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The kids in the kitchen at Captain's Table
By Tony RussoAugust 15, 20164 min read
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Travis McKenna hard at prep work in the Captain's Table kitchen.
Dinner at the Captain's Table restaurant
Of course, Brad, Rob and Travis aren't kids anymore and really haven't been for some time. In the intervening years they went from helping where help was needed anywhere on the property to cultivating a new culture for the next generation in the kitchen. Travis is the youngest and he has been working there for more than 15 years. Speaking with the guys as they finished up the Saturday evening prep work, I got the impression there were different practices depending upon the night in question. Travis said they weren't so much practices as they were mutual understandings between all. "We've been doing this together for so long, we all have specific things we know have to be done each night," he said. "We never have too many days off."Click here for the Restaurant Week Menu
As with any other job, the longer you do it, the better you get. What is interesting about the guys at the Captain's Table, though, is between them they have more than 50 years of experience. They know the whole building, not just the kitchen, so as the summer comes and goes, they have an excellent sense of what is going to happen from day to day.
Rob Conner puts the finishing touches on the post-prep cleanup at the Captain's Table. Next, the Saturday night rush.
Making great meals
We're all familiar with prep work, getting the ingredients ready to be made into food, but over the four or so hours that comprise a Saturday summer dinner rush Brad, Rob and Travis will work together to do make more than 200 meals. Because of the restaurant's reputation for quality food, most of this is done from scratch. The prep work is mostly about making soups and bases, chopping vegetables or pre-seasoning food that will later be properly prepared. The guys already had been hard at it when I showed up in the early afternoon and were putting the finishing touches on the prep and beginning the cleanup, shelving recently-washed plates and glasses so they would be ready for use again in the coming hours. They joked with one another and talked as they cleaned. As the waitstaff began to come in and do its own prep work, they guys would take a break, maybe have a little something to eat and then prepare for the evening. Many people make reservations at the Captain's Table, because it is such a destination restaurant, but many more don't. Brad said it wasn't unusual to have 20 or so reservations on a Saturday afternoon and then make 250 meals that evening. But over the years the hard work and attention to detail has paid off for the trio. After more than a decade running the kitchen together they have gotten a system down that allows them to be more efficient that they have in a long time. They now have a little downtime during the week and even days off, which are a relatively new development. "When we first started we worked seven days per week," Rob said. "This is one of the first years we can take days off during the summer."About Tony Russo
Tony Russo has worked as a print and digital journalist for the better part of the 21st century, writing for and editing regional weeklies and dailies before joining the team that produces OceanCity.com and ShoreCraftBeer.com among other destination websites. In addition to having documented everything from zoning changes to art movements on the Delmarva Peninsula, Tony has written two books on beer for the History Press. Eastern Shore Beer was published in 2014 and Delaware Beer in 2016. He lives in Delmar, Md. with his wife Kelly and the only of his four daughters who hasn't moved out. Together they keep their two dogs comfortable.
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