Hi everyone! This summer I took a 3 month long break from performing to work as an appetizer cook and expediter under the guidance of my step mother, Somyong Sukkij, otherwise known as Noi, who happens to be an amazing chef. My first few weeks on the job were filled with panic, as I had no prior restaurant experience. Luckily, Noi whipped me into shape! I thought I’d share some the takeaways I gathered throughout the process of this new experience.
Noi and I in the kitchen after work. During the work day we wear hairnets btw! Here we were just cooking for. ourselves.
Pay Attention to Detail. At the restaurant, I had to cut green onions, lime, cucumber, soft tofu, cantaloupe, pineapple, mango, and wonton dough in mass amounts on a regular basis. There was a specific quantity of each produce item I had to reach by the end of a shift. Cutting pineapple was the bane of my existence. The technique to remove all of the skin in a quick yet aesthetic fashion required a level of coordination I simply didn’t have.
One Tuesday morning, I was sloppily chopping a ripe pineapple with the objective to finish my prep work as soon as humanly possible so I could leave. “Hannah, no! Do you know how to cut?”, came a firm voice from behind me. My step mother stared at me with disapproving eyes. I never liked seeing a dissapointed Noi. She worked unbelievably hard to make sure every nitty gritty detail was in place for our customers. Every plate rim was to be crum free, every garnish fresh and appealing to the eye, and every table was to be served in a timely manner. Her expectations were high but clear, and when I failed to meet them due to my own laziness, her corrections where a wake up call that I needed to get my head back in the game. The guilt immediately rushed through me. “Oh, I am sorry”, I replied. The 4’10” Thai woman that is my step mother paraded over to my side of the kitchen, grasped the half of the pineapple I hadn’t gotten to yet, and cut the devilish fruit with speed and precision. It was then and there that I made the choice to work my hardest to produce quality pineapple prep work. Fortunately for me, pineapples went out of season shortly after I made the commitment and we switched to selling cantaloupe. Regardless, I learned that quality work is achieved by paying attention to the details.
Team Work Makes the Dream Work. The ensemble spirit at “Thai, How Are You?” motivated me when I wanted to quit. In the beginning, I knew absolutely nothing about cooking, I had an astonishingly low amount of spacial awareness which proved to be problematic in the tight space, and I was slow in an environment that depended on speed. People responded to my lack of skill in different ways. Some gave me very specific corrections when I screwed up, while others left me alone until I asked for help.
Noi was hard on me when I made mistakes, snapping things such as, “You need to learn how to think”, or “HURRRY Hannah!” in Thai. Sometimes Noi’s impatience wore on me. I was already hard on myself, I didn’t need her to reaffirm my insecurities. Over time, I realized that her criticism was constructive whereas my self-criticism was destructive. She was hard on me because she cared about me. She believed in me. Regardless of how people felt about the fact that I was working in the restaurant with no prior experience, they accepted me and helped me to grow. If I was behind on my cutting, people would pitch in to get the job done. If I screwed up a curry or a batch of spring rolls, people would stop what they were doing to give me corrections. If I put the wrong garnish on a dish, the cooks would remake the dish with no complaints. The palpable team spirit was infectious.
Observing my step mother’s work ethic impacted me the most this summer. Noi worked all day everyday for as long as the restaurant had been open. She pitched in at every station cooking, waiting tables, prepping food, expiditing, bussing, dish washing, catering, cleaning, buying food, and dealing with delivery services (and she continues to to this day). There were times when people wouldn’t show up for their shift. Noi was the one that had to take their place on those days. From 3p-5p Noi mutlitasked as line cook, appetizer cook, and expiditer all on her own. At the end of the day, all of the responsibility fell on her shoulders, and she managed it like a superhero. I cared about her well being, which caused me to care about the well-being of the restaurant.
Choose Joy. The people I worked with seemed to be genuinely happy even when doing tedious tasks. I began to laugh in the kitchen with my co workers. We played card games on breaks. One of the waitresses would bring us pancakes from the restaurant she worked at when she wasn’t at “Thai, How Are You”. It was a community of humble, hardworking individuals that inspired me smile even when I was tired. I gained a sense of peace in the workplace that carried over into other parts of my life. Even though I wasn’t performing for an audience this summer, theater remained a key part of my life. I went home from work each day motivated to sing, dance, and listen to my favorite musicals.
A pic of the famous “Hi, How Are You” mural. The popular tourist spot forms the outer wall of Noi’s restaurant cleverly named “Thai, How Are You?”
I really like the fact that the things that helped me succeed at “Thai, How Are You”, are the same things that help me stay grounded in rehearsal (aka paying attention to detail, team spirit, choosing joy, etc). It was neat to uncover parallels between running a restaurant and running a show:) Also, it is nice to finally be able to cook. I scramble eggs, cook noodles, and cut pineapple with GUSTO these days thanks to Noi.