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Clochette posted:Thanks guys, you've saved my bacon. but we're vegetarians
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Mar 24, 2014 02:01
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The Saurus posted:How many British chefs are actually well known in the United States? I'm guessing Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver, maybe Heston Blumenthal at a push.
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Mar 24, 2014 02:12
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No Wave posted:You appear to be having something like a mid-life crisis. This is a job - nobody cares where you're from. If you work as a cook, you are getting paid to perform a task in the same manner that it has been performed before thousands of times. I don't understand what other British chefs have to do with anything. Liquid Communism saying unless you've been trained by a chef that people have heard of, they aren't going to hire you as anything above a line cook. Isn't that why kitchens usually have you come in for a day and show them what you can do? I'm assuming there's still a distinction between a chef de partie and a line cook in the US? I hope I'm not at the middle of my life yet.
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Mar 24, 2014 02:23
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The Saurus posted:Liquid Communism saying unless you've been trained by a chef that people have heard of, they aren't going to hire you as anything above a line cook. Isn't that why kitchens usually have you come in for a day and show them what you can do? I'm assuming there's still a distinction between a chef de partie and a line cook in the US? Titles vary pretty wildly across companies/institutions, but CdPs are generally the head line cook for the section, or just a veteran line cook. While I'm not from NYC and have no personal experience there, from what I have learned from this thread and from people I know in real life that have, if you're moving there from Europe and don't have michelin star experience, you're going to be starting out as a line cook. Of course there are stages and trial periods to see what you can do, but most chefs don't waste time doing those with someone who doesn't have a resume behind them already.
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Mar 24, 2014 02:38
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I'm already working as a CdP (although it's a small kitchen so I have to cover multiple stations, and only have a cook under me on busy days), and have done time as a line cook, short order cook and prep cook in the past. It's not an exceptionally strong resume, but I'm definitely not jumping in with 0 experience and some rose-tinted image of what working in a kitchen is. Anyway, don't think I'm ignoring your advices. Combining my chemistry qualifications with my kitchen experience to look for work in R&D or corporate is a great idea and one that I'll definitely look into. The Saurus fucked around with this message at 02:54 on Mar 24, 2014 |
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Mar 24, 2014 02:50
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Friend of mine just posted this on FB: I hereby resign as the production kitchen manager for Amelie’s French Bakery effective immediately. This doesn't seem that out of the ordinary for a small food business, according to what I've heard in this thread. I admire that this guy took a stand but at the same time, isn't this going to poison his chances of working anywhere else?
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Mar 24, 2014 14:08
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Not permanently, no. Posting it on Facebook was dumb as a box of rocks, but he doesn't have to mention why he left when interviewing anywhere else, beyond maybe 'I disagreed with the company's policies' if pressed. He should have filed that wage and labor complaint without quitting, though, as a retaliatory firing is a quick route to paid unemployment while finding a new gig.
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Mar 24, 2014 15:31
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The Saurus posted:Liquid Communism saying unless you've been trained by a chef that people have heard of, they aren't going to hire you as anything above a line cook. Isn't that why kitchens usually have you come in for a day and show them what you can do? I'm assuming there's still a distinction between a chef de partie and a line cook in the US? Chef de Partie is essentially the same thing as a line cook or station cook, and the specifics of how responsibilities are delegated through the kitchen varies from place to place. Anyone interested in the possibility of working in NYC should probably just take some trails and check it out. You can expect to take home between 350 (very low) to 700 (pretty high) a week if you are reasonably competent, and rent will probably be 6-900 a month. I personally love cooking in New York, and think the level of talent is higher than I have ever experienced. After four years here I feel my skill level has increased exponentially.
