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Sometimes working in a kitchen can have a massive payback. Being in Australia it's winter and the Seville Oranges are in season which is good as I want to make some batches of marmalade and play with flavours. Unfortunately they are available in shops over here because you can't eat them which equals worthless fruit. Thankfully all the fruit and veg at work comes directly from the fruit markets which means I'll be able to crank out a batch of marmalade on Thursday hopefully
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Aug 13, 2013 15:34
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| # ? May 10, 2024 02:37 |
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I've decided to go into the industry. After volunteering at the food bank's kitchen for a couple months the head chef decided that he couldn't tolerate me anymore and is helping me get a job as a dishwasher in a good restaurant. I have accepted that the next few months/decades of my life are going to be like this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH6arvgbYUw But, I want to cook and this is where I'm going to start. Any advice? Dryer Lint fucked around with this message at 22:56 on Aug 13, 2013 |
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Aug 13, 2013 22:53
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gyrobot posted:How do you feel about the Berserker work ethic in the kitchen, the guy or girl who works best when angry or stressed out who can easily and effortlessly wash dishes or plate well but on the other hand is as sociable as an angry shark who just smelled blood. I'm ALL FOR IT
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Aug 14, 2013 02:09
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Dryer Lint posted:I've decided to go into the industry. After volunteering at the food bank's kitchen for a couple months the head chef decided that he couldn't tolerate me anymore and is helping me get a job as a dishwasher in a good restaurant. I have accepted that the next few months/decades of my life are going to be like this. "this" is not where you are going to start. If you are lucky, in five years you will work for a chef who cares enough about the plates that go out of her kitchen that she'll yell at you like that. Most likely, you'll end up trying to "up the standards" at a failing gastropub who buys half their poo poo from Sysco and takes shortcuts on the other half. Get out while you can still finish your degree.
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Aug 14, 2013 03:29
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Dryer Lint posted:I've decided to go into the industry. After volunteering at the food bank's kitchen for a couple months the head chef decided that he couldn't tolerate me anymore and is helping me get a job as a dishwasher in a good restaurant. I have accepted that the next few months/decades of my life are going to be like this. Advice? Turn around now and go back to literally any other industry. I don't care if it's stuffing mice up your rear end for $5 a time, it'll pay better and hurt you less. Seriously, if you have other prospects, pursue them instead and have fun cooking on the side.
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Aug 14, 2013 04:59
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Wroughtirony posted:"this" is not where you are going to start. If you are lucky, in five years you will work for a chef who cares enough about the plates that go out of her kitchen that she'll yell at you like that. Most likely, you'll end up trying to "up the standards" at a failing gastropub who buys half their poo poo from Sysco and takes shortcuts on the other half. Get out while you can still finish your degree. I started working for James Beard award winning chef, and I work at a reasonable high-end hotel now. It's not impossible, but if you don't know your basics, then yeah, you'll probably start at some shithole. If you really want to get into this industry(don't), start in a hotel. You'll get some decent training, lots more leniency, and decent pay.
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Aug 14, 2013 05:11
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Wroughtirony posted:80% of the morning is dead. Yay! I can get some work done!  My store does this. The place is halfway between McDonalds and Legitimate Bakery in attitude, in that it has a good deal more respect to it than a fast food sweatshop, but is still pretty much mass producing food. And of course, we have an assload of Medium sized gloves from when we opened because I guess we expected a lot of small-ish girls rather than the number of manbeast bakers we got. The large gloves weren't too bad, though not particularly amazing, they went on and came off easy and didn't mutilate your hands because of all the powder. The mediums, on the other hand, apparently get the same amount of powder in a smaller glove. So much that it puts a thin layer of dust on your hands when you take them off, will certainly mess our black t-shirts, and generally cause problems.And of course, I remember around when we opened our previous regional director telling the new regional manager, "We use powdered gloves because when they wipe their hands on their clothes, it looks like flour marks."  So glad he is no longer my superior and I only have to interact with him when he visits our other restaurant.My performance review is tomorrow, so I'll know if I'm going to get a raise, a 'Good job Warmachine,' or a swift kick in the pants. Either way, I know there is another bakery in town looking for help...
