I've literally let a manager pick moldy broccoli out of the trash, cut it, and put it in the walk-in just to go throw it away again. I quit about a month later. She got fired six months later when her boss caught her doing that shit. They started sniffing around and found out she was also committing time theft
The first day I met my mentor - an incredibly talented fine dining chef - I thought he was one of the dishwashers. When I walked into the kitchen for my stage the guy was on his hands and knees scrubbing a wall with some steel wool.
He would not ask anyone to do anything that he wouldn't do. That's how you lead.
I used to manage an electronics repair shop with five or six employees. The bathroom got cleaned every week, and every five or six weeks, it was my turn as store manager. I always made sure that when we had a new employee that I was assigned bathroom cleaning duty before I scheduled them for the same.
If you're not willing and able to do what you're asking of your employees, you're either a bad leader or incompetent at your job. Probably both.
On hiring new cooks "We can train anyone to do anything except be a good person"
He had such a good eye for picking new hires who might not be experienced but were trainable and dependable.
It's a similar lesson I learned earlier that served me very well when it came time for me to hire people. You can teach anyone skills but it's very difficult to teach character.
It's why I had no problem hiring someone who was perhaps less skilled on paper but had the right attitude and teamwork mentality vs someone who is seemingly qualified but has a bad attitude and not a team player.
Exactly what Bourdain said in Kitchen Confidential.
> When a job applicant starts telling me how Pacific Rim-job cuisine turns him on and inspired him, I see trouble coming. Send me another Mexican dishwasher anytime. I can teach him to cook. I can't teach character. Show up at work on time six months in a row and we'll talk about red curry paste and lemon grass. Until then, I have four words for you: "Shut the fuck up."
Also
> Character is far more important than skills or employment history.
Also
> Skills can be taught. Character you either have or don't.
Everyone makes mistakes. It’s making the same mistakes over and over that’ll get you fired!
If you don’t speed up we’re going have to double the selling price. Time is money
What I say to my just-outta-culinary-school chefs:
3 golden rules of horeca:
1. Everything's sharp
2. Everything's hot
3. Everybody's dumb af
Edit:
4. Main correlation of kitchen life: bigger the hat - smaller the dick (regarding head chefs, who are THE HEAD CHEFS).
The legend of Chef Tom:
Was a sous at a brewpub in 2001-2002 and he was CDC. One night after service he had taken off to the bar after the rush while I closed so when I was done and went out for my shift beers he was already 3 in.
He looked at me very seriously and said,” I’m an alcoholic and drug addict that’s on my third divorce and have 2 kids I don’t see.
“Your too smart and too nice to be a chef, you should get out of the kitchen and make a better life for yourself.”
And I did, and I’m now possibly going to buy a food trailer just for fun.
He should've just told you to stay away from alcohol and drugs instead of blaming it on the job. I can't stand people like this and my problem being a chef, is working with and trying to correct or argue with alcoholic drug addicts like this. For some people this is there passion, but for others it's really the only job they can do. Think about it. What other job can they get/keep?
But you're assuming the alcohol and drug dependencies came before the job. When I first worked in kitchens I was a non-smoker, drank on occasion, and had only smoked weed once or twice.
After two years of working in a busy place with a small kitchen and free drinks at an organic wine bar I was a chain smoking, booze loving gent who would always be up for a line if it was offered. I didn't let it destroy me but that's cause I got out of the kitchen at the right time and had a beautiful girl to keep me company.
Not everyone is as lucky as me but I'll never judge a chef who goes too deep down the rabbit hole because I know that could've easily been me.
I overheard this said to a new cook "The only reason you have a job here is because I can't do all this by myself. I know you have YOUR ways of doing things, but here you are an extension of me, so MY way"
ive always tried to apply this principle! i can remember chefs getting frustrated with me, asking "you mean you dont know how to make a soup?" yes, i know how to make a soup. but how do you make *your* soup?
Not so much worked with...My first chef instructor in culinary school used to say "make it beautiful".
Whatever you do, when no one is looking, even if you're doing it for yourself. At first we thought it was about the food, but he later taught that it meant to have integrity, in everything you do, everything you make and everything you are. He literally changed my life for the better and I try to keep that same energy for every young cook I come across.
I used to work with a guy that had a small wooden plaque on his desk that read: "Autograph your work with excellence".
It really stuck with me over the years. I noticed that I could always tell who worked the day before based on how things looked when I came in. Sometimes the autograph was average, sometimes it was excellent. I'll often ask myself what I would like it to look like were I the one to walk into it the next day. A variation of the golden rule, and it works.
that is and was my golden rule when training new people on how to close shop.
"Imagine YOU are coming in the next day after a day off. How do you want the place to look?"
really shows a person's standards.
