|
Simoom posted:gently caress it if being sick isn't a crime nowadays and the punishment be discontinuation of further paycheques from that establishment! An old chef brings up full-time employment options every now and again though and I know I should stay in school, but I am a vain man and after 7 years of food service keeping me relatively in check, I've gained 20 pounds in like no time at all. I'm extremely dumb and all I have is a good body and a winning smile and I don't want to lose that! But I no longer have the workouts of running around an extremely hot kitchen and even in the short dish pit stint I felt my body become soft! Is this a normal part of leaving the industry? You can't get away with eating all the poo poo you ate while you were in the industry now that you're not doing the work to burn it off. Regulate your diet and the weight gain will at least stop if not reverse.
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2014 12:15
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 23:00 |
|
|
Senior Scarybagels posted:So I hate to come in, ignorant and all, but I gotta question, I have always wanted to become a professional baker, not a pastry chef, but an actual honest to goodness baker, what would be a good career path for that and recommendations on how to get started in that line of business? Shooting Blanks posted:I hope you like being poor. IIRC Liquid Communism was a baker for awhile, but the short version is that margins on baked goods are razor thin. Two and a half years, and yeah, absurdly thin. There is no money in baking unless you're doing a poo poo ton of it or doing custom-order cakes and sucking enough dick to get a TV deal. Honest advice, best way to get into the baking biz if you're dumb enough to want to deal with always being on graveyard or uber-early shift and never, ever, ever, ever making more than maybe $10 an hour is to find a local bakery that's looking for help be up front with them about your experience. If you've got any food experience at all you'll understand the sanitation measures, and that's half of being a good baker. The other half is actually baking, and nothing teaches that but doing it. You'll eventually develop a base cunning and drug-cook level of amateur chemistry in the process. As far as being worse than IT... let's just say that I went back to IT from the bakery. You are like bizzarro me. I tripled my hourly wage. For less work. If you're working a server room for that kind of money, and have any kind of experience or certification, laugh at them and start shopping your resume around. I'm a datacenter technician right now making well over 40k a year starting to run cable and do break/fix, and it is very much an entry level position. Some of my coworkers may be clinically retarded. Edit : I know I sound bitter, but I loved the stuff I was doing in the bakery. It was just in no way shape or form worth all the bullshit, alcoholism, depression, and constant poverty that came from being in the industry. I worked 6-7 overnights a week for those two and a half years, took a grand total of five days of time off, and couldn't have called in sick unless I was literally dying in the hospital because there was noone else. We went through four people in the last year I was there trying to replace me on overnights so I could switch to day side and do some cake work for a change of pace, none of them panned out. Chef hadn't taken home a paycheck in five years. The bakery closed two months after I left and is reopening as retail high-end cakes and individual desserts only, completely dumping all the wholesale bread/muffin/pastry business I baked for because there's not enough money in it to pay Chef now that his divorce is final and he has to actually take a wage. Liquid Communism fucked around with this message at 18:02 on Nov 10, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2014 17:54
|
|
|
Liquid Communism posted:Two and a half years, and yeah, absurdly thin. There is no money in baking unless you're doing a poo poo ton of it or doing custom-order cakes and sucking enough dick to get a TV deal. I don't mind doing cakes and desserts, I dunno, I just never really got into IT, I just was sort of pressured into it by families and friends. But I'll see, I'll think this through a little more.
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2014 18:10
|
|
|
It's not a matter of 'don't mind', it's a matter of are you good enough at it to produce high-quality confectionery art. That's what people will pay for. That's just buttercream. Nothing fancy, no fondant.  These are more representative of what I spent my time doing, though. Fruit tartlets. Bonus picture of my shoe in the lower right. Liquid Communism fucked around with this message at 18:58 on Nov 10, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2014 18:53
|
|
|
Liquid Communism posted:It's not a matter of 'don't mind', it's a matter of are you good enough at it to produce high-quality confectionery art. That's what people will pay for. I wanna eat that cake... Wanna eat it really bad.
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2014 18:57
|
|
|
Errant Gin Monks posted:I wanna eat that cake... Wanna eat it really bad. It was red velvet.   Breakfast production. The tiny part of my wholesale production the bakery kept to retail out. Also some truffles, which my secret santee from last year might recall... 
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2014 18:59
|
|
|
Liquid Communism posted:It's not a matter of 'don't mind', it's a matter of are you good enough at it to produce high-quality confectionery art. That's what people will pay for. Well... When I said don't mind, I was more saying that doing cakes like that would be more appealing in my eyes. But like I said, I will give this some more thought. Edit: Though that cake kicks rear end.
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2014 20:14
|
|
|
Shooting Blanks posted:So you're willing to put up with bitchy customers during worse hours, for less money with the same annoying complaints? Yes. Mostly because I own it and I can make money for myself not for someone else. I don't recommend anyone ever quit their job making a bunch of money to wait tables or cook in a kitchen unless you own said kitchen.