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Aug 14, 2013 06:43
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Wroughtirony posted:"this" is not where you are going to start. If you are lucky, in five years you will work for a chef who cares enough about the plates that go out of her kitchen that she'll yell at you like that. Most likely, you'll end up trying to "up the standards" at a failing gastropub who buys half their poo poo from Sysco and takes shortcuts on the other half. Get out while you can still finish your degree. Too late. I did a shadow and got hired. I was the third person in a three person kitchen which tonight meant dishwashing 50% of the time and peeling apples 50% of the time. Everything that went out of the kitchen had been made from scratch that day or the previous two days. The entire menu is seasonal except for the chocolate cakes and CREAM BROOLS. The sous yelled at me once because I didn't get her skillet back to her quickly enough. My hands smell like trout and my finger is burnt. Yeah this is really hard loving work and I'll probably throw up my hands and go for an economics degree in six months but I'll be able peel vegetables quicker than 99% of people.
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Aug 14, 2013 08:00
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Dryer Lint posted:Too late. I give you 7 months still you start showing up high to work, 4 months until you're addicted to some form of amphetamine. Enjoy your ability to peel potatoes.
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Aug 14, 2013 10:23
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Tweek posted:I give you 7 months still you start showing up high to work, 4 months until you're addicted to some form of amphetamine. I'm just happy that at least one person believes in me.
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Aug 14, 2013 10:29
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Warmachine posted:
Why not buy unpowered gloves? I couldn't stand the powered ones when I was a scientist.
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Aug 14, 2013 11:14
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I've seen this behavior before, but one of the other cooks recently stopped cleaning his own station so he can dick around. Who cleans it? Why the new prepp cook of course!
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Aug 14, 2013 11:20
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Tweek posted:I give you 7 months still you start showing up high to work, 4 months until you're addicted to some form of amphetamine. the tender loving care is why I continue to lurk this thread
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Aug 14, 2013 12:16
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rasser posted:the tender loving care is why I continue to lurk this thread Same here, and to motivate me to get through the massive amounts of studying I need to do to never work in a kitchen again. Gotta get that health insurance.
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Aug 14, 2013 12:39
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Skinny King Pimp posted:Same here, and to motivate me to get through the massive amounts of studying I need to do to never work in a kitchen again. Gotta get that health insurance. Protip: marry someone who works for the government. 
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Aug 14, 2013 13:42
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Skinny King Pimp posted:Same here, and to motivate me to get through the massive amounts of studying I need to do to never work in a kitchen again. Gotta get that health insurance. Remember that time when you loved your chef and your kitchen and posted that all the time?
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Aug 14, 2013 15:34
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Dinner for 120 people in Philly - first course: striped bass crudo (not shown) and heirloom tomato salad with uni, watermelon, and cucumber. Total tweezer fest.
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Aug 15, 2013 06:23
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I now have cable tv for the first time in years, so out if curiosity I throw on the food channel. The second thing I see is a loving Sysco commercial. Why in the poo poo does Sysco need commercials. Why are there Sysco commercials on a goddam tv station. I don't even what the gently caress.
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Aug 15, 2013 06:57
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Naelyan posted:I now have cable tv for the first time in years, so out if curiosity I throw on the food channel. The second thing I see is a loving Sysco commercial. Why in the poo poo does Sysco need commercials. Why are there Sysco commercials on a goddam tv station. I don't even what the gently caress. I'm pretty sure that you can walk into places like GFS and buy stuff from vendors like Sysco. I wouldn't be surprised if they also had stuff for retail sale at places like Sam's Club and Costco.
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Aug 15, 2013 08:45
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Turkeybone posted:Remember that time when you loved your chef and your kitchen and posted that all the time? Yeah and then remember the time when my only sort of controlled but untreated mental illness put me in the hospital twice in two months? I still love the chefs I worked under (the one who gave me my first job has a pilot on the Cooking Channel next Monday, which is cool), I just underestimated the stress since the cafe I worked in before I moved was really busy for lunch but overall really chill and had a very good staff. Oh well, it's all good, and it got me back into the sciences like I always wanted to do. I do really miss doing the all day marathon of putting on a 6-8 course dinner with pairings, I just don't miss actual service. Oh, and Spilzwarf, that is a terrible idea. My brother and mom both work for the gov't and it is an absolute shitshow with all the budget bullshit going on. Brother got an effective 20% pay cut a few months ago (what's up furlough) and both of them have spent weeks hoping that budgets get approved so that they can go to work the next Monday.
