Staging at Alinea

[RyuShihan]

I just wanted to shed a little light on what it is like to be a fly on the wall. Back in January I was reading up on e-gullet about this cool thing called a stage. Now prior to that I had never heard of the word before. I did some more reading and learned that some Chef would basically allow you to work in their kitchens for a little stint to learn sorta like a small internship. This all happened right as the whole copy right food problem was happening. It almost seamed like some places might become hesistant to allow anyone into their kitchens. I decided to send a few e-mails out to different Chefs and see who would let me in. Not much on feedback on alot of places and some had already turned a cold shoulder. So I was in the process of corisponding with Michael Rhulman when I told him how cool it would be to stage at Alenia and I asked him if he knew the Chef. Lo and behold he did, latter I would read his new book and learn why.

In March a friend invited me to eat at Alinea and the food show was happening at the same time. So I went to eat and was blown away, not jsut the food but the idea of being entertained while eating, by the food. I was lead into the kitchen and saw Chef Achatz for the first time. Small chatter as I saw the hussel of the kitchen behind him. Oddly I was extreamly nervous, it was almost like meating a star sports figure that you idolized.

Ironicly I have met a few of them in my time and none meant a thing but another person with more money than me. Yet, meeting a person who was doing what you wanted to do, now that was exciting. Michael was kind enough to have said a few kinds words and the Gm informed me to send them my resume. I thought to myself "Well that was that and assumed nothing more would actually happen."

Two weeks latter I get a phone call from Chef Achatz himself, imagine my surprised.

He asked me if ti was a good time to talk about the stage. I was so excited I thought he meant right that moment. I was at that time out of state taking my kiid with his nephew and nieces to the zoo. So after trying to not babble my words anymore I sputtered something about some dates and he told me to email him with confirmated dates. I did and he sent me instructions on what to expect.

So in Late June an early July I went back tho Chi-town and a friend let me stay with him and I would only have to figure out how to get to Alinea. Not knowing anything about Chicago really i opted for taxi rides. In the end the money I was hoping to save i spent on Taxi rides and late night snacks. This would be part of something that would latter cut things short.

On my first day I walked in not knowing what to do. I was greated by Sous chef Curtis. He got me an apron and a uniforn and up I went. I was informed that the first couple days I would just sorta watch what was goiing on. My first impression was it must be a really bad day, because no one was talking or so I thought. I would latter learn that everyone talked in a low voice. Imagine me with my loud mouth coming into a kitchen like this. It was definatly a culture shock yet at the same time calming. Everyone from the second they walked in seamed like they were already in the weeds. I would latter learn it was just the magnitude of prep that had to be done just to accomplish the daily routine. At this time another Stage was also there and we made small banter. I soon learned that the kitchen was on a constant cleaning frenzy as everyone worked with the floors constantly being swept and the tables always spotless. In fact other than my stent in the service I don't ever remember a cleaner kitchen, this one was definatly the pretiest one I had seen. This was also my first time into a kitchen with so many people working to put out each plate. Heck I remember this crab plate with a sauce that was sorta blanketed over and if you got hit with a few tables it could easily take 3-4 people just to assemble all the items on that one plate.

(more to come I am off to work, sorry for any gramtical or spelling errors I am lazy and in a hurry

[tsquare]

Happy story telling - are you done with this stage or in process?

And are you headed towards being a chef or in school? (Sorry if I missed the introduction elsewhere.)

[RyuShihan]

(The stage was over early july I only did 1 week but had planned for two. Some life issues came up and caused me to change course rather fast. Currently I am a saucier)

Still day one, forgot to mention that the day began at 12 noon. I latter learned that the other stage was trying to get a job at Alenia, no idea if he ever got the job. Maybe it was just me but the first day was extreamly unconforable for me. Different kitchen and just standing around isn't my cup o tea. So I made the best of it and tried to talk to all of the Chefs in the kitchen. Chefs, that is what everyone called each other. It kinda got confusing since if they were talking to you they would still say "Hey chef can you get that?" I had to finally ask one of the guys if they called everyone Chef and they told me yes. It sorta reminded me of Ranger school because they call everyone Ranger, right from the start. It brings that little bit of respect into the situation. In fact I wouldn't mind mimicking it one day. I remember one of the guys asking "Why do we call everyone chef?" and Chef Curtis responded "Because we are all Chefs in our own way." It was a good responce.

