Fhanie Medina Martinez

English 102

Sandi Cannon

Field Working Essay

Field Working

Seafood is a common dish in many restaurants and also a popular everyday food to do at

home. Seafood is known for the nutrients it offers such as Omega 3, protein, heme iron, and it

reduces obesity risk. Seafood makes part of many restaurants' menus. This is due to the fact that

it has an exquisite taste and it is easy to make. The owner of the restaurant Veracruz Mariscos

had all these things in mind when she started her seafood career in 2017. I decided to research

this field site because it’s rich in Mexican culture and I also wanted to compare the differences

between my family’s way of cooking. However, as I did my research by going to my field

working site I found another reason to continue my research. This was to observe the different

reactions of people as they went to the restaurant. These reactions varied from their opinion on

the food or what they thought about the place itself. As I was doing my research it was

interesting to see that I wasn’t being biased since many people thought the same as me because

they really enjoyed the food they were served and they thought that the place they were in was

splendid.

Geographically, the area the restaurant is located in is Tecolotes, Baja California which is

in Mexico. “This community is filled with generous people that love to spend time with their

family which made me think this was the perfect place to set my restaurant” Saturnina Medina
told me. Around the restaurant is a swap meet which many people go to before or after having a

nice meal. The restaurant consists of an entrance, waiting area, restrooms, kitchen, six tables, two

storages for food purposes, and a parking lot. As you enter the restaurant you notice the waiting

area since it is in the main entrance and also you notice the restrooms. The whole restaurant is

ocean-themed which is why most of it is blue. In front of where people eat are some blue tarps

that cover the sun of the people while they are eating. On the gates that surround the restaurant

are these shells which match the theme. The kitchen also has decorations that fit the theme such

as fish and crab hangings and also the roof is covered with palms to make it seem you are at the

beach underneath some palms.

Saturnina’s restaurant history goes way back to 2008 when she had a small business in

which she sold Menudo on Sundays at her house. Once she realized that people were very

satisfied with her food she decided to make it a small restaurant since she only had a few tables

set up. This lasted for a couple of years but it never went on to be a big thing so she decided to

stop because some family issues started coming up. However, at the beginning of 2017, the

owner Saturnina decided that she should once again start doing what she loves which is to cook

in a way that would help her community of Tecolotes. She thought and thought until she came up

with the idea to start a new restaurant however she didn't want to make a typical Mexican food

restaurant like the one she used to own since there were already some and because she wanted to

try new things, so she made a seafood restaurant. She started looking for places to make her

restaurant but she wasn't satisfied with all the ones she found. Until she saw a vacant lot the

perfect size available close to a swap meet and decided that if she wanted to have the restaurant

she wanted and the one she imagined in her head then she would have to start from scratch. After
much hard work and money put into the making of the restaurant, she had the grand opening of

her restaurant in January 2018.

During the first few visits, I did once my proposal was approved and I started

familiarizing myself with the restaurant since everything was new. I wanted to get right away

starting to ask questions and luckily the workers had time to answer me since it wasn’t a busy

day. The owner and workers had the opportunity of getting to introduce themselves and I

introduced myself as well. However, I didn’t get the chance to go in-depth with some general

questions I had prepared because while I was sitting out of nowhere I started realizing how more

people came, and then they explained to me that it was their happy hour in which they usually

get a lot of customers. The first day I went I didn’t spend a lot of time so by the time all of their

customers were done I had already left. However, by the second time, I went to my field site I

was already familiarized with the workers and had already identified what their role was. Since I

got there early I took advantage that there wasn’t anyone yet and I started asking the workers that

had known Saturnina the longest or that have worked at the restaurant the longest. One of the

questions that I asked was when their busiest season was and they said that it is during lent

because many people can’t eat meat so they turn to fresh foods such as fish. Once I was done

with the questions I sat in a chair and I started observing the people that were coming into the

restaurant. That day I noticed some patterns in the way that people were ordering their food.

The workers that I got to ask the questions were the owner Saturnina and one of the

waiters called Lorena. I first started asking Saturnina the questions because she wasn’t busy

since the other cooks were doing their job. With all the questions that I asked, Saturnina

answered politely and she really helped me get my mind clear with some uncertainties I had with
the place itself and the way the restaurant works. Once I finished asking Saturnina I went on to

ask Lorena which she told me an important story they have in the restaurant. This story is about

the owner Saturnina who had a lucky utensil when she was younger and that she has kept it ever

since. She knew this because she was the first worker to work alongside Saturnina when she first

opened the restaurant.

The lucky utensil story was used as one of my artifacts. The reason I chose this artifact

was that it meant something special to the restaurant. This artifact represents a belief that the

employees and the owner have towards the lucky sieve. The person that uses this artifact is the

owner and it shows the amount of love she has for that everyday instrument. It also helps us see

how dedicated she is since she has taken care of that sieve for a very long time. I also used the

kitchen as one of my artifacts. The reason I chose this artifact was that I was surprised by all the

ocean details throughout the restaurant. This artifact tells us about the behaviors they do in the

restaurant and the way they prepare and clean the kitchen.

In conclusion, my field working project was a success because I was able to find what I

was looking for which was to find clients’ opinions on the food and on the restaurant, the culture

of the restaurant, and the different styles of cooking between my family members. I also

discovered more things then what I was expecting. While being there I learned some family

history that my father hadn’t told me about. It was really interesting getting to know my family

members from my dad’s side in a way that is more professional rather than their usual fun and

loud selves.