LitShark
Predator
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2002
- Posts
- 3,563
((OOC: This thread is closed to me and littlewaif. Readers welcome.))
Eeeeeeek!
Eeeeeek!
Eeeeeeeeeeek!
The ticket machine screeched its plaintive cry over the loud and rambunctious sounds of the busy kitchen. The sound of an automated blade slamming through the tiny sheer of paper within the large hollow plastic shell rang out before the high pitched squeal of printing came to life again. It was dinner time and there was a line half-way around the block, the controlled chaos in the kitchen seeming to move in fast-forward.
“Alright, we need two filets, one medium with mash, the other med-well with fries. I also need two lamb curries and one lobster salad! Wait for my signal on that salad, how’s the dessert sampler coming?” Chef Victor Kamlan shouted back at the cooks working feverishly behind him after ripping down the tickets and shoving them into the holder just above the window where food was passed off. “I got two more Ostrich steaks coming off the grill, where are my saffron fritters?”
Victor quickly set a pair of metal plates down in the window after smearing matching patterns of sauce over the center. He used metal tongs to arrange two perfectly medium cuts of dark meat on each plate, after arranging several sautéed pearl onions, oyster mushrooms and endive quarters on the plates.
“Got the fritters coming out now chef.” The fry cook Lance said dutifully, scooping the fried balls of corn egg and flour into the deep fry basket. “I need another thirty seconds on the tempura onion ring appetizer though.”
“Hurry the hell up then, I’ve already fired the entrée for that table. Don’t back me up Lance, not tonight.” Victor reprimanded his fellow chef before turning back to the other station which sat around the corner from Victor’s grill and sauté station. “Desserts, where they at? Table seven!”
“They’re in the window now boss!” Damien, the pantry chef announced, frantically saucing the elaborate glass dessert plate as he slid it onto the steel serving window. “I’ve also got the calamari salad coming fro table twelve.”
“’Atta boy D!” Victor grinned, sliding the pan of thick yellow curry from his pan down onto the metal bowl of white rice he had gathered from the cooker. “Put it up there, it’ll be right at the same time as the curry.”
It was like poetry and a train wreck all at once, it was chaos with singular focus, it was insanity with clear direction, it was madness with vengeful resolve; it was the kitchen. As tickets continued to print with the same screeching alarm, tickets continued to pound the stainless steel window next to plates and bowls. More orders, more food, more work. The three men worked feverishly as though they were in fistfights with their very surroundings and situations.
Servers cycled in and out, some sending back orders, others putting finishing touches on plates before carrying them out to the dining area. But as the peak of the rush finally began to slow to a more manageable pace for the kitchen, the servers fell behind the cooks. Victor and the others began to at last see the end in sight, while the servers only saw the angry faces of people who had waited in line for hours just to wait for their food.
“Damnit!” Victor shouted, using one bowl to shove several others aside in the heated service window. “Why am I sending out more ostrich steaks when I have one sitting here for like ten fucking minutes? Whose food is all this and why hasn’t it gone out yet?”
“I’ll give you one guess.” Thomas, the only server who had lasted in his job for more than a year muttered, picking up the tickets beside the waiting plates of food. “Shelly, Shelly, Shelly, Shelly and oh look, Shelly. I guess you might have needed five guesses.”
“I’m going to choke that skinny little bitch!” Victor seethed, touching the steaks with his fingers to gage how much they had cooked under the red lights. “Take table eight’s food out to them before it’s ruined, four is already a goner. Find that bitch and bring her ass in here, then get Alicia to help her get these other tables served. Damien, start on a calamari plate for table four while I remake their dinner.”
“Goddamn that girl.” Damien muttered, bending down to swing the door of his mini fridge open with such force that it slammed into the wall beside him. “I was finally caught up. I need to get a damn smoke in!”
“We all do, just suck it up.” Lance muttered, spilling a cage full of fries into the metal pan where they would drain. “We’re almost through the tough part.”
Victor made no reply, he knew that nothing kind or nice or even remotely encouraging was going to make it past his lips until after he’d had a smoke. His brain was doing cartwheels of rage as he touched table four’s entrée one last time to be certain before sighing heavily and throwing two more steaks on the grill.
