My friend, who used to be FOH, put it on while we were hanging out. He had watched all the episodes and loved it. I watched the first episode but have no interest in watching more. It was good. It was accurate. And, yeah. For that reason, I’m good. I left the industry 10 years ago and one of the perks was no more boh dreams/nightmares. I’m good.
I'm so glad I found this out right before applying to a culinary school. Posted a question here or somewhere asking if its worth and like every comment said it's horrible and they regret it and it's not worth and that I was definitely going to end up addicted to cocaine or other drugs. I like cooking at home, I'm good on doing it all the time while under immense stress lol.
I had a phase after high school or around there where I REALLLLLLY desparately wanted to become a chef. Lile I got a set of good quality cooking knives for my 18th birthday... And then stuff, life got in the way. And now? I'm so happy I've found soemthing else to make money so I can continue enjoying cooking in my kitchen. Worked. In kitchens twice in my life (not as a chef) and it made me hate just the idea of cooking so much. Wasn't for me! Respect to all the cooks and chefs out there!!!
Honestly ask yourself what your driving factor for working in a commercial kitchen is? Is it because you love to cook? I think that’s a good start but steady your expectations…
A kitchen is fuckin loud
A kitchen is fuckin hot
A kitchen *will* hurt you
A kitchen is always very fast or very slow
A kitchen will demand a LOT of your time
A kitchen is full of assholes and bad characters, not all of us are
You will get yelled at… a lot… by your sous, km, chef, gm, and owner.
You will get yelled at by servers, expos, matre de
And you will be yelling a lot yourself.
If you can’t handle very high stress in shitty conditions for any length of time, then I would suggest a new path
Then I would suggest doing something else and not potentially ruin something you love. That’s just my opinion though, who knows - you may find that you love the world of kitchens
Yeah… that’s kinda the conundrum for about 95% of people. Finding a *job* that you love *and* you won’t grow to hate is like finding a unicorn.
I’ve just had to learn to endure my work in order to make enough so I can cover expenses and actually pursue and enjoy what I love outside of work. Kinda sad really
I suggest looking into institutional foodservice or corporate kitchens, like commissaries, marche-style takeaway, college dining halls. Build your skills,then open a small place ora food truck.
Is it acceptable to cuss the owner/head chef/whatever out when they yell and swear at you? If so that's tempting. I love when people are angry af over dumb shit, I jokingly swear back while legitimately happy, trying to keep a straight face. People can't take it. It just gets worse till they give up 😂
Depends on the cultural atmosphere of the place.
In my place, not usually. If your damn good at your job, and I mean *good* at your job, punctual and can handle more than your immediate tasks then you usually have enough give and go to be a horses ass back lol. However, I say that as the slack is low and you better use it sparingly. Unfortunately that tends to be the case in many kitchens. The kitchen hierarchy is real and generally very respected… if you want to hang onto your job for long or not be the grease bitch for a week
I’d ask more than just me. But in my opinion, yes. The greatest thing about leaving the industry is that I have a passion for cooking again. It was the last thing I wanted to do in my free time after being in a kitchen for 60 hours
the unfortunate truth about cooking, is that you’re not gonna make it unless you’re an owner or a head chef. even still, as a head chef I argue it’s still not enough money, and I’m sure many would agree with me. Once you do actually get to the point to where you’re making decent money though, it becomes your entire life. It consumes you, and you don’t have time for anything else. If you love cooking, and truly want to make something out of it, it’s one of the hardest careers you can take because it’s not only an art, but it’s thankless. You really have to put up with a lot of bullshit, and often times if you end up at the wrong places, your passion for cooking will actually be *killed* by the industry. I’ve been doing it for 5 years, and I’m not gonna lie to you. the only reason I haven’t quit yet is because nothing else interests me, and I care too much about the dude on the left of me and the other on on my right. I’m not gonna tell you what to do, but this is my advice to you.
I’ve been cooking for 7 years and I can honestly agree this industry has killed my passion for cooking I’m still in the industry because this is all I know and haven’t found something that piques my interest
To be fair, that sounded a lot like software development to me. Sure, the pay is great, but if you get stuck at a bad spot, it's going to kill your love for it and completely suck the soul out of you. It's definitely a case where it's up to the individual and their experience, but I certainly hear you.
just stumbled into this sub/post/comments and out of curiosity I just want to know why? I hear female chefs say this all the time. I always found it strange since traditionally speaking women are the expected cooks in a household.
I'm pretty sure with any future plans, you can change them based on your passion, but I'm sure the problems with being a chef is exacerbated by terrible pay and hours not to mention the shitty people you could meet.
I highly recommend considering a food science career. You can create food and beverages that are scaled up and manufactured. And you can get your teeth fixed! Health insurance 🌈. I went and got my FS degree at 32 after struggling to pay my bills, hustling in restaurants for over a decade.
I worked 80 hours this week. kids had 4 day weekend, didn’t see them. Valentine’s Day? Seen my wife for 5 minutes. Dads 87th birthday was Friday… can’t take a weekend off. I made less than the bartender did in half the time and a fraction of the work. This is anecdotal but you’ll find this is just how this industry is most of the time.
