A day in the life: A passador at Brasiliero
A Brazilian lunch at Brasileiro U Zelené žáby
A jellyfish in his hand and wash the grill
Jellyfish is "passador" parlance for a washcloth to wash the grill. The first thing they do when they get to work. The grill cools overnight, so washing it waits until the morning.
Two hours of skewered meat
The grillmaster is responsible for cleaning and carving the meat, while the passador helps with the skewering. Together, this team processes around 150 kilos of meat every day. Only the cupim, or beef hump, is prepared in advance. This is wrapped in foil in the evening and then thrown on the grill in the morning.
One bag after another
After working with the meat, the passadors have a moment to work out. The bags of charcoal are carried to the grill from the first floor, where the office is, through the courtyard and down to the restaurant. Another discipline is preparing ice for the cooling salad bar. This is replenished twice a day, before lunch and evening service.
Helping out in the kitchen
The passadors also help out in the kitchen. They marinade the chicken, cut off the heads and tails of the appetiser shrimp, and prepare the marinades or the fish for the churrasco. One passador from the shift stays in this position until 4 pm. Then he continues on the restaurant floor. "It usually comes out once a week for me. I like this job, it's a break from churrasco," Jarda admits.
In addition to the menial work, they also have to carry all the salads and appetisers to the salad bar.
You can't do it without a perfectly pressed shirt
"Everyone takes care of their own uniform. I wouldn't go out with people without an ironed shirt," smiles Jarda, adding that the iron is the appliance that breaks down most often in Brasiliero. He says he has bought almost 20 of them in his career.
Soup for refreshment - and off to the set
Shortly before opening time, all the employees meet in the restaurant, have soup and the manager summarises what they'll be doing that day. Some use the remaining time to eat, others to pass on gossip or scroll through their feed one last time. After 20 minutes, everyone gets up, clean up, adjust their uniforms and are ready to welcome their first guests.
Up, down, up, down, up, down, and around and around.
I don't think we need to go into the fact that the pasador does a lot of walking. But did you know that there are exactly 32 steps from the grill to the top of the restaurant, and that a passador comes to a guest about 20 times? "It's quite a chore, but you get used to it. Sometimes at the end of my shift my watch shows about 17 kilometres," Jarda remarks.
Staff and a little relaxation
Once the passadors have fed the guests who have come for lunch, it's time for staffing. After the meal, there is a moment for a cigarette or a rest in the fresh air, usually in the courtyard. In the meantime, everything that is needed for the evening service is fine-tuned, and the whole circus begins anew.
Home with the last guest
"I usually leave at 11 p.m., but of course it happens that guests linger while we wait for them to finish eating. But we have skilful hostesses who manage the restaurant's occupancy so that we don't have big overtime," adds Jarda, who works short and long weeks. The organisation of his shifts suits him, even considering that the passador normally spends about 14 hours at work.
"Even though I'm over my head sometimes, I'm always pleased when someone comes into the restaurant in a bad mood but leaves with a smile. We often manage to do that, and for me, even after all these years, that's the strongest motivation!" emphasises Jarda Hospodka.
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