Peanut Butter Risotto Sandwich at the May Fair Bar Kitchen

CIRCUMSTANCES THAT LED MY MIND TOWARDS WHACKYNESS

Well you think chefs are crazy people...then read on...what on earth could someone do to get himself moved out of one kitchen or the other...Well I always had a problem (and it's a good one I feel) I can't tolerate a quite kitchen...I was moved to the May Fair Bar Kitchen in january 2007 after the banqueting season dried out...the last week of December I did everything, from covering up as the Breakfast Incharge, to covering up for the Bar kitchen chef, and I was called for work to look after a party of 20PAX!!! pathetic..n so I was after my chef's life to put me to the may fair bar kitchen...n he said he's not lettin me in there at all...m too young 2 handle a kitchen alone...but i fought for it...n i finally could keep my knives just below the oven in the bar kitchen... Life was awesome there, my own kitchen, my own requisitions, my own space and no interference..n just 2 make sure that I was busy, Chanel (the fashion company, yep u got it right, the perfume company!!!lol)...was to eat everyday at the May Fair Bar...well feeding 20 prospective super models was a lot of satisfaction (the food I made, must have given a hard time to their physical instrustures)...

but three months later as the spending season down...I found myself killing time at the May Fair Bar...Imagine in a fourteen hour shift, I just got six KOT's (orders 4 d layman)...set up the continental breakfast (which had 7-8 takers)..so no major mise-en-place 4 d next day (preparations)...n d final thing...Chanel cancelled for the next ten days at least until further notice...I went to Villian Pascal (Head Chef)... and he said, "It's your kitchen Harsh,have fun in there, and after all you are a kitchen incharge, why would you like to work under anyone and unfortunately Mayur(Sr.Sous Chef, AMBA Bar & Grill, my idol) won't switch places with you" Well he thought his sarcasm was pretty humerous...Read on to know what happens when my humour takes a whacky turn

I NEED TO GET OUTTA THERE
I was sipping a nice cup of coffee in the Hotel Cafeteria...with Vicky, another chef and a good friend and he suggested, "Man, it's simple, you make a mistake that is small enough that you're not given a warning, but big enough that Pascal throws you out of the Bar Kitchen."

I was sure I was not going to do anything like that...I just had two and a half months left at May Fair...and I thought I had worked hard enough to deserve a relaxed job at the Bar Kitchen, as I was crossing the Main kitchen, I got a mail from Chanele,confirming 10 PAX for the next day, they had requested for Fish & Chips, a soup and cold sandwiches. Pascal gave me a tub of mushroom soup left from the party in the afternoon and told me that he had asked the banqueting staff to prepare 10 extra portions of battered cod (a kind of fish, very common in the UK), as they had a function in the evening. And I thought, I just have to make ten sandwiches and kill mosquitoes, on my way towards the Bar kitchen, I ran into Marta, a waitress at the Bar kitchens and asked for any confirmations for the evening and this is what she said, "Yeah, there's just a table of 5, but I don't think they will eat anything, why don't you go and sit in the cafeteria and I will give you a call if there's any order, I don't think there will be any". That was sweet of her, but not something I wanted to hear.
And that's where my brain went whacky...I had to get out of there...I had an off the next day and the dumb Zelia would serve the sandwiches without even checking (Wow, I was so damn sure about her dumbness)..I never really liked Zelia covering up for me when I was off because she would leave my kitchen in a shit with no mise-en-place...but I knew Pascal had no choice..

I had risotto rotting away in the deep freezer (it's been there for a long time)...i added some ketchup (what!!!), some mustard (OMG!!!), Vinegar (Ouch!!!), Peanut Butter (R U KIDDIN!!!), Chicken Tikka Masala (WHY!!), Mayonnaise (Shit!!!) and finally some wierdely chopped shallots (deliberate!!!), oops and I forgot the Jalepenos (man, I'm insane)...took some Herbed focaccia bread and some Olive Ciabata bread, spreaded the Yucky mixture and cut it evenly and decorated it beautifully (to just to be sure that Zelia doesn't care, after all it's not good to be overconfident on someone'sdumbness).. but as I picked up my knives to rest in my locker (I always kept it in my locker when I had an off, I didn't want Zelia to touch them)...as I walked towards Hyde Park Corner station to take a bus (I used to walk an extra stop to give my body some workout)...I smiled and thought, "Pascal,I warned you to not to flirt with my intelligence."

The next afternoon, I went to Central london (I was anticipating a call from the Chef Office), and bingo...as soon as I got off at the green park station, my cell phone rang, it was Pascal who asked me politely to meet him as soon as possible...I told him I was around and would be there in about 10 minutes...I smirked on my achievement as I started walking towards the hotel...
as i entered the hotel I saw Vicky standing there and he said, "What the F*** is this risotto sandwich,who puts bhaat inside a roti and now that Rascal knows that it was deliberate" I assured him I would handle it...

I could not convince Pascal, he said I have deliberately under-performed and since Chanel complained to the Bar Manager and the Banqueting Manager who informed Pascal and the HR Manager... I was given a formal verbal warning...and the HR manager said that's a very linient stand from Pascal and he replied, "Don't worry his punishment is that he stays at the May Fair Bar Kitchen" he smirked and winked as he looked towards me..

15 days later a severe back injury at work (which pascal thought was deliberate, but it wasn't) forced him to move me in a night shift...I was the Night Chef at The May Fair Bar Hotel for the rest of my stint from April, 2007 onwards...