Cooks general

I've honestly been to Subways that have lines that look better than this. Get your shit together lad.

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>>8716184
Whats your problem with it?

Awww, you're a junior chef on appetizers and garnish?

Welcome to the struggle.

Do you get lumped with deserts too or is that another chef's job?

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>>8716184

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>>8716194
>implications

>>8716194
Though, I do have one app that does come off my station thats a bunch of little shit thats really a pain in the ass to plate.

>>8716194

>appetizers and garnish

Looks like pantry.

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>>8716211
2 salads, an open faced sandwich, a rabbit/pasta dish, this >>8716200 dish and then a new dish we just went live on called the porkstrami which is pic related.

You guys just cant see all of the meats and shit in my drawers

>>8716200
You just posted a dish with nothing that came from that section.

I'm pretty confused. Is this your station or what?

>>8716242
See
>>8716196
That second row from the right. A pan seared breast, which those are in the drawers. Lentils, melted leeks, crema, LJ, salt. Garnished with those radishes here >>8716191 and that sauce is a mustard jus thats sitting on the line staying heated.

>>8716242
Oh and mustard seeds which are third row over on the top and then chervril and fine herbs (terragon, parsley, chive, chervril). Which those fine herbs are top right.

>>8716261
chervil*

>>8716252
Heh, fair enough. I'm not trying to be a dick, btw.
I'm sure you can understand your section looks like larder/pantry whatever you wish to call it.

If you were on mains I'd expect to see a mise-en of sauces and veggies, that's all.

What's your role?

>dish no showed
>10 top shows up w/o reservation
>new waitress's first day, fucking up orders

it was hell
i am now plastered though and everything is okay

>>8716270
>>8716270
I run lunch at a fine-ish dining restaurant downtown where I live. There;s only 2 of us and a sous that run the service so we both get a couple mains and a couple of apps as well as salads that are sold as mains. Fairly limited menu.
Our pastry chef will put deserts together if they're ordered.
I run pasta side and the other dude gets saute which has the flat-top and fryer. He gets the burger and this weird version of a patty melt that uses a fennel sausage, and he tends to get just absolutely blown up/

>>8716275
Oh man, fuck that. We had a 17 top of straight up dude-bros show up randomly for their pregame for their bachelor party at our brunch service on sunday. Openly sexually harrassing the waitresses and everything. I think they racked up a 900 dollar tab including alcohol and everything.

>>8716282
Nice. Sounds like a cosy romantic place, especially with those small covers.

I have the unfortunate role of junior-sous, which essentially translates to "a CDP with a slightly fancier title that's now responsible for all the fuckups of everyone underneath him"

...I miss being a CDP.

>>8716308
Yeah, its a pretty cozy position. Full time mon-friday off by 4, full benefits.

Haha that sounds like our new sous. Our exec sous left and the PM sous took his position, so one of our better PM cooks got promoted and basically its just meant him having to come in earlier and do chef-prep and then still run a station for dinner service. I think this week he worked enough ours to be making enough under minimum wage.

>>8716329
hours*

>>8716176
It was so good I quit.

It's been a long time coming, but when the chef walks in and fires my only competent apps guy for not having his calamari in the window 90s after it being ordered (instead of... I dunno... putting his fucking phone down, muting that godforsaken timer, or being helpful in any way at all), and expects me to cover the slack while running the grill... fuck that guy. He can run the whole kitchen tomorrow. I'll snap up everyone by noon.

>>8716756
lol wat

>>8718388
One of my buddies is opening up a place. I was reluctant to help him out full time because... well... I had a full time job in a kitchen. Now that I don't, I'm in! I got four people from the old restaurant on board.

Taking the rest of the week off to prepare... drink... taking the rest of the week off to drink.

>>8719059
>not getting to work immediately

Good luck dude.

>>8716275
>Monday two weeks ago
>chill but steady day
>anon we just sat a 22 and two 8s
>look at reservation sheet
>no covers for the night
>no prep was done already running low on the proteins
Some how me and other coworker got it all out in under 25.
Got fucking hammered that night.

bullshit day, worked 5AM to 5PM. currently at a disorganized catering company run by incompetent hacks. The kitchen manager threw the phone at the wall and walked out today.

>>8719111
There's nothing to really do until Sunday. We're going over menu items and testing out viability - going over staff (because I've worked with a lot of the applicants), bringing the 100%ers over for idea/food/drink sessions tomorrow... This is the closest I've had to a vacation in years. I don't sit still.

Man you fucks are making me value the shit out of my job.

>>8719229
Work for my church on Wednesday's so I got up and threw 3 Boston butts in at 8 this morning, slept till 4.
I love BBQ day.

