Bill & Mike's Whistler Olympic Adventure

Last Olympic Blog

2010-04-06T12:56:00.000-07:00

OK, I've been home a week and I'm getting peppered with E-Mails to write the last Olympic Blog, so here it goes.

As we prepared to close out our last meal in the Olympic village for the athletes and workforce, it was only appropriate that all the remaining chef's get together at the chef's table for our last supper. Although we didn't have a lot of food remaining in the kitchen, I was amazed to see a cornucopia of dishes come out of no where. We were only feeding 30 chefs instead of 3000 so I was impressed at the level of dishes prepared, these young guys and gals even surprised this old dog with some of the delicacies presented.

In fine military tradition, I asked everyone to stand up after dinner and speak about themselves for a few minutes on what they will remember most and future aspirations. This was the highlight of dinner for everyone even though a few were so nervous they almost fell off the chair.

Farewell’s are always difficult once close bonds have been formed and this was a tough one for everyone to say farewell after all we've been through. For those Chef’s and cooks that had to leave early and were not able to attend our final farewell, not to worry, we thought and talked about you all night (even Anthony). It just so happened to be Narish’s birthday so our last hoorah at Roland's was even more memorable once the chocolate penis cake and blow up doll came out. For those photo’s you’ll have to check out the X-rated Bill and Mike’s website, Ha! What a party it was, Kitchen staff ROCKS!

I’ve been asked a 100 times what I thought of this adventure/experience of a lifetime and I can sum it up in one sentence. “Good and Bad, this is something I will never forget”. We all learned a lot about ourselves and what our limits are, with that, I’ll close the Olympic Blog portion of Bill and Mike’s adventure but stay tuned for more Michael Smith and Bill Pratt culinary adventures in the future 

Chef Bill Pratt

We Came, We Fed, We Conquered...

2010-03-28T16:44:00.000-07:00

I figured I'd wait for a week after getting home to make my final post. I wanted to take the time to let it all sink in and be able to reflect on the experience with a clear head. A few of the highlights;

Over 320,000 meals prepared & served in a 2 month period, 12,000 a day in the height of the event.
Just over 600 skids of food received, weighing and average of 2000 pounds, for a whopping 1.2 million pounds.
Prepared by a team of approximately 180 people who came from all over the globe with one common goal.

Truly the most amazing experience of my life, and I've had many. What I didn't expect or think of prior, was all the new friends for the rest of my life I'd meet. Something which was common when I was in the military, but since I've been out for the past 10 years I'd forgotten the excitement of bonding with new found friends. For me, this was without a doubt the best part of the entire experience. It also wouldn't have been the same incredible experience if it hadn't been shared with my long time friend and comrade. Thanks for bringing me along on one of your crazy adventures Bill, it'll be hard to top this one. What's next, London 2012? Who knows.

I know I speak for Bill when I say, thanks to everyone who followed our blog, made comments and showed your support. As we mentioned before, the response has been overwhelming, yet humbling.

Cheers, Olympic Mike :~)

300,000 Olympic Meals

2010-03-22T15:13:00.000-07:00

We served 300,000 meals so far and in true fashion we celebrated it with yet another cake. That's about 43,000 meals a week for the past 7 weeks, and it's all winding down very quickly. One more day for me and then it's all but a memory. I've been here 10 weeks now and met and worked with some great chef's, interesting cooks and all around fantastic hospitality professionals from around the world. We all came together to work this amazing event and made some great friends, have some great memories, but more importantly we made a difference for the athletes and our workforce and will remember this for the rest of our lives. To all the staff, from the dishwasher to the counter attendants, from the prep cook to the celebrity chefs and everyone in-between - I THANK YOU ALL.

Olympic Bill

Mike's Last Day

2010-03-20T12:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Little Mike's last day here, so a few of us went out to dinner at the Bearfoot Creek Bistro. We heard so much about the Araxi restaurant (Hell's kitchen winner was supposed to go work there) but all the locals rave about the Bearfoot so we went there instead. Dinner will be one of the most memorable meals I've ever enjoyed and would recommend it to anyone considering a trip to Whistler. Just remember to bring your bank book. The highlight of the evening was getting the opportunity to Sabre off the top of a Champagne bottle for my buddies and then toasting it in one of the most unique wine cellars I've been in.

This morning little Mike's Olympic adventure ends and he should be home in Sooke in time for supper. Although he's leaving a couple days early, he will surely be missed. I am just glad that 2 old military buddies were able to spend some quality time together over these past 7 weeks. I'm sure the both of us will have enough stories to write a book when it's all over.

See Ya Mike

St Patrick's Day in Whistler

2010-03-18T17:25:00.000-07:00

In true Olympic spirit, the kitchen staff came up with our own St Patrick's day menu for the workforce that any Irishman would have been proud of.

Guiness Beer Potato Cheddar and GREEN Leek Soup
Slow Roasted Beef Brisket
GREEN Parsley Boiled Potatoes
Steamed GREEN Cabbage Wedges
Baily's Irish cream Cheesecake

Chef Melody adding Guiness to the Soup

Then of course everyone went out last night to the same pub (Rolands in Creekside) and partied like there was no tomorrow. Some of us snuck out early so we're ready for work, while others soldiered on until the wee hours of the morning so they could suffer all day today, aaah to be 20 years old again. To bad there were no Leprechans for a wish or two.

Olympic Bill

Michael Smith's 2010 Olympic Culinary Team

2010-03-18T10:24:00.000-07:00

Someone had a great idea to capture the culinary teams photo as an Olympic momento, after a few takes and a lot of people juggling there schedules, we managed to get everyone in the room for our photo for Chef Michael.

Olympic Bill

Supervisors....

2010-03-17T15:57:00.000-07:00

I was told today that I neglected to mention the supervisors in my previous post. Although supervisors were not mentioned, it was actually intentional. Being in a supervisory position in my real life, I've always considered the role to be a part of the team and try not to distinguish a separation, which I believe enforces the team spirit. They are still a integral part of the system, and work hands on in every position mentioned, and just as hard as everyone else. It's my way of emphasising a cohesive successful team..

That said, I'd like to make mention of a couple great fella's that Becky & I work with, F&B supervisors Dave from Wales, and James from Melbourne. Experienced worldwide Food & Beverage managers for over 8 years, they tend to live as gypsies, working event to event throughout the year. Their next big adventure is the British open in May 2010. We couldn't have asked for a better pair to work with here at the 2010 Olympics in Whistler!

F&B Supervisors, Dave & James

Cheers, Olympic Mike

The Oil, Pistons & Belts

2010-03-14T13:18:00.000-07:00

There's a whole lot of parts that make an engine work that are rarely thought about as you put the key into your ignition & turn it over. Until something breaks down of course.

We talk about all the meals we've produced and occasionally mentioned the importance of each member & job of the team, but now as we get close to the end I'd like to emphasis the fact that without one, the other wouldn't succeed. And the fact all this occured in a 24 hour a day feeding operation, never closing down. As all are equal, in no particular order here's a list of all the positions that are/were instrumental in making it all happen;

The Porters: typically this encompasses the cleaning of everything. In an earlier post Bill mentioned how every time he turned around the items he used were taken away & cleaned. That includes all equipment, the ovens, kettles, pots, utensils, floors, counters & they take out all the garbage & recycling. They are amazing at what they do.

The Counter & Station Attendants: Serving the finished product/meal to the diner. Probably one of the most important positions, as they are the direct link to the customer. They are the ones that answer all the questions and attractively arrange each choice on the plate and serve it up with a warm smile. They also replenish steamline/deli items and continually keep the area clean. Sometimes they the alternate as a runner.

The Runners; these are the guys and gals and ensure all the menu items are kept refilled from the hotboxes to the steamlines. they can often also be found pitching in as Porters and Counter Attendants.

Dining Room Attendents: are responsible for ensuring the dinning rooms are continually kept clean, which also includes the washrooms and removing the mounds of trash and recyclables. Remember, there are 300 seats in the Workforce dining room feeding nearly 1000, and 900 seats in the athletes dining pavilion feeding upwards of 2600 during out peak periods.

Catering Staff Uniform Attendants: although small in number, they make sure we all have clean uniforms each day and the change rooms are kept spotless.