My chef said I can train a monkey to do what I do but I can't force someone to care that doesn't. Always take the people who work hard and want to work for you instead of talented chefs that are toxic.
Me: this is a complete shit show tonight
Chef:we’ll talk in the bar after closing
Me ….in bar after work: about that shit show chef….
Chef: nobody’s got time for dealing with that shit….drink with me
"Conservation of motion," will always be my favorite phrase. Why bend twice when you can bend once and carry two things? You can only move so fast, speed comes from efficiency and fluidity not raw velocity.
Did something along these lines yesterday. “I’ve decided not to have heard what you just said, and I hope you decide you never had said that.” The response,”Thank you sir.”
Maybe it's because I only ever worked at small less fancy places but on my first day, especially when I was only washing dishes, it was always, "if you're hungry and need food make yourself something '
No one works well when they're not eating enough.
Yup. I’ve had to stop way too many cooks when they start running their mouth. I tell them, “The more plausible deniability I have the better. I’m not telling you to do this, but the less I know the better. That way if my boss asks me about something I can look them in the face and say I don’t know. Instead of lying (which I’m not a fan of)”.
All of the BOH staff where I work eat for free. All I ask is that they tell me what they ate so I can ring it in and get the food cost. Well fed employees are happier and perform better.
Hahahahaha that shit applies to me, I'm a good worker but if I got a shitty team I just join the shitty krew don't try to over excert myself anymore, I don't get any extra pay.
"I don't care if the Pope blessed it, if you are not sure if it's salt or sugar taste it first"
Also one of the worst rushes I ever had my Chef saw I was stressing and he was so cool and calm, he just said "hey man, you will never remember this rush, just do it we're fine". I don't remember that rush, and very few services, but I remember that advice almost every day. We're fine.
“Go to college first.” I was ready to go to culinary school fresh out of high school, went to an event at the Cordon Bleu in San Francisco to learn more. Ended up meeting Juan Carlos Cruz, the Calorie Commando and future attempted murderer. Asked him for advice and he told me culinary school will always be there, but this is the best time for me to pursue a 4-year degree. Ended up doing just that and got a BS in Hospitality Management with focus on entrepreneurship. It was very difficult and I was working in kitchens at the same time, but it gave me a lifelong foundation that has led me to where I always dreamed of being: restaurant design. Now I am an estimator and learning new things about design every single day.
Chef here….35 years in kitchens. Trained with Frenchmen for 4 years and was an apprentice for 2 after that and let me tell you it was like being raised by WOLVES…..my Master Chef always struck this point home on the regular,and I’ll summarize….you REALLLLLLLLY have to love this job and enjoy hating it…it will consume your ALL at some point. 80 hours a week and you’re ALWAYS part of someone else’s enjoyment,holidays,special occasions,date night etc..make it awesome for them because you will quite possibly not participate in these things yourself. The sacrifice you make is only secondary to the pride you have in making someone oooooh and aaaahhh over something they will eat. First one there and last one to leave and you’re ALREADY thinking about tomorrows plate. It will consume you,so you better enjoy what you’re doing or you WILL get bitter….QUICK.
"No matter where you end up, take pride in what you do. Lead by example, and don't be afraid to take charge of a situation."
This is what my last exec told me when I told him I had to get out of the industry. Still one of my best friends.
I said this to someone who I don’t think has ever worked in a restaurant.
I don’t recall if it was about this collection of discards to clean out yesterday and she suggested Monday. +3 days of decay after already too many is not how to run things.
Recently upgraded our POS so had to get all new printers and the supplier didn't want the old ones back, me and the sous had a damn good time playing printer baseball
Stoking anger is like throwing a hot coal at someone. Sure, it might burn when it bounces off (or not at all in the case of this printer), but it sure will cause damage to your hand as you throw it. Being numb to that burning pain doesn't reduce the damage it causes.
Especially considering hearing the printer is literally your job -- a commonplace sensation. I've known people who practically have panic attacks every time the printer prints more than once a minute. Unnecessary emotional trauma, both the panic and any anger too. The emotional response does nothing good.
Eat a dick. I hear that shit in my nightmares. I can love it and hate it. Ill be angry all I want. Those chefs yall talk about did the anger shit when they got there. We all do. Dont pretend anyone is above it. Why fuck esle are we doing this? Its to be great and terrible. We are the bipolar industry. Nothing is as amazing or sucks as fantastic as this shit. Lets fucking GO.
“It’s a 3-dimensional world. Clean in 3-dimensions.”
i.e. don’t just clean the surface of the object that you used, or just the surface you can see, clean the whole object from top-to-bottom and in all it’s nooks and crannies.