>>8719273
shit, my neophyte-restaurateur friend has a smoker. I wonder if he'd be willing to dedicate its use to the restaurant.

>>8719302
All he can say is yes or no.
Might want to offer incentive.
Free meal a week won't kill your bottom line

>>8719312
The dude runs the joint; it costs him to eat there whether he decides to charge himself or not.

Still... proper pulled pork and brisket. It kind of fits in with the ethos so far - well executed, properly plated, satisfying food.

I'm excited to see his take on porkolt tomorrow. It sounds like he's onto something ridiculous.

>>8719332
My bad thought you were saying you had a buddy with a smoker not the owner.
Go for it!

>>8719380
The owner is my buddy... basically means I get to jump from sous/grill dick to co-exec, and take the rest of this week to come up with ideas.

He's drunk right now, but he's offering me the option to throw 5% of my paycheque toward being a co-owner, up to 49% of the value of the restaurant. He wants to keep his smoker, but he's made a few (drunk... why couldn't he wait til tomorrow?) calls to get a vertical "stack" built next to the ovens. The catch so far is that apps boy (the lad who got fired yesterday) has to stoke it the day before our soft open, on film, wearing goggles and a conductor's hat, smeared liberally with charcoal/grease.

I guess I'm batting 100 today.

>>8719426
>catch so far is that apps boy (the lad who got fired yesterday) has to stoke it the day before our soft open, on film, wearing goggles and a conductor's hat, smeared liberally with charcoal/grease.

Haha sucks for him.

Will you be doing off site catering?
How much commission are you going to get for that, or have you not gotten into those details yet?

>>8719473

Mike will be into it, he's a weird kid. He'll probably ask for a few shots to send his girlfriend. She's a weird kid too.

I might be doing some catering, but it won't be a focal point of the restaurant. He's locked down a really good location - made the previous owners an offer they really couldn't refuse, and basically is going to do an upscale version of what they were doing for maybe a dollar more on the mains. The advertising's already begun, and we had people knock at the door while we were going over things today despite the place being really obviously not open. He's going to murder this.

I want to go over things tomorrow, when he's sober, but it basically sounds like quarterly profit sharing. The profit shared depends on my percentage of the total ownership. We'll have to set minimums, but the idea is that if we get into the black past whatever minimum point, 50% of the profit goes back into the restaurant, and the remaining 50% goes to the "investors" (James and myself, with the possibility of another co-exec if she says yes), with the possibility of sharing with the staff if we're feeling magnanimous.

>>8719426
Batting 100 is really bad. 1/10
Batting 1000 is what you're talking about

>>8719548
I'll bat whatever the hell I want.

>>8719525
Sounds like you got it figured out better then most new restaurants. Had a owner once who won big at the casino and always wanted to open a restaurant.
Needless to say it went shit quick.
Hope the best for y'all.
Its fun and exciting to open, but that first week of fixing the bugs and getting the line moving like it should is a bitch.

>>8719564
James worked at a few places with us (me and the thing with two X chromosomes, should she agree to be part of this). I worked with him in concert/convention production for a few summers - made a killing but couldn't handle all the driving. He sold his portion of his company to the other two guys, walked away with a few million, went to Vegas with 500K, left with twice that, and decided he'd like to work with we poor cretins again.

He's even got an exit strategy if this isn't looking good in six months - open a new production company, steal as many people from restaurants as he can, make me and the wench as wealthy as he is and we can retire and roam the earth in our mid thirties.

>>8719273
No one actually calls them butts. Also, leaving shoulder to smoke unattended for that long is shitty technique lol.
>>8719332
>>8719426
>>8719525
This sounds like bullshit.

>>8719622
James lucked out hard. He's semi retired in his late 20's - He basically wanted to own a restaurant before he turns getting jet lag and skin cancer into a full time occupation.

As for the 5% buy in. He's promised me 75K, probably frozen for a while. 5% of that, quarterly, is hardly financial security. Our first three months will probably not be profitable. If, by 6, he's not happy, he reinvests in audiovisual equipment and drags my ass along for the ride.

>>8716191
There is a dent line in those pans for a reason, don't overfill them.

>>8719711
Lol okay man

>>8719711
"Nominal capacity" is more for portioning/measuring than anything else. The pans/containers/cambros and their supports will take much more punishment than the weight of foodstuffs.

>>8719749
It's not a weight issue, but a temp issue.

>>8719755
Those dont stay in those pans for more than 3-4 hours but then back into deli's on a sheet tray in the walk-in.

>>8719755
In five restaurants over eight years, I've had one issue with this - tarragon infused pickled diced tomatoes for a special, in a plastic 1/3 pan with a false bottom, out of temp once.