HR, Payroll, Heath & Safety: another small group, but they ensure were all looked after in one way or another. From making sure we're paid, to arranging our travel to and from the games, to safety in the workplace.

Chefs, Cooks & Bakers; well, they're the ones that put it all together, noramally working 14 hour shifts.

Food & Beverage, and Receivers: in addition to receiving & storing the food, there are 2 satellite food stations in the Athletes Village that provide a comfortable escape fpr the athletes way from the dining pavillion and the confines of their rooms. The Far Coast Cafe & the Living Room receive prepared food and beverages such as sandwhiches, soup, muffins, coffee, pop etc. These locations are staffed by counter attendants. They also provide delivery and set up service to VIP meetings and special events off location.

All in all there are nearly 180 of us in the Whistler location, working together towards the common goal of providing the best food and service to our diners, which includes the Olympic & Paralympic Athletes, their coaches, assistants, and our Workforce. One cannot exsist without the other. As my final week winds down I will be adding pictures of as many of the team members as possible to the photo page. Check back daily to see who's who making it all possible.

2 of our Counter Attendants, Jessica & Amber

Cheers, Olympic Mike ;~)

Olympic Highs and Lows

2010-03-13T13:03:00.000-08:00

Not only do the Athlete's have High's and Lows during their competitions as they win or loose, the kitchen staff have the same, however when we hit the low's, who better to laugh at, then ourselves.

Olympic Bill

Barbados here we come

2010-03-12T17:53:00.000-08:00

Can you believe that Laura's Mom has invited the kitchen staff to her house for a 2011 Olympic Culinary Reunion in Barbados? Don't think your getting on that invite list unless you've actually slugged it out in our Kitchen, Thanks Mom

Olympic Bill

Another Olympic Culinary Milestone

2010-03-12T17:47:00.000-08:00

We finally hit the 200,000 meal mark and it feels like a cake walk now that we've mastered the routines. So today we only fed 6000 meals, in a couple of weeks I'll be home cooking for my family of 4 trying not to dump 4 lbs of spices into the turkey chili. It took some people a long time to get used to adding large bottles of spices to the some of the casseroles and stews. I would tell them to put in oregano and they would sprinkle a bit on top, I'd dump the whole bottle and go looking for a second one only to see a bewildered look on their face. We may take 6000 meals for granted now, but there were quite a few learning curves to get there. I just hope they can adapt back to the small #'s more quickly once they're home with there own families.

Olympic Bill

Paralympics Opening Ceremony

2010-03-11T13:48:00.000-08:00

Here we go again, these past few days the kitchen has been ramping up as we get ready for the opening ceremonies tomorrow. Team Canada arrived yesterday and had there athletic welcoming ceremony to the village so were all pretty excited to support our athletes once again. Although were not feeding as many athletes for the paralympics the menu's are still the same with just as much preparation to set up all the food stations. On top if this we prepare almost 800 grab and go breakfast bags for the workforce as they head up to their sites for the day, but lately they haven't been going so fast so we're finding other uses for the items that will expire before they're used. Anyone got any good recipes for a load of milk?

Olympic Bill

No Hot Tub!

2010-03-10T12:10:00.000-08:00

Little Mikey may be right about the living accommodations where he is relegated to the Atco Trailers with bathrooms for 2 and a 3 min walk to work and no alcohol. We on the other hand have to suffer in a $600,000.00 condo with a million dollar view from every room and livingroom with leather furniture fit for Athletes from around the world. So we don't have hot tubs, we do have beer!!

In any case this blog isn't about living accommodations and who has what, it's about the Olympics and the food we serve. Today we are at our peak feeding for athletes and our workforce and tomorrow we have to prepare almost 800 box lunches for the athletes as they head to Vancouver on Friday for the opening ceremonies. Last night we made over 1000 meatball subs for our workforce lunch special and fresh ratatouille for 1600. Try this recipe at home

8 cases of large Eggplants
4 cases of Green zuchinni
4 cases of yellow zuchinni
2 x 50 lb bags of sliced onions
6 cases of diced tomatoes,
add seasoning herb, a bit of Love and next thing you know you have ratatouille for 1600. You know our diners are happy, remember Food is morale, Cheers

Olympic Bill

200,000 Meal Mark

2010-03-09T16:15:00.000-08:00

In preparation for the Paralympics & in combination with the Olympics we've now surpassed the 200,000 meal mark in 6 weeks. Without a doubt an amazing accomplishment.

I also wanted to add to Bill's post about the workforce move. What he conveniently left out was, while in the process of setting up the Senior Chef's & Management in the fancy condo's while the rest of were put in the Atco trailer's, we actually ended up with the better deal. We're 2 to a room & sharing one bathroom & a 2 minute walk to work, while they got stuck with 6 people sharing one bathroom & the condo's are at the far reaches of the village with an approx 20 minute walk to work. We've all had a good laugh over that one.

Cheers, Olympic Mike

Army Visitors

2010-03-07T19:06:00.000-08:00

Apparently we are surrounded by the Canadian Armed Forces as part of our protection team and a few of my old Food Service compatriots came into the village for a tour. I think amazement was an understatement and not just because they saw me in chef whites actually cooking, but to see the magnitude of food services we are providing in our facility. Major Derri, Sgt Lipp and MCpl Lagdon experienced an opportunity of a lifetime to see inside the Olympic Athletes village where most people only get to read about it. As military cooks we feed great food to our diners, I remember 20 years ago when we started to introduce pasta bars and pizza stations along with their meals served on the steamline. Here, we provide food services to 9 food stations plus 2 workforce dining rooms for over 12,000 meals a day in a kitchen no bigger than Windsor Park galley in Halifax (typical 500 man messhall). I think the highlight of their visit was to meet and Chat with Michael Smith and see him cooking as well. In this kitchen I know the military would be proud of us because all Chef's lead from the front (first in, last out ring a bell?)

Olympic Bill

Olympic Moving Day

2010-03-05T18:09:00.000-08:00

Sorry I missed the post yesterday but we went through some crazy routines moving out of our condo and into the Athlete's village. Our kitchen staff moved off the cruise ship and into the village in some pretty nice Atco trailers with only 2 to a room with a washroom for 2 people instead of 4 on the ship. The food service managers moved into the athlete condo's and somehow I manged to get a room to myself while everyone else is sharing ( we'll keep that our little secret from Michael Smith who's sharing with Chef Stephen Lee, Ha).

Olympic Bill

Round 2, Paralympics

2010-03-02T17:48:00.000-08:00

As we wind down with athlete feeding today now that the Olympics are over, our workforce #'s will increase on Thursday because all the staff living on the cruise ship will move into the village and we'll be feeding upwards of 2000 per meal. Just when we thought we had a couple days to relax before the Paralympic Athletes start coming into the village, we ramp up again. I'll keep you posted on our feeding plan to serve fresh products for the masses.

Olympic Bill

On to the 2010 Paralympics!

2010-03-02T00:03:00.001-08:00

As we recoup from the main event, we now set our goals & efforts on the Paralympics Games. Now that all the kinks & hurdles have been smoothed out, we anticipate being able to provide immeasurable quality of food and service to our Paralympian Athletes.

Our final numbers from the Olympics was nearly 132,000 meals served, and 394 skids of groceries weighing in at over 3/4 of a million pounds. Keep tuned in for our posts on our adventures of the 2010 Paralympics Games from Whistler, BC.

Cheers, Olympic Mike

Olympic Breakfast Team

2010-03-01T06:03:00.000-08:00

A special mention this morning to our breakast team. This is one team that we've taken for granted but have to come to appreciate day in and day out. As we all know breakfast is the most important meal of the day and it set's the tone for us every day. Lead by Chef Robert who is dedicated and a hard worker preparing breakfast for thousands, he coordinates and ensures breakfast is ready on time each day because he has a lot of people counting on him. He has a dedicated crew that backs him up, in a previous E-Mail I spoke about the 25 items on the breakfast line, but what about the people that make the food?
Laura from Toronto always has a cheery smile and prepares a special breakfast each morning for the chef's to ensure our stressful day starts off right. Ann Marie and Jennifer are our bakers that not only prepare all the pastries and desserts, but get the muffins and bannock ready each day. Chris, Will and Peter man all the hot food stations preparing eggs, pancakes etc out front for the athletes, but remember one thing, there all backed up by Chef Robert in the kitchen so this team sings as one. To all the members of this team, I thank you, you are our unsung hero's.

