has office work to do because he’s the manager and that’s just what managers do; however, he also gets to cook and be a presence in the front of the house. Being able to interact with people is something I hope to be able to do with whatever I decide to do with my future job(s). I am also completely envious of the fact that Zach gets to work in the kitchen, especially at such a successful restaurant. For those that don’t know, I love to cook and am also going to college to study business; therefore, shadowing Zach has been the perfect internship for me because I am getting a taste of what both of those things could potentially be like for me in the future. I’m not sure if I’ll end up in the same position as Zach when I get older but I’ve really enjoyed gaining a better understanding of what a restaurant manager does. 

Blog #12; May 13;

            Unfortunately having a concussion for three weeks has really put a damper on my score internship. For the past three weeks I was only working a couple hours a day or not working at all. However, I was still able to get a decent amount of work done while I was at Lat 43. At this point I have kind of gotten into somewhat of a “grove” with what I do each day. If I get there at 11:00 am when the restaurant opens, then I go directly to the office to get all the reports and money taken care of. Now that I’ve been doing this routine for long enough I am able to input the information into the computer on my own. I usually complete as much as I can and then have Zach come in and check my work to make sure that I did everything the right way, because once the numbers are in the computer it’s a total pain in the butt to change some of them. Fortunately I haven’t been making many mistakes lately because I have become so familiar with the routine. The thing I really like about Zach’s position is that once he completes this morning routine he can spend a lot of his day in the front of the house and at the host stand. Even though he does have a lot of office work that he has to complete, he also gets to interact with a lot of the customers.

Blog #11; May 4;

            Yesterday I was only able to work for two hours; however, it was just what I needed after working for six hours the day before. Zach saved all of the reports for me so when I arrived I went straight to his office in order to log all of the previous night’s numbers, QSAs, coupons, etc. I am finally able to complete all of this on my own and just learned how to input it all into the computer this week. My “morning routine” at the restaurant consists of the following: putting the report in order, counting and organizing the coupons, making a deposit based on the cash due from the previous night, making sure everyone clocked out and if not, adjusting their hours, logging food and beverage sales from the previous night in the computer, counting the money in the safe and recording those numbers in the computer. Overall it probably takes me about an hour to complete but Zach says after I do it enough times I’ll be able to do it in much less time. He’s been doing it for years though so I doubt I’ll ever be able to catch up to him, unless it ends up being my job someday. From there I replaced all of the drink menus, there’s probably fifty, with the new beer list because Zach added two new beers to the menu…that was super fun…For the rest of the time I was there I worked at the host stand and ate sushi J

Blog #10; May 1;

            Yesterday was by far my best shift yet! Last week Zach (my boss) mentioned that he wants me to start working some night shifts because there is much more to do at night than during a lunch shift. I was super nervous because it’s obviously busier during dinner than it is during lunch; however, it ended up not being bad at all. I was working with another hostess who totally knows what she’s doing so I was able to gather all the necessary information about being a hostess and she was also able to answer any questions that I had. Not only that but she’s really nice and so fun to hang out with. At one point early in the night the phone rang and she asked, “You ready to answer the phone!?” My nerves immediately kicked in and I said no, but that I would answer the next call. While I continued familiarizing myself with the two computers and praying that the phone wouldn’t ring, I sat a bunch of couples and parties of people. A couple weeks ago I was way too nervous to even think about seating people, but now after becoming more comfortable with the computers and the layout of the tables it was a piece of cake! Unfortunately the time came for the phone to ring, but fortunately it was just a woman looking for a lost pair of sunglasses. However, the next time it rang I had to take my first take out order!! It wasn’t as bad as I thought and I now have way more confidence behind the hostess stand. 

Blog #9; April 28;

            Friday was another somewhat uneventful day at Lat 43. I spent a majority of my time there sitting at an empty table making a finished copy of the restaurant floor plan that I drew up earlier in the week. Unfortunately due to lacrosse and the classes that I have to go back to school for, I am usually at the restaurant in between lunch and dinner, which is the slowest time of the day. When I get there in the morning right at 11:00 when my boss is just arriving, there is always much more to do because we have to go over the reports and numbers from the night before; however, I have been forced to show up after that is done. Fortunately I will be working some night shifts this week because according to my boss there is much more to do in order to close the restaurant. That makes me slightly nervous because it means that I will have to be out on the floor during the busiest hours of their day. My boss is always out on the floor (“front of the house”) during these hours, which means I will probably be working at the host stand quite a bit during my upcoming night shifts—yikes! Now that the deck is open there are 90 tables that the host/hostess has to manage, along with answering phones and doing take-out orders. Fortunately I don’t think I’ll have to answer the phone yet, but just trying to learn how to manage 90 tables is going to be overwhelming enough for me. 