Nothing stays above that line long enough to fall out of temp.

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This was my set today

I'm about to graduate college and I'm not sure I'll get into my chosen field right away, so I might have to get a transition job to live off of while I hunt for opportunities. I like to cook for myself and others, but I don't want to make a career out of it. Would working in a restaurant be a good idea? What positions are there besides server, busser, and cook?

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Cauliflower soup

>>8719857
Just be a server, dude

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Im bored so im just posting pictures of dishes that we serve because fuck it.

This is the salmon toast. Fresh baked wheat bread from a local bakery that gets delivered every day, grilled, boursin, sliced avocado, cured salmon thats sliced super thin, greens tossed in our anchovy dressing, and 6 minute eggs, espelette spice. We had a ton of heavy shit on the menu so this is our attempt at something lighter. Its been selling pretty well.

>>8719882
I'm gonna be honest with you, my social skills are lacking

>>8719849

You're so fucking lucky you can just leave a stack of clean rags like that on your station. Anywhere I've ever worked those would be gone within 15 minutes when I had my back turned.

>>8719908
Dishwasher

>>8719857
This
>>8719882

It takes a special kind of retard with a tendency toward Stockholm Syndrome to want to be a chef/cook. Culinary art it usually is not - more akin to factory work more often than not... but set in the middle of a war. You'll get berated as a server, but it's not really your problem - it becomes the kitchen's problem, like how the chef's wife's infidelities are the kitchen's problem, much like the cocaine he's using to "cope".

I dunno about arbitrarily drizzling something that particular shade of off-white on a white plate.

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This is our fried chicken dish, out of focus. Hind quarter thats been brined for 24 hours in a pretty traditional french chicken brine. Served with pretty standard cucumber salad. English cuc, radish, cracked castelvetrano olives, chopped onion mascerated in RW vin, dill, house yogurt, lemon juice and salt. The chicken gets deep fried and gets a drizzle of some spiced honey thats complicated AF to make and then some fresh picked thyme.

>>8719912
Everyone gets 5 towels to start and as long as youre not ignorant about it you really have free access to the towel stash. No one steals towels.

>>8719923
You know, chef today complained about the color of the dressing today too. For whatever reason the last batch is way darker than it should be.

>>8719912
Aint that the god damned mother fucking truth.

>>8719912
The first thing Jimmy Jamz brought up at the dinner food jam today - RE-FUCKING-SPECT.

If you can't show proper respect to the people you work with, you have no business working with them.

Looks like theft is going to be treated as such... which is another win for me today. Jimmy's brews are another win. These things have to be swimming in the 9% range, but they go down like 4's.

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This the burger which comes off of saute which I dont work for lunch but I do for brunch.

>>8719849
Take a pic of the opposite side of the line.
Interested.

>>8719792
Health Dept hates the plastic inserts where I live. They say they don't get as cold as the SS ones. They say a lot of things, though.
Our health dept is... fucking brutal.

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>>8719956
These fries are absolute bullshit to prep

>>8719956
Hope it tastes better than it looks

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>>8719959
Ive got a picture of the whole thing

This is a pic of my side of the line with the french top and the pasta well and the plancha. You can see the other cold table thats saute.

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>>8719959
From the other side looking towards my station. This has the flat-top and the fryer and the saute pan flames.

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>>8719973
>>8719981
Please note that the plates dont go there anymore.

This is a pic on the otherside from a brunch service I ran.

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We also get a goddamned window.

>>8719959
They don't transfer heat/cold nearly as well as metal ones. They're also nearly impervious to everything as long as you keep them in good shape. You just have to adjust temps accordingly - keep the stuff in the base from freezing and the tops from breaking 4C/40F.

I've always run at 1C. Things that don't get used much stay covered on one section, or stay in the base or walkin until the rush.

>>8720000
That's...

fuck, what's that called? It's in Mississauga right? By the mall? I ate there the last time I stopped in Toronto.

>>8720009
Hahaha in the US. Kentucky.

>>8720012
Looks exactly like the view across from the joint in Mississauga ON.

I'm glad J-san wasn't on his restaurant kick back then. He'd probably have bought the place on a whim and gambled it away or traded it for coke.

What is this thread? One guy posting pictures of a kitchen?

>>8719973
>>8719981
Looks breddy cozy.
>>8720000
Fuck you!
(also, quads)

>>8720003
For sure. It's nice to keep it well stocked with full backups of liquid and viscous goods as cold "batteries". I mean, if they go into the prep cooler cold, that is.

>>8720026
yeah, and 14 other people talking. 15 with you.

