Week at Brown Bag Seafood

This has been a very interesting week for Brown Bag as a whole. At the beginning of the week one of our recently promoted assistant kitchen managers decided that the new position was too much for him and decided to step down from his position. Which really would have been fine if he didn’t turn in his two week notice the following day. Now instead of having to find a way to fill the management role we needed to fill a whole position for someone Brown Bag had heavily relied upon. Thankfully this did not impact me and my responsibilities too directly but I certainly felt the shockwaves of this change through the attitudes of the staff and from the atmosphere in the back of the house as a whole. But just like with everything else this summer this is a learning opportunity for me, to learn how to handle change-ups in staff and how to stay in closer communication with the other managers to prevent being blindsided by a decision such as this.

That being said, the week definitely got a lot better for Brown Bag after a slow Monday business steadily increased throughout the week that eventually culminated in one of our busiest lunches of the year on Friday. We even had our regional manager and owner at the restaurant helping out for the afternoon. Even after 10 weeks at Brown Bag, operating in each position in front and back of the house, watching my supervisors at work during one of these busy periods is still a learning opportunity. However I am also able to look back at my first shift and see the progression I have made as a manager and as a person over the course of my time here. Things that used to go over my head without me even knowing all cary a much deeper meaning and purpose because I am much more aware of everything going on around me.

Week 9 at Brown Bag Seafood

This week was one of the most, if not the most, important week of my internship this summer. On Wednesday night I was responsible for organizing and managing Brown Bag’s operation at the Time Out Chicago: Battle of the Burger festival. This included preparations that went several days in advance of the event. First, we had to communicate with the event organizers from Time Out Chicago to figure out how many guests would be attending the event, so we could get an idea for how much extra product we would need for the event. We were told that over eighteen hundred tickets had been sold to the event, which consisted of two two-hour sessions from 5:30-7:30 and 8:30-10:30. As each ticket was an “all you can eat” pass to the festival we needed to be prepared to have almost two thousand servings of the side dish we were supplying. The Brown Bag management team and I decided that the best option for us to provide was our Louisiana Tang coleslaw with two crispy shrimp. So, to get in idea for how much product to order I had to do some calculations to find out how many servings of slaw and shrimp we had per case of each item. In the end we ordered twelve extra cases of slaw mix, eight cases of crispy shrimp, one case of celery, and one extra case of mayo to make the slaw dressing. The event was sponsored by Chalula so they provide the case hot sauce we needed to make the slaw. The sponsorship also included the fry equipment we needed to make the crispy shrimp, however that gave us some technical difficulties at the beginning of the event. Once all of the product had been delivered we prepped all of the slaw mix on Tuesday night so it could be packed into coolers we borrowed from a friend of Brown Bag’s owner. All we had to do once at the event was unload our coolers and set up a serving station. The only issues we had were getting the correct wattage to our fryers so they could get to the right heat to fry the shrimp. Unfortunately this issue was not corrected by the TimeOut Chicago staff until about an hour into the event so all we could serve was our Louisiana Tang slaw but it was smooth sailing from there. Overall I would say the event was a great success, we served a lot of happy guests, and I think we were able to do a great job promoting Brown Bag in the process.

Week 8 at Brown Bag Seafood

Another exciting week in the books at Brown Bag. This week I was able to move out of the kitchen and focus more on floor management, while learning some of the other manager functions of the restaurant. As Alejandro was back from his time with the military and was able to resume his position leading the line and I was afforded the opportunity to work outside of the kitchen this week. I started the week as floor manager with my supervisors assistance during the afternoon/evening shifts so that I could get a taste of what would be asked of me during the lunch rush. As most of Brown Bag’s business comes from professionals in the area coming down for lunch, we thought it was better to ease me into the position in the evening first. So on Monday and Tuesday I was able to sleep in, come in at 4pm, then help oversee the restaurant during the dinner period then oversee the closing of the restaurant. This wasn’t anything too unusual for me, as the slower evening period was very similar kind of shift to the Sunday shifts I have been working as manager all summer. Then Wednesday through Friday I came in at 9am to help oversee the opening of the restaurant and preparation for a lunchtime rsh period. This meant starting by sending out our daily specials email to all of the employees so they can be up to date on what we are serving before they step foot in the door. Next we deposited the cash dropped by cashiers the previous business day. Then we go out to the floor to ensure the kitchen staff are beginning their pre-shift routines like starting rice cookers, mixing slaw, and stocking the line. Last, just before starting the lunch rush we lead the staff in a “Take Ten” meeting where we discuss the menu items and any other information that could be useful for the staff that day. From this point forward these will be most of my responsibilities as intern, and then the completion of the project I am working on. Hopefully this affords me more time and energy to focus on the project.