Olympic Bill

Closing Ceremonies

2010-02-28T20:34:00.000-08:00

I’m Canadian and proud of it, in 10 years someone is going to ask me where I was when Sidney Crosby scored the overtime goal to win the gold medal at the 2010 Olympics and I’m going to say I was cooking with my buddies in the athlete’s village in Whistler watching the game in the cafeteria with 300 of my newest friends. My good friend Michael Smith and I have had many culinary adventures over the past 10 years but this one has to top them all.

Olympic Bill

Calgary's Rouge Restaurant

2010-02-26T12:51:00.000-08:00

Check out this photo, Paul who is our Cold Kitchen Chef has just been named restaurant of the year for Calgary 2010. I didn't know I was working with such a famous chef on our team otherwise I would have employed him in the hot kitchen with me. Thanks for all the good times Paul, Cheers

Olympic Bill

Olympic Taco's 2010

2010-02-26T11:42:00.000-08:00

Although we're here for the athlete's, what people may not realize is that we also prepare great food for all the volunteers and security forces here in the village as well. Everyday we're trying to make a theme item that will excite and entice the palette of our workforce even if it is simple comfort food. Yesterdays menu was soft and crunchy taco's that blew everyone away and they are still talking about it today. At home these may seem simple for a family of four, but our family of 900 would seem like a challenge to the average house wife. For us it just means a bit more logistics (and a lot more work). It's the little things that effect morale and believe it or not FOOD IS MORALE, and it's quickly becoming our new work slogan.

Today I'd also like to welcome Chief Petty Officer Leroy Pyke who's joined our culinary team for 10 days to experience the Olympics (can you believe he took holidays to work 12 hours a day with us?). Leroy manages Juno tower in CFB Halifax and is holding the Taco on the right side of the table in the photo below.

Olympic Bill

2010 Athlete's Village Olympic Chef's

2010-02-25T06:08:00.000-08:00

I was finally able to get most of our Chef Managers together for our Olympic photo. The only Chef missing is our night Chef Will who was sleeping during the day so we'll have to try again after the Olympics.

Olympic Bill

The Home Stretch

2010-02-24T15:21:00.001-08:00

Here we are, pretty well at the half way mark with only 5 days of the Olympic games remaining, and an 11 day period before the Paralympics on 12 Mar which run until 21 Mar. Although our number of athletes decreases, our workforce numbers increase when we/they move from the cruise ship on 4 Mar into the Athletes village where we will receive all our meals. I'm actually going to miss the ship. I got into a pretty comfortable routine this past month. However, a 5 minute stroll to work is going to make up the 3 hours of bussing everyday.

We've now served up nearly 130,000 meals, and received 355 skids/pallets of food, weighing it at approx 700,000 lbs. We might just hit that 1 million pounds by the time it's all said & done.

Cheers, Olympic Mike

Halal Station and International Foodstuffs

2010-02-23T22:08:00.000-08:00

Tonight I want to talk about 2 of our food stations, the first is our Halal station where we prepare both our regular dishes and our Halal dishes. The sauce may be the same however,we are very cognizant of our clients and use Halal meats and fish so we create and segregate our foodstuffs for our clients. I can tell you we have very happy customers because we have the Halal station.

The second station is our continental station where we offer dishes from around the world along with a multitude of potatoes and vegetable choices. The great thing is that we have included Canadian products using Bison or venison, wild rice or bannock at each meal/

Olympic Bill

Gold Medal Plates

2010-02-22T19:34:00.000-08:00

During the Olympics we have 3 guest Chef’s that will visit us and prepare a dish for 500 each night to serve the Athletes over a 2 day period. This week we had Hayato Okiamitsu the Executive Chef from “Catch” restaurant in Calgary. Considered one of the Premier restaurants in Canada with the founding Chef Michael Noble who opened it around 2002 (another Canadian Iron Chef competitor). Hayato had a bit of a challenge trying to Sear his tuna for 500 people so I asked him to try the Accutemp griddle. It heats high enough to sear the tuna with enough room to spare for another 500 portions. Hayato was so amazed at the griddle he agreed to a photo for my blog, Check out the photo with the tuna on the grill.

Olympic Bill

Asian Stations

2010-02-22T19:16:00.000-08:00

Tonight’s Blog is on our 2 Asian Stations. At the first station the athletes can select a variety of proteins and vegetables then it's passed to the chef to cook in front of them. They can choose from a variety of Asian pastas and sauces to complete it or go with one of the 4 rice’s.

At the second station this is a grab and go buffet with a selection of 4 Asian casseroles that change on a daily basis along with steamed dumplings and soups.

Olympic Bill

Pizza station

2010-02-21T21:59:00.000-08:00

Tonight I added 2 photo's of the pizza station, if you look behind the pizza counter you'll see a double cooker so fresh pizzas can be made and cooked in front of our diners. We have 4 types of pizzas that change on a daily basis and every day we have a gluten free pizza. How can you beat pizza made and baked in front of you, yummmm.

Olympic Bill

Roots

2010-02-21T13:51:00.000-08:00

I know we've hyped a lot about the fact that both Bill & I served in the Canadian Forces (CF) as cooks, and worked together at CFB Edmonton in the early 90's.

I promise this will be the last lengthy or detailed post about it. The intent of our blog was to simply keep our family & friends informed of what we were up to, basically to save the time of having to send mass, impersonal emails to them all, and hope no one got missed.

Quite obviously this has grown much larger than either of us imagined or anticipated. Along with the fact Chef Michael Smith has been giving us a plug on his Twitter page, let's just say there's a formable following.

Back to my initial point. With such a large audience it provides us with a positive opportunity, 2 fold. Firstly, it demonstrates to cooks currently serving in the CF a prime example of what is possibly achievable, and could be a great form of motivation or incentive. Secondly, it provides a rare insight to those not serving. Our military might be small, but it is regarded as one of the best in the world, and it holds true for our cooks as well. When serving overseas with military units from other countries their troops were quite frankly blown away by our standard of Food Services & superlative quality of food. Not entirely unique to our way of training, but there are not many other country's military cooks that are crossed trained quite like ours. All our cooks serve in all of our elements, Army, Navy & Air Force, and are trained in all areas of the kitchen, from washing pots to baking, preparing meals for fine dining or on service flights, to ordering rations, to managing various types of kitchens such as for in flight meals, field kitchens, which include mobile & static in temperatures from -40c to +40c, to Galleys on HMC Ships & Submarines. Not to mention, catered, buffets, steamline/cafeteria & table service style meals also. In short, we're versatile to say the least.

Although everyone here has a necessary role & their experience is an invaluable asset, Bill has been kicking some serious ass to help make it the success it is. There are some exceptionally talented chefs on board, but few have the back ground in not only large quantity cooking, but also orchestrating & managing a large contingent of chefs & cooks to make it all a huge success. It's not just about being able to cook. He's the Operations Chef, second only to Lead Chef Michael Smith. And even though my role here is not as pivotal or glamorous as Bill's, it is one that I'm fully tailored to, drawing on my experience of large quantity ordering, receiving & storing from my days serving with both the Army (2VP) & Navy (HMCS Ottawa), and also with the Air Force supporting larger functions such as the Edmonton International Air show.

This training, experience & background knowledge has afforded us the unimaginable opportunity, to not only just be a part of the biggest event in the world, but to actually help in making a notable highly successful difference.

For those serving, here's the proof that the possibilities are endless. It's up to you to seize the opportunity.

If anyone is interested in serving your country as a cook, the training is not only second to none, nothing else remotely compares. And, it's a damn great job.

Olympic FSM Mike

Food Stations - Pasta

2010-02-20T22:25:00.000-08:00

For all those foodies out there, I thought I'd better start writing a few blogs on our food stations that we provide almost 10,000 meals a day at. The first one is the pasta station. Carbs are important expecially to athletes so you may notice in the photo I posted on the site is a pasta station complete with pasta cooked in the back and placed on the steam line where we have at least 4 different pasta sauces per meal, plus an assortment of pastas that change daily as well as 2 pasta casseroles. Think of our volumes, when we make Marinara sauce, it takes 12 cases of the 6 x 2.84 lt cans of diced tomatoes and were making a fresh batch every other day.

