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TheSnowySoviet posted:So after the better part of a decade in middling cafe kitchens, I've got an interview and -- if that goes well -- a stage shift tomorrow for a fancy new place run by a pair of somewhat famous chefs. Here's the catch: when I got the call to come in, the line cut out just after my potential future-boss said "... so I need you here Friday at 3, and..." I called back immediately; it went straight to voicemail. I called again a few days later; again, straight to voicemail. No word on any other details besides the place, date, and time. Soooo I've never done a stage before, but I showed up in half-decent interview clothes with some better kitchen shoes and my knife bag tucked away in a backpack and they didn't ask a single question before saying "here's our PM line cook, follow him around tonight" and throwing me in there. My lack of a culinary degree was noticeable a couple times -- not knowing terminology, mostly -- but I kept a level head and asked questions when I needed to. They had me stay through dinner service, help out with a couple prep tasks for the MUCH nicer sister restaurant next door, and otherwise work as many tickets as I could handle, then stay and clean up... one of the sous chefs was impressed that I knew to pop the knobs off the plancha to clean behind them, apparently. I'll find out if I got the job sometime next week. But they kept me through a 9.5 hour stage through a Friday night... that's a good thing, right?
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Jun 13, 2015 19:22
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beefnchedda posted:Liho Liho Yacht Club is another nice recommendation. Had a really enjoyable meal there last week. Liho is indeed fantastic. I'm so glad they finally opened, I loved the popup. Are you here in SF or were you visiting?
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Jun 13, 2015 21:35
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Last night one of our security guys got fired for letting people in without stamps repeatedly (seriously dude, you had one job) and another FOH had a mini meltdown about her girlfriend being late to pick her up due to being out drinking with her friends. Said mini meltdown included standing out front to scream at her girlfriend's voicemail and punch the air and generally be loud and aggressive-looking, which completely weirded out a bunch of our patrons because she was right in the entryway. Good news is, it was in front of our manager, so at least he's aware. It's okay to feel crazy, folks. It's not okay to act crazy in front of the customers.
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Jun 13, 2015 23:43
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TheSnowySoviet posted:Soooo I've never done a stage before, but I showed up in half-decent interview clothes with some better kitchen shoes and my knife bag tucked away in a backpack and they didn't ask a single question before saying "here's our PM line cook, follow him around tonight" and throwing me in there. My lack of a culinary degree was noticeable a couple times -- not knowing terminology, mostly -- but I kept a level head and asked questions when I needed to. They had me stay through dinner service, help out with a couple prep tasks for the MUCH nicer sister restaurant next door, and otherwise work as many tickets as I could handle, then stay and clean up... one of the sous chefs was impressed that I knew to pop the knobs off the plancha to clean behind them, apparently. What's the position for? Line cook, kitchen helper, station chef? I've been hired by more than one semi-famous chef and I'm a real loving idiot, so honestly I think what most experienced chefs look for is someone enthusiastic and exceptionally impressionable. If you conveyed those two things you'll probably get in. If you did convey those two things, your lack of culinary schooling background will only make them think you are more worthwhile. im not sure how that works but it does. good luck
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Jun 14, 2015 08:08
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Simoom posted:What's the position for? Line cook, kitchen helper, station chef? I've been hired by more than one semi-famous chef and I'm a real loving idiot, so honestly I think what most experienced chefs look for is someone enthusiastic and exceptionally impressionable. If you conveyed those two things you'll probably get in. If you did convey those two things, your lack of culinary schooling background will only make them think you are more worthwhile. im not sure how that works but it does. good luck It works because it means they won't have to untrain the habits your culinary instructors preferred to get the ones that they prefer. If you show someone how to do something your way when they're coming at it cold, they're much more likely to do it that way every time.
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Jun 14, 2015 09:26
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TheSnowySoviet posted:...they kept me through a 9.5 hour stage through a Friday night... that's a good thing, right? This depends entirely on your definition of "a good thing", which you should expect to change in the coming months.
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Jun 14, 2015 13:30
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Lost our sous chef last night to cocaine 
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Jun 14, 2015 21:12
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So I basically got moved from dishwasher to prep in about a month, that was pretty cool. The place I'm at turns into a bottle-service type nightclub after 10:30ish so I'll still help wash glasses and stuff during that time until my shift is over. I got my first taste of how ridiculous some poo poo is in this industry last night. On weekends our kitchen closes at 11:30 so at around 11:15 we're winding down, starting to clean up and getting ready to close up shop. OH WAIT here comes a 14-top at 11:25. The hostess seated them and basically everybody had to stay late because they ordered TONS of food. I made overtime and it was all good but who shows up at a restaurant with 14 people and no reservations 5 minutes before the kitchen closes? Oh yeah they were all Sikhs too, not that it made a difference it just kind of made it even more bizarre since we're kind of a hip downtown/clubbing spot.