Sometime right before service started everyone would sit down for group meal. The front of the house and back of the house. I can't remember the meal so much as the rush to get done eatng so that I could get a bit of fresh air before service got rolling. Now the lucky part of this stage was I actually got to see the food I had eaten a couple months back. All but a few items were the same. Needless to say I asked every Chef at every station alot of questions to see what secret informaton I could gather. Now I am not sure how open they are to everyone but I was lucky enough to learn an abundance of great information. I was a bit gun shy talking to Achatz, I guess it reminded me of how busy kitchens I have worked in get, so out of respect I tried to stay out of his way. The other stage had a different view than me he actually asked Chef Achatz alot of questions till one point I think he got a pretty interestiig responce. Chef Achatz was definatly alot nicer than I might have been. Very passionate tho if something got messed up. One interesting thing I noticed during service was that they tried to do all of the Tours latter in the day. I thought how odd since it made service alot longer but when asked the responce made sence.

If they filled up with tours early they would loose the table for such a long time they wouldn't be able to turn them. So for the kitchen it was hell but from a money point of view it made sence. I had no idea how long the day would be but after 12 hours it finaly ended. Then the kitchen was scrubbed extreamly well and polished. So if you ever see his kitchen, let me say it takes alot of elbow greese to keep it as pretty as it is.

[RyuShihan]

So I went back to my buddies place and since it was so late I made myself a junk food stop at the cities finest, the White Hen. Let me tell you that place has everything you need. I think I disturbed my friend when I braught back a couple of frozen white castle burgers. He is a huge Tofu eating health nut. So after desigrating his microwave and tossing it back with a couple of cokes I crash and burned.

Well, the next morning came and I was ready for another day. This time I knew the routine, got my uniformand set up a station and was ready to rumble. I was told by Chef Curtis I would be working on a station with a sort of deep fried sweet potatoe that is placed in the spider type dish. Then something happened, one of the dishwasher failed to show. So, I was informed me and the other stage would help out, not a real big deal just more elbow grease. Now Originally the plan was for me to go back and forth between the station and the dish sink but for some reason the other stage kept jumping onto the sweet potatoe station. Myself I felt no need to rock the boat, so I found decided to help out on the pillow filling station and just doing dishes, since the other stage would barely get his hands wet.

You know when you think dishpots, the thought of grimmy and oily can fill your mind. Yet, a quick glance at Alineas dishes will give you a whole new impression, they were so clean they looked almost out of the box. The pride and effort into even the pots was maticulate. Ironicly, doing the dishes gave me time to talk to the gardmanger station alot and learn a few techniques on how they did the blanket sauce and even the measurements. If I would have left that day with just that information, I learned more than I knew before I came. About an hour or so into the day another stage showed up. It was now getting Stage crowded with alomst one staring at a station. Around 10pm I am told to go ahead and go home but to come in the next day early, around 10 am. I thought to myself must be my lucky day. On my way out the first stage asked me "So do you sorta feel like a third wheel?" Of course I did, here I was out of my element and playing the Fly on the Wall role. I got the impression after talking to the other stage he wasn't learning much and in a sence it felt like he felt, he knew it all already. The truth was, he was getting a pretty cold shoulder from alot of the kitchen because of that attitude.

By the second day I was starting to have good conversation with a fair amount of the kitchen staff and they were very cool to me. So moral of the story for that day, Keep an open mind and remember you are the guest in another mans castle.

[JWest]

I think my stage at Alinea was one of my biggest life changing events. The entire time I felt "I just want to be like these guys" and the fact that they focused on every detail down to polishing fingerprints off the stainless steel during service inspired me. Those guys were very understanding of why I was there, they actually wanted to show me things, and I feel that's the way it should be unlike some other restaurants' mentality of just shoving the stage in the corner picking fava beans.

[RyuShihan]

Now the third day was interesting on a few different scales. At first two of the stages came in early because of a supposes produce truck. Cef Alex, the Pastry chef at the time, was there to unload and the idea was that it would be easier since there was of us. We also had a good nice size prep list. Well Murphies Law kicks in and the produce truck doesn't show up on time, in fact it doesn't show up till a little after everyone else arrives. The majority of the prep was plausible to finish but in my case I couldn't finish the orange segments. Since the truck did not arrive on time. The prep for the day was a slight bit higher than normal because of the larger amount of reservations and if i remember right 2 different groups of VIP's. One group was e-gullet regulars of Doc, Ronny and Jason Perlow.

