Anastasia Mastrocola Kream N Kone: The Finest Fried Seafood Anywhere 

As I get out of my car to head into work, you can smell the river that runs by the 

restaurant. I walk through the toupe fence towards the backdoor. You have to walk past a large 

dumpster. There is a pungent smell that seeps into the air. The ground is usually damp from the 

kitchen staff washing things in the back. The foreign workers' bikes are all lined up on the inside 

of the fence. Right next to the back door is a wooden staircase that goes to the second floor of 

the building. As you walk through the door all the workers look towards you and greet you.  

“Hello,” I am greeted in a Jamaican accent. 

“Good morning,” I reply.  

To your immediate right is a large metal sink where someone is standing washing the 

dishes. In front of you is another worker either mixing coleslaw in large quantities or cutting 

industrial size bags of onions. 

“Hello,” said the kitchen worker, in a Slavic accent. 

“Hi,” I say. 

As you walk deeper into the kitchen you pass all the refrigerators on the right. Someone 

is normally there, manning the fryolator. In the morning, someone is also on the left putting 

seasoning on the fish. The greetings continue. You continue walking until you get into the 

swinging door that leads you into the restaurant. The atmosphere changes once you enter the 

restaurant. Normally I scan the area to see who is working. Normally Lisa, the shorter Jamaican 

woman, JoJo, the taller Jamaican woman, Eva, from Bulgaria with dirty blonde hair, and Monica, 

also from Bulgaria who always has so much energy.   

Jojo gave me the nickname Bumblebee, so normally JoJo and Lisa greet me, “Goo 

Mornin Bumblebee” they say in their thick Jamaican accents.  

“Good morning,” I say back. 

Normally this sparks Eva to come over and hug me.  

Anastasia Mastrocola Kream N Kone: The Finest Fried Seafood Anywhere 

“Oh, how I’ve missed you!” she says even though it’s only been a couple days since I 

last saw her.  

When you get there in the morning you have to type in your number code into the 

register to punch in. Then you have to walk upstairs and start to take the chairs down. Once you 

finish taking all the chairs down from the top you go into the front to take the chairs down in the 

front. I normally grab the crates of ketchup from the walk-in refrigerator. I walk back through the 

kitchen to put them on the tables. After, I will either be tasked with unlocking the chairs on the 

patio or clean all the windows. Kids like to touch the windows with their greasy hands.  

Once all the morning preparations are done, we start to make the take out boxes. There 

is a little entranceway to the side of the kitchen where all the boxes are stored. By the look of 

the stack of boxes, you can tell whether or not it was busy the night before. There is a massive 

stack of unfolded boxes that are under the register counter. You grab a large stack and bring it 

to you “folding station”. I normally claim the spot right in front of the mini Pepsi fridge, or right 

next to it. I only stop folding until a customer enters and is ready to order. While I’m folding the 

boxes, I will talk to the girls working upfront, or I’ll listen in to what they are saying.  

Jojo is usually reading news articles while folding the small boxes. 

“Hey baby,” she would say to me in her Jamaican accent, “Did you hear about ‘...?’”  

Sometimes I understood how to fill that blank, while other times I don’t.  

If Sarah, a girl my age who I have sailed with is working, she will start talking to me 

about any and everything that is happening in her life.  

Lisa will come out of the kitchen and joke with Sarah, “Oh Sarah, your poor roommate,” 

“Ohhh”, giggling, “I feel so bad,” she says in her Jamaican accent.  

This will lead to Sarah being quiet for about 5 minutes and then she will resume talking 

once again.  
Anastasia Mastrocola Kream N Kone: The Finest Fried Seafood Anywhere 

We open at 11. Sometimes people will be at the door at 11 to eat fried seafood and clam 

chowder, other times we won’t have our first customer until near 11:30. Once the customer is 

ready to order they step up to the counter and start telling me the order.  

“Hi, what can I get for you,” I start. 

Normally they have a couple of questions. 