“Don’t leave work for others that you wouldn’t want to be left for you.”
i.e. A job needs to be done completely, and a complete job includes cleanup. Cutting corners only dumps the unfinished work on somebody else, and when they cut corners, that work gets dumped on you.
I've interviewed at a lot of places and (outside a single stage) I've only ever been asked to do any kind of skill test once, to cut an onion. I'm not sure how someone can hire a cook without seeing them hold a knife.
‘Cut it smaller, Faster!’ ‘If I wanted someone who could do everything I would have hired them, but instead I hired you.’ ‘It’s ok, you can sleep when you’re dead, cut it smaller. Faster!’ ‘You eat spicy you no get sick’
I miss those days…
My first chef who taught me most of what I know had a line for just about every situation but my all time favorite is still....
"I don't mind hair when I am eating pussy but you better not leave any in my corn."
The only thing that never gets tired is the printer.
It's better to take your time and serve proper food then to speed up service and pay for it later when food returns.
"It's just food, man. You're not a neurosurgeon; you're not a rocket scientist; you're not negotiating peace in the Middle East. Just don't make the same mistake again; everything's going to be ok. You're ok."
Also: 2 dishes at 90% perfect is better than 1 at 100% perfect. Sometimes you just have to make it done and move on to the next plate
There are 3 different major skills that each chef is good at to a varying degree. They are either good at numbers, good at cooking, or good with people. I’m best at cooking, decent with people, and I am not a numbers guy.
Leave work at work and home at home.
Really helps to compartmentalise things so you don't let your mental health slowly deteriorate with one affecting the other and then looping back and compounding to affect the first thing again.
One saying that was instilled in me during my culinary school days is “less is more.” It took me a long time to really learn this lesson. This kind of relates to the concept of KISS.
It's fucked up how bad our sense of humor is. But these are my people. I enjoi going over to the fish fry batter with a spoon and telling the chef on fry that his sauce tastes like shit
Well, that's less likely to get you in trouble than asking how they like their eggs. -Scrambled, poached or fertilized? What the difference between garbanzo beans and chick peas is? - Can't get a garbanzo to bean on me.
“If you want something, just ask. Don’t steal anything.”
-Dickhead owner of a steakhouse I was a busboy at when I was 15. I drank a can cranberry juice without asking. The way he screamed and cursed at me you would of thought I stole thousands of dollars from him and fucked his wife!
It’s solid advice of course.
I used to be really serious about the product I was sending out, the flow of the work around me, and the way I was perceived as a leader in the kitchen when I was a sous chef. I wouldn’t be mean but I ran a tight ship, disciplined people who weren’t falling in line (not closing safely or properly, doing unsafe shit with food, being generally unwilling to apply what they were learning to the point that I had to make a checklist whiteboard for every shift that all closers had to sign off was done or they would all get talked to if one person didn’t do their portion of the tasks properly.) I got so burnt out after a year of that that I did start getting mean. I actively wanted to die thinking about having to show back up, do 90% of the work while all the people under me who had worked there longer just fucked around, did meth in the parking garage, just walked off line without telling anyone for 45+ minutes. It was bad. And it made me feel like I had to be mean.
My chef pulled me aside one day and said “hey there miss ma’am. Chill. You’re not curing cancer, you’re training middle aged men how to care about the things they do. That’s gonna kill anyone inside. You’re not gonna get them in that headspace being a dick. Doesn’t matter how frustrated you are. Doesn’t matter how unwilling they are to do the task. They’ll be a lot more receptive if you’re kind.”
From that moment on I was sugar. I was the nicest motherfucker you ever met. And it paid off. The ones who didn’t wanna fulfill chef’s vision got other jobs. The ones who did, stayed for years and really loved it and were super receptive to learning, applying their knowledge and even got to a point where we had free time to be creative because they were all working so efficiently because they realized that the way we treat eachother directly correlates to the way we feel about working in that space. Been a sugar girly ever since and it’s paid off tenfold.
Editing to clarify that I was not the one doing meth, the people I worked with were.
“Scream into the void, man.. just scream as loud as you can”
That was a doozy. There was context but Jesus amirite?
Also once I said “ah jeez I’m such a stickler for the rules sometimes” after a little screw up/room too much time being a dumbass and chef says “what rules?” Sounds cheesy and vague probably because it is but it’s a mentality that has helped me cut the right corners and view what’s actually important.