Blog #8; April 25;

            I walked into Lat 43 today and my boss proceeds to say to me, “You get to laminate menus today!!” I thought to myself, “How bad could it possibly be…” Little did I know… I cleared off a table, plugged in the laminator and set down a pile of about 200 menus in front of me…I then spent the next two hours laminating menu, after menu, after menu. At first there was only a pile of about one hundred menus, but as the two hours went by my boss continued to bring over more and more piles of menus…it was miserable. Unfortunate for the restaurant but fortunate for me, it wasn’t very busy yesterday so the waiters and waitresses were able to come over and keep me company. However, every single one of them managed to make fun of the fact that I had to laminate all of the menus. I don’t mind though because it’s gotten to the point where I feel comfortable cracking jokes with them. Even though I was a little nervous the first couple shifts I had at the restaurant, the nerves have subsided and I feel really comfortable there. Everyone there is extremely nice and there’s never a dull moment while I’m working. Hopefully I won’t be laminating more menus today because it was probably the most tedious task I have ever had to complete. I have a feeling it will be busier than yesterday due to the weather so I’ll probably be working at the hostess stand for a little while!

Blog #7; April 24;

            When I arrived at Lat 43 yesterday my boss was dealing with somewhat of a small crisis because the reports from the following two days were printed on the same pages; Sunday’s reports were printed on the back of Monday’s reports. Unfortunately he was only able to use the hard copy of Sunday’s numbers; however, that meant that I got to use the computer to help input Monday’s numbers! I was able to go through the numbers, make calculations (which I messed up a couple times) and help my boss input them into his crazy spreadsheets. Even though it doesn’t sound like I did much, I actually felt pretty important. The more I’m able to review reports and invoices, I am finally starting to understand which numbers are supposed to be low and which are supposed to be high. I am still unfamiliar with a lot of the numbers that my boss reviews and inputs into the computer; however, a few of them are starting to make more sense, which is very reassuring. I took another trip to the bank today and was still amazed at how long it took to count all of their money. From there I moved to the hostess stand and actually sat my first group of people! It definitely wasn’t as scary as I thought it was going to be, especially because I knew one of the people in the group. Today was definitely the first day I finally felt helpful because I actually understood what I was doing! 

Megan: Blog #6; April 19;

            After logging all of the beverage invoices and going through the coupons from the night before, I was finally able to spend some time at the host stand, where I will be all summer, with the number one hostess at Lat 43. Just when I thought I couldn’t possibly be overwhelmed with any more information, Jackie starts asking me all sorts of questions and giving me all these tips about being a hostess! Don’t get me wrong, she’s literally the sweetest girl I have ever met but she also knows how to do her job perfectly so she had a lot of information to share with me. I’ve gotten a little better with managing the computer but I am still nowhere near mastering everything that Jackie does, such as answering the phone, taking take-out orders and seating people. However, after yesterday there is no doubt in my mind that Jackie will whip me right into shape on how to run the host stand; she already had me seating people, helping with a take-out order and making reservations. She even mentioned that I would be answering phones soon…not sure how I feel about that though…Both my boss and Jackie gave me homework for the next time I come back; I had to memorize the floor plan of the restaurant and have to draw it on a sheet of paper for my boss and Jackie gave me the dining room menu and the pub menu to start memorizing. As overwhelming as it is now, I’m sure I’ll be able to catch on soon enough. 

Megan: Blog #5; April 19;

            Yesterday’s shift at Lat 43 was pretty slow because I was there during the prep hours between lunch and dinner; however, it gave me an opportunity to get to know some more of the people who work there and the restaurant itself. My boss had already taken care of all of the paperwork from the previous day so fortunately I didn’t have to try and tackle that craziness. However, I did get to log the beverage invoices from the past couple days, which was pretty interesting. I got to see the breakdown of just how much alcohol a restaurant of Latitude’s size can consume and use in a matter of a day or two, which was truly astonishing. Because Lat 43 also generously offers so many different coupons from websites such as Yelp, Groupon and Restaurant.com, I also went through all of the coupon receipts from the night before to make sure they matched up with the numbers that my boss was given. During that process I ended up encountering my parents’ dinner receipt from the night before because they went out with friends and used a coupon! I also had to take somewhat of an intimidating trip to the office above Alchemy in order to submit my application for work since I’ll be working there this summer; the people ended up being really nice and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I would say that the best part about working at Lat 43 thus far is being able to walk past the kitchen on my way to my boss’ office everyday and being able to smell all the amazing food they’re making that day…and then having the option to order something for lunch J