Week 7 at Brown Bag Seafood

Another exciting week at Brown Bag in the books. We started the week with a very successful Monday as the tourism in Chicago was very busy for the 4th. That being said we were all able to enjoy a day off to celebrate the 4th of July which was much appreciated from the whole staff. However, that also meant I needed to make up some hours for the week with having 2 days off so I had to work very long days the rest of the week. On Wednesday this was okay because we had enough staff at the restaurant to ensure things ran smoothly. However, Thursday night we were without a dishwasher for the night so that meant I had to jump into the dish room for the night. While I did not particularly enjoy my time in the dish room I can appreciate it was a valuable experience. When I saw our lunchtime dishwasher the next day I explained to him what happened and that I have a newfound appreciation for what these guys do. I compared being a solo dish washer to washing dishes at Thanksgiving, except the table is just never clear. Then at the end of the night, after being up to my elbows in hot soapy water for four hours, I was also responsible for taking out all of the trash from the restaurant as well. This I had never done before, and turned out to be a much more complicated process than I had imagined. Because our restaurant is at the 1st floor of one of the nicer apartment buildings in the City, there are no dumpsters out back for us to toss bags into. So this means we have to load up a cart with all of our trash and take them in an elevator to the parking garage which then leads to the trash room. All in all I have to admit I was not the happiest camper in the world walking out of the restaurant close to midnight that night but the experience was valuable in case I need to train any future employees on how to do these things, and helped me to appreciate the job done by the guys who do it on a daily basis.

Week 7 at Brown Bag Seafood

This has been a very exciting week for me at Brown Bag Seafood Company. After submitting my proposal to participate in Chicago’s summer street festivals the restaurant management team has decided to move forward with the project and has tasked me with coordinating and running stalls at two street festivals during the month of July. The first festival Brown Bag will be participating in is the Time Out Chicago Battle of the Burger Festival. As we do not serve burgers, the festival has asked us to contribute a side dish to the festival. For us, this means choosing between one of our varieties of coleslaw(Louisiana Tang, Lime Cilantro, or Classic) or one of our tater tot sides(Buffalo, Truffle Parmesan, or Classic). Considering the tater tots would require a freezer on site to keep the stock tots frozen, we decided to go with a coleslaw. From there, the festival asked us to incorporate Chalula hot sauce in the recipe for the dish because they are sponsoring the event so we will replace the current brand, Crystal Hot Sauce, with Chalula. The Battle of the Burger coordinators are expecting a very busy weekend so they have asked us to prepare almost two thousand portions of the side dish. In order to do this we will prep all of the dry slaw the night before the event, chopping celery stalks and mixing it with the cabbage packs and carrots. Then the morning of the event we will mix in the slaw and hot sauce and store all of the mixed slaw in coolers we can bring out to the event.

The second event we will be participating in is the weekly concert series called Lakeview Curbside Concert Series which actually takes place just outside of our new restaurant location. This is exciting because if all goes well this is something we could be participating in on a regular basis. Passed that, I am looking into any other festivals that will be going on within a close vicinity of our restaurant’s that Brown Bag could participate in next summer.

Week 6 at Brown Bag Seafood

I really cant believe I have already completed the first half of my internship with Brown Bag Seafood. I still feel like I just moved to this city and just met all of my coworkers, yet I feel remarkably comfortable in my position as Food and Beverage Intern and with my role as assistant manager.