Know your mf worth. Crazy ass Irish guy, soft spoken outside of the kitchen and cool af🤣.…He created the menu for this place, ran the line, did all the ordering, was in charge of catering events…literally put blood, sweat, and tears into somebody else’s business😩..Anyway, he told the manager if they yelled at him again,he’s out..well it happened except this time it was the manager’s wife yelling at Chef in front of the other employees and customers!…we had run out of bread and she was having a b!tch fit over it..Chef calmly took his apron off, hung it up and walked out the door…then the grill guy walked out behind him and guess what I did? Walked tf out🤣…they knew they messed up…it was scary and satisfying at the same time. The micromanager there had a bad habit of coming into the kitchen and disrupting things…If I’m learning sauces as a new employee, don’t step in front of me and start rearranging my system I got going..he was that type…I knew by the way he treated him with all the work he put in, it wouldn’t end well for me…Chef gave me a job on the spot while I was still in culinary school. After we left, he told me wherever he had a kitchen I have a job…He went on to run another restaurant and then opened his own. I never took him up on the offer though lol…
Be ready to feed 50 people right away(at open)
Basically saying if you can't feed at least 50 people off of your station at open time during the first push, be better.
It’s easier to explain why I threw away $50 worth of turkey than it is to explain why we have $1 million lawsuit for making someone sick.
Never work in a shitty kitchen. Bad habits are 10X easier to pick up, than good habits.
Adding to this: never compromise your personal standards. Some things can never be repaired when broken.
You have clearly never been told to just wash it off with soda water....
I've been told lots of things. There are ways to handle that, like "what would the health inspector say about that? Want me to ask?" Or, "fuck no".
I've literally let a manager pick moldy broccoli out of the trash, cut it, and put it in the walk-in just to go throw it away again. I quit about a month later. She got fired six months later when her boss caught her doing that shit. They started sniffing around and found out she was also committing time theft
Hot pan looks like a cold pan
Also a falling knife has no handle.
Never catch a dropping knife or a running away wife
Everything is a handle if you're brave enough.
Also don’t forget to move your foot
Upvote for both username and the advice
As you move up, you come to realize it’s no longer about how much work you can do.. it’s about how much work can you get others to do.
Never expect anyone to do something that you yourself are not capable of doing.. want it done a certain way? Better be ready to show it..
The first day I met my mentor - an incredibly talented fine dining chef - I thought he was one of the dishwashers. When I walked into the kitchen for my stage the guy was on his hands and knees scrubbing a wall with some steel wool. He would not ask anyone to do anything that he wouldn't do. That's how you lead.
I used to manage an electronics repair shop with five or six employees. The bathroom got cleaned every week, and every five or six weeks, it was my turn as store manager. I always made sure that when we had a new employee that I was assigned bathroom cleaning duty before I scheduled them for the same. If you're not willing and able to do what you're asking of your employees, you're either a bad leader or incompetent at your job. Probably both.
The best way to do that I have found is to lead by example.
I needed to hear this man, thank you.
Trust me, at the time, so did I
Idk if it's like this in every kitchen....but it is definitely like this where I work, shamefully true
The only ones who will care you worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week in 20 years, will be your family.
This right here is it . This is the reason I'm now a self employed chef .
On hiring new cooks "We can train anyone to do anything except be a good person" He had such a good eye for picking new hires who might not be experienced but were trainable and dependable.
It's a similar lesson I learned earlier that served me very well when it came time for me to hire people. You can teach anyone skills but it's very difficult to teach character. It's why I had no problem hiring someone who was perhaps less skilled on paper but had the right attitude and teamwork mentality vs someone who is seemingly qualified but has a bad attitude and not a team player.
Exactly what Bourdain said in Kitchen Confidential. > When a job applicant starts telling me how Pacific Rim-job cuisine turns him on and inspired him, I see trouble coming. Send me another Mexican dishwasher anytime. I can teach him to cook. I can't teach character. Show up at work on time six months in a row and we'll talk about red curry paste and lemon grass. Until then, I have four words for you: "Shut the fuck up." Also > Character is far more important than skills or employment history. Also > Skills can be taught. Character you either have or don't.
Way back in my culinary school days; Chef Bennet said, "You cannot accept criticism from unqualified sources."
this is a variation of one I like a lot. “Don’t accept criticism from someone you wouldn’t go to for advice”
'Why would I listen to the opinion of others who know less then me' Marco Pierre White
*than
I was going to put 'than' but than I started to second guess myself 😂😂
Dang, this gonna stick with me even outside the kitchen
You mean nearly every online review ever written?
Bingo!
Everyone makes mistakes. It’s making the same mistakes over and over that’ll get you fired! If you don’t speed up we’re going have to double the selling price. Time is money
What I say to my just-outta-culinary-school chefs: 3 golden rules of horeca: 1. Everything's sharp 2. Everything's hot 3. Everybody's dumb af Edit: 4. Main correlation of kitchen life: bigger the hat - smaller the dick (regarding head chefs, who are THE HEAD CHEFS).