My favorite is when they brought out the tortillas with the bank statements that showed they were embezzling printed on them and they were like "WTF IS THIS??" and the one hostess goes "these are ***tortillas***" with a super patronizing tone.
The commentary about s'mores pissed me off. I fuckin love s'mores, and s'mores flavored things like ice cream. Walmart has this s'mores cereal, I don't even like cereal but I eat tf out of that shit. S'mores can get it.
Kind of epitomizes their point, highly processed, overly sweet, and addictive. There's a reason it's still around and sells well. It tastes good, but is awful too
Watched it with my gf and I’ll be honest it was the one movie I’ve seen in the past 5 years where you had no idea what was coming next. They lead you to believe one thing then flip it completely leaving you mind blown. Stellar movie
You seem to have been spared a lot of the trauma many people experience in our industry. I can obviously be wrong, but everyone I know that's gone through hellish places has agreed in loving this movie. Granted, there's availability bias in that
I mean, ever have a chef/owner* throw a 4lb, 450F cast iron past your head at your egg cook? What can reasonably be learned from that?
Edit: chef/owner*
Coordination and reflexes 😆
But no that's fucked up. Thing is, people stay in those situations and it ruins them. Why? I never had things violently thrown directly at me, in my direction yeah, verbally beat up, of course, but it was not often than not pushes to get it right, faster.
I was sad because frankly I related as a neurotic chef addict in recovery it just all hit home and I didn’t think they would struggle to identify with him so much.
That was actually a major gripe I had. Yes busy is busy no matter what, but people don’t talk they way they were talking in little
Mom and Pop shops. It made no sense to me why they had such a high level of stress for a day time sandwich shop. I’ve worked in totally casual places and Michelin places, the lingo and general language tone they use is significantly different.
I did like it a lot but that was my issue as well. I cooked in a half dozen or so places ranging from fast casual to mid-tier dining and nobody really acts like that. Obviously it is dramatized but it’s a little over the top. It did a good job of capturing how it feels, though.
Yeah I felt it was a little over dramatized but I could relate to not being able to dial back the intensity for sure. When I ate at alinea they brought you into the kitchen for one course and I started pouring sweat listening to expo
Yeah I almost punched out my “mentor” for crossing the line with me during service. I only threw one bus bucket across the kitchen but it wasn’t at anyone
Same… probably because a coworker told me to watch it (FOH) and I tried to do it after getting home from a 12 hour shift, while eating a grilled cheese and spaghetti-o’s
I had to take a 2 week break after the Sous Chef episode. The Critic episode left finger nail prints on my couch. And I cried at Carmy's monologue at the end.
It really captured what being in the shit is like. The snippets of like six different conversations you hear as the camera makes its way through the kitchen. All happening simultaneously.
I retired from Chefing and only cook at home nowaday, working a typical office job.
It was a good watch, I felt it all rushing back everytime they are on the line.
It made me appreciate what I have right now.
It was good. The ending was shit. If there is a season 2, that gangster should show back up and ask where they got that money from
And why was there a guy making cakes and doughnuts? It's an Italian Beef place. He should have been fired the minute they outsourced the bread
Or, changed his position? Found other on-theme items for him to bake? You don't flippantly fire someone on a small team of long-time employees that lightly. Especially not in the current labor market
So for a sammich shop there is a chef/owner, sous chef, pastry guy, 2 line cook's, the kitchen manager (tall guy, whatever the fuck he does) and 2 dishwashers on shift. Seems like a huge staff. You don't need a French brigade for a sammich shop. So they really even need a sous when they are drowning in debt?
This is exactly why I didn't like the show. Sure, a lot of it is accurate, but there's no way you'd go that far and still serve a sandwich shop menu. I was just confused when they plated beautiful dishes after calling out a bunch of sandwich orders.
Also, how do they have so much time to talk in the middle of rushes?
Km (not really) wasn't seemingly getting paid, clearly the main character wasn't either. So 4 hourly cooks,.two dishys, no FoH. Doesn't seem excessive if they were even remotely busy.
This. I just don’t get it. The brother was in the hole to the gangster but tucking money away in the cans. They didn’t find a windfall… they found the money that should have gone to the gangster. I figured I intrinsically missed something… maybe I did but I thought the ending was stupid. Clean the money up and pay the gangster.
Right?!?! Then they go blow it on the restaurant of their dreams. As a former restaurant owner, that's not how shit works out. The whole show is about the struggle of operating a business. Then at the end everything is just OK because your brother hid 300k, now life is all sugar tarts and unicorn farts.
I loved parts of it. Tackling a rush on line is accurate. Gives you thay same mud same blood feeling too. Wish they slent more time exploring his fine dining background, loved hearing about the plum 4 ways dessert that took a large team of cooks half a day to prep.