This week was more challenging than ever because our lunchtime kitchen lead Alejandro, is out in the Mojave Desert training with the marines, which means everyone in the kitchen needs to pick up the tasks we regularly rely on Alejandro for and less direction to coordinate these tasks. For me specifically, this meant I had to jump into the position we call “tickets”. I had only just trained on this position last week when I had Alejandro behind me in support, but this week I was all on my own. I found this to be a little intimidating at first but quickly embraced the position, found my rhythm, and by the end of the week I was able to breeze through a lunch rush with ease. In addition to ticket calling, I also had to help the kitchen staff prepare the kitchen before the lunch rush. This was particularly challenging because the two ladies I was setting up with spoke Spanish as their first language, however in turned out to be a very profitable experience to learn to communicate with them as we got our work done. They helped show me how to skin, cut, and marinade fish as well as making slaw from scratch, and how to make our house buffalo sauce.

All while assuming some of Alejandro’s daily responsibilities I have significantly progressed on my own intern agenda as well. I have successfully completed the restaurant’s US Foods ordering application, and have officially submitted my intern project proposal. For my project I want to cost and forecast setting up a mobile extension of Brown Bag that can cater Chicago’s street festivals. Chicago has many of these festivals every weekend all over the city and with 4 locations by the end of the year Brown Bag will be well equipped to be a part of these festivals and I would personally like to make it happen.

Week 4 at Brown Bag Seafood

There last few weeks at Brown Bag have been a very challenging, yet exciting time. The restaurant gets busier and busier every day as we move into the summer season, we have brought on and trained a number of new employees, all while preparing to open a new restaurant in another neighborhood of Chicago. This week really made me appreciate moving out here when I did, so that I could gradually become accustomed to the restaurant operations before it really got too busy, which meant I had a big role to play in personally training employees and being an example for the staff as a whole. Another aspect I have enjoyed is that as intern, I have learned how to operate in a number of different positions, from cashier, to food runner, to online ordering, to tickets (calling the orders in the kitchen as they come through), and even floor management. Knowing how to function in all of these roles made it easy for me to assist and oversee the new hires, while jumping from one position to another to assist with any bottleneck issues the restaurant may be facing. In addition to the front of house operations I have began to get my foot in the door in the kitchen of the restaurant, helping prep proteins, making batter, bagging rice packets, and a little bit of work on the grill/fryer station. These are much harder positions for me to learn as I have little experience preparing food in a kitchen and I would only slow things down during a lunch rush, so I work front of the house during the lunch rush and help out in the kitchen with the PM crew. On a final note, I have been designated manager on duty for the day on Sundays so I open and close the restaurant and oversee the staff for the entirety of the shift, very exciting.

First Two Weeks With Brown Bag Seafood

Hows it going guys? After enjoying one quick week of summer vacation in East Lansing I moved out to downtown Chicago over Mother’s Day weekend and started my internship with Brown Bag Seafood on May 15th, so I am just wrapping up my second week with the restaurant. So far, my experience has been great, assimilating to life in the city and a 40 hour work week fairly smoothly. I was almost more nervous about the idea of adjusting to the work load and using public transportation than I was about any of the tasks that may be required of me at work. Thankfully, that transition was much easier than expected and I have settled into the city very well.

Brown Bag operates in a bit of an unconventional seafood restaurant due to the fact that it is actually a fast-casual restaurant, not always what you would expect from a seafood joint. That being said, fresh product imported daily guarantees customers excellent quality seafood in a matter of minutes. Customers enter the store, fill out a dry erase menu, then pay the cashier who takes their order before it is brought out to them. The menu features a number of different proteins including salmon, cod, shrimp, chicken, or the varying catch of the day. All of these different proteins can be selected as grispy or grilled to give customers more options for their meal. After selecting a protein, they then pick which format they would like it to come, tacos, sandos(sandwich), straight up, salad, or the powerbox which is a bed of spinach, quinoa, and wild rice with the protein on top. After filling out their menu they visit the cashier who will give them a table number if they chose to dine in or take their name for a to go order.

My first two weeks with Brown Bag have consisted of learning the POS system at the register and running food from the grill to customer’s tables. This has given me a good idea of the front of house operations and I am looking forward to learning more about the on-goings of the back of the house.