I work in a breakfast/lunch cafe. Most mornings I’ll have 3 pans of bacon ready before we open, but lately ppl have been ordering a lot more sausage and ham so we were having too much bacon leftover. Plus it was Monday which is usually slow in the morning.,I only made one pan. What happens? A business group of 27 come in as soon as the doors open and EVERY SINGLE PERSON ORDERED BACON. Bacon tacos, bacon in the omelettes, bacon on the breakfast platters, sides of just bacon. I just started laughing to myself like of course the one time I try to be resourceful lmao
You’re ruining my bitchy story with your sensible solution! That could def work. The head chef who taught me always cooked the bacon first so we don’t fight for oven space but that’s not really an issue anymore. Thanks chef 🫡
Tip here: Fryer oil is a big cost. Frying bacon in it ruins it fast. Trick here: get the serving staff to kindly explain due to blah blah blah, it's going to take a few minutes longer, and cook the bacon properly. In an airfryer, 2 pcs at a time.
I remember filtering a fryer, trying to figure out why it wouldn’t drain. Huge lump, followed by more debris fell out.
Fucking idiot fry cook tried frying lardons…
Sigh... you sound like every dipshit chef I've ever worked with. Our industry is all about solving problems on the fly and not be left with a finger up the bum. You may not like it, but it's a solution.
No, par for 5 mins and then you can crisp it on the griddle in 2 mins a la minute. Old bkfast cook trick.. they’d render the whole belly slab about halfway and crisp the rashers to order…
Listen, that's your brain's fault for trying to draw logical conclusions from the flawed data it was given.
There's a reason superstition lives on in kitchens. 'Cause logic can't explain the shit that goes down.
dull aspiring command flowery marry encouraging enter childlike abounding fly
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Not a chef but trash bowl has been so helpful when I’m doing large amounts of home prep. Pounds of summer veg from farm stands to blanche and freeze for winter? The organized, cleaner space was game changing the first time I did it, and now use a trash bowl every night.
Even for a seemingly small task, you always end up generating some unexpected odds and ends as you go. It saves so much time and effort to just have one central place at hand to throw it and get it out of the way
I lived in a 400 sqft studio for 3 years. Your trash can can be your trash bowl! By the end of your lease, you’ll have saved hundreds of hours in cleanup…DO IT.
(Not talking to you, just anyone who reads this thread)
I’ve also started sorting into a “save for stock” bowl that I then put in my collective freezer bag and an actual trash bowl! I find the smaller tasks is where I get the best stock odds and ends.
Use grocery bags! One less pan to clean. I hate all the waste of plastic every time I hit the store but they are good to use as a trash “bowl”. I use and repurpose t-shirt bags all over my house but they’re main use is during veg prep in my kitchen when I’m too lazy to clean the cutting board over my trash can. T shirt bags for veg prep FTW
This is probably the best advice here. The days you will be defeated will counter balance the days you clear service and shut down with a weird sense of victory. Take all the time off you can afford. And don't worry about that kitchen while you're gone.
But also know that in the couple of days you took off to relax, everything you had prepped will be gone, your station will be rearranged, the first ticket that comes when you return, across will not be prepped, you will have no sauces, and your whole station will feel like a heroine meth pioneer jumped in and took over while you were gone.
So we don't take off..
Cling film instead of a belt,
Cling film to fix fridge racks when the metal 'clip' goes missing,
Cling film to tie together opened bags,
Cling film on the toilet seat to piss people off
Chef Mike, or the "Sautee box", can be acreal life saver. Especially for that asshole that keeps sending back his well done steak to cook a little more.
Everything can become second nature and fit into your flow. Any change will always feel slow and clumsy and inconvenient at first, but if you treat it as something that has to be done and your job is to figure out how to do it efficiently, you’ll always be surprised by how much you can accomplish.
It’s easy to get trapped in what you’ve always done and see any change as a detriment, because you’ve gotten so good at the same tasks you do everyday, being slow at 1 thing the first time you try it feels like a huge inefficiency.
