It's a Love Hate Relationship

It's a Love Hate Relationship

by Craig Gordon (Assistant Restaurant Manager)

"And in the red corner weighing in at 160 pounds. A man who's bite makes up for his height. The silver fox with the spine chilling stare. All the way from Dublin…please welcome…Head Chef, Peter Murray!"

"And in the blue corner weighing in at 150 pounds. The hard hitting highlander. The arguably cocky young pretender. All the way from Inverness…please welcome…Assistant Manager, Craig Gordon"

Leopold (Head K.P) and Geddis (Harrison's Barman) recently won tickets to go and watch the Boxing at the Olympics. They were the "People's Choice" in a vote amongst the staff for who was the most deserving of the tickets. 

It got me thinking about the "Jabs" and "Hooks" Front of House & Kitchen Teams "occasionally" verbally throw at one another. 

There is a fine line between Love & Hate. Chefs will always be Chefs. Managers will always be Managers. Much like every marriage, one will never fully understand the other. Life circumstances and personal choices can put intense strain on relationships. Slamming the kitchen with 5 orders at the same time or forgetting to tell the front of house team we have no Rib-Eye Steaks left can also, put intense strain on relationships. Husband and Wife may be in a loveless marriage but they put on a brave face and stay strong for the children. Peter and I put on a brave face and stay strong for our teams and our customers. 

"How long for table 12's Main Courses? (Darling)" Mimicking the sweet innocent tones of a wife so highly strung as her husband is an hour and a half late picking up the kids from school. Peter glances at a queue of tickets as long as his arm, stares adoringly into my eyes and replies "4 minutes. (Sweetheart)." Like couples take mental notes of their partner's mistakes in order to hold the upper hand, Peter and I keep written down proof to prove to each other after service.

I seem to have painted the picture that mine and Peter's relationship is balanced on a "knife edge". This is simply not the case. The majority of time we are not boxing from opposing corners. Instead we are similar to these guys…

Granted we a little bit more buff, bicep curling beers at the end of each shift does wonders for arm definition...

When things go like clockwork we are like a tag team in the ring. I take down an opponent, or take down an order, before effortlessly tagging in Peter who goes to work on the "Belly" of the opponent (Beautifully Tender Pork with crispy Crackling, Dauphinoise Potatoes & Red Wine Jus) before tagging me in for a second time to perform the finishing move onto the Table.

At half past 8 on a Saturday Night the kids can begin to get tired and start showing off. Peter's Kitchen Team and my Front of House Team can also require monitoring during this time in the height of service. When my team are itching for a dessert order to arrive on the pass or Peter's lads desperately require side dish bowls they can turn into this guy…

It is both our jobs to tame our Scrappy Do's from throwing verbal "straights" and "uppercuts" at each other.

However here at Harrison's there is a tremendous amount of Man Love between Peter and I and the harmony between Kitchen and Front of House is the best it has ever been. When there is a little tension it is our jobs to never let the kids / customers see what goes on behind closed doors. Perhaps even more tricky when there are no doors, only an open Pass. 

After a tough night the last "tag" is a simple kiss and make up "cheers" with a couple of Pints of Guinness!