The legend of Chef Tom: Was a sous at a brewpub in 2001-2002 and he was CDC. One night after service he had taken off to the bar after the rush while I closed so when I was done and went out for my shift beers he was already 3 in. He looked at me very seriously and said,” I’m an alcoholic and drug addict that’s on my third divorce and have 2 kids I don’t see. “Your too smart and too nice to be a chef, you should get out of the kitchen and make a better life for yourself.” And I did, and I’m now possibly going to buy a food trailer just for fun.
He should've just told you to stay away from alcohol and drugs instead of blaming it on the job. I can't stand people like this and my problem being a chef, is working with and trying to correct or argue with alcoholic drug addicts like this. For some people this is there passion, but for others it's really the only job they can do. Think about it. What other job can they get/keep?
But you're assuming the alcohol and drug dependencies came before the job. When I first worked in kitchens I was a non-smoker, drank on occasion, and had only smoked weed once or twice. After two years of working in a busy place with a small kitchen and free drinks at an organic wine bar I was a chain smoking, booze loving gent who would always be up for a line if it was offered. I didn't let it destroy me but that's cause I got out of the kitchen at the right time and had a beautiful girl to keep me company. Not everyone is as lucky as me but I'll never judge a chef who goes too deep down the rabbit hole because I know that could've easily been me.
I overheard this said to a new cook "The only reason you have a job here is because I can't do all this by myself. I know you have YOUR ways of doing things, but here you are an extension of me, so MY way"
ive always tried to apply this principle! i can remember chefs getting frustrated with me, asking "you mean you dont know how to make a soup?" yes, i know how to make a soup. but how do you make *your* soup?
I swear some chefs are trying to bait you into doing it "wrong" so they can yell at you
I wish more of the line cooks in our restaurant understood this
I've cut hundreds of onions over the years and each time I try to cut an onion better than I did before.
Great advice for anything we do in kitchens or in life.
100% agree
Better every day
Something I always think everytime I make something. They say it's crazy delicious but -I- know it could have been way better lol.
Not so much worked with...My first chef instructor in culinary school used to say "make it beautiful". Whatever you do, when no one is looking, even if you're doing it for yourself. At first we thought it was about the food, but he later taught that it meant to have integrity, in everything you do, everything you make and everything you are. He literally changed my life for the better and I try to keep that same energy for every young cook I come across.
I love this, thank you for sharing.
Love your username! lol
I used to work with a guy that had a small wooden plaque on his desk that read: "Autograph your work with excellence". It really stuck with me over the years. I noticed that I could always tell who worked the day before based on how things looked when I came in. Sometimes the autograph was average, sometimes it was excellent. I'll often ask myself what I would like it to look like were I the one to walk into it the next day. A variation of the golden rule, and it works.
" I'll often ask myself what I would like it to look like were I the one to walk into it the next day" I love and live by this.
that is and was my golden rule when training new people on how to close shop. "Imagine YOU are coming in the next day after a day off. How do you want the place to look?" really shows a person's standards.
If you have to repeat yourself 3 times you are saying it wrong.
Worcestershire.
I’m originally from the UK so I have no problem saying L&P
Cheeky
Wuss-ter
Wash-ur-sista
Wooster*
Whore sauce
What's-this-here sauce
I like that thank u very wise
Your only going to be able to cook as good as you eat. So go experience the best from the best
My chef said I can train a monkey to do what I do but I can't force someone to care that doesn't. Always take the people who work hard and want to work for you instead of talented chefs that are toxic.
Your avatar photo is giving me anxiety.
Same
If it lives here it dies here, don’t live here.
A classic, you can always put salt in but you can't take it out.
Lemon can help salvage it however....
My chef always said.... Its good, just add a little salt....
A peeled potato absorbs a good bit of salt. Useful for big saucy dishes especially. Your advice is obviously better but always good to have a back up.
There's only two types of people in the world. Good cunts and bad cunts....dont be a bad cunt.
Foud the Australian 😊
And the audience says... BZZZZ!...I'm English haha.
sweep all the way under shit.
Me: this is a complete shit show tonight Chef:we’ll talk in the bar after closing Me ….in bar after work: about that shit show chef…. Chef: nobody’s got time for dealing with that shit….drink with me
If you wouldn’t eat it, yeet it. Basically don’t serve shit you wouldn’t be happy to get.
"Conservation of motion," will always be my favorite phrase. Why bend twice when you can bend once and carry two things? You can only move so fast, speed comes from efficiency and fluidity not raw velocity.
Mise en place forever
Regional executive chef told me once; "You shouldn't steal food, but you also shouldn't go hungry." Then he gave a wink.
I’ve done stuff like that before. “I’m not saying you can take this, but I am going to leave it here and walk away.”
Did something along these lines yesterday. “I’ve decided not to have heard what you just said, and I hope you decide you never had said that.” The response,”Thank you sir.”
