Chick pea salad will not kill you. That’s one of the many lessons I learned while working at Garf’s Deli Wednesday.
John and Beth Stewart have owned and operated Garf’s since 1992, when John decided he wanted to become his own boss. Ever since, the deli has been a staple business in the landscape of downtown Norwich.
Upon arriving, I was introduced to the crew – Eric, Jeremy and Sam – and after a quick change into Garf’s garb, I was ready to try and make something.
I was assigned to cookie detail, which was good I thought, since that was the only thing Garf’s sells that I actually knew how to make.
“That’s my specialty,” I said and then thought “Oh no,” when John said, “That’s what everyone says,” with a grin.
Now it became my challenge. I had to prove I at least wouldn’t mess up the cookies. I thought, “What could go wrong? So what that this is four times bigger than the batches I make at home?”
Soon thereafter I promptly realized I’d stuck my foot in my mouth. Now thinking back, I (more than likely) made myself look like a complete moron as I mixed the giant-sized batter before I let the butter soften and looked even sillier when I started smelling up the deli like burnt metal from the hand-held monster – I mean mixer.
When the cookies were ready to bake and I was satisfied I hadn’t made a complete fool out of myself – yet – nor had I ate any of the ever-so-tempting batter, I decided to move onto bigger and better things: like helping to prepare salads.
It occurred to me in no time that Garf’s does a lot more than what people see inside the restaurant. Their delivery and catering services take up a large portion of their day. From the faxes to the phone calls, the place is constantly busy waiting on walk-ins as well as getting lunch orders prepared for what seemed to be most of the business luncheons in Norwich.
“Have you received the nickel and dime speech?” kidded Beth as I attempted to throw an unscraped bowl aside to be washed. “No,” I replied and she enlightened me that when you work in nickels and dimes, you never forget to scrape a bowl before you wash it. I soon realized, it is all the small things that take so long to learn.
Taste testing is also something good restaurant owners do. “We test it to make sure it is good because we wouldn’t want to serve something that wasn’t good and ready,” said Beth as she handed me a spoon to dig into the chick pea salad.
As soon as I took the spoon, my face went pale. Let me explain: You see, I am the pickiest eater on the face of the planet and chick pea salad was on my list of ‘never go near that.’ I took a bite anyway and the nasty taste I was waiting for never came. I was impressed and thought, “Well, either they make good salad, or my system will be shocked to death later.” I decided before I left that they just make really good salad.
“It is like a working beehive around here,” John said later in the morning when I mentioned it was a busy. Sam disagreed. “Ahhh, that was nothing,” he assured me.
Garf’s, a smaller-scale deli, has grown in business and traffic over the years, but its physical size is the same as it was 16 years ago – meaning the space is compact behind he counter with up to five or six people doing various jobs at once. Besides the day to day food services, Garf’s makes ice cream cakes, pre-makes items as well as takes part in many catering activities. “We do tend to pick up in the summer too,” said Beth.
The atmosphere at Garf’s, I think, is one of its being selling points. Not only were the employees courteous to every customer, they all seemed to be having a great time together and not one yelled at me for throwing around lettuce, trying to burn the building down with the mixer (no flames, really), or for being under everyone’s feet and asking questions all morning.
I learned about the numerous aspects of the food business, how most often everything there is made from scratch, making sandwiches, how fast the time passes with a fun work crew and most importantly how to be open to trying new things – like chick pea salad.