After getting to the meat and beans of the day and it was time for the VIP plates it was very fascinatiing to watch them come up with 4-6 new plates on the spot to add to the menu for the VIP guests. The one thing which I found interesting was Chef Achatz ability to control the kitchen and then when a guest came down be able to turn to them and it seamed like nothing was even happening in the kitchen aside from the silent hussling of every chef. It reminded me of when I ate and went to meet Chef for the first time. You have no idea of what is really going on. The truth is alot was still happening and every minor detail in the front of the house causes this small chaotic state to happen. Let me give you an example, a table up stairs is about to fire course 4 and right as course 4 finishes one of the guest decides to use the restroom. Well, now the kitchen has to decide how long that course can hold or if it can be pushed to another table fast or lost and fired a new one. For those who have eaten at Aliniea you can easily see how some of there dishes can not hold for long periods of time. Still, they do what is 100% best to give the guest the best product in the end. For those who are fortunate enough to eat at any great establishment, just rember its ok to talk to your waiter and maybe plan appropriate times to have a delay.

[RyuShihan]

Well, day 4 and 5 wasn't very different and nothing exciting to say altho I learned one of the Sous Chefs was leaving to head back to Texas and Alex was heading to NY. One stage left another two came. I was finding it hard to keep busy because of all of the stages, so I made an executive decision to cut my vacation time short and head back home. I made one mistake, I prolly should have told Chef Achatz goodbye but as the night was getting late I was in a hurry to attempt to call my Wife in Indy to see if she could pick me up in Chi and head back to St. Louis.

I sorta figured since I was just another stage I wouldn't even be noticed.

Lo and behold I was wrong. I actaully got an e-mail from Chef Acjatz inquring why I left so early and with out saying goodbye. Unfortunatly a few different personal things helped me make my decision to leave early.

So this is my personal, "I am sorry for not saying goodbye."

and a Thank you for your hospitality and the great experiance that I will take with me as I grow into a Chef one day.

Matthew Leeper

[marieannaV]

Hey Matt,

Sounds like a good time, hope things are working out with you lately. I'd love to pick at your brain a little more about the adventure... Give me a call sometime, or maybe we can do some dimsum, you know where I am... cheers

[ronnie_suburban]

Heya Matthew,

Thanks for the behind-the-scenes glimpse of Alinea. Are you still cooking. If so, where?

=R=

[CookinBenny]

Thats sooooooooooooooooooooo awesome, I would kill for a stage at Alinea i just dont know how to go about it. I think writing a letter would be the way to go. However i think that Chef Achatz has to get sooooooooo many stage letters a day he probably dosent have time to acomidate everyone.

[RyuShihan]

Hey, how are you MA, was just talking ot ming about you and Shane mentioned you gys were at the wine thingy this year, once things settle down I will drop you a line, show you some pictures of me trying to play with sodium alginate and stuff.

Ronnie: I am at the Ritz in St. Louis I work in Banquets currently, prolly for another year, I will have been here 3 years come Jan. Then I am not sure what is next.

As far as trying to get a stage try sending a resume and a nice cover letter, only sure way not to get one, is by not trying. Sometimes it pays to try as many times as possible.

[Christopher Haatuft]

Thanks for the report! Sounds very fascinating. How long does stagiers usually stay, and how is the avrage experience level amongst stagiers?

[Gabe Q]

Hi

That was a pretty cool report. I have been wondering about staging at Alinea for a while now. I am currently in Europe actually, just finished a stage at The Fat Duck and want to go back to the USA and look for something else.

The main problem for me is that going for a stage in the US means paying for everything including accomodation and after this European trip I have spent quite a bit maintaining myself. So I have to see how much it would be worth doing.

How many stages do they have at one time??????

How long are the stages usually there for???

Do the stages get to do actual cooking in service or just prep all day long and clean???????

[RyuShihan]

When I was their I saw 5 stages in one week but no more than 3 at a time, you would have to ask Chef Achatz for more details.

Some stages stayed for 1 day some for a week, no idea how long you are supposed to saty I would assume that would be up to you and the Chef at any place.

Some stages cleaned but I know in my cse I was able to plate up in different stations, but not all of the stations, guess it depends how good you get along with each individiual and how much help they need.

As for Cash I was pretty much broke and friends were doing favors for me that helped, liked watching my kind while I was gone, lending me a place to stay, and I used up my Vacation time....So if you really want something you will find a way.

Ironicly it lead to another great experience I can't really talk about, but in the end everything works out.

as for experince level, I saw a couple guys with alot of experience and I saw a couple still in school.

Hi

That was a pretty cool report. I have been wondering about staging at Alinea for a while now. I am currently in Europe actually, just finished a stage at The Fat Duck and want to go back to the USA and look for something else.

The main problem for me is that going for a stage in the US means paying for everything including accomodation and after this European trip I have spent quite a bit maintaining myself. So I have to see how much it would be worth doing.

How many stages do they have at one time??????

How long are the stages usually there for???

Do the stages get to do actual cooking in service or just prep all day long and clean???????

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Edited November 12, 2006 by RyuShihan (log)