If I were given the choice of working in a restaurant or coffee shop I would take coffee shop every time. I find it easier and less stressful, but the trade-off is that coffee shops tend to be very small and crammed tight with supplies.<\/p>\n
Despite my experience working in the tight space of a small coffee shop, I wasn\u2019t prepared for how confined the Cuisine Machine is. When the opportunity to go onto the Camosun food truck came along I had a nervous excitement. There were a few concerns I had: it\u2019s close quarters and I didn\u2019t want to get in the way. Also, I wouldn\u2019t have the foggiest clue what to do. Worst case scenario: I would just hang back and observe.<\/p>\n Now, whenever I\u2019ve eaten at a food truck I\u2019ve seen maybe three or four people working in it. The day I was on the food truck, we had six. Chef Mark Cornett, Melanie Mace, who takes the orders, Professional Cook Training students Matthew Vose, Robin George, and Roman Gilby, and myself. Roman and Robin were at the back end of the truck on the fryer and flattop, respectively. I stood in the doorway to the cab of the truck next to Vose\u2019s station. Cornett was in the middle of the truck next to Mace. Surprisingly, it wasn\u2019t that squishy. I stood off to the side because our counter was really short and definitely not meant for two people to be at.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Prior to opening, I helped Vose set up his station. Nothing too difficult\u2014I put liners in the containers and the sauces for the dessert in little cups. Vose\u2019s job was to assemble all the orders. On the menu were rice bowls, shaobing (a sesame flatbread sandwich), pork wontons, and deep fried coconut milk.<\/p>\n I\u2019m a big fan of chef Gordon Ramsay; he\u2019s angry and I find it amusing. But one thing that popped in my mind while Cornett showed me and Vose how to assemble all the menu items was all the times Ramsay said, \u201cYou have to cut your menu down!\u201d The food truck menu was small, simple, and flavourful. All the rice bowls were assembled the same. The same protein went on the shaobing. There was a very limited number of ingredients used in a variety of ways to create an amazing menu.<\/p>\n It was incredible to watch how the students worked. Timing and communication was definitely key. In order to strike that balance between pumping food out quickly and keeping food fresh there\u2019s a small amount prepped and ready to be assembled, and by small amount I mean a few servings ahead of the bills. Gilby had to make sure there was enough sesame bread deep fried for the shaobing so that when an order came up it could quickly be passed down to Vose. Then Vose would add the slaw, pickles, and protein and\u2014presto\u2014it\u2019s out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The rice was made ahead of time, of course. George looked after the protein and gai lan. When it was ready it was put in a chaffing dish. As soon as an order came up Vose would grab a bowl, add the rice, gai lan, protein, add the oyster sauce and sesame seeds, and, bam! Served! There was a point during service when I watched Vose assemble four rice bowls at one time. He did it so effortlessly; it was really impressive.<\/p>\n I did eventually get in there. About halfway through service I felt I could handle it and let Vose know. I helped assemble one of everything. I couldn\u2019t really put the rice, gai lan, and protein in the bowls as those ingredients were fairly central on the truck but I did add the oyster sauce and sesame seeds. I ended up sticking to the shaobing as those ingredients were in the corner where I was standing. For the remainder of service I made shaobing and Vose did the the rice bowls.<\/p>\n It was a lot of fun, but it\u2019s not easy. With limited counter space, getting orders out quickly wasn\u2019t just a matter of keeping customers happy; it was also a logistical matter. There just wasn\u2019t room for containers to sit and wait for any of the ingredients. Space is so limited that when Vose was assembling four rice bowls we didn\u2019t have space for any more orders.<\/p>\n Despite the fast pace and the fact that this is an actual class that I crashed, the atmosphere never got tense; it remained focused and upbeat. Even at the busiest moment, when there were a lot of orders, the students didn\u2019t seem stressed at all. There was just more talking back and forth on what was needed, how much time was left on wontons, fries, or deep fried coconut milk. The students seemed like naturals.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image_6483441-4.jpg\")
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