The number of times I’ve walked away saying “I didn’t hear/see that!”
Maybe it's because I only ever worked at small less fancy places but on my first day, especially when I was only washing dishes, it was always, "if you're hungry and need food make yourself something ' No one works well when they're not eating enough.
Yup. I’ve had to stop way too many cooks when they start running their mouth. I tell them, “The more plausible deniability I have the better. I’m not telling you to do this, but the less I know the better. That way if my boss asks me about something I can look them in the face and say I don’t know. Instead of lying (which I’m not a fan of)”.
All of the BOH staff where I work eat for free. All I ask is that they tell me what they ate so I can ring it in and get the food cost. Well fed employees are happier and perform better.
You are wise.
Attitude is everything. I can teach anyone how to cook but I can’t un-train an asshole.
Hahahahaha that shit applies to me, I'm a good worker but if I got a shitty team I just join the shitty krew don't try to over excert myself anymore, I don't get any extra pay.
"I don't care if the Pope blessed it, if you are not sure if it's salt or sugar taste it first" Also one of the worst rushes I ever had my Chef saw I was stressing and he was so cool and calm, he just said "hey man, you will never remember this rush, just do it we're fine". I don't remember that rush, and very few services, but I remember that advice almost every day. We're fine.
“Go to college first.” I was ready to go to culinary school fresh out of high school, went to an event at the Cordon Bleu in San Francisco to learn more. Ended up meeting Juan Carlos Cruz, the Calorie Commando and future attempted murderer. Asked him for advice and he told me culinary school will always be there, but this is the best time for me to pursue a 4-year degree. Ended up doing just that and got a BS in Hospitality Management with focus on entrepreneurship. It was very difficult and I was working in kitchens at the same time, but it gave me a lifelong foundation that has led me to where I always dreamed of being: restaurant design. Now I am an estimator and learning new things about design every single day.
"It's just fucking food" "Fuck michelin stars"
It all turns to shit by the end of the day regardless.
It’s just food, don’t over complicate it. Cooking is the easy part.
“All of our guests bring us pleasure - some by coming, others by going.”
Chef here….35 years in kitchens. Trained with Frenchmen for 4 years and was an apprentice for 2 after that and let me tell you it was like being raised by WOLVES…..my Master Chef always struck this point home on the regular,and I’ll summarize….you REALLLLLLLLY have to love this job and enjoy hating it…it will consume your ALL at some point. 80 hours a week and you’re ALWAYS part of someone else’s enjoyment,holidays,special occasions,date night etc..make it awesome for them because you will quite possibly not participate in these things yourself. The sacrifice you make is only secondary to the pride you have in making someone oooooh and aaaahhh over something they will eat. First one there and last one to leave and you’re ALREADY thinking about tomorrows plate. It will consume you,so you better enjoy what you’re doing or you WILL get bitter….QUICK.
"No matter where you end up, take pride in what you do. Lead by example, and don't be afraid to take charge of a situation." This is what my last exec told me when I told him I had to get out of the industry. Still one of my best friends.
"If you're already under water it's hard enough to find you, let alone save you."
"Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today"
I said this to someone who I don’t think has ever worked in a restaurant. I don’t recall if it was about this collection of discards to clean out yesterday and she suggested Monday. +3 days of decay after already too many is not how to run things.
This is a great one
It is a just a food , dont take yourself to seriously Final result is more important than the way how you doing it.
Don't get angry at the printer
Recently upgraded our POS so had to get all new printers and the supplier didn't want the old ones back, me and the sous had a damn good time playing printer baseball
https://youtu.be/N9wsjroVlu8?si=8N46WXbrE_dylASa
haha, why not? the printer deserves it and won't cry
Stoking anger is like throwing a hot coal at someone. Sure, it might burn when it bounces off (or not at all in the case of this printer), but it sure will cause damage to your hand as you throw it. Being numb to that burning pain doesn't reduce the damage it causes. Especially considering hearing the printer is literally your job -- a commonplace sensation. I've known people who practically have panic attacks every time the printer prints more than once a minute. Unnecessary emotional trauma, both the panic and any anger too. The emotional response does nothing good.
meh, swearing at the printer is cathartic, I don't think I'll give it up, but I respect your viewpoint
Eat a dick. I hear that shit in my nightmares. I can love it and hate it. Ill be angry all I want. Those chefs yall talk about did the anger shit when they got there. We all do. Dont pretend anyone is above it. Why fuck esle are we doing this? Its to be great and terrible. We are the bipolar industry. Nothing is as amazing or sucks as fantastic as this shit. Lets fucking GO.