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Jun 15, 2015 00:15
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Simoom posted:What's the position for? Line cook, kitchen helper, station chef? I've been hired by more than one semi-famous chef and I'm a real loving idiot, so honestly I think what most experienced chefs look for is someone enthusiastic and exceptionally impressionable. If you conveyed those two things you'll probably get in. If you did convey those two things, your lack of culinary schooling background will only make them think you are more worthwhile. im not sure how that works but it does. good luck Thanks! I'd be a line cook for a diner-type spot, but much better ingredients/standards/presentation. It's somewhat familiar fare, but put out with a much higher quality than any place I've ever worked. I made a few mistakes, but none of them twice (that I noticed), and didn't try to hide anything. When I cocked something up, a sous chef or the exec chef would show me how they wanted it done; that's how I did it for the rest of the night. No excuses offered, but a few people did ask if I'd been to culinary school. I'm guessing that I'd be hosed if I said "yes" and made those mistakes, but how the gently caress was I going to know what a chinois is, if we don't have any at my current job? So I said "no," and owned it, so someone showed me what a chinois was, and how to strain a jus properly with that and a china cap (another unfamiliar term), and that's how I did it. bloody ghost titty posted:This depends entirely on your definition of "a good thing", which you should expect to change in the coming months. Whatever gets me out of my current spot is a good thing, IMO. The place is gross as gently caress, I'm learning nothing new, my boss likes the other cook better since she looks like a younger version of his wife, and the place has gotten such a deservedly bad rep that it's starting to be a red flag on my resume. I'm "really good" at that work, but that doesn't mean poo poo; I'd like to be "really good" at a place/menu that matters.
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Jun 15, 2015 01:19
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Define Diner-type, like...What sorta cuisine
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Jun 15, 2015 01:49
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the great deceiver posted:I got my first taste of how ridiculous some poo poo is in this industry last night. On weekends our kitchen closes at 11:30 so at around 11:15 we're winding down, starting to clean up and getting ready to close up shop. OH WAIT here comes a 14-top at 11:25. The hostess seated them and basically everybody had to stay late because they ordered TONS of food. I made overtime and it was all good but who shows up at a restaurant with 14 people and no reservations 5 minutes before the kitchen closes? My place closes at 10:45 - our hours are posted on the door, all over the Internet, etc. We actually do our last calls about 15 minutes after the door closes, but I tell everyone that last call is at 10:45 so whether they're a late reservation or a walk-in, there is a clear sense of urgency. I have long since lost count of how many times I've told a walk-in group "We close in 5 minutes" (intentionally left ambiguous as to whether the kitchen or the restaurant is closing) and they decide they want to stay anyway. Some people ask for clarification and decide "Well, you can't kick us out, so we're going to order and then sit as long as we want." gently caress those people.  While I'm at it, I would also like to say gently caress to the ladies who came up to our front door at 11:38, found it locked, so they went around to the back/employee entrance (which leads onto the floor and was left open because we were setting up the outside seating partitions) to ask to be seated. When I said we were closed and wouldn't be open until 12? "You know, we're teachers and we have our lunch breaks at 11:30, so you're losing a lot of customers," they lectured me. But we had a closed sign hanging stark in the middle of the front door, where our hours are also posted, and you came in through the back entrance labeled with a sign reading "Employees Only." I don't know how you even thought our place was open. 
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Jun 15, 2015 02:04
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I've had people push open automatic doors that are closed, crawl under ropes then push through a literal wall of signs that blocks the entire entry and come in asking if we're open. If no one catches them in time they will literally walk in and let themselves into the elevator and upstairs.
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Jun 15, 2015 03:16
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People walking in last minute are frustrating. What I've never been able to tolerate is the ones who get there 15-20 minutes after close, wait for the last-minute person to leave, and walk in as that person is exiting the clearly locked door. The last time I saw it, the guy paid for three individual rib bones, argued about dining in, finally accepted the to-go bag, and then asked the manager if his status as the last customer of the night entitled to him to any extra free food. She repeated the request to me, I looked at the nearly-full slab of ribs on the cutting board, made eye contact with the guest, smiled and said "We're all sold out". There are simply times when accommodating a guest is the absolutely wrong thing to do, because much like rewarding a child throwing a fit, you are teaching said guest that acting like a complete and total oval office is not only acceptable but preferred.
