The menu test

Back when I used to work in restaurants every time I got a new job or every time there was a new chef I'd have to learn the menu. This usually culminated in the dreaded “menu test”.

Different places had different approaches. Some places would send you home with the menu. They'd tell you to buy a book. This was before Google and the internet. The book was there to help you figure out what all these fancy kinds of food were from different parts of the world. The different sauces, starches, meats - you get the idea.

I'd have to read the book and understand what flavors were and the ingredients and the whatnots. Then the job would be to memorize the menu. Then, after a week in the job, boom - menu test. If you passed, congratulations, keep the job. Failure? Adios immediately.

Other places would require that before you could work as a server, to work every job in the restaurant. You'd make it like Drake and start from the bottom with a shift as the dishwasher, then bartender, then busboy. Y…