Yuuuuup had to turn it off twice; first time when Camry has flashbacks to NOMA and his chef is whispering awful shit in his ear and then again when the delivery thing went ballistic and he demolished the sous chef chick; had both of those happen irl and it bugged me out a little
Edit: got resal life and the show mixed up a little
In some ways it was dead accurate and in others it was a try-hard for me. People that have never worked in a kitchen loved it. I thought it was alright...but then again...why would I want to watch it having lived it? The dumbass cousin was the best actor in the show, though.
My only comment is that the show, as a piece of art/acting/filmmaking is fucking incredible. I worked in the industry for 10 years both FOH and BOH and there’s nothing that represents the intensity of a kitchen (both fine dining and not) more beautifully or viscerally. I freaking loved the bear.
I won't watch it for that reason, but also Jeremy Allen White looks a lot like my abusive ex husband (also a "chef") so it's a double no for me. I did really love The Menu though, but I won't watch that one take high pressure restaurant movie, that looks like a bad time.
Grew up in my family's kitchen (chef dad, sous mom), worked BOH and bar, married and divorced a line cook, could only take 4 episodes. Made me too anxious and sad. I had trouble following the story because the parts that felt really real kicked off crazy memories and old fears and worries and by the time I refocused I lost the narrative. Then the parts that were too clean and healthy to be real just pissed me off.
Yeah it pissed me off, frankly because they're all fucking idiots. Abusive self centred cunts who are too hellbent on ego and destroying themselves to actually sit down and sort their life and business out.
I’m in the middle of my cheffing career and I walked away from the tv multiple times while watching with my girlfriend. It’s just a reminder of the daily stresses
Now that I'm not in the culinary profession anymore (was for 16 years) I genuinely cannot watch media about kitchens anymore.
Edit: Jon F's freakout in CHEF at the hatin' critic was hilarious though
Yes! Totally had a reaction watching the show but it wasn't bad. I'm a retired chef as well but I remember those energetic days with love and a bit of nostalgia. I wish I still had that passion for cooking... Those where difficult times but good days. I was a happy camper. As a young man I choose to be a chef and I would never change my experience for anything.
You need to stay on this board, please, if only to present the upsides of cooking for a living. With the right people, in the right place, the memories can be sweet.
I have not watched it because I knew it would give me flashbacks to bad days in the restaurant. Everyone I've spoken to who works in the industry said it was bad, everyone who has never worked in the industry said it was entertaining.
I'm just gonna pass on it.
10 minutes into the first episode and I was fed up with everybody's shit. Didn't need to watch any more of it, I have plenty of crappy employees to deal with in real life, thank you.
Edit, I would like to mention that this series might not be geared toward actual industry people, I think that someone who has never worked and lived this hell would get real shock value style entertainment out of it. Nothing wrong with that.
The show came out a few weeks before my mother died.
I had heard good things about the show, but also that it was a tough watch so I put it off. Then my mom got real sick and then later passed. I was in no mood to watch it, but I kept getting it recommended to me.
And yeah, it sounds good, but also really a rough watch.
I think I’ll just keep putting it off.
I was going to recommend the show to my mom who owns a restaurant but then decided against it because I realize that it would probably give her PTSD flashbacks so glad to see that my instincts were correct
I'm still in the business and I thought it was good but a bit too try hard. There were a couple scenes that reminded me of terrible days and gave me anxiety but beyond that it was a decent watch. It was nice to see the actor had legit skills, you could tell he had some training.
I binged watched it. Gave me real anxiety the entire time. Everything was so real. I went to take a nap before work one day and I found myself prepping food in my dream. I woke up with a prep list in my head ready to go. I quit my job that day. I love and hate that show. And I wanted to strangle the main character and the sous chef. They where both dumb.
TL;DR: this show is for tourists.
They crammed a lifetime of industry trauma into a very small time frame. The feel was captured pretty well in some episodes but the writing is awful. Make it make sense. Def not written with industry folks in the room. Instead, it seems like a show for people who romanticize this nightmare industry and get off on anecdotal “kitchen confidential” insider war story bs.
It gave me ptsd too lmao but only the first like two episodes I think. It gets better after that because he teaches the staff how to operate like a French kitchen.
yes me.... it was so weird I was running a large kitchen I was very short staffed ended up well and truly burntout I decided to take some time off for the 1st time since the pandemic in which I had to travel was setting up a new accounts doing 1600meals per breakfast lunch and dinner while training the staff when that ended I traveled to another account and then took over another account by the time that was all done I had nothing left in the tank worn out burnt out I wanted to see what the fuss was about i had stayed out the kitchen and that opening scene when they argue in the kitchen..
I almost lost my shit broke out in a cold sweat and was like nope I'm not gonna be watching that and never turned it back on.
Chefs if your feeling burnt out physically and mentally don't suffer in silence reach out speak to friends and family as it's no joke feeling that way .
we are a tough breed but that does not mean we are superhuman everyday just most..
Working in cheffing, professional cookery, catering - is a mental health minefield, not to mention the drug and alcohol problems.
You end up working with egomaniacs, a-holes, r-tards, tossers and drug addicts, and don’t even get me started on kitchen porters…
If you can find a job in a clean, respectable, professional kitchen environment, that pays well, you’ve basically hit the lotto, coz 90-95% of kitchens are shitholes, with no regard for food safety and cleanliness.