Olympic Bill

My Turn

2010-02-20T13:01:00.001-08:00

Well, after 21, 12 hour days straight it's my turn for a little R&R. Going to take in the euphoria of Whistler & Olympic spirit. Going to watch the 2 man Bobsleigh qualifying runs also. Go Canada!

Wish we could be sharing it together Babe....

Cheers, Olympic Mike

Our Workforce menu

2010-02-18T21:09:00.000-08:00

Not only the athlete's eat well, but our workforce are pleasantly surprised at some of our choices as well. Check out the menu tonight for our workforce of 800 + diners with sesame crusted Ahi tuna cooked to order.

Olympic Bill

100,000 Meals in 4 weeks

2010-02-18T20:48:00.000-08:00

Today we hit a milestone and celebrated it with a cake especially for us. Can you believe in just 4 short weeks we've hit the 100,000 meal mark? What a great moment it was for everyone to celebrate as the bride and groom got to cut the cake.

A few weeks ago I wrote a story on the bathroom test to tell us how good our food is (if your new to the site you'll have to scroll down to see what I mean). Last night on the bus ride home we got the bus test on our food, and it would seem as though we're doing a fantastic job, let me explain. As we're chatting up our daily stories on our "superstars" and the air quality in the hot and cold kitchen, bus patrons dressed as smurfs (another story earlier on) ask us if we're the Chef's running the Olympic village food services and we start up a conversation. As that conversation is going on, the guy beside me asks if this is the first Olympics I've worked, and I told him I had done the Salt Lake City Olympics as well, but it was for the IOC officials. He tells me he is impressed with the food, so I'm thinking he's one on the workers until he tells me this is his 5th Olympics and we are by far the best he's ever experienced. Can you believe I'm sitting beside one of Canada's Bobsled team members and he didn't even know my name? Let's just say the kitchen staff was exhilarated to hear that story, another morale booster for us.

A lot of companies can bulk feed customers, but we're doing it our way with style and finesse pleasing all our customers along the way and this is something we will be proud of for years to come.

Olympic Bill

Kitchen Jokes

2010-02-17T20:59:00.000-08:00

Just as I'm plating lunch for over 4000 people, I notice in the corner of my eye a young guy flapping a plastic garbage bag in the air trying to fill it up with air. Normally I'd stop and question what was going on but when your under the time-gun, it's one of those things that can wait.

30 minutes later I circle back to find out what the garbage bag event was all about only to find the chief steward needed his green dishwashers to gather air samples. Now I've heard of a lot of kitchen jokes but this was a first for me. Believe it or not, but I have a photo of the air samples neatly stored on the shelf in the back storeroom awaiting for someone to pick them up. Now why didn't I think of that one 20 years ago?

Olympic Bill

Milestones

2010-02-17T13:50:00.001-08:00

Last night we breached the 100,000 total prepared meals milestone, and to prepare that many meals, we've received 278 skids/pallets of groceries, weighing over 500,000 pounds! All this in 4 short weeks. Maybe one day that will be new Trivial Pursuit question.
Cheers, Olympic Mike

Olympic Culinary Students

2010-02-16T21:38:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to mention some of our shinning stars in the kitchen and believe it or not, they are students from the Culinary Institute of Canada and Niagara Culinary Institute who've volunteered to be here. I didn't realize it until Michael told me that these students actually auditioned to come here and were selected as the top in there class and they are not being paid! The sad news is that they have to leave tomorrow and we get a fresh batch of students to take their places. I must say that if anyone is looking to hire some keeners then remember these names:

1. Natasha Leblanc
2. Catlin Heuser
3. Cristina Wherby
4. Devon Pierce
5. Lonnie Davis

One thing I learned a long time ago was that nothing comes on a silver platter and if you want something bad enough then you have to do the extras to get it. If that means working for free for experience (in the culinary world it's called Stagge) then that's what needs to be done and these girls Rocked the house while they were here.

From the bottom of my heart, I will miss them all and wish them well in their future culinary endeavors.

Olympic Bill

The Sole Survivor

2010-02-15T11:12:00.001-08:00

Well after 27 days straight, averaging 14+ hours a day running on my feet, or almost 400 hours in less than 4 weeks, I am the last one to take a day off and it started with a load of laundry and a soak in the hot tub. We leave the apartment at O-Dark-30 (6:30am) and try to get home by 10:30 pm, so even seeing sunlight is a treat this past month. This brings back memories of my days working on the submarine and not seeing sunlight for weeks on end.

Although difficult to be away from the kitchen for the day, I am still in Whistler at the largest media event in the world so it’s time to venture out into Whistler village and get caught up in some of the Olympic hype (after the laundry is done of course). See Ya.

Olympic Bill

Valentine's day at the Olympics

2010-02-14T23:37:00.000-08:00

Valentines Day, what does that mean to you? After 4 weeks away from home, everyone misses their loved one and family for support, and it's important that we all tell our sweethearts that we love and respect them more than just on the 14th of Feb. Nancy, the love of my Life, I Love you. OK, I said it, I hope everyone takes a moment and tell their partner the same.

Michael our leader is always thininking about morale and today he made sure all the girls were treated with their own individual Valentines card signed by all the men in the kitchen. It's the little things that get us through the pain of the 12 hour work day with things that keep us focused on morale.

Olympic Bill

A Heartfelt Thank You

2010-02-14T14:22:00.001-08:00

Bill & I would like to thank you all very much your comments on our posts to the blog. I wanted to ensure you that we read each & every one of them, as each comment is automatically sent by email to our Blackberries. We truly appreciate you taking the time not only to follow our blog, but letting us know it also.

To Cheryl Pollock, thank you for the tip on the opening ceremonies poem, We Are More. I was able to access it online, and indeed it was very moving, unique & true.

Day 3. Go Canada Go!

Cheers, Olympic Mike ;-)

Olympic Culinary Torch

2010-02-13T21:30:00.000-08:00

Last night Wayne Gretzky may have lit the final leg of the Olympic torch downtown Vancouver, but today we passed our own Olympic Culinary torch in the Whistler athlete’s village kitchen. So it’s not the real thing, it meant a lot to us and you’ll understand why when you see the photo.

Morale is crucial on an operation like this when you’re asking your people to work 12 plus hours a day in a crazy environment pumping out 12,000 plus meals a day, so every little boost keeps the team happy. Tomorrow is valentines day so we’ll keep you posted on tomorrow’s morale shot.

Olympic Bill

Heightened Excitement

2010-02-13T17:37:00.001-08:00

After 2 weeks of working full out, 11 hour days (+ 3 hours of bus trips), one tends to become oblivious of the surroundings & forgetting that I'm actually here. I find myself wondering where those 2 weeks went.

I took half a day off today to mentally & physically regroup & realized that I was actually here. Here at the Olympics, in Canada, in my own backyard! Not just at the Olympics, but to be a part of helping make it a success. What an honour & privilege.

It really sunk in today now that the Games have begun. Observing the wave of national pride here in Whistler is nothing short of emotionally moving. The excitement of everyone around us is indescribable. It's hard to believe it's real. Go team Canada!

Olympic FSM Mike

The Olympic Kitchen Brigade

2010-02-12T22:36:00.001-08:00

So how do we feed 12,000 meals a day? Obviously with a lot of military precision and professionalism. The problem with 9 food stations is, how do we guess by golly what food the athletes will eat at each meal, the simple answer is prepare lots of everything.

It all starts with Stephen Lee our corporate chef from Sodexo who orders all the food, then it’s received by Dave and James our stores guys along with Mikey Greer and Becky who stores it all. Next Chef’s Trevor and Paul prep all the food in the cold kitchen with their team of 30 cooks, who then pass it forward to the hot kitchen to be prepared. Jonathan, our prep chef and his team of 2 cooks prepare all the food and then blast chills it and portions it in hotel pans so we can re-therm when it comes to meal service. My job in charge of the hot kitchen is to take all the glory at the end and co-ordinate the food into a multitude of hot boxes so it can be transferred to the steam lines to be served to the athletes and workforce (they call me the Maestro). Michael Smith has the biggest role of all trying to manage everything from staffing to the kitchen routines we all operate, while still stopping to greet every fan who wants his photo.