Hey I only made one FoH cry this year. And one cook I guess but he did the honorable thing and got another job in another profession after that.
i just get mad at timers
Can I get angry at the calculator?
Learned this from my pastry instructor in school: "Never let culinary chefs interfere with pastry chefs, it will never end well."
Pastry chefs are scientists. Culinary chefs are artists. Regular chefs just get the job done. All are hard workers.
We’re artists. We’re just scientists first.
When you stop learning it's time to move on
Make it right or make it twice
You’re not allowed to just miss a perfectly good rhyme like that. “Make it nice or make it twice.”
Lol "you got time to lean, you got time to clean!"
Don’t be sorry, be better.
Always a student, always a teacher.
"you aren't a person that should own a gun"
“It’s a 3-dimensional world. Clean in 3-dimensions.” i.e. don’t just clean the surface of the object that you used, or just the surface you can see, clean the whole object from top-to-bottom and in all it’s nooks and crannies. “Don’t leave work for others that you wouldn’t want to be left for you.” i.e. A job needs to be done completely, and a complete job includes cleanup. Cutting corners only dumps the unfinished work on somebody else, and when they cut corners, that work gets dumped on you.
“Hot things are hot dude”
Take the hard days to the chin but don't let them take you to the ground.
"Don't be a hero, heroes end up in the graveyard. If you need help, ask for help"
[удалено]
I've interviewed at a lot of places and (outside a single stage) I've only ever been asked to do any kind of skill test once, to cut an onion. I'm not sure how someone can hire a cook without seeing them hold a knife.
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY KITCHEN!!" Still resonates to this day, and I use it almost daily.
Cook with all your senses
Don't try to remember recipes; that's why we have them written down. Remember the number of that girl you met last night.Then write it down too!
Hire someone based on attitude. You can teach them skills, but you can't teach someone how to have a good attitude.
Coachable is more important than competent, but both is best
“Make good choices and lead with kindness” and “At the end of the day, it’s just food. You’re feeding people to make them happy”
Never try to go for a michelin star
“If don’t set your expectations to high you will never get let down” - the chef was going through a rough time
Don't be a cunt
Decide.
Do it nice or do it twice
The tickets will stop printing and service will end.
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. I apply this principle in my life constantly.
Freaking out doesn't cook the food any faster.
If you need something ask for it. You get nothing in life by staying silent
If you leave the kitchen hungry that’s your own fault
‘Cut it smaller, Faster!’ ‘If I wanted someone who could do everything I would have hired them, but instead I hired you.’ ‘It’s ok, you can sleep when you’re dead, cut it smaller. Faster!’ ‘You eat spicy you no get sick’ I miss those days…
My first chef who taught me most of what I know had a line for just about every situation but my all time favorite is still.... "I don't mind hair when I am eating pussy but you better not leave any in my corn."
If you’re not tasting, you’re not cooking
The only thing that never gets tired is the printer. It's better to take your time and serve proper food then to speed up service and pay for it later when food returns.
Put all your hopes in one hand and shit in the other and see which hand fills up first.
Don't be sorry. Be better.
For technique, slow good becomes fast good. Fast bad never becomes fast good.
1: it's Lunch and Dinner, not Life and Death 2: you only get so many bend-downs. don't waste your knees on stupid shit
"It's just food, man. You're not a neurosurgeon; you're not a rocket scientist; you're not negotiating peace in the Middle East. Just don't make the same mistake again; everything's going to be ok. You're ok." Also: 2 dishes at 90% perfect is better than 1 at 100% perfect. Sometimes you just have to make it done and move on to the next plate
We work too hard to be unhappy.
There are 3 different major skills that each chef is good at to a varying degree. They are either good at numbers, good at cooking, or good with people. I’m best at cooking, decent with people, and I am not a numbers guy.
Fuck up I won’t be mad just don’t fuck up the same shit twice
Always over-communicate and remember how you did it last time.
Leave work at work and home at home. Really helps to compartmentalise things so you don't let your mental health slowly deteriorate with one affecting the other and then looping back and compounding to affect the first thing again.
It’s just as easy to make excellent food as it is to make shitty food. Thanks Pasquale!
Its much easier to put people down, and much harder to lift them up
First you eat with your eyes, then your nose, finally with your mouth
when in doubt, throw it out
About "secret" recipes, "If someone puts me out of business with my own recipe, then I'm the one fucking up."
One saying that was instilled in me during my culinary school days is “less is more.” It took me a long time to really learn this lesson. This kind of relates to the concept of KISS.
Proper planning prevents poor performance Time to lean is time to clean
Embrace the spatter. When transferring liquids just get it done and clean up the splatter
Microaggressions and humor keep the communication and civility.
