7th March Thoughts from Spain
We made our way out from Manchester airport last Sunday, not quite three days after the original planned departure from Glasgow airport, which was cancelled amidst the late winter snow in Scotland and much of England.
It can take a couple of days to get into the rhythm of life in this part of the Costa Del Sol; silly little worries about a couple of defunct light bulbs and a broken toaster.
Waking up this morning, the sun had decided to come out and the sky was blue.
Lindsey and myself made a list of small errands for the little apartment, a “pueblo” at Capistrano Village in Nerja. We drove down, parked up next to Beijing Bazaar and had soon got our chores done for the day. We plan to collect the car tomorrow.
The beach at Torrecilla still has debris from the recent weather, unusual for the Costa del Sol; plastic bottles, broken bamboo sticks and cans sit on the high water-line. We sit and soak on the sun, with others welcoming some gentle heat.
The Tapas as ever helps, a couple of new Bars to go with old favourites; Sevilla and Rotunda where a glass of nice white or red Rioja can be drunk with a choice of gambas, queso, patatas con aioli, jambon de seranno and so much more.
Tonight there is some classical music at the community social hub at Capistrano where I attended by first Annual General Meeting yesterday. I kept by hand down when invitations were asked from the floor for new Committee members. Enough. The average age would be 70 plus. All nice people, polite and mainly comfortable.
Later, we will walk down to Irish Annie’s where my sister in law’s friend Jackie is playing music.
Tomorrow, Manana can wait.
Michael and Lindsey in Nerja
Well this weather has sent to try us all.
On the plus side we are at 39 chefs out this is still up on last year and I think last years weather was some what different to this (BEASTFROMTHEEAST) you have a lot to answer for.
We are all set up to interview chefs mid week next week.
Still lots of CV’s getting sent out unfortunately Jessica and Tom have had a lot of rearranging interviews which hopefully will now take place next week.
PLEASE Please take care out there when going to and from jobs (if your able to get at all)
Relief has been a lot quieter this week with 10 jobs out this week so far, a lot of hotel have closed as the staff can’t get to work and also deliveries can’t get thorough.
Chefs I got out last week are as follow
Scott Macintyre at The waterside Hotel in Inverness
Liam McLafferty at Mackays Hotel in Wick
Ed Stankaitis at The Pierhouse in Port Appin
Robert McGowan at Onich Hotel in Lochaber
David Carroll at Fishers Hotel in Pitlochry
Lillian Clarkson at Nethy Bridge in Inverness-shire
Bobby Ainsworth at The Albert Hotel in Orkney
Paul Wenbourne at Bridge of Orchy Hotel in Argyll
Mick Kitson at Onich Hotel in Lochaber
John Ferguson at Muckrach Hotel in Dulnain Bridge
Joe Balloch at Popinjay Hotel in Carluke
Ignas Narijauskas at Kastille in Turriff
Gordon Wright at Cartland Bridge in Lanarkshire
Josh Tippett at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness
Jenny Quashie at Daffodil in Cumbria
Thanks everyone for all your hard work and this week especially your determination to get to your work.
A very busy week - 19 relief chefs out and 37 adverts placed so far.
Michael has been in the office while Jessica has been on annual leave, he has been looking after head chef sous with both tom and Michael getting lots of CV’s sent out and interviews arranged.
We have met a couple of chefs this week for relief work.
Relief work is now picking up, so if you are known to CIS and have availability please get in touch with your dates.
Out and about this week is
Gary Williamson was at Glenesk Hotel in Edzell
Ryan Williamson is back at Dram in Glasgow
Saurav Kumar worked last weekend at The Winking Owl in Aviemore
Paul Sellers is at The Cross Keys Hotel in Kelso
Donnie Lamont is back helping at Cuillin Hills Hotel in Skye
Glenn Richards is at Victoria / Esplanade Hotels in Rothesay
Jason Paxton is at Go Glasgow Urban Hotel
Mark Carswell is at Scores Hotel in St Andrews
Zander Yuill is at La Piazza in Carluke
George McCallum is at Inverlochy Castle near Fort William
Ionel Rizea is at the Old Mill Inn in Pitlochry
Blair Mackay is at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness
Thanks all for all your hard work 😊
�Bȯ���7 ҹN1�
A very busy week - 19 relief chefs out and 37 adverts placed so far.