Now doesn’t that sound easy hey? The reality is when the chickens stop running around with their heads cut off and the mad dash to the hot boxes and fight for oven space, tie your hands from one meal period to the other, we make it look like a cakewalk without even realizing how important everyone’s role is. Everyone matters right down to the prep cook peeling onions in the prep kitchen or the servery girl on the steam line pleasing our athletes. What you may not realize is that one meal roll's into the other, Chef Robert and his breakfast team serve breakfast from 0530 – 10 am, I have to have lunch ready to serve at 10 am till 4 pm. Then supper starts at 4 pm – 12 pm so the 6 combi ovens are working non stop steaming and cooking food. The dining room is open 24 hours so our evening bakers run by Ann-Marie have to be out of both Robert's and my way very early in the morning.

The brigade is just that, a well tuned machine with an integral team working together to produce the best food service operation so our clients leave with a memorable food experience.

The Olympic Kitchen Brigade

Olympic Chef Bill

Let the Games Begin

2010-02-11T22:08:00.000-08:00

Are we ready in the kitchen for this adventure? You know we are, so let the games begin! Tonight we rocked the house and it was amazing to go out into the 900 seat dining room and it's full, and people are still lined up. Supper goes from 4 pm – midnight but the main rush is still between 6 - 9 pm. We probably fed 2600 athletes for supper and another 1000 workforce in the dining room right beside the athletes.
Just when we think our 12 hour day is done, now we have to build 1500 box lunches because all the athletes have to take a bus to Vancouver tomorrow for the opening ceremonies. Yes we're ready, but I can honestly say I’ve never worked so hard in my life and I’m Loving it.

I may not be riding a pair of skis or skates, but WE'RE AT THE OLYMPICS and were doing our part to make the athletes remember this for more than just their competition. To us it’s all about the food and the adventure.

Olympic Bill

Psych....

2010-02-11T14:46:00.001-08:00

Got a little surprise last night. The delivery truck arrived at 9:15 with only 6 skids, when we were anticipating 30. A small wave of panic started to grow/rumble from the bottom to the top as this was clearly not enough food to produce over 8000 meals needed in the next couple of hours. Just in time for the news to get to the senior staff (5 mins) another truck pulls in along side with its trailer chalker block full with 28 skids, for a total of 34, averaging 2000 lbs each. We all had a good laugh, which quickly became subdued when the reality of having to store it all settled it.

Fortunately, prior to the arrival of the groceries, Farmer Becky & myself drew on our experience & knowledge of organizing and were able double the amount of storage space in the produce/dairy fridge. The initial theory (always looks good on paper) was 3 shelving units, 2 on the sides & one down the middle with ample room on either side to slide 5 skids down both sides, then unload them to their respective areas. The chefs would use the products & space would be available for the next shipment. Like I said, looks good on paper.

There's 2 major flaws in the theory. Obviously, the massive numbers of meals having to be produced could not be comprehended in terms of storage & storing requirements. And 2, the prospect (dream) of having a single delivery company organizing the products on your skids to where you've got it stored is unrealistic. Also taking into consideration the massive workload that they're under providing for the Olympics as well.

Needless to say, we've done a little restructuring, by permanently placing skids between the shelves and storing the heavier, easily stackable items on them. A little shuffling here & there in couple of other areas & voila, double the storage capacity. Plus enough room to drop 1 skid in and unload at a time. All of a sudden 34 skids are not so daunting. Olympic efficiency!

What's also very convenient is the cooks & chefs are eagerly waiting for many of the items being delivered (yes, they prep & cook all day/night) and take right from the skids before we off load them. That takes care of about 2-3 skids that we happily don't have worry about. Needless to say, it was a nap on the 2am bus back to the ship & writing to the blog on the return trip to Whistler the same day. ;-)

Cheers, Olympic FSM Mike

Ramping Up

2010-02-10T14:49:00.001-08:00

Alrighty then. That was a busy afternoon/night/morning. 22 skids, 18 the night prior. Remarkably, most of the groceries are gone the next afternoon when we come in. That should give you a small insight to the sheer volume of meals being prepared. Nearly 8000 yesterday & the kitchen is open to eat 24 hours a day.

I'm also finding my military training kicking into high gear now. An event of ths magnitude is really not all that different than large military exercises in terms of the logistics required. The only real difference is the type of food, the amount of menu choices, & the fact there's a very impressive kitchen set up here. While in the military we're under tents or in a kitchen trailer. We also have the benefit of doing what we do best, all the time.

Also similar to a military exercise, groceries/rations are ordered & received every single day, usually in the evening hours under the cover of darkness. As cooks, we received, rotated and stored our own rations. Like Bill mentioned in an earlier post, most chefs are preparing for much smaller numbers, thus the amount groceries would be relative.

It's rewarding being able to use that background experience here, knowing it's making difference. Even if it's shaving off a couple minutes of someone elses day when they're looking for that certain item that they need for their recipe. Or at the very least, being able to let them know if it's out of stock so they're not wasting their valuable time searching for something that's not there. Working smarter, not harder.

I'm just on the bus heading in for my shift. I've been told another 22 skids for tonight & we should up to our max of 12,000 meals a day by Thursday the 11th. That's 2600 athletes & 1500 workforce. We'll let you how it goes.

Cheers, Olympic FSM Mike

What's your annual grocery bill?

2010-02-09T23:13:00.000-08:00

OK, so now were rocking and rolling trying to keep up with the masses and you can’t imagine how much fruit and meat were going through. We have a Char Grill station where the athletes can have whatever they want. 2 Steaks, 2 chicken breast and 3 shrimp skewers later and she wants the veg on a separate plate! Now imagine what the men want, multiply it by 2600 athletes, then try and figure out how much the food bill is (probably more than my annual salary in one day).

Olympic Bill

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Olympic Breakfast

2010-02-08T23:31:00.000-08:00

I've had a lot of inquires as to why I haven't been blogging the past few days but I'm sure your aware that sleep gets in the way between the 16-18 hour days I'm working and the blogging has taken a back seat (sorry, you loose over sleep).

In any case, I've been asked what could make up 26 items on a hot breakfast steam line and the bottom line is were feeding world class athletes and they need carbs and protein. sleep. Can you imagine pasta and marinara sauce or a baked potato, roast and fried potato for breakfast? How about 5 different rice’s each day, everything from fried to Congee, or wild rice and sticky rice etc. sleep. Then comes the different types of porridges. pancakes, waffles, baked tomatoes, fried mushrooms etc etc. sleep. Have you noticed I haven't even mentioned the different breakfast meats or types of eggs yet and see how the list is climbing? sleep. We were only up to 6500 meals today but expect that to jump to 12,000 within the next couple of days and an additional 2000 box lunches on Friday for the bus ride of the athletes to Vancouver for the opening ceremonies. Did I mention how tired I am tonight and need to head to bed so I can get some sleep?

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Olympic Chef Bill :)

Family Ties

2010-02-08T21:57:00.001-08:00

Chef Michael Smith approached me today about our little blog & how it's being viewed by many of his fans. Even his son Gabe is checking everyday to get a glimpse of what his dad is up to.

One cannot begin to explain or describe how busy Michael & his team of lead chef's are. Everything falls on their shoulders to ensure the success of this world class event. They are big shoes to fill. With this burden of pressure, sometimes the most important things in life, such as family are not the focus of the moment. Not intentionally of course, just a casualty of the job.

That said, this post is for you Gabe. Your dad sends his love.

Cheers, Mike

A Whole Other World

2010-02-08T14:08:00.000-08:00

What I've found to be most enjoyable is the change. Lynne, I & the girls have lived in Sooke, BC on South Vancouver Island for 14 years now, and I've been retired from the military for 10 of those. Since then we've settled in pretty good. We haven't been mushrooms, however we have gotten into & simple routines & living the relaxed, comfy life. Sooke is an amazing coastal village with a population of 11,000 and a whopping 60 some odd B&B's in the area. We just got our 3rd traffic light a couple years back.