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2014 22:03
|
|
|
Liquid Communism posted:
Until you can make buttercream look like fondant, you haven't achieved mastery of frosting cakes. That cake is actually pretty amateur level unless the issues with smoothness are intentional, though of course the design is quite nice.
|
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2014 05:03
|
|
|
baquerd posted:Until you can make buttercream look like fondant, you haven't achieved mastery of frosting cakes. That cake is actually pretty amateur level unless the issues with smoothness are intentional, though of course the design is quite nice. Eat a bag of dicks.
|
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2014 05:41
|
|
|
baquerd posted:Don't take advice from me, because I'm an idiot.
|
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2014 06:32
|
|
Errant Gin Monks posted:Eat a bag of dicks. He'll only do it if they are impeccably frosted and decorated.
|
|
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2014 06:41
|
|
|
AVeryLargeRadish posted:He'll only do it if they are impeccably frosted and decorated. He won't eat them unless the butter creme is smooth like fondant, he doesn't eat just any amateur dick.
|
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2014 06:42
|
|
|
Here, just watch this random woman pull off ultra-smooth buttercream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqvL4zhVbE8
|
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2014 07:26
|
|
|
>wearing rings while decorating a cake >'super smooth' icing you can clearly see the layers of the cake through C'mon, son! Yes, flash photography in a dark room does tend to show every little mark in the buttercream. As I said, I was a baker, not a cake decorator.
|
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2014 09:11
|
|
|
I worked at a bakery for seven years, by the end I was ready to off myself. Actually, I was probably ready to off myself several years before I quit. I'd also like to say that I just got a dishwashing job at a chain place, and make more per hour now than I ever did at the bakery I worked at.
|
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2014 15:19
|
|
|
Anyone in the Midwest having issues with their breadcrumb pos systems today?
|
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2014 20:06
|
|
|
Yay, a transformer blew up before my very eyes when I was going up the street to get some salad fixings (because my boss is a liar who promises he'll buy stuff even after I insist I get it myself) and I got to experience my very first mid-service power outage! Just what you want on the rear end-end of a busy holiday lunch. And I have lamb shanks in the oven nowhere near done, too. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2014 23:38
|
|
|
Just had to throw away a full five gallon bucket of pickles because someone thought it would make a good step ladder.
|
|
#
?
Nov 12, 2014 01:02
|
|
|
Crazy Larry posted:Just had to throw away a full five gallon bucket of pickles because someone thought it would make a good step ladder.
|
|
#
?
Nov 12, 2014 01:26
|
|
|
bowmore posted:Did they break the lid and shower the place in pickle juice? Yes. I take some small satisfaction knowing they have to spend the shift with their foot soaking wet and smelling like pickles.
|
|
#
?
Nov 12, 2014 01:42
|
|
|
Heh, yeah that's what they get.
|
|
#
?
Nov 12, 2014 01:43
|
|
|
Crazy Larry posted:Just had to throw away a full five gallon bucket of pickles because someone thought it would make a good step ladder. I hope they got their foot stuck in the barrel.
|
|
#
?
Nov 12, 2014 01:47
|
|
|
Some lessons have to be learned the hard way. That said, how much does a 5 gallon bucket of pickles even cost? Whole or sliced?
|
|
#
?
Nov 12, 2014 18:24
|
|
|
Shooting Blanks posted:Some lessons have to be learned the hard way. 50-60 dollars
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2014 01:53
|
|
|
Errant Gin Monks posted:50-60 dollars I think Sysco's cheapest are like, 36. Even if you make your own, 25lb of pickling cukes from Segovia or Hardie's is like, ~$35. Add in your vinegar, spices, etc. and a 5gal bucket still costs around $45.
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2014 02:39
|
|
|
So I'm in Seattle and thinking I want to try getting into the hotel side of things and I'd really like to do so in the next couple of months. I'm wondering if you all know if this would be a bad time of year to be trying or if that even matters that much. If I have to I can tough it out through 'til spring where I'm at but I'd rather not.
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2014 21:07
|
|
|
Thoht posted:So I'm in Seattle and thinking I want to try getting into the hotel side of things and I'd really like to do so in the next couple of months. I'm wondering if you all know if this would be a bad time of year to be trying or if that even matters that much. If I have to I can tough it out through 'til spring where I'm at but I'd rather not. Nah, now is a great time. Most hotels I've worked at have an asston of holiday business, although usually more on the banquet side than restaurant side. They were always happy to hire on a extra or two leading up to thanksgiving etc.