Can I get it with fries and onion rings?, Does it come with a drink?, Is your food 

gluten-free?  

I respond, All the fried seafood plates come with both, Drinks are separate, and It 

depends what you are ordering. 

Once they order, I give them a number to put on the table if they are eating in, or 

I will as for their name if its a to-go order. Depending on how busy it is, I will stay on the register 

until everyone is helped. Then I’ll go back to folding the boxes. We normally finish folding the 

boxes by 11:45-12 o’clock. The lunch shift starts to speed up around 12. Phone orders also 

increase during this time.  

“Thank-you-for-calling-Kream-N’-Kone-Dennis-how-may-I-help-you,” I start. Then 

they place their order and I read it back and ask for their name.  

When it’s not busy on register, I will help bring out the food to the tables or I will wipe 

down trays. Once people leave the table, they bring their trays over to the trash cans, then we 

go and wipe down the table and chairs. This layout works pretty well when it's busy. Most nights 

there will be a line out the door for hours straight. I rarely leave the register. I have people pour 

the clam chowder, or grab the beer and wines from the refrigerator in the back, or have people 

make me frappes when the customers order it. Some of the girls will joke around while it's busy 

and I’m helping a customer. They will be opening a new sleeve of cups and tie the plastic 

around my leg, or stamp my arm with the “Paid” stamp we have for take out orders. I can’t react, 
Anastasia Mastrocola Kream N Kone: The Finest Fried Seafood Anywhere 

because there are customers that I’m helping so I will just smile. The little things help pass the 

shifts faster. 

Since there is a fast turnaround most people don’t have to wait for a table. We don’t 

seat people, but while I have been working, I have never seen someone’s food come out 

without them having a table to sit at.  

Once 2 pm comes, it starts to slow down again. That’s when lunch breaks start. Since I 

don’t like seafood, I stick with either the grilled chicken sandwich, and burger, or a BLT most 

days. After lunch, the day drags on. Since it’s an awkward time in between lunch and dinner, we 

don’t get a lot of customers. This is when we make change from the tip jar,my favorite activity. 

Take out the trash to the dumpsters, fill the napkins in the napkin holders, and get ready for the 

dinner rush. Around 4:30, is when it starts to pick up. I normally start counting the minutes until 

5, when I get to leave. I look up at the clock that’s hung up on the wall, over the ice cream 

machine, that has two large rubber duckies on it. At 4:58 like clockwork all the workers that 

work at 5 come through the swinging kitchen door to punch in and start, usually, their second 

job of the day. At the same time, all the customers enter the front door. It’s as if there a written 

rule where you can’t go in before 5 o’clock, but once 5:01 hits its ok to come in. Once the night 

workers settle in, I punch out. I grab my keys and phone from the counter and exit through the 

swinging kitchen door. I make my way back through the kitchen, past the guy on the grill, the 

guy on the fryolator, the guy chopping the onions, and the guy standing next to the sink. As I 

pass by everyone says, “Bye!” or “Have a good night,” I respond and exit the back door. I pass 

the large dumpster, all the workers' bikes lined up on the fence, and make a beeline to my car. 

Another day at Kream N’ Kone.  

Kream N’ Kone throughout the years has become a part of me. From growing up going 

there, to working there, I have become literate in the way Kream N’ Kone functions, and food 
Anastasia Mastrocola Kream N Kone: The Finest Fried Seafood Anywhere 

service industry in general. During the winter, I work at a muffin shop, and although these 

restaurants are completely different, some things are common in both places. Some aspects are 

applied in my daily life, even when I’m not working. One, being respectful to servers at 

restaurants, because I too, like when people are kind to me. Cleaning up in the Tully after I eat, 

making sure I didn’t leave a huge mess for the workers to deal with because I have had my fair 

share of people leave without cleaning up. I love when people do little things that help to make 

my job at Kream N’ Kone easier, and I like to extend the kindness to other workers.