Pressure means so many things in the kitchen. There is a famous quote that states, “you’re only as good as your last dish,” and that becomes daunting for some chefs. The idea that everything you do must be better then the last thing and different then anything you’ve done can drive a person mad.
This past summer we catered the Vetter Stone Amphitheater for the musical acts. This meant we had caterings almost every week between the months of July and August. Each event was at minimum two full services of complete meals that had to be different. We prided ourselves on making unique meals that varied from band to band, meal to meal. We couldn’t serve Sublime the same chicken dish we served Vince Neal. Menus had dietary restrictions and personal requests. Not an easy task.
There is a famous quote that states, ‘you’re only as good as your last dish,’ and that becomes daunting for some chefs.
My team and I had little time to come up with these because each band had things they wanted and things they didn’t. Planning was done usually one to two days beforehand. Anyone who has put on a dinner party knows this is not a lot of time. The pressure to come up with things that would wow our clients and the Vetter Stone staff made us better decision makers over all. It took away the overthinking and the backtracking. The what if game is non existent because there is no time play it.
We became a kitchen that can make menus in our sleep and put out different and unique meals time after time. The pressure we were under this past summer made us quick and not afraid to push the boundaries of what we know.
I relish the next pressure we are blessed with. What will we learn? How will we grow?