>>8720026
im bored. And thats the kitchen I work at.

>>8720044
I missed being bored.

... how the hell did I do this before? Please god let sleep take me soon.

>>8720054
Do you cook?

>>8720065
12-16h/day + cleanup, 6 days a week.

For two years until this morning.

>>8720069
Sounds fun.

>>8720069
Because head chef fired your app guy?

>work at place that sells french dips
>au jus is the powdered shit, just add hot water
>held hot in airpot
>pantry guy noob has ingenious way of not dirtying a saucepan to make it
>puts powder in airpot
>adds urn water
>unwraps a straw
>inserts it into the airpot
>blows through straw to mix ingredients

>server keeps his personal dinner under the heat lamp/pass through
>takes bites of it inbetween running food
>been told numerous times not to by chef
>still does it when chef isn't around
>get mad
>take his fork and put it in the deep fryer for a minute
>tong it back onto his plate with seconds to spare
>"ow FUCK!" -him
>"oh, yeah, that heat lamp gets stuff pretty hot, huh?" -me

I just started tossing his plate after that. Fucker.

>young anon, working at a Perkins (like Denny's, chain restaurant)
>just got promoted from dishwasher to "baker"
>making quickbreads in the early AM for breakfast service
>it's all thaw/proof/bake add toppings
>tfw run out of tub of icing to frost cinnamon rolls
>dafty aspiring chef me, I got this one, yo
>grab soft butter from the line
>mix with powdered sugar, thinned with milk
>start to top the rolls with it
>keep tasting it while topping rolls
>hmm distinct flavor, can't quite place it
>w/e
>fill display case
>hours later dons on me
>let don finish
>then it dawns on me...
>soft line butter = garlic butter for garlic bread

It was slow. Got off early. Next week is my last week. Kind of sad cause I helped open the place, but I'm taking off on an adventure.

>>8719622
You don't mess with a shoulder at all while its smoking. Fucking with it with mops or whatever and opening your smoker letting off heat is why east coast/west coast bbq tastes like shit

>>8719792
See it happens

>>8720348
I agree, but I think you two might be talking about using different smokers.
Pellet fed with a auto temp setting, and Komodo and Green Eggs don't need to be watched. But the barrel type with side box and others do need babby sitting. I'm sure you both know this.

>>8720284

So now its "spice infused". Sell it nigga.

>>8719622
>No one actually calls them butts. Also, leaving shoulder to smoke unattended for that long is shitty technique lol.
Yes they do. Wanted to go for 10 but I'm lazy
Low and slow bitch

>>8719766
Not changing.
I will never eat at your shit hole

>>8720348
Yeah but you do have to attend to the fuel and temperature control and smoke level if you're not rolling with an electric setup that regulates everything on its own.

>>8720924
Wat
>fresh deli containers and 9th pans at leas the once a day isn't clean enough for you

Lol k.

>>8720090
For no reason (sorry, because 2.5 minutes had elapsed from chit time to window during a slow rush). There's a reason I snagged four of his best before noon - he sucks. I'd have taken more just to hurt him, but frankly I think I can do more damage by letting a lot of them stay.

>>8720408
Yeah, it happens when you have way too much of something on the line lol. We could have gotten away with a 1/9 pan with half of one for backup. It was fine for 5.5h, until it finally crept up to 3.9C (I checked before the 2h mark because I couldn't believe it stayed cold that long). Back under it went, next to the fan, and all was well.

Saving

>>8720125
>Breathing into food.

jesus fuck tell me where you work so I can get as far away as possible

any Austrlian chefs here? thinking of moving abroad from Sweden.

hows working in Australia in general?

>>8722896
The powdered au jus is what does it for me.

>>8716191
your station looks fine dude dont listen to these nerds

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>have towels on your station
>fuckstick newbies from other stations 'wipe' their hands on your towels as they look away doing it like it's not a big deal

Hi slim

>>8724511
>Have a dry towel in your side pocket for wiping dry foodstuff like cornmeal and flour off counters
>Food safety gets upset that it's not a sanitizer rag in a bucket

>>8721039
Your thread was great.....
Till you cummed back.

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>>8716194
>Tfw they lump you with the deserts

How proud are you with the food you cook, and the place you work at?

I just spent a week eating at 3 Michelin star places, and it's so wholesome how everyone working there takes so much pride in their job

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>>8724647
All day evey day

>>8724654
Is there anything about the food you cook that you think could be improved on?

