After hearing how fantastic last Tuesday evening’s tour of the Crown’s kitchen facilities was, I am really disappointed I missed it!  A number of members have spoken enthusiastically about the spectacular food and wines and by all accounts, it was a night to remember.

I’m very excited to advise that one of our Club’s earlier programs has had a makeover with the re-design of The First Steps Youth Job Search Program website.  I invite you all to log onto www.job-first-steps.net  and browse through the site – why not try some of the fun self-awareness exercises towards the end.  For those of you who are new to our Club, The First Steps Youth Job Search Program is an interactive website developed to help young job seekers gain their first workplace opportunity. It guides them through the process of putting a résumé together when they have never worked before, conduct a job search, prepare for an interview and make sound decisions regarding a job offer. It also helps to point young job seekers in the right direction, assisting them to develop the self-awareness, goals, common sense, and confidence required to get a job and succeed in it. The First Steps program was developed into an interactive online resource aimed at the 15—25-year-olds most likely to be looking for their first workplace opportunity.

If you would like to promote The First Steps site through your email signature, please let me know and I will arrange for the logo to be forwarded to you.  Email signatures are a great way to let all those with whom we deal know about Rotary and our various projects.

Our Board meeting is on Monday evening and therefore Board Reports will be presented on Tuesday.  I am very much looking forward to hearing the project updates from our Board and Project Champions.  It is a great evening to bring potential new members along, as they will get a first-hand view of how they might become involved.

We have now received the $25,000 grant money from The Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation for Camp Getaway.  Ken Maxfield will be at our meeting this Tuesday to receive this money and tell us a little bit about the great work that is going on in refurbishing this wonderful District asset.

Enjoy your week in Rotary!

Philip Archer
Club President 2009-2010

Last Week's Meeting

Meeting 504 Scribe Notes

I have volunteered myself to be scribe for this meeting and I am really glad I am writing this just after my dinner tonight so I am feeling full as I recall the experiences of our last meeting.

The meeting started off relatively normally in that we gathered in River Room 2, just a little bit further that our normal meeting place.  That is where the "normal meeting" comparison ends.  There were no dinner tables at the meeting room and we were served drinks whilst waiting for the meeting to begin.  There were gift bags on a table and I am sure most of us were wondering when we can get our hands on them!

PP Gordon called the meeting to order and completed the formalities of the evening with style.  He then introduced our hostess for the evening, Jennifer.  Jennifer has been a fantastic member of Crown who have assisted our club behind the scene for many years and it was delightful to have the opportunity for the club to meet her in person.

The excitement-filled evening began when Jennifer told us to put on our aprons (compliments of Crown) before we began our behind the scenes tour of the facilities.  We were told that there is no need to take our belongings, including our newly acquired gift bag (less the apron) as it would be taken up to the drawing room for our collection at the end of the tour.

The tour started by us being guided to a door at the end of the corridor which is usually 'staff only'.  Through a rather long corridor (or staging area), we arrived at an area where we were introduced to Marcus, the executive chef of Crown, who gave a brief introduction into the operations of Crown's catering arm.  The logistics involved in serving a few thousand people in a number of different functions at the same time and getting the timing right as well as maintaining the quality of the food being presented is most certainly not something for the faint-hearted.

The sheer size of these functions plus the additional challenges of special dietary requirements, (eg vegetarians, diners with particular allergies, kosher or other religious food requirements) make the whole operation even more challenging.  The also means that Crown needs to manage their suppliers to ensure they get the quality of product needed to produce the dinning experience we have come to expect at Crown.  For example, cuts of meat have to be of an identical size and thickness to ensure that all of them are cooked to the same level.  If they were of varying sizes, some may be under or overcooked even if they are in the oven for the same time.

We were then treated with more drinks before entering a kitchen area where an array of beautiful and delicious canapés were prepared for us.  A guest commented that if this is the normal fare for the club, they'd be joining!  I could tell everyone had a great time trying the tasty food there and hunting for that next magical culinary experience.  Carl said I will find him standing next to the oysters for the rest of the tour but I think he meant the "pile of oyster shells"!  After 15 minutes (or 10 or 5 depending on how much of a good time you had), we moved to the hot food area where warmer varieties of culinary delights (and drinks) awaited us.

Marcus then took us to another area where the cooking is prepared at a grand scale.  Risottos for a few hundred people can be made in one hit and rows of oven stand ready to produce that perfect rack of lamb or that succulent steak.  Medium-rare?  No problems at 58 degrees Celsius.  If you prefer a medium steak, then let's make it 60 degrees.  The surprising thing is not that efficiency, quality, safety and hygiene are all top priorities at Crown but that there is cooking going on around the clock.  By 8 or 9 pm, chefs will be coming in to start preparing sandwiches for the morning.