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Aug 15, 2013 14:29
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Here's a picture with more plates and a couple of cool dudes. That's the striped bass crudo with rice puffs and plum, then there's a bunch beef tendon chips in the back, then all blurry to the right is a huge set of liver mousse plates. Not seen: a guy sweating his rear end off attempting to slice 28 plates of country ham on a slicer the size of a tea saucer.
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Aug 15, 2013 14:35
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Your tables seem so low. Apparently I'm doing some kind of catering convention tonight, so I've got to make 250 crab tostadas when I get in later today.
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Aug 15, 2013 15:03
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Man, last night was a real poo poo show. We had two really big parties come in (like 36 and 42 people roughly) and it seemed like the guys on the hot line just fell apart. Our head chef was not having a good day yesterday. At one point, he came over to my station with three microwave plate things and threw them into the microwave. I'm not exactly sure what they were for (I think it may have been some request for something we don't serve) but he was not happy with having to do it. The one bright spot was that our station (the pantry and raw bar)held up pretty well. Although I did get a bit spun around towards the end of the night when the second large party wanted their desserts and I had to scramble a bit. But otherwise, it went pretty well.
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Aug 15, 2013 15:21
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They were probably kosher meals. We have them on hand for banquets. If a group notifies us at least a day in advance, we can get a meal made by a kosher kitchen. Usually we don't and we have to give them SYSCO's finest frozen kosher meals.
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Aug 15, 2013 16:25
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Chef De Cuisinart posted:Your tables seem so low. Those aren't prep tables, they're banquet tables (I think) that are situated in the back of the restaurant we were in. We were visiting a restaurant in Philadelphia as part of a late night dinner series (I think that photo was taken around midnight) and because we were dropping a five course on a sectioned dining room of 120 all at once we had to find whatever space we could plate on and go from there. The service kitchen in that moment was the staging ground for pork bun mania.
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Aug 15, 2013 16:28
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BEEF TENDON CHIPS? 
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Aug 15, 2013 17:12
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Turkeybone posted:BEEF TENDON CHIPS? Also my thought.
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Aug 15, 2013 17:51
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Chef De Cuisinart posted:They were probably kosher meals. We have them on hand for banquets. If a group notifies us at least a day in advance, we can get a meal made by a kosher kitchen. Usually we don't and we have to give them SYSCO's finest frozen kosher meals. You know what, I think you're right. Later in the night, I overheard one of the waiters mention that "the kosher table" had left.
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Aug 15, 2013 19:23
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drgitlin posted:Why not buy unpowered gloves? I couldn't stand the powered ones when I was a scientist. I'd love powered gloves.  Unfortunately it isn't my choice. I'm only a lead, not a manager. Yet. I bitch about the type of pan spray we use too, but it doesn't change because it's cheaper to use the GFS soybean based spray than more expensive canola based spray that also doesn't gunk up the pans. The awful part is we only use it to tack down parchment paper, but as long as you have a modicum of intelligence and dexterity, you can easily get anything we make off the paper even if the pan wasn't sprayed, without making a mess of things. On the other hand, I just got a rather substantial raise, so they've persuaded me to not go to the more renowned dessert place in town looking for work. I can stomach some stupid calls out of corporate for the time being. Number one of which being a standardized music station for our stores. Since our kitchen isn't partitioned off by double doors or anything like that, it's pretty impossible to play our own music in the back while the customers get the brand approved music up front. Which includes such gems as Justin Bieber's "Baby" 
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Aug 15, 2013 19:40
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Oh wow I managed to misspell that not once but both times 
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Aug 15, 2013 23:20
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No seriously come back in here and talk about beef tendon chips. How do they taste? What's the method? Give me some now!