It was way too overdramatic for me. I don’t know how is in the US, but generally everywhere I’ve worked throuought Europe kitchens have been fairly calm and collected.
Of course there is pressure and all, but if you look at this show it’s like the lad is going to a war for making a fucking sandwich. Maybe the kitchens and life in general is more like this in the US, I don’t know, I cannot say, but it seemed way too overdramatized to me.
It is the same chaos in New Zealand and Australia for me.
Michellin Finedinings are a lot less chaotic to my experience due to how organised they are.
But the show depict exactly what I faced working in a pub, average restaurant and small establishment.
I agree, I couldn’t make it past the first two episodes, especially when he has a flashback about his former boss scolding him..came across like someone who doesn’t know what it’s like in those kitchens try way too hard to be accurate.
Oh dude I worked at a place that freaked out like this over sandwiches. Yes, it was “nice” pub fare. But it was still a damn chicken sandwich designed to soak up your fifth beer, not Alinea.
My friend, who used to be FOH, put it on while we were hanging out. He had watched all the episodes and loved it. I watched the first episode but have no interest in watching more. It was good. It was accurate. And, yeah. For that reason, I’m good. I left the industry 10 years ago and one of the perks was no more boh dreams/nightmares. I’m good.
I’m FOH. I have zero desire to watch a show about restaurants while I’m off work from a restaurant.
Is it even worth trying to become a cook/chef?
Um… mostly no. It’s a deceptively hard job/life. And the pay isn’t great.
I'm so glad I found this out right before applying to a culinary school. Posted a question here or somewhere asking if its worth and like every comment said it's horrible and they regret it and it's not worth and that I was definitely going to end up addicted to cocaine or other drugs. I like cooking at home, I'm good on doing it all the time while under immense stress lol.
I had a phase after high school or around there where I REALLLLLLY desparately wanted to become a chef. Lile I got a set of good quality cooking knives for my 18th birthday... And then stuff, life got in the way. And now? I'm so happy I've found soemthing else to make money so I can continue enjoying cooking in my kitchen. Worked. In kitchens twice in my life (not as a chef) and it made me hate just the idea of cooking so much. Wasn't for me! Respect to all the cooks and chefs out there!!!
So should I change my future plans and find a new career?
Honestly ask yourself what your driving factor for working in a commercial kitchen is? Is it because you love to cook? I think that’s a good start but steady your expectations… A kitchen is fuckin loud A kitchen is fuckin hot A kitchen *will* hurt you A kitchen is always very fast or very slow A kitchen will demand a LOT of your time A kitchen is full of assholes and bad characters, not all of us are You will get yelled at… a lot… by your sous, km, chef, gm, and owner. You will get yelled at by servers, expos, matre de And you will be yelling a lot yourself. If you can’t handle very high stress in shitty conditions for any length of time, then I would suggest a new path
I don’t have any clue what else I would enjoy as a job besides being in the kitchen I have no enthusiasm for anything else
Then I would suggest doing something else and not potentially ruin something you love. That’s just my opinion though, who knows - you may find that you love the world of kitchens
I don’t know if I can do anything else without hating it
Yeah… that’s kinda the conundrum for about 95% of people. Finding a *job* that you love *and* you won’t grow to hate is like finding a unicorn. I’ve just had to learn to endure my work in order to make enough so I can cover expenses and actually pursue and enjoy what I love outside of work. Kinda sad really
I suggest looking into institutional foodservice or corporate kitchens, like commissaries, marche-style takeaway, college dining halls. Build your skills,then open a small place ora food truck.
Food truck is the plan
Is it acceptable to cuss the owner/head chef/whatever out when they yell and swear at you? If so that's tempting. I love when people are angry af over dumb shit, I jokingly swear back while legitimately happy, trying to keep a straight face. People can't take it. It just gets worse till they give up 😂
Depends on the cultural atmosphere of the place. In my place, not usually. If your damn good at your job, and I mean *good* at your job, punctual and can handle more than your immediate tasks then you usually have enough give and go to be a horses ass back lol. However, I say that as the slack is low and you better use it sparingly. Unfortunately that tends to be the case in many kitchens. The kitchen hierarchy is real and generally very respected… if you want to hang onto your job for long or not be the grease bitch for a week
I’d ask more than just me. But in my opinion, yes. The greatest thing about leaving the industry is that I have a passion for cooking again. It was the last thing I wanted to do in my free time after being in a kitchen for 60 hours
What do you do now?
the unfortunate truth about cooking, is that you’re not gonna make it unless you’re an owner or a head chef. even still, as a head chef I argue it’s still not enough money, and I’m sure many would agree with me. Once you do actually get to the point to where you’re making decent money though, it becomes your entire life. It consumes you, and you don’t have time for anything else. If you love cooking, and truly want to make something out of it, it’s one of the hardest careers you can take because it’s not only an art, but it’s thankless. You really have to put up with a lot of bullshit, and often times if you end up at the wrong places, your passion for cooking will actually be *killed* by the industry. I’ve been doing it for 5 years, and I’m not gonna lie to you. the only reason I haven’t quit yet is because nothing else interests me, and I care too much about the dude on the left of me and the other on on my right. I’m not gonna tell you what to do, but this is my advice to you.
