It is the middle of the summer, a Friday night and the Jazz festival is in full swing. The restaurant was taking no reservations for the patio (which happened to be stationed right across from the main band stand) as they were the best dining seats on the entire street, let alone within the restaurant. The dining room was fully booked and the staff was as prepared as we could possibly be, but we still knew we were going to get hit regardless. It was inevitable. This dinner rush seemed like it took forever to recover from. There were some slight determining factors that made the night more difficult than we originally anticipated. I will give you a taste.

So the rush ended up coming in all at once which means that all the orders going into the kitchen were happening so close to each other that the kitchen became overwhelmed. In fact there were chits double stacked from the hot side all the way to the cold side with no space in between. The seating was not staggered and it hit the restaurant with one big thump and just kept going.
While we are all still in the weeds (a term used to describe the ridiculous chaos that happens within the restaurant and it's staff during a crazy rush of guests) and the madness is not over yet, our Sous chef takes a turn for the worse. She sporadically faints right on the line doing pans amidst her co-workers and hits her head on the stainless steel counter. Suddenly nothing else mattered but her safety. All cooking took a stand still while the necessary first aid took action. The manager called 911.

Meanwhile the front of the house was not looking so great either. Our hostess went into the kitchen looking for the manager and she swung the door open to reveal our Sous chef in the arms of three staff members. Our hostess was next. She was so distressed by the impatient guests hounding her at the entrance and now was mortified by seeing someone unconscious. She began to hyperventilate. When she came back out front I saw that she was also crying and I put her aside and told her what to do to calm herself and I took over her job. My entire section could see that I neglected them for the door and they did not look too impressed. I did what I had to do. While at the front I see the fire truck driving down the street. I walk past the mob of people and began to flag down the fire truck. I proceed to tell them that our troubled party is at the back where the ambulance already is and they drive off. When I resume my post as temporary hostess a lady with much attitude makes a remark by sarcastically asking if the kitchen is burning down. I swallow every spec of frustration and kindly reply that our Sous chef has fainted on the line and is now unconscious but luckily the Ambulance and Fire personnel are here. Then I asked her if she was on the wait list while enjoying her newly formed expression of guilt on her face.

All though that was one of if not the most stressful night I have had working at a restaurant, I am just glad that every one, especially our Sous chef and Hostess were okay. The recovery was intense, but we made it.

Learn more about this author, Krista Tallis.
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