Externship by Kevin Cuddihee

Externship at Alinea

 

            Like many others I am eager to begin my externship.  I will be working at Alinea in Lincoln Park.  A few months ago I had a two day interview and was offered the externship, regardless of no pay and eighty plus hour weeks I gladly accepted the offer.  I remember walking into the kitchen my first morning immediately surrounded by twenty five Chefs all working meticulously at their own tasks.  I felt as if I was viewing the inner working parts of a machine during the course of the day everything flowed smoothly even through service.  It was in information overload at first not knowing what I was supposed to be doing and further what everyone else was doing.  I  witnessed new and interesting cooking techniques constantly.   Each hour someone shouts out the time and all work is stopped and the entire kitchen is cleaned, then a few minutes later work continues.  Alinea is by far the cleanest and most organized kitchen I have ever seen. 

            In the course of each night’s service the smooth flow continued, no running around, no yelling, food is called and it goes out.  If you are prepared then there will be no surprises.  If a customer does not eat meat there are alternatives that do not disrupt any station’s progress or ticket time.  For instance if someone does not eat lamb, then eggplant is cooked in the same method.  All night the kitchen continues running smoothly and by the end of the second day I found my place within it.  I am excited to begin next week as I feel the learning possibilities are endless, it is impossible to be bored in this kitchen.