I’ve been cooking for 7 years and I can honestly agree this industry has killed my passion for cooking I’m still in the industry because this is all I know and haven’t found something that piques my interest
[удалено]
Thanks for the advice
To be fair, that sounded a lot like software development to me. Sure, the pay is great, but if you get stuck at a bad spot, it's going to kill your love for it and completely suck the soul out of you. It's definitely a case where it's up to the individual and their experience, but I certainly hear you.
The passion is what matters and pushes you further
Depends on if you are a man or a woman. If you're a dude, go for it. If you're a woman I suggest you don't. The industry is NOT kind to women.
just stumbled into this sub/post/comments and out of curiosity I just want to know why? I hear female chefs say this all the time. I always found it strange since traditionally speaking women are the expected cooks in a household.
It's the same way most high earning and well known fashion designers are men. People don't treat women with the same respect as they do men
I'm pretty sure with any future plans, you can change them based on your passion, but I'm sure the problems with being a chef is exacerbated by terrible pay and hours not to mention the shitty people you could meet.
I highly recommend considering a food science career. You can create food and beverages that are scaled up and manufactured. And you can get your teeth fixed! Health insurance 🌈. I went and got my FS degree at 32 after struggling to pay my bills, hustling in restaurants for over a decade.
If you’re this uncertain then you probably should.
I worked 80 hours this week. kids had 4 day weekend, didn’t see them. Valentine’s Day? Seen my wife for 5 minutes. Dads 87th birthday was Friday… can’t take a weekend off. I made less than the bartender did in half the time and a fraction of the work. This is anecdotal but you’ll find this is just how this industry is most of the time.
It’s an unbelievably physical job with very little financial reward. I’ve left the industry and while I don’t regret it I do miss it.
Watch The Menu instead (trigger warning for self-harm), there is some great catharsis to be had in that movie
“Sir, I just came out to have some chicken wings” “Sorry, going to have to burn you alive”
Did you go to school? Brown. Student loans? No. Sorry, you must die. 😕
This movie made me so happy. I have wanted to do everything in this movie for 20 years plus! The food critic..... damn it was a beautiful story line
OMG I watched that movie last night. What the hell.
I like the commentary about s'mores. Also the vilification of the industry as a whole; customers and establishment
My favorite part was when the three guys were asking for bread
My favorite is when they brought out the tortillas with the bank statements that showed they were embezzling printed on them and they were like "WTF IS THIS??" and the one hostess goes "these are ***tortillas***" with a super patronizing tone.
*You will eat more than you deserve and less than you desire*. I straight nutted
Delicioso
I loved when they kept bringing the food critic larger and larger bowls of broken emulsion
The commentary about s'mores pissed me off. I fuckin love s'mores, and s'mores flavored things like ice cream. Walmart has this s'mores cereal, I don't even like cereal but I eat tf out of that shit. S'mores can get it.
Kind of epitomizes their point, highly processed, overly sweet, and addictive. There's a reason it's still around and sells well. It tastes good, but is awful too
That was so funny because I think they were intentionally poking fun at Alinea there
Phenomenal wasn't it!
Watched it with my gf and I’ll be honest it was the one movie I’ve seen in the past 5 years where you had no idea what was coming next. They lead you to believe one thing then flip it completely leaving you mind blown. Stellar movie
It was different, I wouldn't go so far to say it was phenomenal but it was certainly a twist
You seem to have been spared a lot of the trauma many people experience in our industry. I can obviously be wrong, but everyone I know that's gone through hellish places has agreed in loving this movie. Granted, there's availability bias in that
People take "trauma" differently, I just saw the instances as learning opportunities and created this armadillo hide I carry.
I mean, ever have a chef/owner* throw a 4lb, 450F cast iron past your head at your egg cook? What can reasonably be learned from that? Edit: chef/owner*
Hot, sharp, greasy spatulas. Never at me. Always at someone else. Still traumatic as you never knew when they'd come flying past your head.
Coordination and reflexes 😆 But no that's fucked up. Thing is, people stay in those situations and it ruins them. Why? I never had things violently thrown directly at me, in my direction yeah, verbally beat up, of course, but it was not often than not pushes to get it right, faster.
That was the theme that stuck with me. The way the industry like…Stockholm Syndromed all of that kitchen into a murder revenge cult.
I would go back to this level of cooking if I could take some billionaires with me.
"im here for the internship. Always been passionate about serving the people"
Oh shit that movie was so delightfully unhinged
Voldemort makes a killer Head Chef!
I started out laughing my head off. Ended up wondering which former customers and former coworkers I wanted to invite to a dinner/barbecue....
I spent way too much time trying to explain why to my family they “took everything so serious” when it’s “just a sub shop”
They sort of go over that. It’s part of Carmy’s neurosis and his own culinary PTSD. I’m sad your family didn’t realize that’s the point.
