We've all had those days at work where something goes wrong. They all start the same way where something small happens and before you know it, you have this massive snowball that's formed and the time in between was so short that it all stands as a blur.
We were in the middle of lunch service. The day was going well. Everyone on the line was in good spirits, business had increased over the last month or so and having a little extra money in a restaurant is always a good thing, especially for the guys creating the menus. It was around 12:30 when the dining room and patio were nearly full and we started to smell gas, not just the staff but the customers as well. We started to look around the kitchen trying to figure out where this was coming from.
It was really strange. The smell was the strongest in the men's bathroom, in the employee bathroom in the kitchen and near the office. It was getting stronger and to be honest, we were starting to worry a little. We decided to close the doors to any additional business but finished serving the guests that were already seated. There were too many people in the restaurant, we sure as hell didnt want to lose them. Then water starts dripping through the roof in one place, then two, then five and then all hell breaks loose.
Water starts coming down like a waterfall and then the fire alarm goes off. When leading a kitchen, you have to show calm in front of your staff even when may be freaking out a little. I immediately tell everyone to get out. I make my way down the line to make sure everything is off, cover all of the food and make my way out to wait for the fire department. When they get to the restaurant, it took a few minutes to find out that the water is coming from the spa above. The main water pipe ruptured and of course, it drains all over our kitchen. The reason for the smell of gas was that the hot water hit a gas line that created the smell and in turn, set off the alarm. It took the other two sous chef's and I nearly seven hours to clean everything up. We had to pull almost all of the equipment, clean up the water, take out the ceiling tiles that were destroyed and put it all back together. To top it all off, the spa fought us every step of the way on having to reimburse us for business lost and damage to our equipment and product.
This is an example of the issues that can happen when owning a restaurant. There are things that are worse than this but I'll save that for a different time. Rolling with the punches is an important aspect of the job and over time, it becomes second nature.
