Culinary and Hospitality Internship at Osterie I Nonni |
What is Link?
Link is a three week long internship that promotes community involvement and connects classroom learning to the outside world. During this time period students do not attend classes in order to focus completely on their internship. Students learn how to apply for a job, build a resume, and experience full time work. What is Osterie I Nonni?
I Nonni is a lively and award winning Italian restaurant nestled in the heart Lilydale, MN. Our chef acquires the freshest and finest ingredients to craft the seasonal menu. The dining room offers our patrons an intimate and classy atmosphere with superb, attentive service. For the casual guest, our bar has ample seating and allows the diner to choose from the same seasonal menu. Osteria I Nonni specializes in authentically inspired Italian cuisine that changes with the season. An award winning wine list along with a full bar, Osteria I Nonni truly offers their patrons a complete and delightful dining experience. |
Reflection:
Prior to my internship I had cultivated great customer service skills, self advocacy, and a positive mindset. These skills helped me during my link experience because I was already comfortable talking to customers, I was also comfortable talking to my boss or mentor because of my prior experiences, and finally I came to work everyday ready to happily do anything.These skills helped me create relationships with my coworkers and great experiences for customers. While working at I Nonni I developed organizational skills, as well as flexibility. When working in the kitchen I needed to stay organized so I knew what I needed to make and what we had enough off. I also needed to stay organized as a hostess by keeping track of reservations, waiters, and tables. I mastered flexibility due to my strange and constantly changing schedule.
During my link experience the greatest challenge I faced was scheduling. My mentor had not given me a schedule for all three weeks or even week by week. Instead I was given time to show up on my first day and then ask my mentor when I should show up day by day. This strange schedule and uncertainty taught me how important it is to be flexible. Some days I started work at 5am then the next I started at 8am and even 4pm.
Argue my importance in the organization. I am a valuable member of the staff at I Nonni because of the skills I cultivated working as a barista prior to my internship. The staff at I Nonni are amazing and each have their specialty but know one excels at making espresso or other cafe drinks. In my time there we had many customers order espresso drinks and be unhappy with the temperature or flavor of their drink. No one at I Nonni had been trained how to properly use the espresso machine unlike myself. Along with knowing how to properly use the espresso machine I have a deep knowledge of all things coffee which qualifies me to make suggestions to customers and teach fellow staff. If a restaurant has a wine sommelier, professionally trained chef, then It should also have someone with a great understanding of coffee.
My internship confirmed what I already suspected, that I did not want to pursue my love of culinary arts as a career but wanted to further my general education by attending a 4 year college. I got extremely bored working in the kitchen, deli, and front of the restaurant. Nothing that I did was at all challenging or intellectually stimulating which I want in the career. I want a career that makes me think, and is constantly changing. Although my internship did not inspire much about my future I was able to tour several colleges and think more about my education. I can't wait to start my life after high school and am glad I was able to experience some real world work experience even if it’s not what I plan to do with my future.
During my link experience the greatest challenge I faced was scheduling. My mentor had not given me a schedule for all three weeks or even week by week. Instead I was given time to show up on my first day and then ask my mentor when I should show up day by day. This strange schedule and uncertainty taught me how important it is to be flexible. Some days I started work at 5am then the next I started at 8am and even 4pm.
Argue my importance in the organization. I am a valuable member of the staff at I Nonni because of the skills I cultivated working as a barista prior to my internship. The staff at I Nonni are amazing and each have their specialty but know one excels at making espresso or other cafe drinks. In my time there we had many customers order espresso drinks and be unhappy with the temperature or flavor of their drink. No one at I Nonni had been trained how to properly use the espresso machine unlike myself. Along with knowing how to properly use the espresso machine I have a deep knowledge of all things coffee which qualifies me to make suggestions to customers and teach fellow staff. If a restaurant has a wine sommelier, professionally trained chef, then It should also have someone with a great understanding of coffee.
My internship confirmed what I already suspected, that I did not want to pursue my love of culinary arts as a career but wanted to further my general education by attending a 4 year college. I got extremely bored working in the kitchen, deli, and front of the restaurant. Nothing that I did was at all challenging or intellectually stimulating which I want in the career. I want a career that makes me think, and is constantly changing. Although my internship did not inspire much about my future I was able to tour several colleges and think more about my education. I can't wait to start my life after high school and am glad I was able to experience some real world work experience even if it’s not what I plan to do with my future.
My Project
My project was working with the pastry chef at I Nonni to develop a panna cotta recipe for the restaurant. Julie the pastry chef had previously developed a butterfly pea flower panna cotta and wanted to add an Italian flag panna cotta to the menu. We used Julie's butterfly pea flower panna cotta recipe as a jumping off point as well as several recipes off Pinterest for flavor ideas. We ended up landing on a lemon rosemary panna cotta with strawberry and lime jell-O layers. We used the proportions from Julies recipe to make each layer but changed her recipe by adding different flavors to each layer, as well as by having only one layer of true panna cotta and two layers of jell-O. Once we decided on our flavor and wrote up an initial recipe we tested it. Our first attempt did not set and was far to sour for our liking, so we tried again this time using less lime juice and more water, as well as increasing the amount of gelatin. Again this did not set but did have a significantly better flavor. We continued to modify our recipe but still the gelatin would not set so we decided to remake it one last time and let it sit overnight. The next day the first layer had finally set and we were able to resume the production of our panna cotta by making the white layer and finally the red layer. In the end all of our persistence and hard work payed off. Our panna cottas tasted phenomenal and looked exactly as we wanted. The Italian flag panna cotta is now on the menu at Osterie I Nonni.
Once my time at I Nonni had come to an end I continued to work on the panna cotta and learn why it was so difficult to perfect. I learned that other bakers had experienced their jelly, jam, marmalade, or jell-O not setting due to humidity or because of the use of citrus fruits. After learning this I decided to remake the panna cotta here in Durango to see if humidity really did play a role, and it did! I used the same recipe but had much faster setting times because of Durango's very low humidity percentage.
Once my time at I Nonni had come to an end I continued to work on the panna cotta and learn why it was so difficult to perfect. I learned that other bakers had experienced their jelly, jam, marmalade, or jell-O not setting due to humidity or because of the use of citrus fruits. After learning this I decided to remake the panna cotta here in Durango to see if humidity really did play a role, and it did! I used the same recipe but had much faster setting times because of Durango's very low humidity percentage.