Internship

My internship was a great learning experience for what it was like to work in a kitchen of a restaurant. For my internship I worked as what would be referred to as a “Sous Chef” which is many a entry level cook that many prepares the food for the actual chef’s to make when ordered. The main things that I did where learning proper ways of using the utensils of the kitchen through the repetition of preparation a few different recipes. The main things that I was preparing was chopping vegetables for different recipes or preparing the meat one way or another. By doing these things I was able to accomplish the work objectives that I set for myself which where how to handle kitchen equipment safely and properly, basic preparation skills, basic usage of recipes, and health, safety and sanitary work habits. During my time at Piccolino’s Italian Café I had the honor of working under one of Piccolino’s Chef, Luis Creano. Piccolino’s Italian Café is a pretty big restaurant with over fifteen employees that I was able to meet.

During my internship I was able to accomplish all of the items that were listed out in my work objectives. My first objective was how to handle kitchen equipment properly the way that I was shown how to do this was I was shown multiple times how to handle the knives and other equipment carefully so that I would not injure myself. The next objective was basic preparation skills; Luis took the time to show me how to prepare most of the things that are served in the restaurant. The next objective was the basic usage of recipes. I learned how to follow the recipe to make sure that the items came out tasting good so that the consumer would enjoy eating at the restaurant and want to come back. The last object that I had was how to maintain health, safety and sanitary work habits the way that I did this was I had to keep my work area clean, wash my hands and make sure that I was using the equipment properly so that I would not injure myself. I really was unable to make a specific impact on the business other than I was able to make it so that everyone was able to do something else to make sure that all of the food was ready to be cook when ordered. This experience showed me that not everything is easy to do and that running a kitchen can get very stressful and that you have to make sure that you are able to keep up a good pace with having the risk of injuring yourself. There were a few things that I had to do that tied in with some of the things that I have learned that I have to be friendly, work well with everyone and that I had to be able to take charge and do the things that I am asked to do in a timely manner. When it comes to the differences between the work environment that was in the restaurant and school there was a lot in fact there were hardly any similarities between the two. The only thing that they really had in common was the fact that when you were ask to do something you  were expected to do it in a timely manner and you had to make sure that it was done right. The eight learning outcomes did not correlate a whole lot with being a chef other than the fact that you have to be able to collaborate well with the people that you work with. There is nothing that could really be added to the New Tech High, maybe other than having a cooking class. This internship really showed me that being a cook is very stressful at times but it is made better when you have nice and friendly people to work with.

During my internship I learned how to use most of the equipment in the kitchen effectively.  I was not able to introduce any new tools to the business that they weren’t already using.

The internship was very fun and was only made better by the people that I got to know. The main things that I had to do weren’t really intellectually changing they were more physically changing. I was also able to use my own initiative on many occasions. I was always willing to give a hand with anything that was asked of me to do. I would recommend this internship to any New Tech student that thinks they want to become a cook. This internship also help me realize that being a Sous Chef requires a lot of effort and time to make sure that you do what you are expected to do in a timely manner and that The people around you also affect how willing you are to come to work and actually pay attention