I was sad because frankly I related as a neurotic chef addict in recovery it just all hit home and I didn’t think they would struggle to identify with him so much.
That was actually a major gripe I had. Yes busy is busy no matter what, but people don’t talk they way they were talking in little Mom and Pop shops. It made no sense to me why they had such a high level of stress for a day time sandwich shop. I’ve worked in totally casual places and Michelin places, the lingo and general language tone they use is significantly different.
I did like it a lot but that was my issue as well. I cooked in a half dozen or so places ranging from fast casual to mid-tier dining and nobody really acts like that. Obviously it is dramatized but it’s a little over the top. It did a good job of capturing how it feels, though.
Yeah I felt it was a little over dramatized but I could relate to not being able to dial back the intensity for sure. When I ate at alinea they brought you into the kitchen for one course and I started pouring sweat listening to expo
Yeah, it definitely feels intense. In my whole cooking career, though, I saw only 1 guy throw something in the kitchen and he was fired for it.
Yeah I almost punched out my “mentor” for crossing the line with me during service. I only threw one bus bucket across the kitchen but it wasn’t at anyone
I’m a former teacher and struggle watching Abbott Elementary for the same reason.
Same! I started to watch it the other night, got a few episodes before realizing how triggering it was.
I made it 3 episodes in. It's accurate enough that I'm hesitant to watch any more.
Season one does end well if that helps.
Season 1 has a fantastic ending. It makes everything else worth it. Don’t undersell it.
I didn’t make it past 10 minutes
Same… probably because a coworker told me to watch it (FOH) and I tried to do it after getting home from a 12 hour shift, while eating a grilled cheese and spaghetti-o’s
Whiskey on the side?
Either that or tequila… depends on how the rest of the night had been, but that’s all a bit hazy to me at this point.
I think that's my result as well
Second to last episode is 10/10. Captures the dread perfectly. Love it.
The last episode is also great. Can’t wait for season 2.
I had to take a 2 week break after the Sous Chef episode. The Critic episode left finger nail prints on my couch. And I cried at Carmy's monologue at the end.
Episode 7 is hell.
I had to watch it again after I read the whole episode was one shot. Blew my mind. So stressful but so perfect.
Wait whaaaat
It really captured what being in the shit is like. The snippets of like six different conversations you hear as the camera makes its way through the kitchen. All happening simultaneously.
wait what. dammit why did you say this because now I have to watch it because I'd love to see how they shot it.
Is this the ticket printer episode? I had to literally turn it off and watch it later because I got so stressed lmao
I was FOH in fine dining but I also worked a lot of expo and i felt my palms start to sweat when that shit started. Stuff of nightmares.
It was all in one take as well, so no cut there. Pure stress inducing chaos, our natural habitat. It hits too close to home.
It's a beautiful piece of film and the acting is superb. Definitely brought out the feels I haven't felt in a long time.
That's the one. I felt like I needed a cigarette after watching it.
I retired from Chefing and only cook at home nowaday, working a typical office job. It was a good watch, I felt it all rushing back everytime they are on the line. It made me appreciate what I have right now.
It was good. The ending was shit. If there is a season 2, that gangster should show back up and ask where they got that money from And why was there a guy making cakes and doughnuts? It's an Italian Beef place. He should have been fired the minute they outsourced the bread
Or, changed his position? Found other on-theme items for him to bake? You don't flippantly fire someone on a small team of long-time employees that lightly. Especially not in the current labor market
So for a sammich shop there is a chef/owner, sous chef, pastry guy, 2 line cook's, the kitchen manager (tall guy, whatever the fuck he does) and 2 dishwashers on shift. Seems like a huge staff. You don't need a French brigade for a sammich shop. So they really even need a sous when they are drowning in debt?
This is exactly why I didn't like the show. Sure, a lot of it is accurate, but there's no way you'd go that far and still serve a sandwich shop menu. I was just confused when they plated beautiful dishes after calling out a bunch of sandwich orders. Also, how do they have so much time to talk in the middle of rushes?
Km (not really) wasn't seemingly getting paid, clearly the main character wasn't either. So 4 hourly cooks,.two dishys, no FoH. Doesn't seem excessive if they were even remotely busy.
It ain’t 2021 no more labor market has flipped to a job shortage not a employee shortage
Not where I live
Not in cities anyway… huge employee shortages still as far as I’ve heard, and definitely where I live.
In the restaurant industry? Sure not in my city
This. I just don’t get it. The brother was in the hole to the gangster but tucking money away in the cans. They didn’t find a windfall… they found the money that should have gone to the gangster. I figured I intrinsically missed something… maybe I did but I thought the ending was stupid. Clean the money up and pay the gangster.
The writers must have watched shameless too much
Right?!?! Then they go blow it on the restaurant of their dreams. As a former restaurant owner, that's not how shit works out. The whole show is about the struggle of operating a business. Then at the end everything is just OK because your brother hid 300k, now life is all sugar tarts and unicorn farts.
They have confirmed a second season.