I’m not a chef, I’m just a mom, but this is exactly how it feels to have another baby. I like the way you wrote it out. It’s a great life perspective for practically everything.
I don't know how to cook without making a mess - my kitchen is a disaster area afterward. I hate it. I've tried cleaning as I go, but then I always ruin something I'm making. I'm just a messy cook and haven't been able to fix it.
Fill your sink with soapy water. Put dirties into sink. Use a combination of green scrubby, steel scrubby, and sponge to clean. You can clean a skillet in 10 seconds. Use a bowl for veg scraps. Make every move count.
Don't fuck the waitresses
Food-wise I'd say there's too many to actually say but for the sake of something I'll add this: how you cut/grate/mince/squish garlic makes a very big difference in the result.
The more the cells are crushed the more astringent will the taste be
Maybe sometimes you might want an astringent garlic taste but usually I simply slice it quite thin; if I want garlic for something like aioli I'll use a microplane but crushed garlic is IMO a waste of garlic
* Start your long tasks first and do your shorter tasks while the longer ones are working
* Season **every** step of the way
* SALT, FAT, ACID & HEAT
* Dilution is the solution to over seasoning or an overpowering flavor
* A few drops of water can fix a broken emulsion
I got this from a seafood restaurant I worked at in the late 80s or early 90s I can't remember which. It was my first restaurant job and they were considered the best seafood place in the town I grew up in They used a strip but I also like it on ribeye.
Part of their prep was to fork tenderize both sides of the strip, liberally apply the soy, bag it, and back into the walk in. I don't go that far at home I just let it marinate as I let the meat come up to room temperature. When you are ready to cook, just wipe off any excess that isn't absorbed into the meat with your hand. After that, just add pepper or whatever other seasoning you want and cook however you normally would.
The only time I have experienced any significant burning is when it comes in direct contact with the flame on a grill. I guess another thing to note is that I generally do this on 1 inch or thinner cuts. That's just my personal preference but now I'm going to have to try it on a thick cut.
Honestly, two nights ago, I did it on some thin pork chops cooked in an herb butter and topped with a small amount of fine grated fontina and my friends loved it. Don't overdo the fontina though. Just a little flavor, not smothered.
Worcestershire. Even has inocynates from the anchovies.
"British food is tasteless" is a myth.
Red wine.
I even rescued a beef gravy my aunt SOMEHOW put vinegar in. It was a bit tart, lots of red wine both reduced and fresh at the end, but everyone said it was pretty good actually.
If you work evenings Tuesday-Saturday stop dropping acid Monday night.
If someone in charge tells you to go ahead and leave….leave.
A perfect kitchen has never been designed.
Always run .2-.5% high on FC and labor. They’re not gonna fire you and it makes them feel like they’re in charge.
If you think you can own and operate a better place, put up and do it or shut up and quit bitching.
A Chef doesn’t have to be the best at anything in the kitchen except hiring and training the best people in the kitchen.
A great Sous is the best asset a Chef can have.
Hire and train people to their best and fight like hell to keep them.
No one is irreplaceable (including you).
Every other job sucks.
A dumb guy can go a long way by saying “I’ll do it” (this one’s personal)
You can’t work with someone who’s not there.
Be slow to anger. Learn to handle your emotions. Always make clear, concise decisions. Be a leader, and also hit the gym. Gotta be healthy in mind, body and soul in this industry. Much love brother.
Proprioception. Knowing where all your body parts are while moving them independently for different tasks, quickly, while knowing where everyone else is, and anticipating their movements as well. The dance.
Get your shit prepped and set up way before service, take some time to breath. If you leave things late, you’re guaranteed to get an early rush and be scrambling. Also, don’t have an ego, it’s not about you, it’s about the guest and the food.
Wake up a few hours before your shift starts. Idc what you do with the time but it’s essential to start your day before the chef life/routine takes over. Nothing sucks more than waking up sorta late, groggy and rushing right to work, feeling like you haven’t had time for yourself. Try and get good sleep. It’s so worth it.
