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It stared with some fantastic basil ice cream. A good friend of mine went for dinner at Van Valannderen, a European fusion restaurant, where she ended her night raving about their basil ice cream. We talked, met days after and somehow, the amazingness of this basil ice cream would always come up in our chats. Curious about all the fuss, I wanted to try this ice cream. With a stirring appetite and a mission to learn, I was filled with an urge to reach out to Van Vlaanderen to see if they would teach me how to make this fantastic ice cream. I sent them a message and without much expectation, I received a response asking to have a meeting in their restaurant.
What started out as a simple curiosity (and loving ice cream), I found myself working with the back of the line staff. My time with the Van Vlaanderen team turned out to teach me a lot about team dynamics, leadership and organizational management. Working with the head chef Tom, I was asked to jump right in and given various kitchen duties. From preparing many ingredients for mise en place to knowing the right angle to push the vacuum sealer, I quickly became part of the back of the line staff. I had the great pleasure of engaging with a passionate team. Below are some of the values and notable lessons I learned from my time with them.
1.Know what and where all your tools and resources are
In restaurants, the kitchen is the nucleus, the nebula, the center of all creation. It is a shared space that contains everything one might need to do and complete every necessary task to prepare, cook, plate, and serve a meal. Everything and everyone that is in the kitchen is a tool or a resource. It is up to the staff to decide how to use their tools and resources and become resourceful when dealing with usual tasks or unexpected needs. Regardless to say, it is important to know how to use these tools and resources or at least have the gumption to learn how to use them on the spot if necessary.Without knowing what your tools are and what is available, a team member quickly becomes a liability that could hinder the flow during the dinner rush.
2. Mise en place— Preparation is everything
Every day, the head chef and sous chef would come in early in the morning and start preparations of all the ingredients needed for the day’s menu. Anything from preparing a huge pot of simmering stock, to chopping vegetables, or melting pounds of chocolate for the bon bon molds, everything was boxed and labeled for high time. This way, there is ample knowledge of all the ingredients and their amounts, and little room for surprise or fear of not having something in stock. This is also a good time to learn and fill in any blanks anyone might have on how to prepare a particular ingredient or practice plating one of the dishes so the aesthetic is consistent. The menu at Van Vlaanderen also changes quite frequently. So when there is a menu change, the entire team, including the front of the line staff, is informed of all of the new dishes added to the menu including the seasonal specials and options for substitutes for those with dietary restrictions. This level of transparency and preparation further educates the team, keeping everyone in the loop which helps avoid hiccups in planning and resourcing in the future.
3. Family Dinner
Around 5:30 PM right before the dinner guests arrive, the first meal prepped for the evening is the family dinner. This is the occasion where the front of the line and the back of the line staff get together around a table and share a meal. The meals are often simple, hearty and made with the same zeal and high quality ingredients as the dishes on the menu. It gives the team a chance to touch base and connect before getting wrapped up in the non-stop pace of the dinner service. We shared personal stories, asked about our weekends and enjoyed some delicious Thai curry with rice— a Netherlands staple food from its South East Asian influence. It enhances a sense of connection and friendship before diving into the demanding pace of the dinner rush— knowing that we will need to lean on each other and be prepared to deliver quick solutions.
4. Communication is key
Once the dinner rush starts, the head chef, sous chef and pastry chef start dipping into all the containers that we prepared during mice en place. Quite quickly, beautiful appetizers start getting plated and put in line. The waiters come in with more orders and take away plated dishes to serve. The stoves and ovens start heating up, sizzling with meats and vegetables. Every inch of every counter in the kitchen is occupied and hands are constantly moving. Everyone is fully engaged in their task, every hand is busy putting together ingredients, washing dishes, grabbing pans and utensils to artfully tend to each ingredient. With the simultaneous activity, verbal communication becomes the connecting factor. If the pastry chef needs the cooking torch from the opposite side of the kitchen, he’ll yell out and ask for it from the sous chef who’s working near it. If an order is ready, the host or the waiters hear the signal ( a brusk shout from the chef) to quickly take the plates to the diners. In a busy kitchen, everyone knows what they need to do and also know to keep room for unexpected needs to come up. In a fast paced, unpredictable environment, communication becomes the fuel that keeps the flow going. The main thing about this functioning team is that it remains ego-less. The communication is seen as a tool to get each course of the meal in the best possible way to the diners.
5. Everyone is equal
Through out the dinner rush, the whole team continues to engage in cooking and serving the dishes. Whenever there is a pause in someones work flow, everyone is alert and aware of the responsibilities of all the team mates. If the chef is waiting for the oven to finish baking the cookies, he goes on to notice the dishes piling up in the sinks and quickly starts rinsing them and placing them in the dishwasher. Or if someone in the line staff is being overwhelmed with plating a row of desserts, another line staffer will jump in and help him plate and place them on the top counter so it’s ready to be served. Everyone on the team, to some extent, knows how to do every job. As the dinner rush starts to wade, the staff is still busy plating desserts.
Being a part of this experience was very rewarding. Observing and experiencing the team dynamics was quite fruitful. It conveyed the importance of the team’s focus on collective success. This roots in the understanding that everyone is working with each other and helping each other succeed as opposed to competing with each other and focusing on individual success. And this understanding of mutual success creates trust between all of the team members, further elevating the quality of service during the dinner rush.
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