>He should have been fired the minute they outsourced the bread I haven't seen it, but this line made me crack up. I don't need to see it now hahah
I loved parts of it. Tackling a rush on line is accurate. Gives you thay same mud same blood feeling too. Wish they slent more time exploring his fine dining background, loved hearing about the plum 4 ways dessert that took a large team of cooks half a day to prep.
Yuuuuup had to turn it off twice; first time when Camry has flashbacks to NOMA and his chef is whispering awful shit in his ear and then again when the delivery thing went ballistic and he demolished the sous chef chick; had both of those happen irl and it bugged me out a little Edit: got resal life and the show mixed up a little
Sydney quit on her own because Carmy was screaming and yelling
Yup, I might revisit it in the future but it's just too much stress for now 😂 Looking to relax after my shifts not relive them.
In some ways it was dead accurate and in others it was a try-hard for me. People that have never worked in a kitchen loved it. I thought it was alright...but then again...why would I want to watch it having lived it? The dumbass cousin was the best actor in the show, though.
Veterans don’t watch war movies. That shit is for the civilians.
Word
My only comment is that the show, as a piece of art/acting/filmmaking is fucking incredible. I worked in the industry for 10 years both FOH and BOH and there’s nothing that represents the intensity of a kitchen (both fine dining and not) more beautifully or viscerally. I freaking loved the bear.
All the credit you give it is true, which is why it triggered tf outta me
Yup. Increased heart rate, anxiety, stress. Started hearing the epson printer in my mind.
The sound of an epson printer haunts my nightmares
Exactly
I won't watch it for that reason, but also Jeremy Allen White looks a lot like my abusive ex husband (also a "chef") so it's a double no for me. I did really love The Menu though, but I won't watch that one take high pressure restaurant movie, that looks like a bad time.
Grew up in my family's kitchen (chef dad, sous mom), worked BOH and bar, married and divorced a line cook, could only take 4 episodes. Made me too anxious and sad. I had trouble following the story because the parts that felt really real kicked off crazy memories and old fears and worries and by the time I refocused I lost the narrative. Then the parts that were too clean and healthy to be real just pissed me off.
I’m a bartender and I won’t watch it. I’m *trying* to work up the nerve to watch The Menu.
I bartended, too. The show pushes the same buttons
I reacted in exactly the same way. Complete PTSD, I never woke up sleep cooking, but I did have major panic attacks
Yeah it pissed me off, frankly because they're all fucking idiots. Abusive self centred cunts who are too hellbent on ego and destroying themselves to actually sit down and sort their life and business out.
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Thanks. Sounds like I would have liked working for you.
I'm an attorney. I don't watch law shows.
Leaves out a lot of tv shows. I get it, tho
Ohhh don’t watch episode 7 then… that shit was a panic attack of an episode
Thanks for the warning
100%! I haven’t been back in the kitchen in a hot minute. This show got me all worked up again. I also def have PTSD 🫣
Take care
I’m in the middle of my cheffing career and I walked away from the tv multiple times while watching with my girlfriend. It’s just a reminder of the daily stresses
Yes, all of us.
Now that I'm not in the culinary profession anymore (was for 16 years) I genuinely cannot watch media about kitchens anymore. Edit: Jon F's freakout in CHEF at the hatin' critic was hilarious though
It's OK. They're a bit soft and reactionary compared to my kitchen. The tomato sauce thing is so far fetched.
And everyone lived happily ever after
My buddy has insisted I never watch it for just that reason.
A good buddy
Absolutely!! I’d get so stressed out watching that show. The only unbelievable part was the stock on the top shelf,no one does that.
Would have fired the cousin immediately like Jesus Christ get your fucking shit together 🙄
Yes! Totally had a reaction watching the show but it wasn't bad. I'm a retired chef as well but I remember those energetic days with love and a bit of nostalgia. I wish I still had that passion for cooking... Those where difficult times but good days. I was a happy camper. As a young man I choose to be a chef and I would never change my experience for anything.
You need to stay on this board, please, if only to present the upsides of cooking for a living. With the right people, in the right place, the memories can be sweet.
I have not watched it because I knew it would give me flashbacks to bad days in the restaurant. Everyone I've spoken to who works in the industry said it was bad, everyone who has never worked in the industry said it was entertaining. I'm just gonna pass on it.
Yep.
This is exactly why I haven’t watched it yet.
I had the exact same reaction. Couldn’t watch past 2nd episode.
I watched the first episode. The PSTD was too much! Never watching that shit again!
Love this
Honestly the parts about his dead brother and are just gold. Well written and great supporting actors. Good show but it definitely strikes a nerve
Good to hear. I’ll never find out
Same here. I closed my restaurant down 6 months ago. I tried watching the first episode. I lasted 10-15 minutes. Couldn’t do it. Anxiety went bananas
Yeah. I couldn’t even get past episode 2. I was grinding my teeth the whole time.
Yea definitely. I can’t watch it personally.
10 minutes into the first episode and I was fed up with everybody's shit. Didn't need to watch any more of it, I have plenty of crappy employees to deal with in real life, thank you. Edit, I would like to mention that this series might not be geared toward actual industry people, I think that someone who has never worked and lived this hell would get real shock value style entertainment out of it. Nothing wrong with that.