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Jun 15, 2015 04:09
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Eh it's Summer time now. I'm pretty much use to just getting a late table and getting really pissed off for a few minutes. Luckily at my place we can straight up close the place up around them while they dine. Take all the time you need. No rush. But we're trying to get the gently caress out of here. Thanks!
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Jun 15, 2015 05:54
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I'm so self conscious about closing times because I hate pissing people off irl. I can't count the number of nights where my wife and I will be working late, and it's like 9, and we start crossing places off the list that close at 10 because we're like oh god we won't get there until 9:30-9:45 and we don't want to be the last table there. and then we get hangry and start fighting and it's 9:20 and then despite the fact we probably would have been fine if we just walked out the door and went, we really really shouldn't be going somewhere closing at 10. and then we end up cooking and it's like 10:30 before we eat and lol it's fun being polite and too hungry to make rational decisions  gently caress anyone showing up anywhere near closing time, double gently caress people trying to sneak in locked doors. gently caress anyone imposing their bullshit on another person in general, really. america. freedom. 
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Jun 15, 2015 06:01
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I have gone from being angry and disgusted at people who insist on being served past closing to admiring them as examples of what the human spirit can accomplish when faced with desire. Why even be angry? I'm just going to waste my time off anyways. god bless you, table of 12 who insisted until the point of surrender. God bless us everyone. e: this isn't sarcasm. i really will waste my time off. im doing it right now, ive done it for the last 14 hours
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Jun 15, 2015 06:21
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Oh. does anyone know a good way to get pomegranate seeds out without any sort of white stuff on them that doesn't involve whacking them into a bowl and picking through them for 5 minutes a piece? I'm sick of losing a half hour of my time on this planet because I have to do 8 or 10 of them by smacking them angrily into a bowl with a spoon. No we don't have a prep cook anymore.
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Jun 15, 2015 06:27
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Simoom posted:Why even be angry? I'm just going to waste my time off anyways. god bless you, table of 12 who insisted until the point of surrender. you're hired!
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Jun 15, 2015 06:36
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Simoom posted:Oh. does anyone know a good way to get pomegranate seeds out without any sort of white stuff on them that doesn't involve whacking them into a bowl and picking through them for 5 minutes a piece? I'm sick of losing a half hour of my time on this planet because I have to do 8 or 10 of them by smacking them angrily into a bowl with a spoon. No we don't have a prep cook anymore. Fill the bowl with water before your start beating the poo poo out of the pomegranate. Most of the white membrane will float to the top.
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Jun 15, 2015 06:39
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MAKE NO BABBYS posted:Liho is indeed fantastic. I'm so glad they finally opened, I loved the popup. Are you here in SF or were you visiting? Living in San Francisco!
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Jun 15, 2015 07:21
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Simoom posted:Define Diner-type, like...What sorta cuisine "Upscale" burgers and fries, a couple salads, pitas, that sort of thing. Not terribly complex assembly, but the quality of ingredients is superb, which sets it apart.
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Jun 15, 2015 09:02
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Happier tales! So today was the last day for one of our severs and possibly the general manager who's made our restaurant a personal project for practically the last three years until health issues forced her to take an indeterminate break. One of the cashiers somehow heard I can hold my drinks and has spent the past two weeks basically challenging me to drink with him at the farewell party today, despite my repeated refusals because last Monday I did not have a very good experience with alcohol. Well today I showed up to the farewell party for the server a little bit late, but got straight into drinking because everyone had already started eating - and I'd spent my day off making and taste-testing a shitton of fried rice, so that counts pre-drink carboloading right? - and then headed over to the cashier to take him up on his challenge. He backed down immediately even though according to the busboys (who were his friends and got him hired) he'd only had half a pint of beer before I showed up, and now he's officially my bitch. Never mind that they're technically all under my thumb because I'm an assistant manager now and they know I'm not going to gently caress around when it comes to the job. In other news; being able to drink your employees under the table is a valid form of control for management, right? Because apparently I don't instill fear of God into my coworkers, just fear of making them puke trying to keep up with me. 
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Jun 15, 2015 09:12
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The last-table-of-the-night thing is even more pitiful and aggravating at a night club. Last night we closed, cleaned for nearly an hour, and then headed out the front door only to find one of our more haggard regulars attempting to get in the locked front gate. He's like "what, aren't you still open? where's the afterparty at?" and we all sort of stared at him dumbfounded. It's 5am dude, go the gently caress home and do drugs there. There is no afterparty. We were the afterparty and we shut down an hour ago. It's dawn. We also had a few people nodding off on opiates, which lead to an extremely adorable half-hour long conversation with one of our security guys where I educated him on how to spot the difference between very drunk and high on opiates. 
