ALGARVE RESTAURANT
As somebody who still doesn’t even know how to boil an egg I never expected to work in a restaurant selling plates that I don’t have any idea how to make. That’s crazy, right?. It is. I know, but you don’t have to know everything about a product to sell it. I remember like it was yesterday the day that I got interviewed to work there. I practically begged the manager to hire me. He ask me why I needed the money and I told him that I wanted to send money to my mother who lives in Cuba and is very sick. It was true and he hired me on the spot because I guess he felt compassion for me. I started working there the next day. The smell of delicious food made with garlic and gravy moved my soul and my coworkers made me feel like I was home. That’s when I knew that I was going to stay there for a long time.
I started working in the kitchen, specifically next to the grill where they cooked all the meats. It was December, but the fire from the grill made us feel like it was August. I didn’t have any experience, so a Portuguese lady was trained me. She didn’t speak any Spanish or English so it was really hard to understand her. She told me that all I had to do was serve rice and French fries and close the to go plates. It was an easy task with only one hazard; the Take Out plates were made of aluminum and they cut my hands several times when I was trying to close them. The people in the kitchen were really nice and friendly. Almost everybody is Hispanic most specifically Dominican, so it was easy to communicate with them and they made me feel like I belong there. Even the main cook called me ‘’son’’ because we looked alike. I spend a month working at the kitchen and then suddenly my boss told me that he needed me in the restaurant as a busboy. I agreed and another story begun.
Unlike the kitchen, the restaurant was more fancy and had more rules. We had to wear an uniform every day that consisted of a black shirt, black pants and black shoes except on the weekends when we switch the shirt to white. It a really nice place the tables are brown and brand new. The bar is painted in black and green and the walls are white. It looks like a modern restaurant made love with a Diner and had Algarve as its only son. When I started working in a restaurant, my only job as a busboy was to give bread to the clients and clean and set the tables. But one month later, they found another busboy and they made me a food runner so my job was to go to the kitchen and bring all the plates to the table. That’s where I learned the names of the food we sell and how it was made. I didn’t like to be a food runner, because the plates were really hot and I wasn’t getting paid enough. So when a waiter left, I asked to be trained as I waiter. My boss accepted my request and I became a waiter earning the double that what I made as a runner.
As I was a waiter in the restaurant I was also assigned to be the waiter of a little party saloon we have in the basement. It’s a really small place where we only fit approximately fifty people. The walls are mirrors and the music comes from a little jukebox that sounds impressively loud and clear. My job consisted of preparing the buffet and serving them sangria, sodas and beer. I also have to clean all their plates and supply them with coffee and desserts at the end. It is a hard job to take care of fifty people by yourself, but I like it. I feel useful every time I do it. Making people happy is the greatest feeling ever.
Algarve is a place were different people from different cultures collide to enjoy the deliciousness of the Portuguese cuisine. I really enjoy working there, I’ve been there for two years already. I never thought that I was going to last that long in my first job. Thank to this job, I am able to support myself, my family who lives here with me and my mother in Cuba. Algarve is more than a restaurant for me. It’s the place where I realized that I can make it and made me love who I am. I am never going to forget this place and if you want to enjoy good food, drinks and service go to 656 Van Bureen Ave. I will be waiting for you.
