"At least we didn't BURN the place down..."

It was 1997, and Brook and I were ready to open Doc Chey's.  

The last hurdle we needed to clear before we opened for business was to conduct a mock service.  A mock service is where our staff gets a chance to operate a shift with live bullets -- real guests and live orders.  It is also an opportunity for us to invite family and friends in for a sneak peek of the restaurant.

On the night of the mock service, every thing was ready to go -- all ingredients prepped, all equipment on, all staff trained and ready to serve.  Guests started to arrive and we had them wait outside the restaurant as Brook went through the last items of his pre-service live-up.  

As Brook was wrapping up his "go team" speech, we all heard a faint "poof" from the wok range.  We looked back and noticed that someone had left the burner on under the frying wok that contained about 5 gallons of cooking oil.  

It started out as a small orange flame that danced on the surface of the oil.  We all stood mesmerized by the flame.  I guess it would have made more sense if one of us actually thought about extinguishing the flame.  

Within a matter of seconds, that small dancing flame turned into an inferno that was so big and hot, it actually singed the hair on my arms.  Luckily, the fire suppression system was more reliable that we were, and our kitchen was soon covered with fire retardant foam.  

When the fire was extinguished, we looked out the front of the restaurant only to see our families and best friends with their noses pressed against the window enjoying the pyrotechnic show that had just taken place in our kitchen.  Unfortunately, there would be no mock service -- we sent them all away hungry that evening.

It took us a few days to clean up the mess from the fire suppression system, re-prep all the food we had to throw away, and reload the fire suppression system.  We conducted our mock service about a week later with great success.  

As Brook and I washed the dishes at the end of the night after all the guests had left, I looked at him and said, "At least we didn't burn the place down".  Every store opening and mock service we have performed since that time has ended with those same words.

-Rich Chey