Good Food Blog
Pop-up restaurant, part deux
Posted at 5:30PM, 09 April 2010 by Mary Cadogan - Food writer
First of all, I must thank all those of you who offered encouragement and tips when I wrote in my last blog that I was opening a pop-up restaurant in my home. Since then we have put on two nights, one for Valentine's and one to celebrate St Patrick's Day. It has been a steep learning curve and incredibly hard work but I must report that the team of me planning and cooking, husband Mick on wine and coffees, Dawn as front of house and her husband Mark helping in the kitchen had a lot of fun, too.
It was a different set of skills from home cooking
I absolutely loved cooking for 20 people, plating up and making everything look special. It was a different set of skills from home cooking as all the little extras and surprises were very important for a memorable evening, a world away from my usual 'plonk a dish on the table and everyone help themselves' approach. Every detail had to be just right and everyone was happy to give me feedback, good and bad. I'm still kicking myself for serving the potted seafood just a little bit too cold, making it hard to spread on the toasted soda bread.
I quickly learnt, however, that it didn't matter how good the food was, if the team didn't work together then disaster loomed. Happily we all took to our roles pretty well. Mick modelled his approach on the head waiter of our favourite local restaurant and insisted on wearing a sommelier's apron so he could get into his part. Dawn spent hours making table decorations and planning her costume. She went down a storm with all the customers as she worked the tables with the smiling efficiency of a pro. Mark was an incredible support in the kitchen, keeping me organised and helping plate up. For me, the trickiest part was getting 20 main courses out hot with no drips or smears on the plate, and I couldn't have done it without his help.
Timing of each course had to be carefully orchestrated. Starters went out and were quickly devoured, then before I knew it they were clamouring for the main courses, so everything had to be speeded up. After that the pace slowed as everyone started to relax. It gave me huge pleasure to hear everyone chattering away and at the end of the Valentine's evening tables were pushed together as new friendships were made.
On the down side, I found standing in the kitchen for 16 hours at a stretch takes some stamina. I don't know how chefs do it on a daily basis - it took me two days to recover. And it certainly isn't a big money-spinner. When I worked out the hours we spent planning, shopping, prepping, cooking and clearing up, we worked for well below the minimum wage.
Would we do it again? Definitely. We were thinking maybe afternoon tea with champagne in the garden next time, but we'll be giving ourselves a little breather now as my cook school holidays have started up again and there are always recipes to test and features to write. In short, I won't be giving up the day job just yet!
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