I guess it's been about 3 weeks since the last post and whilst I had intended to write an update sooner, both the restaurant and settling into Hobart life have kept us pretty busy! I thought I'd use this update to introduce you to the restaurant...
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| Hobart's waterfront and the Drunken Admiral (mustcard-coloured roof building on the left) |
Some Drunken Admiral Facts n' Figures
- Setup 30 years ago by Craig & Leonie (Brierlie's parents) and it's a bit of an institution here in Hobart;
- Located in a beautiful spot down in Hobart's charming waterfront - right by the fishing boat moorings;
- Seats 110 covers in one sitting - but usually runs two sittings on busy nights;
- Dining venue first and foremost but is also home to a lifetime's collection of all things nautical - an impressive maritime museum in its own right which diners love*;
- Approximately 30 staff - with about 10 in the kitchen, 14 Front of House and a couple of cleaners;
- The DA is haunted! We have at least 3 resident spirits: a China-man complete with his conical rice hat (hangs out in the ladies toilets apparently), a mischevious adolescent girl in victorian get-up and a short-tempered pirate (affectionately known as Black-Beard);
A New Beginning...
As of the 1st of October 2010, myself and Brierlie took over running the FoH side of things to form a partnership with Jamison who runs the kitchen. (And happens to be Brierlie's cousin. Everyone seems to be related one way or another down here.) Big shoes to fill as we took over from Rocky who was an absolute bastion of knowledge and experience having worked in the restaurant for 19 years!
Rocky handed us the keys on Friday the 1st - and since that time we have been at the helm steering our own course at the restaurant - whilst learning the ropes simultaneously. And although we've both had a lot to learn and pick up, my own learning curve has been a particularly steep one. Brierlie has had the advantage of having grown up working in the restaurant and is very familiar with how it works, the meals, many of the staff etc etc which has proven very helpful. If a picture can paint a thousand words, my own learning experience is probably best described by the photo below (taken at our staff party just before we took the reigns). That's me on the top row in the flannel (obligatory wardrobe fare for all Australians), far right-hand-side of the photo.
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| The Drunken Admiral staff party - B centre front and me far right |
And the reason this photo is such a helpful descriptor of my learning experience thus far is that it demonstrates how everyone else seems to know what they're doing, where things are kept, how things are done and all work together in perfect unison and then there's me - pinging around like the little steel ball in an 80's pin-ball machine. But I think I had to go through this "acclimatisation" in order to learn as quickly as I have needed to. And whilst there is still so much more to learn and ways that we can both develop into our new roles, I am pleased to say that I have learnt a great deal in these few short weeks already.
Our experience so far...
It's October 23rd today (as I type this) and in the 22 days we have been running things, we have served 2,672 covers which averages out as about 121 diners per night. Some nights are obviously busier than others (ie Friday and Saturday) of course but we have had 4 nights where we have looked after more than 170 per night. And that feels super busy and in all honestly, things get pretty intense and a little stressful during our busiest couple of hours. In fact, the restaurant team (both kitchen and FoH) seems to seriously step up a gear during this period and the intensity of the activity almost makes a humming sound like a swarm of worker bees where everyone falls into a groove - in which one seems to enter a trance-like state and readily forget that you may be tired, thirsty, need the bathroom and so on, until that mad rush ebbs a way a little and regular conscienceness resumes.
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| Me fixing Seb's bib (for the infamous Yachties meal) on his birthday |
As for my own role, my objective has been to learn EVERYTHING, from setting up the salad bar and polishing silverware, through to running meals out, managing our stock (and suppliers) and cashing up at the end of the night. And I suppose this is another reason why the learning curve has been so steep. But in truth, whilst it's been a great challenge, I have genuinely loved it and the sheer volume of learning and development has been fantastically stimulating and rewarding.
That's probably enough restaurant chat for now. In Other News...
We have bought ourselves some wheels and can give Craig and Leonie their own cars back now - much to their relief I am sure. We've bought a Ford Laser which had already been named the White Rocket by the previous owners (friends of ours) whom we bought it from. And Craig has also lent me his mountain bike which I've been using to get round the city - and you soon realise just how hilly Hobart actually is!
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| The White Rocket outside the DA |
At Craig's place (where we are living most of the time at the moment), we have taken in a rescue dog from the pound. Her name is Shylo and when she moved in about 3 weeks back she was a terribly nervous and skinny looking thing. She had clearly been physically abused previously and it has taken a great deal of time, patience and affection to win her trust. The good news is that she has come on leaps and bounds and is doing really well now - she's put on some much needed weight, she's wagging her tail (no easy feat for a battered dog) and she's even coming into the house of her own accord and causing some mischief. In fact, she has recently eaten one of Brierlie's brand new work shoes. And lucky for Shylo, Brierlie was encouraged to vent her frustration elsewhere.
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| Shylo - our rescue dog |
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| Shot taken at Craig's place. And yes, he does like to collect some fairly strange things |
Rightio, for risk of boring any faithful followers I will leave it (this posting) at that. And wish you all well and please continue to keep in touch - we love receiving news and updates from you guys however short and sweet...
I will round out this update with some advice for anyone thinking about applying for an Aussie visa any time soon. Now that mine is back and approved, I have received my application documentation back. Based on my experience I think that the photo you are required to submit with the application is a very important factor and may swing the decision one way or the other. And the Aussies are a particularly patriotic bunch with a strong penchant for all things home-grown and manufactured. I reckon my photo below swung it for me without question...
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| My visa application photo - the deal clincher |
