Archive for November 12th, 2009

A Day in Restaurant City – user story

November 12, 2009

A big thanks to TheChocolateOne for sending us this story – anything can happen in Restaurant City!

Restaurant City ImageMy name is TheChocolateOne and I’m the head chef and owner of Massive Dynamics. Let me give you an inside look on what it takes to manage a restaurant.
My day starts pretty early as I have to open up to let my employees in. I’m running a bit late so by the time I get there, my staff is outside waiting for me to let them in. I have 3 chefs and I’m horrible at remembering names, so I just call them Chef 1, Chef 2 and Chef 3. I’m usually the one shouting, “hey! Chef 3! What’s taking so long on the Royal Garden Salad?” I also have 4 waiters, and all of them are great at what they do.

As we’re getting to our stations, the first customer arrives – ah, it’s Sam. He’s a regular here at our restaurant. Sam’s usually here for breakfast, lunch, dinner and sometimes he’ll stop by for a few cups of coffee in between. Basically, he’s here all day!

Restaurant City Image

“Sam, nice hat,” I point to the cheese on top of his head.
“Thanks,” he replies, “just bought it. Wait, where are the toilets?”
I laugh, “they’re over there”.Restaurant City Image

Sam looks over to where I’m pointing and breathes a sigh of relief, “thank goodness! You’ve added dividers!” He leans in a bit and says, “it’s was a bit awkward the way you had it. Y’kno, the chair – toilet – chair – toilet…” He sits down and says, “whip me up a Tuna Sushi!” Chef 1 shouts, “yes, sir!”

Throughout the day, we have a lot of people coming in and it’s always busy. At one point, one of my waiters comes over and asks, “sorry to bother you Chocolate, but can I take a break?” I freeze up and reply, “absolutely not! We’ve got people to feed! We only take breaks if no one comes in! Here’s a sandwich.” Around noon, Chef 2 checks on the garden outside. I’m desperately hoping that one will turn out to be sugar but when he comes back he shakes his head in disappointment, “this sugar drought is horrible. No sugar for miles!”

I decide now’s a good time to check out the Market so I ask two of my waiters to push the arcade in front of the door. “We only have 2.6% stamina left! I don’t think we’ll make it,” they groaned. I told them that this business isn’t for everyone and that there are always people wanting to experience working in a restaurant. Translation? Work or I’ll sack you and hire someone else.

At the market, I take a look around. Cream for 2500, ice cream for 4200 and basil for 3600. Restaurant City Image I really need cream but seeing as how I’m the only one here, I take a chance to talk to the seller, “psst, listen, I’ll keep it quiet but just tell me one thing – will sugar be on the market later?” He glances around him and whispers, “sorry, friend. You’ll have to find out – later”. Well, can’t blame me for trying. I purchase 4 creams and as I’m walking down the street, I hear screaming in the distance. Oh no, I thought, that sounds like my staff! I drop everything I’m holding and run as fast as I can.

Bursting through the door, I see a rogue squadron of penguins. Restaurant City Image
“Eek!” My waiters are screaming, standing on top of the Elegant Chairs.
“No!” I shout, as I realize they’re leaving footprints on the new items I just bought.
Chef 3 says, “don’t worry, boss. I’ve got this…” She runs around looking like a maniac with a net, but manages to capture the penguins. “Phew,” she sighs, “good thing I used to work at a zoo.”

After peace is restored, I realized I dropped my creams. I go back outside – but they’re gone! There’s a note on the ground and I pick it up. Somebody wrote:
“Thanks for the cream! I’ve traded you some sweetcorn.”

I look down at the pile of useless sweetcorn and gather them up, feeling dejected. Back at the restaurant, things are running smoothly again. I throw the sweetcorn into the storage room and take a moment to look over some of my ingredients. 2 creams left, 5 pumpkins, 7 basils, 86 sweetcorns and yet… no sugars. I looked up at the ceiling and prayed to the sugar gods, “please! Let there be sugar! I’ll do anything! I’ll…I’ll…dance! Yes, I’ll sing and dance if you just give me sugar!” So, listening to the music playing in my head, I start swaying to the nonexistent music like a bendy straw in a tornado. That’s when I heard, “ahem…uh..boss? We need you out front….” I turn around and one of the waiters is staring at me with a look that can only be described as this: O.o

“Er…uh…ahem. Not a word to anyone,” I stutter. She replied, “I won’t say anything. Nice moves though…”

I rush back out and take up my stove, cooking the Chili Con Carne in record time.
Eventually, it’s time to close up for the night. It’s really amazing how fast the day goes by. As I say my goodbyes to the cooks and waiters, I lock up and walk home, getting ready for tomorrow – another day in Restaurant City.