For the past 4 years I've been managing a small mom & pop liquor store connected with a neighbourhood pub, Buffy's, where Lynne has been working this last year & a half. Besides living just down the road, the best part is the regular customers, who seem to become a very enjoyable & uplifting part of your day to day life.

That in mind, one tends to forget that there's a whole other world out there. Surrounded by so many new people, from all over the world, is rejuvenating & soul cleansing. It snaps you out of reality in a good way. Learning a couple of new names each day, I look forward to the challenge of knowing everyones name over the next couple of weeks.

Cheers, Olympic FSM Mike

Culinary Youth

2010-02-07T00:08:00.001-08:00

I've been enlightened & impressed by the overwhelming determination, drive & enthusiasm in the majority of junior apprentice chefs doing their part to make it all happen.

Natasha, 26 & Caitlin just 19, both from Charlottetown P.E.I., currently enrolled in the Culinary Arts program there, and in the top of their class were selected/rewarded to participate in this Olympic cooking/support opportunity. They are just 2 of the many from all over Canada & abroad participating in similar programs.

Since they arrived, they've started at 7am (that means catching the 6am bus) and working (busting their asses off) until 12am midnight, and still have to catch the 1:00am bus getting back to the ship at 2:00am, all to it over again in just a few short hours of much needed sleep. And you have to remember, they're working under the guns of Chef's, Bill Pratt & Michael Smith. So you know it's no walk in the park.

But never a negative word out of either of them. Always chipper, eager & ready for the next challenge, looking forward to tomorrow. Happy, just for the privilege of being part of it all. That, and there's no opportunity to check their facebook, or even access to a computer for that matter.

What's admirable is, they're not being paid. They're here for the opportunity & experience to further their skills. It's inspiring to witness with that type of work ethic, knowing that the future of our trade is being sustained by the next generation? It's comforting to say the least.

On another note, another 12 pallets (24000lbs) successfully unloaded & stored again tonight.

Olympic FSM Mike ;-)

Dancing Chickens

2010-02-06T06:11:00.000-08:00

Day 3 of Athlete feeding and although the average person would think we're runnning around like chickens with our heads cut off. We like to call it organized pandamonia. The food is good, it get's out on time and the staff are happy, hmm, doesn't sound like panic to me. But then again, we're only feeding a few hundred athletes at the moment and 800 workforce. Wait till that number jumps to 2600 athletes per meal and 1500 workforce, then you'll see the chickens rock and roll.

Olympic Chef Bill

Perspective from the Back of House

2010-02-04T22:57:00.000-08:00

As everything comes together it's great to see how each role fits into the intricate pieces of the puzzle. There's an incredible amount of logistics gone into making it all work from ground zero to a well oiled machine.

As the numbers in feeding go up, so does the amount of products required being ordered & received. My working partner "Becky" from P.E.I. likes to refer to them as the groceries. There's just 4 of us looking after all the inventory, receiving, rotating, storing & pulling frozen products 2 days in advance to thaw. James from Melbourne & Dave from Whales are full-time Sodexo major event employees, and have been on the ground & working full out for the past 2 weeks trying to get everything in place & organized as best as possible to make it easier for the Chefs, Cooks & Front of House staff to find what they need to get their jobs done quickly & efficiently.

The kitchen being busiest during the day, we work late in the afternoon to the wee hours of the morning to stay out everyone elses way. The delivery arrives anytime between 7pm & 10pm. The last 2 nights had 12 pallets each, weighing an average of 2000 lbs each. Almost like getting my beer delivery at Buffy's, with exception of were getting slightly more groceries here in Whistler. What's really fortunate is all the products are delivered by one company on one truck once a night.

Someone posted they didn't know where we found the time to make posts to the blog. I don't know about Bill, as he works longer hours & is under the gun a hell of a lot more than me. Myself, I use my valuable hour each way bus trip to type out mine on my Blackberry & then upload it via email. Seems to me like the most efficient use of time ;-)

Bill tells me the first day of feeding the Athletes was huge success. I'll let him tell you all about it.

Cheers, Olympic FSM Mike

Day One

2010-02-04T22:44:00.000-08:00

Trial Dinner

6 am – 11 pm, boy I’m glad that was only the trial dinner yesterday! It was almost midnight before we got home so I missed the blog last night. Today we hit the road by 6:30 am and snuck out of there early tonight at 9:30 pm. No one said this was going to be easy and we all came with our game faces on to do some serious work. There are bumps in the road trying to figure out recipes and routines, but we have some seriously dedicated Can-Do Chef’s that are here to get the job done.

We have this Scottish Chef Trevor Garden from Glasgow who is dominating the production kitchen and keeping me fed with prepped product so we can pull together hot food for both the Athletes and Workforce. Stephen Lee our acquisition Chef is keeping us in food and Chef Paul Rogalski, my Iron Chef buddy has the biggest job trying to co-ordinate all the prep cooks. What amazes me most is how Chef Michael Smith can be taking it in the rear from every direction and still stop in the middle of complete pandemonium and pat one of the young cooks on the back to cheer them up or stop for a photo shot every time a fan asks him (imagine doing that a dozen times a day)

One can not truly imagine the magnitude of feeding like this on a continual basis until you're immersed into it. The reality is the job has to get done and we’ll lead from the front because failure is not an option. We were pretty hot in the kitchen today for our first official day and things went so smooth I decided to get a photo with my buddy Mike in the fridge just to cool down a little, still got 7 weeks to go.

Olympic Chef Bill

The Mona Lisa

2010-02-04T00:11:00.001-08:00

It still amazes me how some people always expect more. The accommodations for the Olympic workforce in the Whistler Athletes Village location are in two separate locations. One just North of Whistler in hotels & the other South in Squamish aboard a cruise ship the Mona Lisa. Each are an hour bus trip to the village.

I'm on the ship. Although it is 44 years old, it is in fact a fully functioning cruise liner. With the exception of entertainment & a filled pool, we're afforded all the other amenities such as wonderful buffet meals with linen, china & silver. Beverages are served & dishes area cleared. The bars are open, as is the fitness room (no, you won't find me there) and access to computers with free internet. Even our cabins are attended to daily. Sure, they're slightly small & we have to share them with 2 or 3 strangers who quickly become new friends. All that & we get the privilege of working at the Olympics.

None the less there's always someone expects more.

Olympic FSM Mike ;-)

Chef Michael Smith

2010-02-03T00:00:00.001-08:00

One of the nicest people you'll meet. You can follow along with his Twitter page and get the inside scoop on what it takes to provide Food Services to an event this huge.

http://twitter.com/chefMICHAELsmth

Olympic FSM Mike

MIKEY FINALLY MADE IT !!

2010-02-02T21:56:00.000-08:00

Actually, he made it yesterday for his in-routine of safety and health lectures and then they were sending him back to the carnival cruise line for more R&R before he started today. I had a few moments to tour him around the kitchen and facility and I wasn’t sure if the look on his face was fear or simply shock and awe. Like a good trooper that he is, he jumped in with both feet today as if he’d been with us for the past few weeks and now after 12 hours under his belt he’s an old sod ( must be that good military training).

The action for the day was a trial run on breakfast. In the Navy we normally have about 7 or 8 hot items on the steamline. Imagine us trying to get 26 hot items then set 4 other stations; that’s 104 serving pans plus backup for each in a hot box. Breakfast goes from 0530 – 10 am, you definitely won’t get that breakfast in bed service in the Navy.
Tomorrow the trial run starts on all the hot servery areas because we go live on Thursday for the athletes and my job will be to orchestrate the kitchen like a Maestro orchestrates a symphony. I’m just wondering if the safety rep will let me stand on a milk crate to make the kitchen sing?

