Although the opening will not occur for some months, Executive Chef of the new Ranch Grill, Jose Salas, scheduled two chef training sessions to coincide with the training of the Ranch Grill restaurant support staff. Chef Salas put his cooking teams through their test to be certain that they knew what he expects of them. The salad and entrée team include Jesse Caparon, sous chef; Oziel Navarro, grill cook and Jessica Rubio, saute cook. The pastry team includes Accacia Ware, pastry cook lead and Chelsea LaPrevote. The pizza team of one is Michael Brost.
Chef Salas and his teams prepared soups, salads, main courses and desserts so that the restaurant support staff would be able to sample some of these items. During the presentation Chef Jose explained what ingredients were used in each dish so that the server could answer questions of a patron just in case that patron was curious or wanted to know for allergy reasons. Some retired military personnel would have marveled at the cooperation and coordination the various cooking support had with each other. This, of course, is needed so that the various items in a recipe are completed at the same time, ensuring that what is to be served hot remains hot and what is to be served cold remains cold.
Safety was being followed because of the presence of hot surfaces, hot cooking fluids and possibly slippery floors. One important procedure emphasized was cleanliness. While the food was being prepared, working surfaces were constantly being wiped clean. After the cooking was completed and the presentations made, all the cooking staff were seen cleaning all surfaces and floors and transferring all cooking utensils to the large conveyor washing station. The staff seems ready and eager to serve the residents.