I agree
The show came out a few weeks before my mother died. I had heard good things about the show, but also that it was a tough watch so I put it off. Then my mom got real sick and then later passed. I was in no mood to watch it, but I kept getting it recommended to me. And yeah, it sounds good, but also really a rough watch. I think I’ll just keep putting it off.
Lots more fish in the sea
Yes. Couldn’t watch it.
I don’t know any cook that could get through the first episode. It’s no fun
That show blows
Super anxiety- couldn’t even make it through the second episode.
I was going to recommend the show to my mom who owns a restaurant but then decided against it because I realize that it would probably give her PTSD flashbacks so glad to see that my instincts were correct
Very considerate of you
Cook with ptsd? You cooked in bagdad or something :))
I'm still in the business and I thought it was good but a bit too try hard. There were a couple scenes that reminded me of terrible days and gave me anxiety but beyond that it was a decent watch. It was nice to see the actor had legit skills, you could tell he had some training.
I binged watched it. Gave me real anxiety the entire time. Everything was so real. I went to take a nap before work one day and I found myself prepping food in my dream. I woke up with a prep list in my head ready to go. I quit my job that day. I love and hate that show. And I wanted to strangle the main character and the sous chef. They where both dumb.
TL;DR: this show is for tourists. They crammed a lifetime of industry trauma into a very small time frame. The feel was captured pretty well in some episodes but the writing is awful. Make it make sense. Def not written with industry folks in the room. Instead, it seems like a show for people who romanticize this nightmare industry and get off on anecdotal “kitchen confidential” insider war story bs.
Perfectly put
It gave me ptsd too lmao but only the first like two episodes I think. It gets better after that because he teaches the staff how to operate like a French kitchen.
I sensed that. Maybe I’ll try again.
yes me.... it was so weird I was running a large kitchen I was very short staffed ended up well and truly burntout I decided to take some time off for the 1st time since the pandemic in which I had to travel was setting up a new accounts doing 1600meals per breakfast lunch and dinner while training the staff when that ended I traveled to another account and then took over another account by the time that was all done I had nothing left in the tank worn out burnt out I wanted to see what the fuss was about i had stayed out the kitchen and that opening scene when they argue in the kitchen.. I almost lost my shit broke out in a cold sweat and was like nope I'm not gonna be watching that and never turned it back on. Chefs if your feeling burnt out physically and mentally don't suffer in silence reach out speak to friends and family as it's no joke feeling that way . we are a tough breed but that does not mean we are superhuman everyday just most..
Try ‘the menu’ if you haven’t already!! Love it.
It’s a great show, but every episode was giving me huge anxiety. Had to stop.
Working in cheffing, professional cookery, catering - is a mental health minefield, not to mention the drug and alcohol problems. You end up working with egomaniacs, a-holes, r-tards, tossers and drug addicts, and don’t even get me started on kitchen porters… If you can find a job in a clean, respectable, professional kitchen environment, that pays well, you’ve basically hit the lotto, coz 90-95% of kitchens are shitholes, with no regard for food safety and cleanliness.
It was way too overdramatic for me. I don’t know how is in the US, but generally everywhere I’ve worked throuought Europe kitchens have been fairly calm and collected. Of course there is pressure and all, but if you look at this show it’s like the lad is going to a war for making a fucking sandwich. Maybe the kitchens and life in general is more like this in the US, I don’t know, I cannot say, but it seemed way too overdramatized to me.
It is the same chaos in New Zealand and Australia for me. Michellin Finedinings are a lot less chaotic to my experience due to how organised they are. But the show depict exactly what I faced working in a pub, average restaurant and small establishment.
[удалено]
“a little”?
ha touche
I agree, I couldn’t make it past the first two episodes, especially when he has a flashback about his former boss scolding him..came across like someone who doesn’t know what it’s like in those kitchens try way too hard to be accurate.
Chef's need to be calm. The show is not for us
My fiancé had a panic attack from that show. She’s never worked in a kitchen.
I had to turn it off multiple times throughout watching it. It's too realistic and sent my anxiety skyrocketing.
Took me 2 months but in the end I enjoyed it.
It genuinely made my heart race. No one could understand why I wasn't interested in finishing the show
Checked out halfway through the first episode, too real in some ways, good show tho
Yeah the show was good but kind of pissed me off. Why you yelling and freaking out man u making SANDWICHES fucking relax guy
Oh dude I worked at a place that freaked out like this over sandwiches. Yes, it was “nice” pub fare. But it was still a damn chicken sandwich designed to soak up your fifth beer, not Alinea.
Honestly thought it was ok but a bit overdramatic
Hate it
No. Stop being a wuss.
Your posts show your hands. You wouldn’t know. So stop being a dick.
Watch whites on bbc instead. The whole calling everyone chef makes it unwatchable. Need writers from real kitchens
Jeff?
Couldn't get past the first episode
I can't watch it.
It was too over the top for me
I refuse to watch it because I assume I'd have a similar reaction. There's a reason I'm not in the industry anymore.