Pastry Kitchen

This was the one department that was selfishly on my list of departments to work in. The reason it was for selfish purposes? I like to think of myself as well rounded, and yet I can't bake; nor have truly found it as relaxing a hobby as my mother has always found it to be. My priorities were my own when beginning this week of work, and not those of my internship professor. Day 1 in this kitchen I was asked what I wanted to learn to make and I said, "Bread". Naturally I didn't jump right into making bread though. For the first day I sheeted cracker dough, the process of thinning out the dough to a width of 1 cm or smaller so that it can be promptly frozen until it is baked. I also learned that our owner loves these crackers and we send over two bins every so often. One of these bins would have unsalted crackers in them, the ones his wife preferred he had, and the other bin with salted crackers; the ones he ate when she wasn't there. Whether the last part is true or not is inconsequential, but still a great story of love for the crackers. After a full day of sheeting, and sometimes resheeting I got the feel for how dough would shrink and stretch depending on how warm it was.
During my time in this kitchen, Chef Joel; our executive chef, worked closely with us and gave us a lot of direction. Matias was working on preparing different breads to be closely scrutinized by the chefs to see if they could be used when the new restaurant opens up. I was able to work with Matias as he did his preparations to learn some of his techniques. The former pastry chef Jamie, worked with me as well to help me create a turtle cake and gave me direction as much as anyone. They taught me how to make truffle filled chocolates, bake bread and make the dough successfully. So as I said in the beginning, this was my selfish week so that I could experience this side of the cooking spectrum. I enjoyed working in this kitchen very much. Though it was only to be able to prepare these things at home. As a consolation prize they sent me home with every recipe they had; so my dessert portfolio just grew by a few hundred pages.

Sales and Catering

I've noticed that in writing the first several blogs I can't help but see how many times the word "I" comes up. In saying that, this piece will be written on how the Sales and Catering team is anything but just "I".
My objective for the length of time given to me to spend with this department was to observe an effective team. However, the first assessment was to see if the team was in fact effective. After 3 days of watching them interact there were several observations that could be traits of an effective team. Of course I was fortunate enough to spend 9 days with my "colleagues" of sales and catering and observe a truly effective team. Of those traits the best by far was the teams ability to resolve conflicts. Now the conflicts that came up ranged from internal to customer to secret. I was given the opportunity to listen in on calls to customers where we resolved conflicts, and to sit in on meetings, or even outside of meetings, and listen to these problems and potential issues get worked through to a solution.

I enjoyed mostly the view of Little Rock from the 15th floor. However, the close second was to be able to be around knowledgeable and witty people who have without a doubt, been-there-done-that. I was able to have many notable conversations with Shelby Tate, and Chuck Magill. And the thing that came to have more meaning whenever I was no longer working with this department was "What happens in sales, stays in sales"-Shelby Tate. I gained knowledge that the rest of the hotel wasn't privy too, through meetings that I was only allowed to sit in as a learning experience.  I was reminded that my being there was a blessing daily as I experienced working towards the same goals as this team did for nearly 2 weeks. And this being said I was fortunate to be apart of this team.