Blog 22: Mentorship

LITERAL

• The link to my to my mentorship log is on the right of my blog, under Links, labeled Senior Project Hours.
• My mentor's name is Chris Baker. He is employed at The Avocado House in Chino.

Interpretive

• The most important thing I gained from my mentorship is working with a kitchen team. I can now do a "kitchen dance" (a weird combination of ducking, dodging, and softly shoving), and I'm a lot better at the lingo used in a kitchen. (Instead of saying excuse me while walking through a crowd, I know repeatedly state "behind you.") I still need to working on reading sloppy waitress writing. Ive learned a lot about the etiquette of cooking with other, where you are both working on the same thing and different things, together. For example, I could be making one sandwich alone and helping a coworker with two more sandwiches, which he is working on at the same time as working on a third sandwich.

Applied

• My mentorship has helped me understand my EQ first through my mentor. He often drops little nuggets of wisdom while working. Just mall things, but it'll be about the amount of salt to use in a soup, or when to use butter or oil. My coworker, a prep/line cook, also has a lot of information like this. Also, I've made a lot of soup in the last two months and that allows me to experiment with interesting combinations. They let me make what I want, so I usually start with a recipe and go from there. I'll add sugar, or lemon, or certain spices to alter the tastes and flavors in the soup, which puts my answers to the test. For example, in support of my third answer, I once made carrot soup. I knew the soup didn't taste quite right, and my coworker suggested I add nutmeg. A teaspoon later, the soup suddenly had a very warm feeling and reminded me of Christmas, just because of the nutmeg.

Blog 12: Mentorship 10 Hours Check

1. I'm doing my mentorship at the Avocado House in Chino.

2. Though my physical mentor is Chris Baker, my contact is Shelley Biggs, the owner of the restaurant. This is because Shelley is my boss, hired me, and agreed to take me on as a student and intern. Because she is the owner and doesn't do as much cooking as she used to, however, I do my training with Chris. The location 11618 Central Avenue, Chino, CA 91710 and phone number is (909) 627-9733. 

3. I have done approximately 108 hours and 40 minutes of work at my mentorship.

4. In all of the time, I have worked at the Avocado House, I have spent about a quarter or more of my time cracking eggs, another quarter chopping various vegetables and meats, and the last half working Saturdays. On Saturdays, I do a variety of things; a lot of time is spent making pancake batter, but I am also mostly in charge of making the waffles themselves. I also have to make sure the cook's stations are fully stocked at all times, meaning the omelette and sandwich bar is stocked, the waffle and pancake batters are in their places, and everything that needs a to be chilled is in a fresh ice bath.

A New Mentor

Ever since I finalized my project as Cooking, I have been searching for a new mentorship. My summer one was not in a real kitchen, but rather for a fundraiser breakfast that only happened twice a month. Once the year started, I knew this would not be intense or detailed enough for my project. I started emailing, calling, and talking to kitchen and restaurant managers, as well as owners. Most places did not respond at all, or gave me a vary straight forward no. It would be hard to find a kitchen related position as a minor.

In addition to the indoor seating, there is also patio and garden dining areas. It really
gives you the sense of a arm, summary trip to grandma's for lunch.

Then, about two weeks ago, I response from Shelly Biggs, owner of The Avocado House. This restaurant is a quaint breakfast and lunch place (which closes at three pm) on Central Ave. in Chino, Ca. When I finally met with her last week, she said she'd love to help me with my project by employing me as kitchen help. e talked for close to an hour about her The Avocado House, the project, and what I could do at the restaurant. In the end, we came up with this plan:

• I will work Tuesday and Thursday after school for two hours, and a full shift on Saturdays.
• One of her head cooks, Chris, will be my mentor.
• I will do simple prep and assembly work, possibly cleaning and dish washing.
• Shelly prepares two person dinners Tuesday-Friday. Since I will be working close on Tuesday and Thursday with Chris, Shelly will allow us to create the menu for that night's dinner.

A view of the open kitchen from close to the entrance. The kitchen is
about 1/3 of the restaurant, but still cramped and crowded with people,
ingredients, and appliances.

This is a basic plan that may be altered, but is what I will be working with in the beginning. I have not yet started my mentorship here, but my first day is next week. Because Shelly wants to employ me, the process is taking a little longer, as I had to wait until today to get my worker's permit to her. However, I can't wait to start my position there. The atmosphere is very friendly, and the style of the restaurant is homey and warm. I think I will do well at The Avocado House.

Blog 2: Summer Mentorship Componant

Literal
1. Summer Hours Log

2. Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8620
2328 West Merced Ave.
West Covina, CA, 91790
Phone: (626) 337 2129
Post Commander: George Ogden

3. Questions

• How do we determine how much food to buy before every breakfast?
• How much does the VFW profit from this breakfast?
• How do people hear about the breakfast?
• How were prices determined?
• Who buys all the food? When?
• At What time does preparations for the service start at? How long does it take?
• Where do we buy the food from?

Interpretive
4. The most important thing I gained from this volunteering was multitasking abilities. Whether I was working in guest service as a waitress or in the kitchen preparing food and plates, I constantly had many different things on my mind that I had to keep straight within my head.

5. My senior project is going to be something along the lines of "Cooking in Restaurants." I loved working in the VFW's kitchen, running pancakes, omelets, or the kitchen itself a lot. I've also always had a love of cooking in general, and a fascination with how restaurant staff can cook for so many people on such short notice. Working in VFW's kitchen gave me a glimpse of what this could be like, and I've realized I want to study the topic further.