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Aug 16, 2013 00:29
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drgitlin posted:Oh wow I managed to misspell that not once but both times Sounds like your subconscious really hates Xenos and heretics. 
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Aug 16, 2013 00:36
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Turkeybone posted:No seriously come back in here and talk about beef tendon chips. How do they taste? What's the method? Give me some now! They're braised, picked, pressed, cooled, sliced, dehydrated, and fried. It's like a chiccharon with a very mild beef flavor. We served them.with pastrami spice that night.
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Aug 16, 2013 04:37
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 This is where the magic happens. A small amount of magic.
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Aug 16, 2013 11:50
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So, my 60 day review for my new job is on Monday and unless I show up drunk and stab somebody I'm guaranteed a raise. I've taken over as the Garde Manger and after service last night the chef mentioned the strong possibly of offering me a salaried position during my review. The rub being that I'd have to quit my other, formerly full time kitchen job. I stayed on part time to open a day or two a week since I like most of the staff and getting half off at the bar never hurts. But I'm more than okay with putting in my notice. I'm just not sure what a good baseline would be for working on salary, since I'd be putting in on average 65 hours a week. I live in PA, and was wondering if I'd be making a mistake going on salary depending on their offer and what are the substantial differences between working on salary versus hourly?
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Aug 16, 2013 18:29
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Morbid Fiesta posted:So, my 60 day review for my new job is on Monday and unless I show up drunk and stab somebody I'm guaranteed a raise. I've taken over as the Garde Manger and after service last night the chef mentioned the strong possibly of offering me a salaried position during my review. Take what you'll be making after the raise and calculate how much you'll make per pay period at 65 hours a week. Turn that amount into an annual amount and ask for more than whatever that amount is. Other contributing factors would be if you get extra PTO or benefits for being a salaried employee instead of a hourly dude.
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Aug 16, 2013 20:17
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Morbid Fiesta posted:So, my 60 day review for my new job is on Monday and unless I show up drunk and stab somebody I'm guaranteed a raise. I've taken over as the Garde Manger and after service last night the chef mentioned the strong possibly of offering me a salaried position during my review. My new position is salaried. I was hired for an assistant manager job for XX,000/year, but on my fourth day was chosen to be a general manager at another restaurant in the same group. No increase in salary until 90 day review. I was told the position was 50-55 hours/week with two consistent, contiguous days off. I work 6 days a week, ~70 hours. When I finally broke down and did the math, I'm making less per hour than our hostess. I wasn't entirely surprised by this. The lowest salaried person on the totem pole always gets boned. ALWAYS. I have never met anyone in the restaurant business who did not take a (hourly) pay cut when they moved to management. Don't go on salary unless you are actually working as a manager. In other "Friends Don't Let Friends" news, never buy patent leather work shoes. Mine cracked across the top yesterday: 
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Aug 17, 2013 02:49
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Wroughtirony posted:In other "Friends Don't Let Friends" news, never buy patent leather work shoes. Mine cracked across the top yesterday: I bought a relatively cheap but comfortable pair of Dr. Scholles brand shoes for my gig, figuring they'd at least last the year, then I could buy another pair. They'd disintegrated before the six month mark. Kitchen work is hell on your shoes. Anyone have any recommendations for a new, longer lasting pair of men's work shoes?
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Aug 17, 2013 16:24
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I've been rocking a pair of Red Wings steeltoe boots since late last year, and they're bulletproof for bar work. Probably wouldn't fly on the floor, but they're a real life saver when you work without mats.
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Aug 17, 2013 16:39
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| # ? May 10, 2024 02:37 |
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Man, I wish I found this thread two years ago. I did 9 months as a sous in all but name/pay, doing the whole 70 hour weeks, 7 days a week in a lovely chain kitchen for minimum wage. The reason I left? Got a immuno-deficiency related cancer. Have spent the last year and a half healing and working an office job. While I do miss cooking, and the adrenaline, and busting my rear end, no way in gently caress could I go back to it. So, all of you in this field, I salute you. If I ever meet any of you, drinks on me.
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Aug 17, 2013 17:46
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