Megan: Blog #4; April 16;

            Today I had my second shift at Lat 43 (yes, I’m working during vacation) and I definitely felt more comfortable at the restaurant after getting over my first shift jitters. I now officially have my own code at the restaurant to clock in and clock out on the computers so yes, I feel pretty official. Watching my boss plug in numbers and calculate different sales revenues from the previous day was still a little scary, considering it was only my second time watching him do it. He handed me “the packet” of papers and told me to put it in order and I honestly cold not remember where any of the papers went, but I’m determined to do it after my next shift. Today we took a trip to the bank and to “the office,” which is right above Alchemy. I remember standing at the teller’s counter at the bank today after about ten minutes of the woman counting Lat 43’s deposits and saying to my boss, “This is so overwhelming. I go to the bank and it takes about two seconds!” We proceeded to stand there for another five minutes before heading over to the office, but I still can’t even believe how long it took to count all of the money. We made our way back to the restaurant and I was lucky enough to have my first plate of sushi while at work! I can’t even begin to explain how good it was. If you are a sushi fan then go to Lat 43. 

Megan: Blog #3; April 16;

            As I mentioned in my last post, watching my boss go through his daily routine of checking the previous days numbers and all of that craziness, is extremely overwhelming. Especially hearing that I’m going to be going through that process in a week or so. As nervous as I am, I’m also really excited to know that, even though it will be hard at first, I will be able to do some of what he does soon. I am hoping to one day have a similar career as he does and to be getting this type of background so early on in my education is fascinating for me! After completely the morning routine in the office I spent some time at the hostess stand with one of the current hostesses at Lat 43. She was easily one of the nicest people I have ever met. She took me through the computer program that they use to seat people, make reservations, assign waiters to tables, etc. and even took me around the restaurant to show me which tables are assigned which numbers on the computer screen. Again, after watching my boss go through his crazy number process, this was slightly overwhelming as well. However, it was easier to pick up than the office work and she was really helpful with all of the information. Learning how to be a hostess now is perfect because my internship is continuing right into a summer job so I will already be trained on how it all works!  

Megan: Blog #2; April 16;

            Even though I had a great time meeting everyone and getting to know my way around the restaurant on my first shift, it was slightly overwhelming. I arrived at 11:00 and, as I mentioned in my last post, was introduced to what felt like a million different people in a very short amount of time. (Now I just feel bad every time I have to ask people what their names are…) I then made my way through the front of the restaurant, through the kitchen and towards the back where my boss’s tiny little office is. The first hour or so of my first shift consisted of going over about ten pages of numbers regarding, among numerous other things, dining room food sales, pub beverage sales and sushi sales. I watched in amazement as my boss rambled off various terms and explanations as to why high numbers were a good thing on one sheet and why they were bad on another sheet. If that wasn’t overwhelming enough he then proceeded to input some of the numbers into a crazy looking excel spreadsheet at the same time he was making calculations on a calculator. (The best part was when he told me he taught himself how to do all of it…) I couldn’t help but laugh when he told me that in a week or so I would be sitting at the computer doing some of the calculations and inputting of numbers into the spreadsheet. I’m excited to learn how, but at the same time I’m extremely scared to mess it all up. 

Megan: Blog #1; April 16;

Unfortunately my score internship had a late start due to the fact that my boss at Latitude 43 was taking classes most of last week for some sort of certification. However, I managed to squeeze in two hours on Friday before heading to school for class and lacrosse, which was nice because I wasn’t immediately thrown into a four-hour shift of work. Prior to arriving at Lat 43 I was a little nervous because I had no idea what to expect. Mr. Wallimann, who set me up with this internship, had mentioned several times that my boss was a really cool guy and that he was super chill; however, even after meeting him for about twenty five minutes prior to my first shift, that still wasn’t calming my nerves. Fortunately, right from when I walked in the door to when was shift was over, everyone treated me with a huge amount of respect and I even managed to have a good time while I was working! Most of the time I was there I was meeting everyone else who worked there and figuring out where everything is. I never realized how bad I was with names until I was introduced to about twenty different people in a matter of ten minutes. Another thing I never realized was how big Lat 43 is…I always knew it seated a ton of people but after seeing the kitchen and everything else that’s out back, it seems like it’s twice the size I thought it was. All in all it was a great first shift!