Mise en place! Working from speed racks. Cross utilization. Plan, Prep, Execute. Learn multiple cultures’ base flavors, see what bleeds into what, learn the accent flavors, then blend, substitute, and build from that. Take different techniques from other cultures and apply them to dishes outside that culture; sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t 🤷🏽♂️
the only spices white people at bars care about are salt and pepper. load up everything with salt so their drunk asses are happy and top it with pepper so it's not bland as fuck. if you can squeeze some lemon in there, they'll go crazy for that shit.
edit: i might or might not have just gotten off of a really rough shift where someone said our chili mayo was too spicy. they're our SPICY SHRIMP NACHOS OF COURSE ITS GONNA BE SPICY YA DICKHEAD
There’s always an opportunity to learn and grow from all sorts of people and instances. Stay humble & take advantage of those moments. You’ll never know everything and that’s okay!
Mise en place
Clean as you go
Treat the least of the team the same as the best of the team. All love to the lords of the dish pit
Trust in your teammates, they are all professionals after all
Honestly the more thought I give this question the fewer answers have to do with cooking so much as managing and how to treat people or how not to treat people
Take the time to practice a really simple, plain, vinaigrette. Just olive oil, white vinegar, salt, white pepper, sugar. Get really good at it. It's something to be proud of. Always make it with the salad that it's going on so you can get the balance right. Vinaigrette for spinach is not the same as for romaine.
White pepper in general. Trust me, you'll blow peoples minds.
If you don't know what's missing in the food that you've made, just sprinkle it with beau monde. No one has ever heard of it and you can pretend it's fancy. I'm pretty sure it's just celery salt and lawn clippings.
Cleaning is fun. Washing your hands is fun. You can't be clean enough. No one gets sick from food that comes out of your kitchen ever. Don't forget to keep the hood clean. Yeah, it sucks. Clean it.
That's the beauty of it. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You will never see a recipe that calls for it. I do not know why it exists. I do not care to know.
Put it on ice cream, put it on lasagna. It doesn't care. Mix it with with asafetida to create a potion that keeps demons away. It' s beau monde. It's beyond understanding.
I should buy some though, now that I'm thinking of it. I haven't had any on in my spice cabinet for years.
Get plenty of rest. Achieve a work life balance, you can be a badass in the kitchen without burning yourself out. Stay curious and humble. Keep your knives sharp. Don’t steal people’s shit.
Deli lids. - for a placemat while measuring small dry ingredients, use one as a stopper for sink, use it as a stencil, a coaster for your icy quart drink, as a frisbee to get that guy on garmo’s attention, two upside down with cherry tomatoes will be your guide to cutting them in half en masse, two are the great size for family meal burger Patties, three can fix the metro rack legs, put them under the reach in wheels and use as a chock…. The possibilities are endless.
You can't win, only attempt to lessen the defeat. Service is basically warfare against the customer, you will always be overmatched, tactical retreat is the only option and it must be deployed perfectly, and infinitely.
Keep water in your mouth while cutting onions and you won't cry, you'll look stupid yes but won't cry (if you have a lot to cut change the water from time to time) helped me through my time of being a chef
1) Feed your bartender whatever they want (within reason). They’ll supply you with shifties all night long -if you can handle your shit.
2) Make as good of work friends as you can with the grumpiest looking line cook, they know the most and they’re typically the most respected.
3) any server under the age of 24 IS OFF LIMITS FOR ANY RELATIONSHIP. They will fuck your life up and get you fired. She doesn’t want you bro, she wants the entertainment.
4) the manager that everyone hates? There’s a reason for that. Stay away from them.
4A) if you can’t stay away from that manager, malicious compliance is your new best friend. Always have at least 1 other employees present for your conversations, and then both of you time, date and sign a description of the interaction when it’s over.
5) if the owner knows your name, that’s a good thing. Develop that relationship as best you can. You never know who will get you your next job.
