Finally, after much drama I have got broadband in my new apartment. Hopefully that translates to more blog entries ;-)
Jules from Fleetwing 2 got me a chef gig working on New Year's Eve. So the bad news is, I'm working instead of partying. However, the good news is I'll be right in the middle of the fireworks action.
There are two caterers who service the Fleetwing 2, this is the other one. On the one hand I feel a slight tinge of guilt working for Chris's competition, but on the other hand, I can't afford to turn down chef jobs as long as they don't conflict with any other jobs.
The amazing thing about this job was that the caterer, Iain hired me based solely on Jules' recommendation. He sent his head waitstaff Sam to look after me on this job (Chris sends me Ruth on his functions).
The food was already on the boat by the time I arrived. So I looked at the menu and did an inventory of what I have. Oh dear, Iain actually expects me to make and cook some of the dishes. By comparison, Chris usually has most things pre-cooked and all I had to do was reheat and serve. But hey, I'm a chef, I can do this.
Sam gave me advise on which things to work on first, she said she does the salads first. That was my mistake of the evening, because I was a little late in getting started with the moroccan lamb into the oven we had guests waiting for their starters a little longer than they should have.
To make things worse, Sam started interfering by re-arranging how I had the oven shelves organised. She was insisting that the hottest part of the oven was the top shelf and she wanted to switch it into grill mode instead of bake. Normally she would be right, but I have already worked on this oven and I know that it has the unique quirk where its hottest part is the bottom shelf. I just said yes, and then put it back the way it was after she left the galley. After all, I was the chef!
It all worked out in the end. Yet at the time I am thinking I had blown it because this was sure to get back to Iain. Sometime during the cruise, Trevor, the barman whispered to me that I should be careful about Sam, it seems she has a reputation of being a know-it-all and tries to tell staff how to do their jobs. Hospitality is such a fun industry, everyone's gets a reputation and that gets repeated to others. I wonder what my rep is? Have I worked enough to have earned one?
By 11:45PM all the guests have been fed, the staff are just serving drinks, and I have already put away the buffet and finished washing up and cleaning the galley. I got on to the bow of the boat with my camera and waited for the countdown.
It was 1:30 AM by the time we had disembarked the guests and unloaded the boat's rubbish. I then made my way to the city to meet up with a couple of friends and celebrate the new year.
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