Taste of Christmas 2011

So we were back in the van once again this time heading to the feat that is Taste of Christmas at Excel. I do not use the word feat lightly – the queues at this event are phenomenal, well for our stand anyway! Just so you can grasp the enormity of the said event, once Mr Boss had done the statistics he was able to ascertain that our service and turnaround rate was one customer every 16 seconds for 19 hours of service with only three chefs and three FOH staff! Three long days plus one day setting up the stand means even less food for us than at previous events – there is literally no time to eat and the Travelodge menu was beyond gross, although Paulo and Donkey did brave it one evening only, shock horror, to be severely disappointed. Mind you this can only be a bonus in the run-up to Christmas as we all returned super svelte!

The usual ‘backstage’ entertainment was quick to begin! The usual jobsworths who make these events incredibly awkward for exhibitors were prolifically visible as always, which meant KP John and chef de partie Charlie had a thrilling if not sweaty time relaying all the stock off the van by hand one morning as trolleys are not allowed on the floor. I think their day was made by the amount of stock that needed moving – two hours later and they were back in the kitchen!

The beauty of these events is the team spirit only gets stronger the more you do – you learn each other’s moods, although any negative one is few and far between bar Larry having a small diva moment one morning – and coming to work feels more like a jolly with very good friends. Some probably struggle to reach this level of contentment in their personal lives but if you achieve this in your employment then surely you can ask for little more.