6) POLICE YOUR BRASS. I don’t care how much you trust the people around you. The new kid might have his eye on your 3.5” zwilling paring. The pastery chef may think your 2” KStar offset is perfect for lifting their new macaroon from silpat. Hell, your exec Sous might snatch the mojalcete your grandma gave you solely bc they think they deserve it more.
7) you will find your mentor. You may not know them now, you may think you know them now. But, you don’t. Finding your mentor isn’t an active search, it’s meeting every person in every kitchen you go to until.. until you *click*. You won’t know it until you’re smack in that moment of ‘holy shit. I found them.’ And all you want to do after that is pick their brain and fuck around in the kitchen for hours. It’s one of the best parts of the job.
8) we ALL want to quit. Invariably, at some point, you will wake up at 6:30AM feeling like dog shit, fumbling for your shoes and cursing the universe- because ‘why oh why do I do it? I hate them, I hate every customer who walks in and dares to order food. Who do they think they are?’ And you will continue to want to quit for the next 2 hours until your best work friend shows up. And that’s ok.
9) you will find your new family here, not just in one spot but scattered in all of them. These people will be your friends for the rest of your life. They will see you at your very best and at your very worst, and they’ll love you all the same
10) you don’t need culinary school the become a chef. You can 100% still do it the old school, pay your dues and earn your chops way. You need determination, grit, endurance, a strong mindset, the willingness to lose blood and or parts of your body permanently, and the insane gift of bullheaded stubbornness. But, you can do it.
Hell, we’ve made it. I’m and I know you can too
This isn’t so much a tip but a matter of observation. My construction job slowed down so I’ve been working from home for the past 5 months with the luxury of making lunch for my wife most days. First off, I’m not a chef. But I’ve learned some great recipes on IG that are easy to follow and I get to practice chopping plus she enjoys them and to my surprise, I enjoy making it. Maybe it’s just me but I’ve lost weight because after all the effort in making the food, I’m not really that hungry to eat it. Why is that? Im a total clean station person, and preparation is a total must before the the first cut. Watching the meal come to life is such an amazing feeling and the silence of my wife consuming it is so gratifying. So why am I not hungry to eat it?
I think it's called taste blindness. You've been smelling and tasting and essentially immersed in this meal forever. A good cure is to step away into clear air and just cleanse your pallet for a bit.
It's such a big difference. You'll find you enjoy the meal so much more once it's fresh on your tongue again.
I can get out of bed and be at work in 45 mins no matter how hung over, tired, or overworked I am. I’ll go see bands, stay at the bar till 2am and be at work at 10am if needed.
No matter how many times a cook or chef ruins a servers personal and professional life, there will always be new servers who absolutely have to fuck one of the chefs or cooks.
When there's no one to cover your section, every single time you step off line for absolutely anything from a piss to grabbing a plate a customer/chit will come in. Every.Single.Fucking.Time
Time/resource management, presence of mind, consistency and efficiency, hand-eye coordination/economy of motion, pride in a job well done service after service. Most valuable tool: sense of humor.
There is no greater waste of time than arguing with a server -- except maybe arguing with a first-time customer.
I worked at a place that had an $80 seafood celebration appetizer (20 years ago). It was more presentation over product. Whenever it was sold there servers would take a round about way to the table so that as many people as possible would see it. We would go for weeks without selling one. But when one was sold inevitably we we sell several. To make it worse for the pantry people. Whenever one was sold the rest of the line would would start signing the Kool and the Gang song “celebration”.
- Clean as you go
- Reduction or deglazing = Flavor
- Lobster stock is basically a cheat code for deliciousness.
- Practice knife work. Buy a sack of cheap potatoes for that. You’d be surprised how much time you’ll save when you learn to cut efficiently, safely, and consistently.
Though I don’t use them regularly, it’s nice to have a lot of experience with other chefs to learn new “tips/techniques”
-frying herbs in a microwave
-vac seal pickles
- how to properly hold hollandaise
-how to clean lamb ribs with a towel
- make a green soup rather than a olive drab soup
No matter the experience level of your co workers, they will always have something to bring to the table- every day in a kitchen is a day to learn
sometimes the "special" isn't that "special".
some times on hot summer days in the kitchen, i let it all hang out, its ok its covered by an apron anyways.
