Ji Hye Kim
“Last tickets are called. We take a breather and do tonight’s “Liked Best / Next Time”. That’s when I ask the cooks what they liked the best about the day’s shift or what they think they did really well. I follow up by asking what could have been better or what they can do better next time. This is a good way to assess the shift together as a team. I actually often find that the cooks are really hard on themselves and it’s a good opportunity to provide bigger picture and set expectations. We practice open book finance, so it’s easier to give context, too. I go to the front and check in with the FOH, do the same."
Breaking Down With Ji Hye Kim
“I head home. I live just a few blocks away, so unless I had a catering delivery that day, I walk. I let my border collie Flyte out and we do a short walk around the block. She is now 14-years old, but is still energetic for her age and is happy to walk around the neighborhood.”
“The weather is turning nicer, so I take my dormant fig trees and perennial lilies out from the garage and put them out. If the temperature will be consistently above 45F, I bring my houseplants out and set them on the deck. I should really water them in the morning, but my day is usually packed and I am not a morning person, so I just go ahead and water the plants. If the plants have been sitting out during the day and the temperature will be below 45F next day, as it happens in early Michigan spring, I take the plants back in the house. My dog likes to hang out and watch, as long as she is away from the water.”
“I usually have office work waiting for me but I can’t immediately jump in after being in the kitchen, so I take a little break and zone out to clear my head by listening to music or mindlessly scrolling on instagram. Sometimes I eat a little snack if I’m hungry. Most often it’s some rice with toasted seaweed and Ortiz tuna. Sometimes it’s Cherry Garcia Ben and Jerry’s.”
“I do office work. Sometimes it’s the day-to-day stuff like staff schedule and catering inquiry emails, sometimes it’s looking at monthly finances. Sometimes it’s looking through a stack of recent cookbooks and food books that I bought. I am bilingual, but know most ingredients in just one language, so often I can spend a few hours looking up different ingredients. Recently I discovered Japanese sansho is not Korean sancho. Korean sancho refers to Sichuan peppercorns and chopi is the same spice as sansho. Infinitely interesting stuff to me.”
“I take my dog out one last time for the day. I wash up, take my contacts off, and go to bed. I turn Netflix on for some Korean TV show I am trying to watch, but I usually drift in and out of sleep to really follow any show, and soon fall asleep.”