Michael has been in the office while Jessica has been on annual leave, he has been looking after head chef sous with both tom and Michael getting lots of CV’s sent out and interviews arranged.
We have met a couple of chefs this week for relief work.
Relief work is now picking up, so if you are known to CIS and have availability please get in touch with your dates.
Out and about this week is
Gary Williamson was at Glenesk Hotel in Edzell
Ryan Williamson is back at Dram in Glasgow
Saurav Kumar worked last weekend at The Winking Owl in Aviemore
Paul Sellers is at The Cross Keys Hotel in Kelso
Donnie Lamont is back helping at Cuillin Hills Hotel in Skye
Glenn Richards is at Victoria / Esplanade Hotels in Rothesay
Jason Paxton is at Go Glasgow Urban Hotel
Mark Carswell is at Scores Hotel in St Andrews
Zander Yuill is at La Piazza in Carluke
George McCallum is at Inverlochy Castle near Fort William
Ionel Rizea is at the Old Mill Inn in Pitlochry
Blair Mackay is at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness
Thanks all for all your hard work 😊
�Bȯ���7 ҹN1�21st February 2018 newspage
Rarely can it be accused of being a dull life in a chef recruitment office.
I am back in the main office this week covering for perm head and sous chef recruitment while Jessica is on holiday.
We had a good chef from Lanarkshire booked for a chat about the pros and cons of relief work yesterday afternoon. Two chefs pitched up and I met the first one, who I quite possibly met a few years previously and we had a good chat about chefs he had worked with at well-known Scottish Hotels such as Gleddoch House, The Popinjay and Cartland Bridge in Lanark.
It gives us a better feel when you have a chat face to face over a cup of coffee without the constant interruptions of phones ringing. “How many cigarettes do you smoke per day?” “What would you look to be doing in an ideal world when you get to 50 years old?”
Meeting chefs also brings home what a hard physical job being a chef is; hitting a plateau as head chef early on in your career and then looking for the next direction. Or doing the rounds as a career sous chef or chef de partie and pushing on, working hard, trying to get up to being a head chef.
There is a lot to it, there are positives, such as the lifelong friendships made along the way, the camaraderie and the buzz of a good kitchen service (not that I can quite remember this one) The opportunity for self-betterment, the almost always availability of work at some level. Accommodation, which is not always the best, but often no bills. The most basic, food.
It is interesting to have a chat and get a feel for someone’s life, rather than just seeing a piece of paper and looking at dates and judging.
This week, as we move towards the end of the month in the CIS office, the amount of adverts and relief jobs have increased. Monday, we took a whopping 11 adverts and they still pile in.
I am off to walk the dogs now up the back before hunting for head chef candidates for two well know hotels up the west coast; both of which I have visited and dealt with for getting on for two decades.
Pablo Picasso can wait a little longer.
Many thanks for your continued support.
Michael
There are a few things happening with the brewery at the moment.
In terms of our building work we have detailed drawings from the surveyors now and we have sent them to a few local tradesmen to get quotes. The drawings have also been submitted to building control for approval. We are planning to get the work started in April.
We now have three equipment quotes and we are looking at a 5-barrel brewing system which would produce up to 800 litres of beer each brew.
The main task now is our application for some grant funding through the Dumfries and Galloway LEADER project. This involves coming up with detailed plans of what we are doing and projections for the future. We are sending away our final draft on the 26th of February and the decision date is mid-March. The grant could award us as much as £40,000 if we are successful.
We also have our next beer tasting and tapas night organised for March 23rd. it is being hosted in Lockerbie at the Mid Annandale Comrades Club for 6 to 9pm. We will be showcasing our share prospectus and continuing to sell shares. If you are interested in buying some shares, we have sold a good few already, they can be purchased at £500 per share.
I also bottled another batch of beer last week. I have changed the recipe around and I think it could be the best one I have made so far. Those tips I picked up in Skye were very helpful!
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