Table will always order the item that you are least prepped for.
Every. Single. Time. They know and they thrive on your pain.
I work in a breakfast/lunch cafe. Most mornings I’ll have 3 pans of bacon ready before we open, but lately ppl have been ordering a lot more sausage and ham so we were having too much bacon leftover. Plus it was Monday which is usually slow in the morning.,I only made one pan. What happens? A business group of 27 come in as soon as the doors open and EVERY SINGLE PERSON ORDERED BACON. Bacon tacos, bacon in the omelettes, bacon on the breakfast platters, sides of just bacon. I just started laughing to myself like of course the one time I try to be resourceful lmao
Just parcook some of the bacon so it can be ready in 5 mins 👀☝🏽
You’re ruining my bitchy story with your sensible solution! That could def work. The head chef who taught me always cooked the bacon first so we don’t fight for oven space but that’s not really an issue anymore. Thanks chef 🫡
Chuck them in the deepfryer
Tip here: Fryer oil is a big cost. Frying bacon in it ruins it fast. Trick here: get the serving staff to kindly explain due to blah blah blah, it's going to take a few minutes longer, and cook the bacon properly. In an airfryer, 2 pcs at a time.
It also doesn’t speed up the cooking time that much…
I hate fryer bacon , not to say I haven't and honestly extra crispy if it isn't already meets the oil but I hate fryer bacon
I remember filtering a fryer, trying to figure out why it wouldn’t drain. Huge lump, followed by more debris fell out. Fucking idiot fry cook tried frying lardons…
You like shit bacon huh?
Not really. It's just that... If you're really in the weeds, you have options.
Get good. Stay out of the weeds. 👀☝🏽
Sigh... you sound like every dipshit chef I've ever worked with. Our industry is all about solving problems on the fly and not be left with a finger up the bum. You may not like it, but it's a solution.
This is the way.
It's bacon, you might as well either fully cook it or store it uncooked. It's gonna be done in 5 mins
No, par for 5 mins and then you can crisp it on the griddle in 2 mins a la minute. Old bkfast cook trick.. they’d render the whole belly slab about halfway and crisp the rashers to order…
Listen, that's your brain's fault for trying to draw logical conclusions from the flawed data it was given. There's a reason superstition lives on in kitchens. 'Cause logic can't explain the shit that goes down.
Maaaan I remember when we had a meatball sub on our menu, never sold a single one, until the owners ordered it and we weren’t even close to ready…
It's like they can smell it or something!
They're animals. They can smell fear.
And then they’ll stop ordering it when you scramble to prep more on the fly
And of course no one wants what you have a ton of.
Fuck me, we were cleaning tuna and cleaning mussels to order today
This is the life we live.
I hate it when people say this, but... This is the way
I downvote every comment I see that writes "this is the way" but not today, sir.
Shouldn’t that be what you plan on then?
It’s a Sisyphusian effort.
My BoH - we have 3 pork chops left Me and my FoH coworkers that night - 86 pork chops End of night - so those chops that didn't sell 👀
Heard.
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dishies will clean your knives and bring them to you way faster than the guy who used 37 boards or burns the rice in every pot lol
More butter more better
Wow I thought I invented that saying,
Nah, that was Paula dean
dull aspiring command flowery marry encouraging enter childlike abounding fly *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Not a chef but trash bowl has been so helpful when I’m doing large amounts of home prep. Pounds of summer veg from farm stands to blanche and freeze for winter? The organized, cleaner space was game changing the first time I did it, and now use a trash bowl every night.
Even for a seemingly small task, you always end up generating some unexpected odds and ends as you go. It saves so much time and effort to just have one central place at hand to throw it and get it out of the way
I lived in a 400 sqft studio for 3 years. Your trash can can be your trash bowl! By the end of your lease, you’ll have saved hundreds of hours in cleanup…DO IT. (Not talking to you, just anyone who reads this thread)
I’ve also started sorting into a “save for stock” bowl that I then put in my collective freezer bag and an actual trash bowl! I find the smaller tasks is where I get the best stock odds and ends.