Olympic Chef Bill

Chef Michael Smith

2010-02-02T11:25:00.000-08:00

One of the nicest people you'll meet. You can follow along with his Twitter page and get the inside scoop on what it takes to provide Food Services to an event this huge.

http://twitter.com/chefMICHAELsmth

Olympic FSM Mike

Iron Chef America

2010-02-01T20:36:00.000-08:00

Someone told me that we lost on Iron Chef America last night and I'm wondering if they were watching the same show I was. Here I am competing on the hottest cooking show in North America with my buddy Michael Smith and Paul Rogalski and the scoring is decided by a soap opera star from the 80's or 90's?? What you didn't see in the show was us feeding the camera crew, why do you think they kept zooming in on us doing cool things like throwing avocado’s and stainless steel bowls and they caught Bobby Flay burning his orange reduction. Don't take my word for it, PVR the show and calculate the time the camera was on us and then on Flay. What I don't get was the originality and plating points awarded to Flai over us when all his plates were plain white. Can someone tell me if that lamb, chunky watermelon and avocado course was a Picaso art piece or his dessert?

All kidding aside, I want to Thank everyone for the ton of E-Mails and Blog hits over the past 24 hours, my blackberry has never been so busy. Our Iron Chef showing party last night was a blast and it felt good to have everyone cheering us on even after they announced the soap star took this gig instead of washing dishes in Hell’s kitchen?

Olympic Chef Bill

Olympic Fever!

2010-02-01T14:10:00.001-08:00

Wow, what I expected plus a hundred times more. Everyone pumped with Olympic energy & enthusiasm. I'll admit I was little a apprehensive & nervous about being part of such a major event. That was quickly washed away when surrounded by so many others who are just as honoured to be involved in this historic opportunity.

Everyday there's a bunch of new staff coming aboard. Our group of wide eyed & eager Foodies come from as far as Australia, as well as PEI, QC, ON, MB, & SK. All full of positive energy and ready to go! Making new like minded friends with the same outlook on life. Living the Dream...

Olympic FSM Mike

Iron Chef America!

2010-01-31T01:00:00.000-08:00

Tonight's the night. Chef Bill Pratt and Chef Michael Smith battling it out in Kitchen Stadium with Chef Bobby Flay on the Food Network, 31 Jan 2010 at 6 PM Pacific, 7PM AB & SK, 8 PM MB, 9PM Eastern, 9:30 NFLD. Don't miss this Canadian food amazing event!">

http://www.foodnetwork.com/iron-chef-america/flay-vs-smith/index.html

Cheers, Mike

Chef's Table

2010-01-30T22:08:00.000-08:00

Every large kitchen has a Chef's table where the Chef's can relax and let down there hair for a few moments away form the hustle and bustle in the kitchen. I posted a picture tonight after someone caught us in our little hiding spot in the back storeroom at the temporary Chef's table relaxing. It's really a plastic picnic table and a couple of folding chairs, but give us time and we'll have some formal signs before you know it.

Tonight is the eve of our Iron Chef show airing tomorrow at 9 pm Eastern and the Olympic village committee is going to put on a party for us for all the staff to watch it. All I'm allowed to say is that your going to Love the show, we had a lot of fun competing and everyone will be proud of your Canadian Chef's team so be sure to tell everyone you know about it.

What you may not realize is that we are just as excited to see the show as you are. Unlike Michael's own television shows he produces and stars in, he has not been privy to the content of this show so we'll be just as shocked as you are. The inside scoop on this show is that the 60 minute battle is all REAL, it's 60 minutes and when they revealed the mystery ingredient, the heart started pumping again. If you get a chance to notice the back of our Chef Jackets you may see some writing on our undershirts, Michael says the first one to guess what the writing means; he'll buy them a drink. Wish us Luck.

Olympic Chef Bill

One for the Team

2010-01-29T21:15:00.000-08:00

Some anonymous viewer asked for some action shots on the blogsite so I took one this morning and added it to the site. What you don’t see is 30 min later as we tried to purée the tomato sauce in the large Blitzer machine, the top exploded and 3 gallons flew all around the kitchen. Luckily I was in front of it and took most of the sauce for the team. Sorry, just didn’t have the heart to take that action photo so you’ll just have to imagine it.

Needless to say, a new uniform, wiping off the shoes, changing the hat, quick face wash and we were right back at it. I wonder how many of you foodies have a favorite kitchen disaster story of your own that you’d air in public?

Cooking is like golf, you may get a bit rusty if you don’t play the game that often but once you do get back into it, everything just floods back and the next thing you know your right back in your game. I may have been a Chef Manager for the past 20 years, but cooking for a 1000 per meal this week has me hustling all day, and the good news is that we shot a few birdies in our game today and the diners are ecstatic about the food.

Olympic Chef Bill

Smurfs on the bus

2010-01-28T21:09:00.000-08:00

Each morning we hop on the bus with a large starbucks in hand and it seems like we're the only ones out of place because we don't have the Smurf uniform to blend in with everyone else. The uniforms look great but when you have more than a half dozen of them in the same area it's like a sea of blue.

Not sure if many of you have ever travelled to Whistler, but it feels like I'm in a different country because everyone here speaks a different language and it's mostly Aussies. We have some guys from the UK in our kitchen that are the porters and they are some of the funniest and hardest workers I've ever seen. It's all about Football (soccer to us Canadians), but essentially their job is to follow behind us and clean everything from table tops to the grills and brat pans. We don't empty the garbage, mop floors, wipe tables or even put the pots in the pot area, and these guys do it all with a big smile on their face. Imagine that, cooks that get to cook and not clean behind themselves. The wife says not to get used to that because she'll break me of that habit the first meal I cook at home.

Olympic Chef Bill

Our Security Workforce

2010-01-27T22:47:00.000-08:00

Up to this point we've been feeding the RCMP, security teams and the remainder of the workforce. I said to Michael Smith that the food must be good because it passed the bathroom test. He says "What! Bathroom check, what the heck is that?"

Here I find myself concentrating in a bathroom stall when I hear one fellow in the urinal beside me ask the fellow next to him, "How is the food so far", and the other guys says, "it's Awesome". Now they don't know I'm there, so obviously if it passes the bathroom check, it's all gotta be good. Right?

All fun aside, I find myself using my military feeding background, more and more each day. We're feeding the masses here and I have a lot of Chef's who are baffled at the way I'm able to produce a meat sauce for pasta for 500 people while they're used to doing it in the restaurant for 20 or 30. I can see the shock in there eyes when I throw 2 full bottles of dried basil and 2 of oregano in the sauce. Think to yourself of how much a large bottle of oregano will last you at home and you'll see what I mean. Today I had a good chef friend of mine trying to chiffonade basil (chiffonade is a big culinary term which means long thin strips) to get 4 liters and I told him to use the food processor so he'd save himself 2 hours of work. We can have great food using premium products but speed will make or break us so I can see my skill sets training a lot of these Chef's large volume cooking in a very quick time.

Olympic Chef Bill

Gratefully Fortunate

2010-01-27T22:06:00.000-08:00

Before I get into the depths of the massive workforce and get swallowed up with the wave of enthusiasm, I want to express my sincere gratitude to my current employers (Fiona & Jay) who have graciously afforded me the 2 months leave from the Island's friendliest Pub & Liquor Store, Buffy's, to attend this once in a lifetime opportunity. The old saying, is it really work when you get paid to do what you truly enjoy? Here I get to do both and come back to the place I love, even though many of the staff at Buffy's believe something else will come out of the Olympics. I can assure you all that I'll be returning to the best little pub on Van Isle. A special thank you to all the staff for your support. See you in 7 weeks!

Cheers, Mike

Help has arrived

2010-01-26T21:44:00.000-08:00

Tonight when we returned to our hotel after 12 hours running on our feet, we were greeted with fresh meat with all smiles on there faces (let's see if they are still smiling this time next week). We now have Paul, Will and Robert who all start tomorrow morning just in time as we reduce our feeding for the next 2 days. Now that we've gone through a week of panic feeding, we have a much better understanding of the huge volume to come in a temporary kitchen. This train is heading down the tracks and were pulling solutions to problems out of our asses so we don't end up with it in a sling. Our goal is not just to serve food to our customers, we want to create a dining experience like no other for everyone whether they are athletes or the massive volunteers and security forces. I've cooked large volume food for years, but nothing like this. The recipes are tough and very labour intensive, but if were going to create a dining experience, we need to continue to do the little extras.

Bill

You think airport security is tough

2010-01-25T21:33:00.000-08:00

I realize this is the Olympics and security is going to be tough, but answer me this, as I walk into the athletes village, I'm challenged at 2 checkpoints for my security pass, then we go through airport security type X-Ray machines with bags scanned, metal wand detectors etc only to get to the secure side of the tent to catch a bus into the village. The bus drops us off at the next tent and we go through the same airport style security in another area before we pass into the village, doesn't that seem redundant? Oh, by the way, they picked up my nail clippers on the X-ray machine.