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>>8724626
>food safety

Oh boy
>fridges have green marks on the bottom
>chefs touch raw meat then ready to eat food all the time
>putting hot plates on cutting boards that have been used to cut chicken minutes before
>one chef that seemingly deepthroats everyday, coughs on everything he touches
>somehow gets to his late fifties and never learned how to cover a cough
>people dropping little to no cost things like tomatoes, small cuts of chicken, portabellas, shrimp on the floor then picking it up only to use it again
>dipshits placing containers on the floor in high traffic areas then setting said container back on work surfaces and cutting boards
>somehow get a 9/10 on the health inspector rating

Fuck this place so much.

>>8719900
that looks my perfect lunch, sexy egg.
You should try teh same dish with 2 sunny side up quail eggs.

I donth ae any pics from my chef days anymore but my favourite station was garde manger.
Extremly stressfull at times but you get to dick around and try new stuff more than on other stations. Dont ever make me saucier I hate making 4 sauces at the same time ( even tho i love making sauces in general)

>>8724663
Every day...

>>8721034
Read your own thread.
>>8720412

>>8721362
>For no reason (sorry, because 2.5 minutes had elapsed from chit time to window during a slow rush). Th...
I was just trying to confirm you were the same poster.
>>8722986
It's funnier because it's vegetarian. Think it has dried egg in it.

TMI: I'm in my 40's. Did the fun exciting creative stuff mid 20s through mid 30s. At some point it boils down to making a living wage by compromising. I've come to terms with being at a busy place with a meh menu. I used to hate Emiril and Wolfgang for being shills (now Marco, Ramsey, even Blumenthol), but I get it now.
Also, the line is mostly for career line cooks and young ppl. At some point I'm going to have to go back to it (quit my exec job), but I'm going to do everything to get off of it ASAP.

>>8724713
Oops, was giving B shit for not tripping in her thread.
Sorry for not remembering to change it.

>>8724685
Do you want to talk about it buddy?

>>8724674
Why not find another place anon? That kind of work is bad for the soul

Japanese restaurantfag here

Wasn't too busy, even though doing dishes always fucking sucks

But there's this one server I'm growing progressively more done with that was extra shitty today. Kept basically throwing the dishes through the window so they'd slide off the edge of the counter and fall into the sink and fucking splash me

Then when trying to finish all of the dishes in the joint so the kitchen staff can go home, she keeps demanding I do this bucket of forks for her so she can go home when I'm neck deep in tubs, knives, ladles, other shit, plus what remains of the regular food plates

Was getting pretty fucking steamed

>>8724674
That's the worst part. Other niggas can do dishes fast, sure, but that's because they just throw whatever into the autochlor and run it

That shit isn't fucking clean by the end. I mean, maybe it's disinfected, but there's always bits of shit still stuck on afterwards if you don't soak and scrub

>>8724728
On the bright side, I got to spend a good while punching chicken flat for katsu

But once again, while I'm doing that, literally nobody else even touched the dishes so as soon as I finished I had to play catch up like an asshole

>>8724674
>people dropping little to no cost things like tomatoes, small cuts of chicken, portabellas, shrimp on the floor then picking it up only to use it again
Sounds like shit, and if it hits the floor (why would it hit the fucking floor?!) then it's dead, but proteins are expensive. Tomatoes are expensive. And shrimp? That can be really expensive.

>>8724765
Maybe don't hire downies and parkies and get people who can actually hold a tomato for 5 seconds

>>8724719
I'm drunk and ~10
We can talk .
But not now

>>8724785
For reals. But...>>8724713
I've resigned myself to be a babbysitter. It's not as heroic or anything to brag about, but my mortgage gets paid and I don't hate my job. Free samples from perveyors. Pretty much eat for free at home using whatever I want. 5 pound bucket of duck fat that has no business in the restaurant, yet I use it to cook at home. Compromises.

>>8724804
I know I'm not as easy to talk to, but I do have a few bits of experience to share. I've been off work for 2 weeks and hoping the alazopram will cut in soon. Got nothing to hold on to, no real friends. Work mates are great and all, but they're in their 20's so hard to bond with. Old friends that are my age are buying second houses to rent out or at least dumping $$$ into their real estate to sell for bank. I struggled through life for a long time and at 40 decided that I just had to grow up and purchase property. My rents put up the down payment.
It's nice to have a 2 bedroom condo, but it's beginning to be unafordable.
I klnow you're not hanging on my every word, but I'm just trying to give a perspective as a lifer in the F&B industry.
Plan ahead. Don't worry too much about your position in your 20's. You become an adult at 30. That's when it's time to start planning.

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>>8716176
Not too bad, prepping for mothers day during most of service because it was so empty.
Working in a country pub and want to go back to fine dining/members clubs...
Got new counter fridges and a pass in, those are cool.
I will have some cool specials on in the coming week to show yous.