Fried to the Bone!

I don't think I've ever worked harder in my life then I did this week! Whoever said frying chicken was easy, was wrong! Did anyone even say that? Maybe it was me...?? I was assigned a KFC restaurant inside one of the biggest train stations in London- Victoria Station. It's essentially in a giant food court with a ton of other eateries. Naturally, we're next to a McDonalds. Here's a picture of the outside.

The goal is for me to train on every facet of the restaurant for the next two weeks. Day one was centered around what we in the biz call the back of the house. Basically, where all the magic happens. If you've ever wondered what it looks like in a back of a restaurant here's a glimpse.

After getting a brief overview of the Back of the House I learned to make all the sandwiches on the menu. Here in the UK they call them burgers even though they're all made with chicken not beef. By the end of the day I was master at making Zingers, Fillet Towers, and Mini Fillets. See I can cook! After day one I was ready to pass out by the time I got home and I did. Being on my feet for 8 hours straight was no small feat. I'm so used to sitting at a desk all day that my entire body was drained of all energy.

The next couple of days were focused on the chicken, the bread and butter of the business. They prepare the chicken from scratch everyday from start to finish. After I was trained on quite an extensive process of how to prepare the chicken, beginning with how to make the seasoning to using the fryer I was ready to do my own batch. By the way I'm now privy to the Colonel's secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices! Let's just say it was 10x harder than it looked. Look at me go!

My batch turned out pretty well if I do say so myself. After one batch I was ready to turn in the towel. I personally didn't enjoy handling raw chicken, having to break bones, and dealing with the blood. I was ready to move onto something new. Their is one crew member in the restaurant who does this every single day(M-F) for 8 hours. What amazed me was how much he geniunely enjoyed his job. He takes pride in making the chicken and wants the customer to get the best chicken possible. I really admired him for his attitude and work ethic.

By weeks end I was exhausted. I still have one more week to go. Monday, I tackle the front counter. It's all about serving the customer and learning the cash register. Let's hope I don't screw it up.

P.S. A lot of you have been asking me what's going on with "V". We went out to dinner earlier this week and tonight we're going out again. He's been a great friend, I'll leave it at that.