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Mar 25, 2014 05:41
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Over a lovely glass of spiced rum, let me just relate to the only people who'd understand how PISSED I get at lovely stupid lazy worthless college kiddy backwaiters who only think with their dick and their next bottle of booze, and don't do any loving thing useful during a lovely Monday shift, such as taking a pot of rice, being asked to quickly hand it to the dishwasher to wash it out so it can be filled with fresh rice, having it be brought BACK, told 'the dishwasher wasn't there', and just wanting to throttle the little gently caress for being so lazy he couldn't take literally 20 seconds to hose it out himself. Useless stupid motherfuckers, and the next time you tell a black woman "Sorry sometimes I say 'friend of the family' to my friends in jest hope that's ok" I hope a loving hot pot of grease slips and hoses down your dick. Anyways. Had an anime convention this weekend. That was interesting to serve. They made for some very polite tables.
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Mar 25, 2014 06:02
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Hey ya'll so I recently moved up from cook to assistant kitchen manager at the restaurant where I work and I'm trying to help my chef out with scheduling. Does anyone have any suggestions for, preferably free, scheduling software? Something that would allow me to input the days people need off or want to work etc. and then generate possible schedules. We've had a lot of crazy poo poo go down lately including our bookkeeper getting arrested for embezzling $180,000 from the restaurant over the last 4 years. We could have had a bigger walk in... and a better meat slicer... and a new line fridge... so long ago... maybe I could have even gotten a raise!? 
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Mar 26, 2014 06:10
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Lynxxie posted:Hey ya'll so I recently moved up from cook to assistant kitchen manager at the restaurant where I work and I'm trying to help my chef out with scheduling. How many people do you have working for you? If it's anything less than 20, you're really better off just printing out a blank schedule you made in excel and pencilling poo poo in until it works. I don't know of any free software, the only stuff I've ever used has been connected to my POS systems and those aren't cheap. I've done scheduling everywhere from small 5-person kitchens to call centers with hundreds of employees, and a blank piece of paper with some squares on it is still my favourite way to figure schedules out. edit: sorry about the douchebag bookkeeper, that suuuuucks.
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Mar 26, 2014 08:15
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Mar 26, 2014 10:21
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holy poo poo $180K maybe it's also that I just woke up but I'm so angry/aghast at that I can't unclench my jaw.
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Mar 26, 2014 11:19
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Lynxxie posted:Hey ya'll so I recently moved up from cook to assistant kitchen manager at the restaurant where I work and I'm trying to help my chef out with scheduling. Just suck it up and pay the ~$30 for schedulefly. They use it at Nomad and my friend there loves it; very easy for people to switch shifts on their mobile phones, that kind of poo poo. $30 a month, you can swing that for the convenience. Theres a free trial.
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Mar 26, 2014 13:06
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I might soon be leaving the dishpit to prep work. Jesus gently caress, anything is better than spraying myself in the face with hot/gross water everyday. Goddamn. Also, I advise against stuffing your fingers into a cheese grater. gently caress my finger hurts.
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Mar 28, 2014 02:08
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The General posted:I might soon be leaving the dishpit to prep work. Jesus gently caress, anything is better than spraying myself in the face with hot/gross water everyday. Goddamn. Allow me to impart the age old wisdom passed down to me by my mentor on the occasion of my first kitchen promotion: DONT gently caress UP! (congrats on your new gig)
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Mar 28, 2014 03:21
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Wroughtirony posted:Allow me to impart the age old wisdom passed down to me by my mentor on the occasion of my first kitchen promotion: If anyone is qualified to give this kind of advice, it's Wrought.
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Mar 28, 2014 07:29
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Wroughtirony posted:Allow me to impart the age old wisdom passed down to me by my mentor on the occasion of my first kitchen promotion: Wait what? OH GODDAMMIT IVE BEEN DOING IT WRONG FOR YEARS (congrats general! Just remember: for every time you're tasked to mince 50 pounds of onions, you'll get a time to chiffonade a flat of basil. Shortly before you'll be tasked to mince another 100 pounds of onions. Time is a wheel, watch True Detective for more info. That bump from pit to prep is a good'un, no doubt.)
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Mar 28, 2014 20:06
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Two rules for any kitchen: Make it nice. Make it happen.