“Where the hell is Shelly?!?!?”
Eeeeeeek!
Eeeeeek!
Eeeeeeeeeeek!
The ticket machine screeched its plaintive cry over the loud and rambunctious sounds of the busy kitchen. The sound of an automated blade slamming through the tiny sheer of paper within the large hollow plastic shell rang out before the high pitched squeal of printing came to life again. It was dinner time and there was a line half-way around the block, the controlled chaos in the kitchen seeming to move in fast-forward.
“Alright, we need two filets, one medium with mash, the other med-well with fries. I also need two lamb curries and one lobster salad! Wait for my signal on that salad, how’s the dessert sampler coming?” Chef Victor Kamlan shouted back at the cooks working feverishly behind him after ripping down the tickets and shoving them into the holder just above the window where food was passed off. “I got two more Ostrich steaks coming off the grill, where are my saffron fritters?”
Victor quickly set a pair of metal plates down in the window after smearing matching patterns of sauce over the center. He used metal tongs to arrange two perfectly medium cuts of dark meat on each plate, after arranging several sautéed pearl onions, oyster mushrooms and endive quarters on the plates.
“Got the fritters coming out now chef.” The fry cook Lance said dutifully, scooping the fried balls of corn egg and flour into the deep fry basket. “I need another thirty seconds on the tempura onion ring appetizer though.”
“Hurry the hell up then, I’ve already fired the entrée for that table. Don’t back me up Lance, not tonight.” Victor reprimanded his fellow chef before turning back to the other station which sat around the corner from Victor’s grill and sauté station. “Desserts, where they at? Table seven!”
“They’re in the window now boss!” Damien, the pantry chef announced, frantically saucing the elaborate glass dessert plate as he slid it onto the steel serving window. “I’ve also got the calamari salad coming fro table twelve.”
“’Atta boy D!” Victor grinned, sliding the pan of thick yellow curry from his pan down onto the metal bowl of white rice he had gathered from the cooker. “Put it up there, it’ll be right at the same time as the curry.”
It was like poetry and a train wreck all at once, it was chaos with singular focus, it was insanity with clear direction, it was madness with vengeful resolve; it was the kitchen. As tickets continued to print with the same screeching alarm, tickets continued to pound the stainless steel window next to plates and bowls. More orders, more food, more work. The three men worked feverishly as though they were in fistfights with their very surroundings and situations.
Servers cycled in and out, some sending back orders, others putting finishing touches on plates before carrying them out to the dining area. But as the peak of the rush finally began to slow to a more manageable pace for the kitchen, the servers fell behind the cooks. Victor and the others began to at last see the end in sight, while the servers only saw the angry faces of people who had waited in line for hours just to wait for their food.
“Damnit!” Victor shouted, using one bowl to shove several others aside in the heated service window. “Why am I sending out more ostrich steaks when I have one sitting here for like ten fucking minutes? Whose food is all this and why hasn’t it gone out yet?”
“I’ll give you one guess.” Thomas, the only server who had lasted in his job for more than a year muttered, picking up the tickets beside the waiting plates of food. “Shelly, Shelly, Shelly, Shelly and oh look, Shelly. I guess you might have needed five guesses.”
“I’m going to choke that skinny little bitch!” Victor seethed, touching the steaks with his fingers to gage how much they had cooked under the red lights. “Take table eight’s food out to them before it’s ruined, four is already a goner. Find that bitch and bring her ass in here, then get Alicia to help her get these other tables served. Damien, start on a calamari plate for table four while I remake their dinner.”
“Goddamn that girl.” Damien muttered, bending down to swing the door of his mini fridge open with such force that it slammed into the wall beside him. “I was finally caught up. I need to get a damn smoke in!”
“We all do, just suck it up.” Lance muttered, spilling a cage full of fries into the metal pan where they would drain. “We’re almost through the tough part.”
Victor made no reply, he knew that nothing kind or nice or even remotely encouraging was going to make it past his lips until after he’d had a smoke. His brain was doing cartwheels of rage as he touched table four’s entrée one last time to be certain before sighing heavily and throwing two more steaks on the grill.
“Where the hell is Shelly?!?!?”