Jones' Outline

Megan Jones

SCORE

Outline/Thesis

Thesis: Although it’s more expensive, takes more planning and requires more commitment to the cause, this trend is transforming how restaurants operate.

·      Referring to the idea of farm to table

P1: What is the concept of farm to table?

·      Local, local, local

o   “It’s a focus on eliminating as many steps as possible between where the food is grown and where it’s eaten.” -Khaled Allen (managing editor of farmtotableonline.org, a blog about sustainable and local foods)

§  http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2010/11/09/clarified-farm-to-table/

·      Cut out the middleman (packagers, processing plants and commercial vendor)

o   Assures fresh, nutrition and local

o   Not paying for travel (even though this concept is essentially more expensive)

·      http://www.sharecare.com/videos/video/HealthMakers/What-Does-the-Term-Farm-to-Table-Mean-2127330277001-2149376053001/  (Rick Moonen (seafood chef and sustainable fishing practices) on farm to table)

·      “Built on the idea that food is best when fresh, farm to fork (sometimes called farm to table, or farm to market) encourages people to swap over-processed, modified foods for local, natural and unaltered produce, dairy and meats.” - Katheryn Rivas

o   http://greenliving.about.com/od/greenathome/a/Farm-To-Fork.htm

P2: Benefits

·      Support local community

·      Food travels less to get to the consumer

o   “According to the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, in a study of 16 common fruits and vegetables, the average one travelled just under 1,500 miles before it was sold to a consumer. Additionally 39% of fruits and 12% of vegetables were imported from other countries.”

§  http://source.southuniversity.edu/farm-to-table-and-the-local-food-movement-49961.aspx

·      Environmentally friendly

o   “The average 18-wheeler gets roughly five miles to the gallon. To move produce 1,500 miles would burn around 500 gallons of diesel fuel, which is a lot of gas to burn to get a tomato that most Americans could grow in their backyards.”

§  http://source.southuniversity.edu/farm-to-table-and-the-local-food-movement-49961.aspx

·      Marketing strategy

o   “And so farm to table, locavore, a lot of these words now, they've become marketing strategies for a lot of people.” - Tom Colicchio Chef/Owner, Craft Restaurants and Colicchio & Sons

§  http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/farm-to-table-food-movement

·      Decrease the environmental impact and carbon footprint of factory farms and mass food production

·      Maintain food's natural health benefits and nutritional quality

·      More nutritional value

o   “Proponents of the movement can list several benefits one might gain after embracing the change, including better health and nutrition. Usually containing inordinate amounts of sugar, sodium and fat, processed foods often lack some nutritional value; their appeal rests in their abundant availability and artificially appealing flavor.” - Katheryn Rivas

§  http://greenliving.about.com/od/greenathome/a/Farm-To-Fork.htm

·      Improve the economic vitality of small and local farms

·      Ensure the safety of our food supply

·      Avoid the use of genetically modified foods and GMOs

P3: Drawbacks

·      More expensive

·      Destroying ecosystems

·      “Norman Borlaug, the Father of the Modern Green Revolution, has argued that since organic farming is capable of catering to a very small consumer group, world ecosystems are being destroyed by the expanding cropland in an alarming way.”

o   http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-organic-5713.html

·      More time consuming

Potential Paragraphs:

·      Farm to school

·      Lat 43’s use of farm to table

·      Local farms in our area that local business take advantage of

Works Cited

"Advantages and Disadvantages of Organic Farming." Lifestyle Lounge. I Love India, n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. <http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-organic-5713.html>.

Avon, Natalie. "Clarified - Farm-to-table." Eatocracy. CNN, 9 Nov. 2010. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. <http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2010/11/09/clarified-farm-to-table/>.

Purves, Brendan. "Farm to Table and the Local Food Movement." South Source. South University, n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. <http://source.southuniversity.edu/farm-to-table-and-the-local-food-movement-49961.aspx>.

Rivas, Katheryn. "Briefing: The Farm-to-Fork Movement." About.com Green Living. About.com, n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. <http://greenliving.about.com/od/greenathome/a/Farm-To-Fork.htm>.

"Sustainable Agriculture." Curiosity. Discovery Communications, n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. <http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/farm-to-table-food-movement>.

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