Unlike America, most people here order many different courses – an entre (appetizer) or two or three, some soup, and a plat (main course). If someone has chosen one of the menus, they’ll be receiving six courses over a two to three hour period. It’s also possible to order demi (half) orders of everything on the menu. That was if a client doesn’t have a big appetite, they can still enjoy many different dishes.

Once a client has perused the menu and made up his mind, the order is hand written on a small piece of paper by the Maitre D’. One of the many servers runs the order immediately back to the kitchen, and the client’s dinner is set in motion.

The order is handed directly to one of the executive chefs or sous chefs who is responsible for calling out orders. The chef reads over the order and in a loud voice, announces that order to the kitchen. It’s important to listen to each item on the order because I may responsible for several dishes during the course of the client’s dinner. Immediately after the order is called out, the people who are responsible for those particular dishes yell back, “Oui Monsieur!” to signal that we understand.

After the order is read, it’s tacked to a bar with a magnet to the main island in the kitchen. There are three levels of bars and once one item is sent out from the order, the ticket is moved to the next bar down. Once the ticket is complete and all the dishes have been sent to the table, the ticket is secured on a stake. At the end of the night, the tickets are handed to someone in the main office and all the information on the ticket entered into the computer for safekeeping.

When the client has finished his amuse bouche and made a wine order, the servers come back into the kitchen and announce a table number. It means that the client is ready for the first dish. The chef looks at the client’s ticket and calls out the first dish on the order. The team responsible for this dish calls out another “Oui Monsieur” and begins preparations.

You’d be surprised by how many people actually touch one particular dish. Three or four people may have prepared the different items in the dish during prep time. Another two have cooked the items and another one or two people have plated it. The chef reviews each dish before it’s whisked away by the servers to make sure everything looks perfect. So when the dish arrives at the table, perhaps five to seven people have worked on that single plate. Amazing, isn’t it?

When we get an order for artichoke soup, here’s what takes place. First, we grab a silver serving tray and set it on the counter. We then put down small, round dishes for the truffle butter and brioche. Then come the large round plates and then the smaller soup bowls. All plates must be wiped clean as they are set on the tray and the soup bowls must be heated under the broiler to make sure they’re hot. The brioche gets sliced in half and toasted lightly and set on the small plates. Crumbled parmigiano reggiano is sprinkled in the bottom of the bowl and the hot, artichoke soup is ladled on top. We finish the plating by adding thin slices of black truffle and whisper thin slices of parmigiano. The borders of the soup bowls are wiped clean, and we announce the order to the chef. The chef then calls for service and tells the server which table to deliver the soup to. The dish is crossed off the order and moved to the next metal bar. All this takes place in about three to four minutes. When working in this type of environment, we’re expected to be fast and efficient.

Once the client has finished his first dish, the servers remove the dishes and return to the kitchen. Before they descend to the dishwasher with the empty plates, they announce the table number again. This means the table is ready for the next course. The chef looks at the ticket again, and calls out the next item on the order. The whole process repeats itself until there are no more dishes left on the ticket.

Our pastry kitchen downstairs handles all the desserts. Once a client has finished his dinner, the Maitre D’ takes the dessert order, and the servers bypass the kitchen and present the order directly to the pastry chef. His staff then prepares all the different desserts much like we do in the kitchen.

On average, one client will eat from 30 plates and use 20 different pieces of silverware during the course of a dinner. It amazes me how much food comes back uneaten, and it’s rather sad to watch it being thrown out. There are laws in France, much like the States, that don’t allow us to give the unused food away. How unfortunate because we could make a lot of hungry people quite happy.

Most nights at the restaurant, we will serve between 70 – 80 people. There is only one seating per night, so if a client makes a reservation, he will be the only one eating at that table the whole evening. Reservations usually begin at 8:00 PM, although some are brave enough to come at 7:00 or 7:30. The last reservation is usually seated around 10:00 or even 10:30 and can be dining well past midnight.

Each night, things begin slowly. The orders start coming in, and the pace in the kitchen is leisurely and calm. But by 8:30 or 9:00 PM, there’s no time to spare, and we rush around trying to plate things as quickly as possible. The main crush for my station usually ends around 10:00 or 10:30 when we finally get a few minutes to take a drink of water and clean up the disaster area. Things can get pretty messy and everything is out of place when orders are zooming out the door. The whole night passes rather quickly when it’s busy, but a lot depends on what has been ordered and how the reservations are spaced.

On good nights, orders are called out at a reasonable place and there are a few pockets of downtime where we can clean up. On bad nights, orders are called out one after another. As we’re plating one order of four soups, we can have six to ten more stacked up behind. Every second counts and mistakes are easy to make. Even though I’m an intern, I’m expected to the fast, clean, and well, perfect. Rather high expectations for someone who has only worked in the kitchen for seven weeks.

The order process has worked like this at the restaurant for 20 years now. Because this is a very traditional kitchen, I seriously doubt THE Chef would ever install an electronic ordering system. It would help immensely so we could see exactly what is coming rather than trying to remember each order as its called out. But hey, that’s just the way it is, so I’ve been told to get used to it.

Each time I go to a restaurant, I appreciate the whole process more. Now I know that dishes don’t magically appear at the table and someone is back in the kitchen busting their behind so I can enjoy a meal out.

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