Civita and the Red Cactus

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Civita and the Red Cactus

• Tyler Baker

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Kinda what the place was/is about

• Civita was opened back in 1989 as an Italian
  restaurant on Corydon.
• In 1990 the wood fire pizza oven was put in the
  kitchen
• A few years later the other half of the building
  was purchased and turned into the Red Cactus
• There was a period where the food quality
  declined while a guy named Nick owned the place.
  He turned it to more of a burger joint.
• In 2003 Mark Andrew took over as chef and Civita
  has been gaining more and more popularity.
• June of 2006 the place changed hands to the
  current owners, Mark, Jay, and Mike.
• The type of cuisine is floating away from Italian
  to more of an international cuisine.
• The restaurant is equipped with a beautiful side
  patio, cozy dinning room, and a patio on the
  front looking onto Corydon.

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The Establishment
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Responsibilities

• When I first started here I was put on the
  pizza/appetizer side.
• Over the time I got some opportunities to work
  the entrée side. It was kinda difficult to find
  time to work the entrée side.
• Depending on what time I started I had slightly
  different duties.
• Open- Turning everything on, lighting the fire in
  the wood oven, make a prep list and start on it.
• 12/3- These shifts help finish up prep and cook
  lunch and dinner.
• Close- The closer comes in to assist with the
  supper rush, then as everyone leaves, does some
  prep, cleans, and cooks food for the bar.
• I also got the chance to create some soup and
  appetizer specials.

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The Krew
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Some of the food stuffs we served
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What did I get out of this work term

• I believe over the last four months I have been
  able to control my temper way better than before.
  Some days in the kitchen it got super hot and I
  started to get mad at anything, but I just took a
  few deep breaths got a drink and carried on.
• Communication Skills. Communication is key in
  this kitchen. The pizza line always has to be
  talking to the entrée side to line up the orders
  so they come out the same time. You learn pretty
  quickly how long it takes for a pizza to cook in
  the oven at different temperatures.
• I am able to work faster and more efficiently as
  most days there was lots to do in a short amount
  of time.

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Red Cactus Golf Tourney
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Somewhat Interesting Points

• The Red Cactus Golf Tournament- Wish you could
  have been here.
• Some nights the activity on Corydon can get
  pretty crazy. For example one night someone got
  arrested by undercover cops on the sidewalk in
  front of the bar. The cops had his face rubbed in
  the dirt while they hand cuffed him.
• Power had to get shut off one day and in 15
  minutes the temperature in the kitchen jumped up
  to about 45 or 50 degrees not to mention how hot
  it was on a day to day basis in front of the wood
  oven
• Civita has one of the few wood pizza ovens in
  Winnipeg. The oven was brought in from Italy.
• One day while I was having a cigarette out back I
  got to witness a delivery driver hit a dumpster
  twice in a row while trying to turn around.

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I hope you enjoyed my presentation as much as I
enjoyed the last four months at CivitaPeace out