New Job!!

Well everyone, it's been awhile since I blogged to you all. Nothing extrememly exciting has happened for awhile though. The weather has been beautiful lately, with temperatures in the 80's and maybe even reaching the 90's at the hottest part of the day, so days off are usually enjoyable. I've been kept real busy at the Dockside restaurant, working 50-60 hours per week, constantly doing near 14 hour shifts everyday, with few breaks. Normally, I wouldn't actually mind this, because it's nice to make money, but this is a working Holiday for me so I don't need to work that much, but need to enjoy myself! At least that's how I feel. The Christmas holiday season is mostly over now though, so the restaurant isn't doing it's usual 200+ covers in a service, but back to the normal 100 or so covers. So, I thought that this might be a good time to get out while I can.

So, today I started my first day at the Olive Cafe (NOT Olive Garden, which is not in this country at all!!), in downtown Wellington. I did a trial the other day for them and they called me the next day and asked me to work there, so I talked to Dockside and finished up there. So, I haven't worked there more than 2 days, but I already am very happy with the place. It seats about 70 people when the restaurant is full inside and seating outside is full as well, but apparently this does not happen most the time. The kitchen is fairly small, with only 2 cooks working at a time, me (I?) being one of them. I have not actually seen a night service or menu yet, so I can only speak for the morning and lunch time, which I will be working for a little while until I get the menu down and then move on to the night menu so I know EVERYTHING. The menu has some brunch items on it, along with sandwiches and baked goods that I help make. There are also a few different salads that they offer, along with a fish, lamb, soup, and usually another special dish of the day. The food is all pretty good though, and when I tell people where I work, they recognize it as a very nice cafe that they like. Some things I really notice that are different though, is the atmosphere of the cafe, compared to Dockside. I really enjoy that the chefs don't yell at people and it is much quieter in the kitchen, making it much less stressful, although I do enjoy that environment sometimes, but don't want it here in New Zealand. Anywhase, it is nice to have a job right now that is a lot more easy going and I am noticed more and get to use good ingredients. It's also nice to have a fresh produce market right next door, in case we run out of something and need it on the fly! So if you are in the area, make sure to stop in and get a coffee or wine and some good food!