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Jun 15, 2015 09:57
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Kimitsu posted:While I'm at it, I would also like to say gently caress to the ladies who came up to our front door at 11:38, found it locked, so they went around to the back/employee entrance (which leads onto the floor and was left open because we were setting up the outside seating partitions) to ask to be seated. When I said we were closed and wouldn't be open until 12? "You know, we're teachers and we have our lunch breaks at 11:30, so you're losing a lot of customers," they lectured me. But we had a closed sign hanging stark in the middle of the front door, where our hours are also posted, and you came in through the back entrance labeled with a sign reading "Employees Only." I don't know how you even thought our place was open. Jesus gently caress, I can't even comprehend that level of self-importance. mindphlux posted:gently caress anyone showing up anywhere near closing time, double gently caress people trying to sneak in locked doors. gently caress anyone imposing their bullshit on another person in general, really. america. freedom. Speaking of , I'm working at an Army base DFAC (a mess hall/cafeteria you pay for, basically). You'd think these military guys/gals would have some respect for precision time, but nope, dozens of soldiers sauntering in 5 minutes before we stop service, and we can't deny them once they've gotten in line for chow. But as per my contractor job, I have exactly 90 minutes to get the serving line & part of the dining hall cleaned up. So even though technically we "close" at 1730, they're still serving up until 1745, and I can't start cleaning until the cooking division pulls all the food off the serving line. This wouldn't be a problem for me if I gotta work longer; that's more pay, right? Not like I'm doing anything tonight, and I really need the money. Except my superiors are hard as nails when it comes to us clocking out at precisely 90 minutes after we "close", at 1900 (the sergeants start turning the lights off at 1855). So I'm expected to get what's 90 minutes of clean-up done in what is now 60-75 minutes. So yes, gently caress people coming in that late.My favorite last night was the guy around 1800 putting down his tray in front of the steam table I'm draining/cleaning, staring blankly at the lack of food, and asking "Are y'all closed?" Hmm, what tipped you off, the lack of food and people dishing it out? On a happier note, yesterday I got trained on how we break down, clean, and reassemble that giant gently caress-off dishwasher I posted earlier itt (we do this after every service). Cut my finger on it while hastily re-installing the spray bars, so my first blood sacrifice has been made. 
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Jun 15, 2015 11:43
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JacquelineDempsey posted:Jesus gently caress, I can't even comprehend that level of self-importance. I worked at the on campus Sbarro's in college and 99.9% of the customers were just college kids looking for a quick lunch during classes and never caused problems. It was always an adult who stopped by who would make a scene and treat the staff with contempt. From someone demanding a "fresh" slice of pizza (pizzas are cooked in huge numbers, 8-10 would be sitting in the warming oven and because of the insane amount of students coming through a pizza would sit for 15-20 minutes at most under the display hot lamps and get thrown away after 45 min) to someone who was clearly a father of one of the students who was on campus to visit their child loudly berating the staff for their perceived inadequacy and refusing to left the cashiers go back to ringing up students in a 45+ people line. Thank god the management were locals who had nothing but contempt for those customers and would just walk out front and take over getting abuse hurled at them whiling smiling and being polite so the rest of the staff could continue serving people. This was in a small town with a massive national college presence so the school was the biggest, most prestigious employer in the area and the people who worked there had insane job security and no one in the hiring structure ever cared that some out of state visitor would throw a tantrum and/or write a complaint letter. By and large the absolute worst people to deal with were also those who acted like they were inherently better then food-service workers and felt no shame in telling us. It was always people who came off as middle-upper middle class and felt this level of superiority because of their status and that anyone working for a living wage was obligated to cater to their petty needs.
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Jun 15, 2015 12:46
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pentyne posted:By and large the absolute worst people to deal with were also those who acted like they were inherently better then food-service workers and felt no shame in telling us. It was always people who came off as middle-upper middle class and felt this level of superiority because of their status and that anyone working for a living wage was obligated to cater to their petty needs. I've served a number of outright wealthy people over the years - people who could afford to buy my workplace and burn it down just for fun - in a few different contexts and in my experience they've all been super chill about everything. It's always these shitbags with pretensions to status who cause problems - upper-middle class housewives, "well-connected" cabbies with a ton of gold chains and a mayo fetish, &c. The little dogs never stop yipping; the big dogs don't bark in the same way.