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Mar 28, 2014 20:32
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When I was a prep chef, I found I really appreciated the utterly blase criticism I got. It was relentless, impersonal, and constructive. "Ok the way you hold a knife to cut sucks, stop that, here's how to do it." But what really helped was the rare moment of "Ok good your cutting has improved, keep it up." -- that really helped. So yeah, good luck, don't gently caress up, but also try not to mutilate yourself. They don't like blood in the greens, even if over drinks they'll agree that the kitchen should just be soaked in blood, all the time.
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Mar 28, 2014 22:29
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You're going to gently caress up. A lot. When you do, own up to it, make note of what went wrong, and try not to do it again. You'll probably gently caress up again, but not as bad. Repeat until you're eventually a chef.
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Mar 28, 2014 22:52
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Chef De Cuisinart posted:You're going to gently caress up. A lot. When you do, own up to it, make note of what went wrong, and try not to do it again. You'll probably gently caress up again, but not as bad. Repeat until you're eventually a chef. This, but with everything in the business.
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Mar 29, 2014 19:37
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Vegetable Melange posted:This, but with your liver. Except you will gently caress it up repeatedly
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Mar 29, 2014 20:27
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Vegetable Melange posted:This, but with everything in the business. Restaurant Industry: You will gently caress up. Forever. No, there is no succeeding. You will never succeed. You will just gently caress up less and less and less until an event horizon is reached where your gently caress Up is a mere 0.000001%. But there will never be success.
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Mar 29, 2014 20:30
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Black August posted:Restaurant Industry: You will gently caress up. Forever. No, there is no succeeding. You will never succeed. You will just gently caress up less and less and less until an event horizon is reached where your gently caress Up is a mere 0.000001%. I disagree. You never stop loving up, or even majorly reduce the commonality of fuckups. The true art of cooking is in learning how to plan for fuckups, cope with fuckups, work with fuckups, and never let the clientele notice anything hosed up at all.
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Mar 29, 2014 23:18
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Liquid Communism posted:I disagree. You never stop loving up, or even majorly reduce the commonality of fuckups. The true art of cooking is in learning how to plan for fuckups, cope with fuckups, work with fuckups, and never let the clientele notice anything hosed up at all. I am only able to parse this as " learning how to plan for co-workers, cope with co-workers, work with co-workers, and never let the clientele notice how much fun/rage the kitchen is having."
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Mar 29, 2014 23:39
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So apparently someone caught on that I had asked for and then gotten trained in 4 different departments and was picking up shifts in all of them to work 16-18 hour days a few times a week. Didn't get in trouble actually. Got dinner bought for me and told to expect to actually be scheduled this much automatically instead of having to hunt down shifts myself. This is so weird. Since I was hired at the start of March I've had 15+ hours of overtime every week. Are hotels really this different with how they handle labor costs?
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Mar 30, 2014 00:51
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Fuzzy Pipe Wrench posted:So apparently someone caught on that I had asked for and then gotten trained in 4 different departments and was picking up shifts in all of them to work 16-18 hour days a few times a week. Didn't get in trouble actually. Got dinner bought for me and told to expect to actually be scheduled this much automatically instead of having to hunt down shifts myself. This is so weird. Since I was hired at the start of March I've had 15+ hours of overtime every week. Are hotels really this different with how they handle labor costs? Yeah, hotels generally give you the overtime because they can easily afford it, and would rather have higher skilled work than paying a bunch of schleppers 10/hr to work 30-35/wk.
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Mar 30, 2014 02:08
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Chef De Cuisinart posted:Yeah, hotels generally give you the overtime because they can easily afford it, and would rather have higher skilled work than paying a bunch of schleppers 10/hr to work 30-35/wk. Except where I work. I'm lucky if I get 15 hrs of OT a year, and we keep hiring culinary students who know ~everything~ but can't make a goddamn club sandwich. I need to get out of this place.
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Mar 30, 2014 02:42
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Dimloep posted:Except where I work. I'm lucky if I get 15 hrs of OT a year, and we keep hiring culinary students who know ~everything~ but can't make a goddamn club sandwich. My hotel is pretty lovely too. Some weeks I can't even get 40 hours and other people will get OT, complete bullshit. If the benefits weren't so goddamn good, I would've left so long ago.