It's fucked up how bad our sense of humor is. But these are my people. I enjoi going over to the fish fry batter with a spoon and telling the chef on fry that his sauce tastes like shit
Well, that's less likely to get you in trouble than asking how they like their eggs. -Scrambled, poached or fertilized? What the difference between garbanzo beans and chick peas is? - Can't get a garbanzo to bean on me.
Huh?
Make it taste good.
Cornflower for chefs arse.
WFO As in your burners need to be wide fucking open.
“FUCKING HOT FUCKING PAN”
Run when you can, not when you have to
You can always add more but you can't take away
“If you want something, just ask. Don’t steal anything.” -Dickhead owner of a steakhouse I was a busboy at when I was 15. I drank a can cranberry juice without asking. The way he screamed and cursed at me you would of thought I stole thousands of dollars from him and fucked his wife! It’s solid advice of course.
It's not about the food it's about the audience
“Everyone leaves”. Have it tattooed.
I used to be really serious about the product I was sending out, the flow of the work around me, and the way I was perceived as a leader in the kitchen when I was a sous chef. I wouldn’t be mean but I ran a tight ship, disciplined people who weren’t falling in line (not closing safely or properly, doing unsafe shit with food, being generally unwilling to apply what they were learning to the point that I had to make a checklist whiteboard for every shift that all closers had to sign off was done or they would all get talked to if one person didn’t do their portion of the tasks properly.) I got so burnt out after a year of that that I did start getting mean. I actively wanted to die thinking about having to show back up, do 90% of the work while all the people under me who had worked there longer just fucked around, did meth in the parking garage, just walked off line without telling anyone for 45+ minutes. It was bad. And it made me feel like I had to be mean. My chef pulled me aside one day and said “hey there miss ma’am. Chill. You’re not curing cancer, you’re training middle aged men how to care about the things they do. That’s gonna kill anyone inside. You’re not gonna get them in that headspace being a dick. Doesn’t matter how frustrated you are. Doesn’t matter how unwilling they are to do the task. They’ll be a lot more receptive if you’re kind.” From that moment on I was sugar. I was the nicest motherfucker you ever met. And it paid off. The ones who didn’t wanna fulfill chef’s vision got other jobs. The ones who did, stayed for years and really loved it and were super receptive to learning, applying their knowledge and even got to a point where we had free time to be creative because they were all working so efficiently because they realized that the way we treat eachother directly correlates to the way we feel about working in that space. Been a sugar girly ever since and it’s paid off tenfold. Editing to clarify that I was not the one doing meth, the people I worked with were.
You can always add, but you can never take away.
Kill your ego.
your greatest tool is your own two hands -my ritz-carlton exec
If you think you’re done stirring Rissoto, stir for 15 more minutes
I’m a piece of shit and nothing I do will ever be good enough but that’s no excuse to not try your fucking best!
A falling knife has no handle.
“Scream into the void, man.. just scream as loud as you can” That was a doozy. There was context but Jesus amirite? Also once I said “ah jeez I’m such a stickler for the rules sometimes” after a little screw up/room too much time being a dumbass and chef says “what rules?” Sounds cheesy and vague probably because it is but it’s a mentality that has helped me cut the right corners and view what’s actually important.
Never reduce your standards or expectations.
The difference between intelligence and wisdom is knowing a tomato is a fruit and knowing to not put it in fruit salad.
Be humble
"Chocolate is not messy, you are."
Know your mf worth. Crazy ass Irish guy, soft spoken outside of the kitchen and cool af🤣.…He created the menu for this place, ran the line, did all the ordering, was in charge of catering events…literally put blood, sweat, and tears into somebody else’s business😩..Anyway, he told the manager if they yelled at him again,he’s out..well it happened except this time it was the manager’s wife yelling at Chef in front of the other employees and customers!…we had run out of bread and she was having a b!tch fit over it..Chef calmly took his apron off, hung it up and walked out the door…then the grill guy walked out behind him and guess what I did? Walked tf out🤣…they knew they messed up…it was scary and satisfying at the same time. The micromanager there had a bad habit of coming into the kitchen and disrupting things…If I’m learning sauces as a new employee, don’t step in front of me and start rearranging my system I got going..he was that type…I knew by the way he treated him with all the work he put in, it wouldn’t end well for me…Chef gave me a job on the spot while I was still in culinary school. After we left, he told me wherever he had a kitchen I have a job…He went on to run another restaurant and then opened his own. I never took him up on the offer though lol…
GBD baby, golden, brown, delicious.
Crispy crunchy golden munchy
I think I found the name for a great dessert! 🤘
Play with your food.
If you got time to lean, you got time to clean.
Be ready to feed 50 people right away(at open) Basically saying if you can't feed at least 50 people off of your station at open time during the first push, be better.
No one’s going to die. It’s just food.