Part of the team

I’ve been in Whatley manor all of last and just as I started to feel useful and know my way around, my week came to an end! I had hoped to be sent back on Monday for the fabled second week in the same place (I’ll come back to why its fabled in a bit) but even though Whatley requested me the agency decided it would be better to get someone else who was able too work the whole week (I need the weekend off for my cousin Trevor’s wedding) so I didn’t get the gig.

Going back to why I call the second week as a temp in the same place fabled… I think i said before what I dislike most about temping is the feeling of being useless even though I’m there to help. The first day/week is generally asking people who work there “where can i find a maurice?”, “how do you need this shallot cutting/chopping/dicing?” and “can you show me how you like this doing here please”. It means that you can’t just crack on, smash out your ‘mise en place’ and actually help them get sorted! Then of course you don’t know anyone, they don’t know you so the banter in pretty minimal and conversation happens but its not flowing, they are scoping you out too see if your a real chef or just a standard temp chef, its all a bit awkward to be honest.

So when you get sent to the same place for a second week it all changes! People don’t have to ask you to do stuff, they say “I need the beef vaccing, nasturtium cutting, bronze dill picking and shizo cutting then can you do the oysters, make a brine for the salmon then sort the staff food please.” OUI CHEF!

The second week and people have now seen that maybe I’ve been some places and seen some things so they ask and I tell, a bit more respect gets clocked up, then a few ‘bants’ start because we are no longer strangers. Then I mention I’ve been to Faviken and we compare places we have eaten , worked and done stages. I find out the sous chef used to work at Royal Hospital road, Restaurant Gordon Ramsey. Which along with being one of the best restaurants in the world, I regard the meal I ate there when I was an 18 year old as one of the best I’ve ever eaten. Its also famous for being one of the hardest kitchens in the country (see a program called boiling point on YouTube if you require proof!) so then my respect for him increased.

I didn’t get any work for Monday so I was enjoying a day off when I get a message from the recruitment agency I work for asking if I can work from tomorrow at Whatley manor because the temp they sent today had walked out! I happily turned up the next day to unanimous joy and fist bumps from everyone and a chorus of “it’s good to see you!” I was surprised by the reaction a bit but after asking what happened yesterday it transpired that my replacement lasted all of 2 hours! Left everyone in the shit and caused all to have an unnecessarily hard day.

I felt needed, useful and most of all I felt like part of the team.