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Mar 30, 2014 07:34
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After a period away to gently caress around in grad school, I'm back in the industry. Worked a 194-cover night today; it was my fourth shift on the line (and not pantry). Oof, hurts so good. French Quarter restaurants don't gently caress around.
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Mar 30, 2014 07:38
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sup guys? how is everyone? wrought what are you currently up to? head chef? foh manager? pilot for a jet liner? also this; http://hypebeast.com/2014/3/chuck-hughes-x-off-the-hook-x-vans-vault-2014-spring-black-crab-pack slimskinny fucked around with this message at 08:47 on Mar 30, 2014 |
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Mar 30, 2014 08:42
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slimskinny posted:sup guys? how is everyone? wrought what are you currently up to? head chef? foh manager? pilot for a jet liner? I turned down the pilot gig because I didn't want to quit drinking. Really, I had a pretty major nervous breakdown and quit my GM job last September. Now I'm working retail part time (doctor's orders- no restaurants and no more than 30 hours a week) and kind of actually enjoying my life. I have basically zero responsibility at work, my job is easy, nobody is sexually harassing me and when I leave I don't think about work at all. I have time to cook. Long term plan is to save up and go back to school to be an x-ray tech, which is another low-stress job that can be done part time and pays way more than retail. I do miss restaurants and I might be tempted to go back if I could find someplace super stable and relatively bullshit-free, but that's not likely. I'm enjoying sanity way too much at this point.
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Mar 30, 2014 14:26
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Wroughtirony posted:I turned down the pilot gig because I didn't want to quit drinking. Two things to note here. A: I actually did follow the career path of kitchen slave to pilot. (Which, surprisingly, has rendered me an almost teetotaler (I have 1 cocktail a week). B. WROUGHT HAS A NEW JOB  NEW THREAD TIME!(But seriously Wrought, glad to hear everything is working out well for you. Congrats!)
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Mar 30, 2014 14:37
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Tender Child Loins posted:After a period away to gently caress around in grad school, I'm back in the industry. Worked a 194-cover night today; it was my fourth shift on the line (and not pantry). Oof, hurts so good. French Quarter restaurants don't gently caress around. Hey at least you get to kick it with an Irish Coffee after work at the Erin Rose.
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Mar 30, 2014 17:24
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infiniteguest posted:... You can expect to take home between 350 (very low) to 700 (pretty high) a week if you are reasonably competent, and rent will probably be 6-900 a month. ... I had no idea NY salaries were this low for linecooks / cdpt's. I run a one man party-catering and private/personal chef show in a small (100k pop) European city and I'm on at least 2x that in bad months (Aug-Nov). Do you guys ever consider / have time for / are allowed to work on the side as a personal/private chef via places like Kitchit, Kitchensurfing or god forbid the USPCA?
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Mar 31, 2014 14:47
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'Free time?' I do not understand this thing you speak of. Is it like sleep?
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Apr 1, 2014 02:03
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Liquid Communism posted:'Free time?' I do not understand this thing you speak of. Is it like sleep? I'm pretty sure free time is one of those things that fantasy creatures of the forest have. It's certainly not something I've run into.
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Apr 1, 2014 06:16
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I get a decent amount of free time these days. Of course the trade off is no money. So I go to work anyways to get my hustle stronger.
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Apr 1, 2014 07:06
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The knives are coming. I'm a server finally, or at least going through the formality of training and all that, and have noticed how many old servers are suddenly not here anymore. Apparently not being punctual will be severely punished, and the phrase 'new regime' was in fact unironically used. But suddenly I'm not too shocked when I found out today that we are THE worst performing restaurant in the entire chain. Ouch. Thank God I can at least be friends with the current head-chef-in-training. She's awesome, and doesn't ask belligerent and creepy questions like the others on the line like to.
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Apr 1, 2014 08:32
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