We were next shown to the bakery (yes, there were people working there too, at 8 pm).  Marcus emphasised that quality was the main concern and although bakery products can be purchased externally at close to half price, the quality (or at least consistent quality) is not there.  As a result, they have decided to expand their internal bakery to ensure a continuous supply of top quality products.

From the warm bakery, we walked next door to the cool dessert kitchen where Marcus noted the need for control of the environment (hence the cooler room).  The room is designed specifically for that purpose, including some marbled bench tops which are used for the preparation of chocolates.  Lucky no one was using the facilities, otherwise there could have been a few Rotarian walking around with a lot of chocolate around their mouths!

We then circled around to the Asia kitchen area, including ovens designed especially for roasting Peking ducks.  Here, Marcus wrapped up the tour and PP Gordon thanked him for the exciting tour we just had - not to mention the delicious food and drinks we have had along the way.  Jennifer led us back past the River Rooms and up to the Drawing Room where mouth-watering desserts and chocolates await us.  Best of all, our belongings were there already for us to pick up.

PP Gordon thank Jennifer for taking us around and presented her with a penny for polio.  I doubt there was anyone who had any space left in their stomach that night.  What was the meeting like?  Well, it was informative, interesting, with wonderful fellowship, good wines and great food!  So I think a top rate success all round!

Putting our aprons on and getting ready for the tour.

Jennifer showing us staging area.

This is the first stop where we met Marcus.

Marcus demonstrating where the food is stored ready to be served.

See what you missed?

More food!

This is the hot food area ... before we got there!

Listening to Marcus describe the way his kitchen works.

This is the bakery.

PP Gordon next to what will soon be Peking ducks and roast pork.

The desserts and chocolates in the Drawing Room!

So many choices ....

PP Gordon presenting the pennies for polio to our hostesses

(Thanks to President Elect Bettina for the photos)

Name: Chris Trueman

Tell us about those important to you:   My immediate family! They are fantastic - Helen, Mandy and Heidi and their families. And all fall into the category of being really great friends too - people you are delighted to be with.

Tell us something that most people don’t know about you?  I've been fortunate to have a very interesting and rewarding work life with many careers in many industries.  I initially studied Chemical Engineering and worked in production management in paint, packaging, paper, food  and in engineering for a pharmaceutical company.  I have worked in advertising including copy writing, TV ad production, media buying and client management, in the insurance industry, and I had a start-up office supplies company, and a small farm (goats and sheep).  I worked at a public hospital in payroll and personnel management.  I have a second qualification in computing and worked as a systems analyst and software developer before developing a start-up 5 star boutique serviced apartment accommodation business at Southbank.  I now have another retirement career assisting sustainable development in Timor-Leste.

Complete the following:

If you’re going to a drink, your favourite drink is ... wine in moderation.

The last book I read was ... well, not the last, but a recent one is "The Time Traveller's Wife" ... and it was ... really well written and thoroughly engaging.

My favourite movie is ... not something I think about.  I've  been moved by a lot of movies over the years (that why "movies" is a good name) and then move on to be moved by the next good one.  A recent good movie was "Mao's Last Dancer" ... because ... it is is a very uplifting real-life story, brilliantly told and masterfully portrayed on screen.

The biggest misconception about me is ... I'm old and fixed in my ways!

Happiness is ... having a wonderful wife and family who all share my love of the outdoors, hiking, camping travel, theatre, and my eclectic taste in music from folk to opera.

Before I joined Southbank I thought Rotary was ... an older version of Apex which I once belonged to ...  but since joining Southbank I think ... all service clubs do a great job. It would be great if they could cooperate and work together more.

I joined The Rotary Club of Southbank because ... my serviced apartment business was in Southbank and it provided a means for me to get away from a very busy work situation and join like-minded people who wanted to pool their skills to help move mankind forward.     

The Club member I would least like to be stuck next to on a long flight would be ... a clone of myself ... because ... I'd probably distract myself from catching up on sleep or watching a latest release movie ...and be secretly annoyed!

People should see me professionally if ... they are deluded!  I'm retired and don't see people professionally.  They could talk to me if they are interested in helping Timor-Leste.

My favourite quote is ... ?  I don't have a quote I use a lot, but some lines from a folk song, "Everything's Possible", by Fred Small are good to reflect on: "The only measure of your words and your deeds Will be the love you leave behind when you're done".