Cork Meets Coffee Table

My last class before i would graduate at the CIA was in one of the restaurants called American Bounty.  The last class was waiting tables.  There i was able to start my collection of wine corks from the bottles that i poured to the ones that my fellow classmates poured.  At that moment i decided that i would eventually make myself a cork coffee table.  It was just a matter of time that i would have enough corks to complete the task.  Little did i know it would take me 4 years to finally complete my table.  

After graduation I moved back to Vermont to work next to my protege.  There I of course learned as much as possible and collected corks from the waitstaff and from the weddings that we had every weekend.  

Once i knew i had enough corks to begin my table, I discussed with my father my vision for this table.  We then went to the lumber yard and found the wood that we wanted to make a frame if you will to hold the corks that i would secure with a hot glue gun.  I wanted something different for the legs of the table.  then i remembered from visiting my chef at his house that he was cutting down some white birch trees around his drive way.  I picked a few logs that i deemed straight enough for the legs of the table.

Once my father and i had constructed the table, i placed a very light stain along the frame work of the table.  I know had a table, a frame table if you will with no corks.

Why corks you ask?  A few reasons, one I am a chef who loves wine and i myself contributed corks to this table, the one i remember most is the 1932 Medoc.  the other reason is its a Green product.  A cork tree can live up to 200 years, and is sustainable.  Once the tree is 25 years old you can strip the tree of its cork and every 9 years will produce more cork, the only tree of its kind.  60% of cork harvested is used for wine corks and there is over 2.2 million hectares of cork forest in the world.  Cork is very resilient, therefore is a good cork for wine and more recently is being used for flooring in "green" homes.

Getting back to my story, i had nearly completed my table when i had decided to move to Chicago to be with my girlfriend and it could not fit into my SUV along with the other items that i needed to bring.  After living in Chicago for more than 2 years my father and brother came out, they drove here from Vermont.  Since they drove they were able to bring items that i could not when i moved out.  Of course they had the table, my corks and glue gun.

The first night that they were here and asleep i completed the table and my mission was complete.  The entire table was cork, except the top row, in which i used synthetic corks to symbolize the ever changing wine industry.

So with all the above being said here are some pictures of my table.

From PM to AM

After spending 2 1/2 years on nights at the Oakbrook Hills Marriott as Culinary Supervisor, i have taken on a new challenge, morning.   As soon as we hired the new culinary supervisor whom was a cook for me on the Windows line.  (Windows is the name of the restaurant)  My executive chef and i talked about me going to mornings, he just wanted the new supervisor to get his training in the mornings with fresh faces instead of at night were he had been a equal with the associates.  This was all suppose to happen back in January, but with all of the financial problems in the world and cutting back on hours, etc.  I was not able to start mornings until now.

Going into this week, my first, I had a few days training with the other Culinary Supervisor and him the same with me.  I knew this was going to be a challenging change.  On nights i would usually come in around 2pm every day sometimes 3pm.  I had a small crew, one hot cook and one cold cook.  Some night it was just myself and a hot side cook.  I was very hands on as you can tell.  I liked this, i liked being involved with cooking, prepping food, making menus, helping out with banquet functions as well.

With mornings i had to change my entire routine.  First was my sleeping schedule.  As i said above i would go to work around 2pm, and at times not be home until 11-12 at night.  Now i had to be at work at 5am, meaning i had to get up by 4am and be in bed no later than 10pm.  I think i have adjusted well to this so far, on some nights i have a little help from my new friend the sleeping pill.

The work is different as well, alot different.  There are so many different players in the morning.  I have no need to be hands on, but am when needed.  My problem right now is knowing when to pull myself away and move on to other tasks.  In another words supervise more, make sure the flow of the kitchen is steady if you will.  In the morning, i need to make sure the buffet is getting set up, that the food is being cooked, the line is being set up for a la cart service and any door knockers for room service are being  cooked and delivered in time, make sure pastries and hot food are being prepared for the coffee breaks.  this is enough to make you head spin.  In between all of this i need to do stand-up in the morning(This allows the associates to know whats going on that day, functions, basic of the day, etc.), hotel stand-up, problem resolution and BEO.  Next thing you know its 1:30pm, you haven't taken your break and its time to go home.

I have realized i have much more to learn before i can move up the chain, in the end this will only make me not only a stronger individual but a chef and i am looking forward to it.

The other good thing about mornings is it is almost summer, and i will have the rest of my day to do so much....I can golf, take a walk, cook dinner, work in my small garden, watch cubs games on TV and or be at the game.  

This is a new chapter in my life that i greet with open hands, I also will take on this challenge and succeed in another culinary endeavour.