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Jun 15, 2015 13:39
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CommonShore posted:I've served a number of outright wealthy people over the years - people who could afford to buy my workplace and burn it down just for fun - in a few different contexts and in my experience they've all been super chill about everything. It's always these shitbags with pretensions to status who cause problems - upper-middle class housewives, "well-connected" cabbies with a ton of gold chains and a mayo fetish, &c. Yeah, anyone with actual money and power don't need to treat service workers like poo poo because they're well aware of what they could do if they wanted and have no need for petty displays of power. It's always the person just looking for a fight so they can prove to the people around them/themselves that they are a "big shot" who gets things done.
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Jun 15, 2015 14:28
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Turkeybone posted:So, my boss says typically we hand out 3% raises/bonuses. Last year I got 4/4. This year I got a 5% bonus... and a 15% raise. I nearly pooped. Everyone else skipped over it, but congrats (gently caress you) TB.
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Jun 15, 2015 14:31
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Korthal posted:Lost our sous chef last night to cocaine Everyone else skipped over it, but I'm sorry to hear it, Korthal.
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Jun 15, 2015 14:47
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CommonShore posted:I've served a number of outright wealthy people over the years - people who could afford to buy my workplace and burn it down just for fun - in a few different contexts and in my experience they've all been super chill about everything. It's always these shitbags with pretensions to status who cause problems - upper-middle class housewives, "well-connected" cabbies with a ton of gold chains and a mayo fetish, &c. qft
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Jun 15, 2015 16:56
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Simoom posted:Oh. does anyone know a good way to get pomegranate seeds out without any sort of white stuff on them that doesn't involve whacking them into a bowl and picking through them for 5 minutes a piece? I'm sick of losing a half hour of my time on this planet because I have to do 8 or 10 of them by smacking them angrily into a bowl with a spoon. No we don't have a prep cook anymore. Fill the bowl with water, seeds sink and the white bits float
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Jun 15, 2015 18:15
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You're a bunch of amateurs. http://www.cookingissues.com/2010/03/23/enzymatic-peeling-hell-yes/
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Jun 15, 2015 18:18
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CommonShore posted:I've served a number of outright wealthy people over the years - people who could afford to buy my workplace and burn it down just for fun - in a few different contexts and in my experience they've all been super chill about everything. It's always these shitbags with pretensions to status who cause problems - upper-middle class housewives, "well-connected" cabbies with a ton of gold chains and a mayo fetish, &c. Oh, the hyper wealthy can be just as bad. In my mind, they actually tend to be worse because even if they aren't outright dicks, they have very little appreciation for what we do. That tends to be more hurtful/upsetting to me than just someone being rude, because it's like, why did I go to the effort?
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Jun 15, 2015 19:10
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MAKE NO BABBYS posted:Oh, the hyper wealthy can be just as bad. In my mind, they actually tend to be worse because even if they aren't outright dicks, they have very little appreciation for what we do. That tends to be more hurtful/upsetting to me than just someone being rude, because it's like, why did I go to the effort? I can see that as a problem, but I was fortunate enough to never work in a place that would have a super shitlord hyper-wealthy person come in, so there was already some selective filtering happening - isolated fishing resorts, tex mex bars, and so forth. Any wealthy person who comes in to a spot like that (eg, on his own plane) is already chill enough.
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Jun 15, 2015 19:52
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EAT THE EGGS RICOLA posted:You're a bunch of amateurs. His book, Liquid Intelligence, is awesome.
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Jun 15, 2015 21:10
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EAT THE EGGS RICOLA posted:You're a bunch of amateurs. I bet the candied peels from those are loving awesome! e: and the pink pomelo look like weird animal organs.
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Jun 15, 2015 21:39
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Yeah, hi! The whole military people get paid for food and housing and all that? Not when you eat at the dfac and live in the barracks. You see them swiping their cards right? That money comes out of your paychecks actually! When I was an e-2 or whatever and making less than 18k a year I had to eat at the dfac, and I never had a choice on when and where I got to go eat. When I was done with work, or when my alpo or sup said I could, is when I got to go eat. Now it sucks, I know it does, but some of those guys and gals just don't have a choice.
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Jun 15, 2015 22:19
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Are one of you secretly Laura Miller? Because I'm not vegan at all but I am in love with her voice and her cute awkwardness
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Jun 16, 2015 00:12
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The Maestro posted:His book, Liquid Intelligence, is awesome. His bar is an orgy of okcupid dates where dudes mansplain what a centrifuge is to cute Asian women.
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Jun 16, 2015 04:15
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I think the ratio of assholes stays pretty much the same through all levels of wealth. Though it's definitely the "new money" that go out of the way to cause trouble, the "old money" just ignores you. In my experience, royalty are always easier to deal with than tech bros.
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Jun 16, 2015 06:53
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