Dish-up was the same as the night before, just the food was different. Eggs went in the middle, sausages on one side, potatoes on the other. It was also done less in advance from three stations and the stations were set up in the kitchen area adjacent to banquet room. This way the eggs did not have to sit on the plates except for the time from when they were dished up until they were put on the table. And that was quick, not much longer than the delivery in a restaurant.
Jimmy, Bill and Victor dished up the eggs. Jimmy G and two kitchen stewards dished up the potatoes and a pantry girl wearing plastic gloves put the sausages on the plates by hand, one girl on each station.
This kind of food from three stations, they could do twenty a minute all together and so the wait staff picked up a tray, went out and served it and then came in for the next tray. Start to finish, with a five minute head start, they dished up and served on time. The wait staff had set the biscuits and butter and jelly on the tables ahead of time.
Like the night before, there was that hectic but steady dish-up time, and then it was all over. Because they were in the space adjacent to the room, they could look out and see the people eating. While the cooks looked on, Jimmy Banquet Chef donned his big chef’s hat and a clean, starched kitchen jacket and went out to see how the plates looked and were received. He came back into the kitchen with a smile on his face.
“Everything looks good,” he said. “The man in charge of the banquet was pleased.”
“Eggs are a pain in the ass., Victor said. “Fried eggs are even worse.”
Bill was glad Jimmy Banquet Chef had come by when he did to shut off the steam. If anything, just about all the way through, the eggs were a little soft, but when they were given those final stirrings and served up, they were just right. Lesson learned.
She was there, that waitress who’d taken a moment last night to address Bill as he sauced the meat on the plates on her tray. He did not see her this morning until he was peeking into the room and he did not get a chance to talk to her until she was back in the kitchen. He did notice that her tuxedo pants hugged her frame nicely.
The kitchen crew was cleaning up and gathering all the leftover food from the banquet room kitchen for transport back to the main kitchen. While they did this, those waiters and waitresses who could helped themselves to a meal and stood around eating.
“Hello there, love,” she said to Bill.
She carried her plate of food and walked over to where he was working. Bill saw her up close and personal for the first time. She was dark-haired with dark features and she wore her hair short, almost boy-like.
“Beverly,” she said. “My name’s Beverly. You’re Bill. They told me. You’re the new cook, and from what I’ve seen so far, you’re pretty good.”
Beverly leaned back against a counter and speared a sausage link with her fork then stuck the whole thing in her mouth. Bill noted that she had thick lips lightly painted red. He also noted that she was maybe five-four and trim. He knew she was strong because he’d seen her hoist those trays on her shoulder.
“I’m here all the time,” she said. She looked Bill in his eyes and then with no hesitation went about eating the eggs and potatoes on her plate.
“I’m here all the time too,” Bill said. “I do The Falstaff Room.”
“That all you do?” she asked.
“I do lots of things,” Bill said.
“I guess we’ll be doing some things together then,” Beverly said.
Bill decided she was more than cute. Bill decided she could go on the DD list, definitely doable.