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2014 23:11
|
|
|
Thoht posted:So I'm in Seattle and thinking I want to try getting into the hotel side of things and I'd really like to do so in the next couple of months. I'm wondering if you all know if this would be a bad time of year to be trying or if that even matters that much. If I have to I can tough it out through 'til spring where I'm at but I'd rather not. Pretty much 2 or 3 weeks into december is when things start to slow down, at least here in Chicago, with the exception of new years eve of course. If there are positions available it doesn't hurt to apply. Over the last 10 years I've worked for Hilton, Starwood, and currently Hyatt. Out of the 3 Hyatt is definitely the one I've enjoyed working for the most. I can't imagine Seattle having too much of a slow season though.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2014 14:06
|
|
|
The owner of one of the bars I'm working at is (gently) freaking out because apparently our food cost is at 110%, which seems completely absurd to me given how much product we're buying and what we're pushing out. I'm only at this spot part time, and I'm new enough that I'm not close with the numbers, but everything that I've seen makes it seem like a clerical error. The owner spent a week or so running numbers and he's telling me that it's looking fairly right, and this guy has been running bars for over a decade so I'd like to believe that he knows what's up (bonus: I've known him for a while and he's a very ethical, principled dude who's proud of his spot, so I don't think there's any shady poo poo going on there). Shrinkage looks normal, and the owner and KM are both telling me that they cost all the menu items out at around 30%. Some of our component ingredients are fairly pricy wholesale (mostly cheeses and charcuterie), but I honestly feel like we're being smart with utilizing all the product that's coming in. It's a super small operation and the other guys on board are pretty competent, so I'm having a hard time placing where the BOH could be loving this one up. They're having a bookkeeper keep track of the numbers, and I suggested that maybe this person is accidentally factoring in durable goods into food cost but I have no real way of knowing if that's what's going on. This is my first time working in a bar scenario and I'm not doing the paperwork myself, so I'm at a loss. Any suggestions on where I should be looking?
Radio Help fucked around with this message at 15:32 on Nov 15, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2014 15:28
|
|
|
Food cost or overall cost of service? 110% with overhead included would make sense, but unless you're literally giving away food I'm not sure how you make 110% on food cost alone.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2014 16:38
|
|
|
Thoht posted:So I'm in Seattle and thinking I want to try getting into the hotel side of things and I'd really like to do so in the next couple of months. I'm wondering if you all know if this would be a bad time of year to be trying or if that even matters that much. If I have to I can tough it out through 'til spring where I'm at but I'd rather not. Now is a perfect time to jump in! If you make it in time for the holiday rush its a good chance to prove yourself and even if you don't then, generally speaking, big corporations do their "restructuring" shortly after the new year anyway. Radio Help posted:They're having a bookkeeper keep track of the numbers, and I suggested that maybe this person is accidentally factoring in durable goods into food cost but I have no real way of knowing if that's what's going on. This is my first time working in a bar scenario and I'm not doing the paperwork myself, so I'm at a loss. Any suggestions on where I should be looking? Whether it's because they goofed on one of the most vital statistics in a food service business, or because they accurately parsed some really fuckin' critical information that they probably all have written down in one place, a friendly chat with that there bookkeeper is Priority #1A.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2014 20:38
|
|
|
Liquid Communism posted:Food cost or overall cost of service? 110% with overhead included would make sense, but unless you're literally giving away food I'm not sure how you make 110% on food cost alone. Just food cost. Supposedly liquor and all the rest of the overhead is totally where it needs to be. That's why I'm baffled, I've never heard of this poo poo going over 40%. Willie Tomg posted:Whether it's because they goofed on one of the most vital statistics in a food service business, or because they accurately parsed some really fuckin' critical information that they probably all have written down in one place, a friendly chat with that there bookkeeper is Priority #1A. Definitely, I just hope this bookkeeper is an actual bookkeeper, but I've got this weird suspicion that it's just a guy they know who's good at Excel. This place is less than 6 months old at this point. Part of me just wants to say "not my circus" but the KM is a good buddy of mine and I don't want to see him out of a job.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2014 23:02
|
|
|
Radio Help posted:Just food cost. Supposedly liquor and all the rest of the overhead is totally where it needs to be. That's why I'm baffled, I've never heard of this poo poo going over 40%. They are doomed.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2014 10:33
|
|
|
Is everything on the menu $1? The process is pretty easy, find out what an item costs to make and what you sell it for. For instance burgers. $1.50 for 1/2 lbs of ground beef $0.54 for bun $0.20 for cheese $0.35 for bacon $0.15 for mustard, pickle etc Total cost $2.74, so I must charge at least $9.00 to be profitable on that burger and keep food cost under 30% if I was somehow paying 10 loving dollars to make that burger and selling it for 9, one I am retarded and two it's loving impossible to do that and not know.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2014 18:33
|
|
|
Yeah, I can only think they're running some terrible numbers. Adding labor in maybe, or calculating the cost of all the kitchen equipment into each item?
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2014 18:40
|
|
|
Yeah there's no way they are running 110% food cost. However, the fact that they honestly think they are proves that they are doomed.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2014 11:32
|
|
|
Unless he means they did some kind of audit of sum food expenditures and found that it was 110% of gross food sales. This to me would suggest theft and/or waste.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2014 05:40
|
|
|
loving burn it to the ground. Goddamn amateurs don't know how to food cost.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2014 05:41
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 23:00 |
|
|
Tonight was a lovely night at work until the end, when my suggestion to my GM that we should make it a habit to open a bottle from the cellar with the staff each night (so we can sell from the list better) turned into "let's open 4 of our finest Spanish wines and you know what we'll drink them at cost." Apparently in the Bay Area it's the going hipster thing, but Canary Island wines are my favorite.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2014 11:47
|
|