Olympic Chef Bill

Accutemp Griddle - Have you tried one?

2010-01-24T20:19:00.000-08:00

I've heard so much about these Accutemp griddles using steam instead of electrical elements to heat the surface, I was amazed this morning when I actually got to use it for the first time. I'm not just saying this because Accutemp has given us a griddle to use during the Olympics, I actually cooked scrambled eggs on it for 35 people all at once and it didn't burn them before I could get the last ones off the grill. We did waffles, Teriyaki tofu, veggies for a southwestern stew and the great part about it the clean was a snap. Now how do I convince the wife to let me have one at home?

Olympic Chef Bill Pratt

Olympic Spanking

2010-01-23T21:05:00.000-08:00

OK, so today was an Olympic culinary spanking as we quickly learned about feeding 1600 with 4 cooks is a real challenge, and on top of that we still had to do the prep for the next day to do it all over again. I added a photo as Michael had 12 sub recipes to make one Korma Chicken Recipe. The Chicken was awesome but super labour intensive.

Last night was the final securty sweep for the athlete's village site, I've never seen so may RCMP in one area and not one donut on the menu. Getting in and out is now a major issue as we try to go through all the security checks on our way to and from work. It's good to see Canada's finest at work keeping us safe.

Olympic Chef Bill Pratt

First Real Feeding

2010-01-23T06:37:00.000-08:00

Today will be the real test as we prepare to feed over 1600 meals today for the workforce. Yesterday was a crazy day of prep trying to figure out recipes. The food is good but one recipe may have 4 sub recipes to make it and we're quickly learning how much streamlining we're going to need to do in order to make it more efficient. We still don't have cooks to help us yet so as we try to get food in, figure out routines and do the prep for the next day, we can't forget the fact that we have to serve meals as well. I've cooked for years but following a recipe simply slows us down. It's vitally important that we follow these recipes because the nutritionals for the athletes are linked to it so they know there daily caloric and nutritional intake. Standby for tonight's Blog, I'll let you know how it went :-)

Bill

More Pictures

2010-01-21T21:00:00.000-08:00

Day 3 for me on the ground and we managed to get our culinary teams figured out on how were going to feed 12,000 meals a day in 9 food stations. Tomorrow we only have to feed 170 and then it jumps to 1600 meals on Sat and up from there till we get to 12,000. The good news is that we have time to test recipes now before the athletes arrive on the 4th of Feb. Trevor our Sous Chef from Scotland is a heads down get'er done Chef willing to do what's necessary to make sure we don't fail. Michael Smith is in the lead Chef role taking the brunt of the heat as we try to adapt to routines as we all try to learn the Sodexo Policy. They are bar far one of the most professional companies I've worked for with the strictest HACCP regulations I've seen. They didn't just set these policies for the Olympics, they live them everyday and it's impressing the hell out of me the more I work with them. Imagine for a second as a cook or a chef preparing, Beef Stew, Chicken Breast and a fried egg sandwich for lunch. As you finish preparing the stew you record a temperature reading, then place the food on the steamline or in a holding hot box only to record the temp on a regular basis throughout the meal period. Now do this for the Chicken, veg, Potatoes etc and you have a mountain of paperwork for the cook to track. It's been quite a while since I followed recipes as close as I do with these but the one's I've tried so far all all really good. let's see how we do when the #'s increase and were preparing Venison Chili for 500.

Olympic Chef Bill

Bill's Arrived In Whistler

2010-01-20T21:54:00.000-08:00

With 23 days to go till the 2010 winter Olympics begin, I've arrived in Whistler raring to go at 100 miles an hour. There is a flurry of activity within the village itself as everyone scurries around with last minute details. The kitchen is no different, just think for a moment, we have a brand new facility with all new equipment (from England with European power) we have to learn to use, then add on the fact we have all new staff who have never worked for us with recipes we've never used, work routines to figure out so we can tell people what to do when they arrive plus a 1000 other details and we have to get it right the first time right up to the last meal in 10 weeks. I'm amazed at the organization and work gone into this project so far, it's simply fantastic to be part of such a professional team.

At Present we 4 Chef's to figure everything out before the bulk of our workforce starts to arrive at the end of the month. No pressure says the boss but we start feeding over 1500 people in 3 days. Trevor from Scotland, Steven from Toronto, Chef Michael Smith from PEI and myself from Halifax and were all keen to make it work even if it means working 14-16 hours a day to make it happen. I will take some photo's once we get more things set up and will be sure to post them as soon as I can, Cheers

Olympic Chef Bill Pratt

Achievement. How does one define it?

2010-01-16T20:27:00.001-08:00

Achievement

How do "you" define it? How many times have you heard the phrase "just the cook?" It's the people that makes our trade what it is, not what the trade makes of us. One of our very own has made his mark at the top of the culinary world. I'm proud to announce that my very good friend, CPO1 Bill Pratt, CCC, MMM, (ret'd) has toppled yet another milestone in the Food Service world. Even though retired from the service, he is the very first Canadian Forces Cook to take on the challenge of Iron Chef America in the role of Sous Chef to Chef Michael Smith, battling it out with Iron Chef Bobby Flay.

Our trade has succumbed to many hurdles over the years, but here is a prime example of what one can overcome and achieve to be the best of the best. To all those starting out, this is the ultimate of example of what "you" can accomplish as a Cook in the Canadian Forces. The sky is the limit, and you would be the only one holding yourself back.

CPO1 Bill Pratt (ret'd) has been and continues to be a prominent "hands on" advocate promoting the Cook's trade of the CF to the world. Many talk the talk, but Bill walks the walk and promotes his passion of cooking & our trade to all he comes in contact with. If you were one the fortunate to work along side Bill at one time or another as I was, you'd be hard pressed not to get swallowed up by his enthusiasm, or lust for the next challenge.

Myself, after 10 years of retirement from the CF have recently reconnected with my old friend, and he has included me in his next incredible adventure. If you didn't think you could top Iron Chef America, Bill has landed himself one of the top jobs at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics as Executive Chef of Whistler's Athletes Village! That truly puts a positive emphasis on our trade. A retired CF Cook at the top of the world, for all the world to see. He has generously included me in his adventure and secured me a kitchen supervisor role in Whistler. So there you have it, 2 retired CF Cooks making a difference at the Greatest Show on Earth.

You can catch Chef Bill Pratt and Chef Michael Smith battling it out in Kitchen Stadium with Chef Bobby Flay on the Food Network on 31 Jan 2010 at 9PM Eastern Time. Check your local stations for other times. You can also check this link for times in your area;

http://www.foodnetwork.com/iron-chef-america/flay-vs-smith/index.html

You also might want to check out a great little interview with Chef Michael Smith on Good Food Revelation talking about Bill, Iron Chef America and the 2010 Olympics at;

http://goodfoodrev.com/0102/michaelsmith.htm

Watch for and keep up to date our blog, Bill & Mike's Olympic Whistler Adventure and we'll keep you informed daily of what happens behind the scenes of the 2010 Olympics! Do You Believe?

Yours in Food & Wine,

Mike

We now have real time Olympic Photo's on our Blogsite

2010-01-16T11:56:00.000-08:00

This past Nov I travelled to Whistler for menu testing and site Reccee. In our slide show you will see actual photo's of the inner workings of the kitchen and diningroom during construction. Click on the photo in the slide show so you can read the caption underneath. I must have received a hundred E-mails in the past 2 days from everyone congratulating Mike and I, and we Thank you all for your support. Two more sleep and the adventure begins for me.

Bill

Olympic Photo's are coming

2010-01-13T18:47:00.000-08:00

I asked Mike if he could set us up a Blog site so everyone can follow the Olympics daily from a Chef perspective with a "Behind the Scene" look at what it takes to feed upwards of 70,000 meals a week during peak periods.

Although we have a slide show already on this blog site with Olympic photo's, Mike and I will start posting our own photo's of the Olympic village and kitchen site as soon as we can. Enjoy the site.

Bill