In this chapter, I will start telling my story of how restaurants have become part of my life for over 20 years and why I still have a love-hate relationship with them. Restaurants suffer significantly during this pandemic, as many other businesses do; however, restaurants speak to me innocently ( even when unclear).
Hello, Welcome to my personal blog, "Kitchen and Letters."
My friend Miriam mentioned that she last visited a restaurant in December 2019! For me, that is unimaginable. Maybe I can not remember my first memory of being in a restaurant, but for sure, I know the last one; yesterday, February 09, 2021, during Covid 19( I went to a great local "new" restaurant that opened during the current pandemic. Is Mediterranean-style food, healthy, fresh, and delicious with a clean philosophy. If you are ever in San Miguel, visit Jacques, in calle del pueblito. Not to be missed) I like to support restaurants when I can. Find their website at the end.
Actually, I can not imagine my life without restaurants. I have learned most of what I know in my adult life from being, working, thinking, and eating in a restaurant. It became my street life learning experience, and I have lived off of restaurants in one way or another for about 20 years.
When I first moved to London in September 1999( I was just a baby), my first job was in the Gaucho Grill, 1 Bell Inn Yard, the City of London. My brother worked there as a breakfast manager and asked the restaurant manager if he could interview me for a receptionist position. I could never forget my interview. I was interviewed by the Assistant Manager, Aysun Mutt, a Turkish lady with short, thin, long dark hair with a strong accent. I arrived on time, dressed up for the interview, and was very nervous. I went overdressed. I wore a black and silver cocktail dress with black suede( I loved those shoes, they had a knighted butterfly on one side) platform shoes I bought in Canada a year before. I knew close to nothing about working in restaurants. My work experience has to work in a Hotel reception and ice cream shops. At the end of the interview, she said: You start tomorrow, and you can keep the job as long as you don't think you get any benefits because your brother works here. See you here at 10 am. At the time, I was living on East Putney Bridge, on the district line between zone 2| and 3, which was about 1 hrs one way on the tube! Plus, walking home a long way for a job, I thought at first, but it was worth it. I was lucky to get a job just one week after arriving in London, but now I had to keep it.
Gaucho Grill is still based in the exact location in the basement. The staff was a bit dry and cold and observed me as if I was a new lamb in the heart. I felt followed by everyone. Next to reception was the bar, and the bartender was the only friendly person the first week I worked there. He explained things to me, like the menu, and opening hrs reminded me of people, names, etc. I think his name was Jeff. Now that I think of it, like most bartenders, I think he was drunk most of the time. The next friendly person was Glenn Edwards, the manager. I will always remember Glenn. I worked for him twice, and he helped me believe in myself, trusted me, and had a lot of patience. He was happy to teach me and to tell me off when needed. Many years later, when I was working for Glenn at another restaurant, I applied to University, I needed a reference letter, and he wrote the most excellent reference letter ever. Still, I never made a copy of it. I just remembered that it was so well-intentioned that I got into University. Glenn always showed me kindness.
Working so close to the bar introduced me to Argentine wines, and I fell in love with the most expensive one. The one I remember the most is CATENA, a malbec grape from Mendoza, Argentina. Whenever I see a bottle of CATENA, my heart melts and returns to when I felt like a grown-up! My brother loved it, and as a little sister trying to imitate most of what my brothers did, I became a fan. My mother, family, and stepfather believe that an essential part of our education was learning about wines, table etiquette and manners, growing season, and general food topics. All those hours and days, short and long trips, started to pay off for my family and me. This has always helped me navigate the food world since childhood, it has helped me over time as an open line for conversations no matter what social background, food has helped me connect with people.
These family skills were put to use and were very useful when working in reception. My accent and innocent looks always helped me open many conversations with customers. However, I had to be reminded to smile! I was even told once, " I pay you to smile, so you must smile, whether you like it or not " I was shocked when I was told that and took it very personally; later, I learned that is how the industry works.
Working in reception encourages you to learn a bit about everything. Sometimes you are the missing piece on the restaurant floor, behind the bar, taking orders, picking up plates from tables and setting up tables, and responding to your area. Receptionists need to know what is going on almost everywhere. Everyone's business is our business. Managers expect you to know and pretend not to know, to see and be blind, but to answer when needed. Behave as you always knew how. People come and go, and it might seem a simple job, most of the time it is, but there are times when you must know even things that are not in your area. You are customers' first impression when they call or approach the restaurant. The receptionist can slam the restaurant by not spacing the reservations, giving enough time between reservations, and helping the floor run smoothly.
One of the first things I remember the bartender making was a " Don Pedro," a dessert drink made with vanilla ice cream, rum, and nuts. It was to die for! But be careful, it looks innocent but is not, you can get drunk very quickly. He always made a bit more and would pour it into a glass for me to try, or any other staff member to do. Thanks to " Don Pedro," we were all pleased by the end of our shift! After a bit, Aysun warmed up to me as all the other staff, if became my family away from home. There were many Mexicans working for the company. At one point in reception, we were two Ilianas working, both Mexicans. Shortly after I started working there, my brother moved to another restaurant, but I stayed there.
Gaucho Grill became my conform place; I trusted most people who worked there. It did not take me long before I started to feel very comfortable and enjoyed going to work. Learned the way with customers, even the ones that could have been nicer. Slowly my English improved, and my communication skills moved quickly and usually. I learned the area and enjoyed watching the men in suits during my breaks. It became the first thing that I learned about London. While working for the Gaucho Grill, I experienced my first company Christmas party. The company put two or three restaurant staff in the same boat on the river Thames. I need to find out how many teams we were in. Can you imagine? I was surprised they would do such a thing, especially when we were all party people! It was a beautiful experience we could see London from the river. We left from the Southbank to Greenwich Village, we could see the city along the river all the way to Greenwich at night, it was memorable! I worked there for about 4 months. By then, Aysun had a job offer in another restaurant in Central London; I was sad to see her leave, little that I know. Shortly after I stopped working there, I moved to Moscow Road in Bayswater, Central London. To my surprise, when Aysun knew that I was not working there anymore asked Glenn for my number. She called me for an interview in a new restaurant she was working at, Mezzo, in Soho.
Working for Gaucho Grill at 19 was one of the best experiences of the time; it also opened other doors. The restaurant industry is small; we all know each other even in a big city like London, or I was lucky enough to have worked in the industry when it started to boom in London. Many companies began growing and had many other restaurants in different locations. When I started working there, my English was not as good as I thought it was, it helped me to work hard (coming from a small town, where everyone knows you, I would get a job everywhere) working in a big city and wanting to be noticed you must work hard, you must show that you deserve the place you have. You are willing to keep working to keep it.
As I'm writing this, I'm impressed with myself for how much in detail I remember this. It was a life-changing period, and my mind kept all the details of it like an entire room waiting to be opened. I can still describe in more detail all of it. The more I concentrate on my mind, the more I remember. For now, I will leave it as it is. In future blog entries, I will write in more detail.
For me, restaurants have become my comfort zone places. It is a must for anyone. We must work at least once in a restaurant to learn how to be customers. We must work in a restaurant to learn patience and think independently. They are a hard place to work, and understand that they are not places for everyone because as there is a nice scene to them, there is a dark side too.
Thank you for reading me.
In good Food,
Iliana Lanuza
Links:
https://www.jacques-sma.com/
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