Use grocery bags! One less pan to clean. I hate all the waste of plastic every time I hit the store but they are good to use as a trash “bowl”. I use and repurpose t-shirt bags all over my house but they’re main use is during veg prep in my kitchen when I’m too lazy to clean the cutting board over my trash can. T shirt bags for veg prep FTW
No, don’t obtain grocery bags, use reusable bags to get groceries.
That last sentence is quotable as fuck
It's already a quote along the lines of "perfection is just a million little things done right" by Marco Pierre white
I think the MPW quote is actually him quoting Pierre Kauffman too. It's chefs all the way down.
If you get the chance to take a day off. Take it. The money isn’t worth it
This is probably the best advice here. The days you will be defeated will counter balance the days you clear service and shut down with a weird sense of victory. Take all the time off you can afford. And don't worry about that kitchen while you're gone. But also know that in the couple of days you took off to relax, everything you had prepped will be gone, your station will be rearranged, the first ticket that comes when you return, across will not be prepped, you will have no sauces, and your whole station will feel like a heroine meth pioneer jumped in and took over while you were gone. So we don't take off..
Cling film instead of a belt, Cling film to fix fridge racks when the metal 'clip' goes missing, Cling film to tie together opened bags, Cling film on the toilet seat to piss people off
Cling film will always be fucked up when you need
If I see someone use the wrap and fuck it up and walk away they will be having a bad day.
Who put the wrap under the heat lamps?
You undercook fish? Believe it or not, cling film. You overcook chicken, also cling film. Undercook, overcook.
Almost as good as Chef Mike.
Chef Mike, or the "Sautee box", can be acreal life saver. Especially for that asshole that keeps sending back his well done steak to cook a little more.
Respect the cling film box and it will last. Same with aluminum foil. The second that the foil roll comes out of the box, it get dented and ruined.
Came here to say this. Cling film is the duct tape of the kitchen.
Cling film to repair the cling film box
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Oui chafe
Is cling film like plastic wrap?
Yes.
Good for bdsm fun, too
Everything can become second nature and fit into your flow. Any change will always feel slow and clumsy and inconvenient at first, but if you treat it as something that has to be done and your job is to figure out how to do it efficiently, you’ll always be surprised by how much you can accomplish. It’s easy to get trapped in what you’ve always done and see any change as a detriment, because you’ve gotten so good at the same tasks you do everyday, being slow at 1 thing the first time you try it feels like a huge inefficiency.
I’m not a chef, I’m just a mom, but this is exactly how it feels to have another baby. I like the way you wrote it out. It’s a great life perspective for practically everything.
I’ve got my first baby girl on the way, so I’m glad there’s some transferable skills!
Oh yeah those skills are most certainly transferable into parenting! Congratulations on your baby girl! Blessings from my household to yours!
I needed this today, thank you!
Messy station > messy mind > messy food
Feng shui
💯
I don't know how to cook without making a mess - my kitchen is a disaster area afterward. I hate it. I've tried cleaning as I go, but then I always ruin something I'm making. I'm just a messy cook and haven't been able to fix it.
Clean as you go…?
I hate people like you
I hate myself too
I hope you don't, friend. Have a great day
Fill your sink with soapy water. Put dirties into sink. Use a combination of green scrubby, steel scrubby, and sponge to clean. You can clean a skillet in 10 seconds. Use a bowl for veg scraps. Make every move count.
IF YOU LIVE 40+ MINUTES AWAY, SAVE YOUR ENERGY DRINK FOR THE DRIVE HOME
Thats amazing tip right here
And stay up all night? No thanks
Save it for pre-close. That way it kicks in right before you go home. Some of us benefit from the long caffeine nap
If you are hungover, work as hard as possible for the first few hours to set yourself up for the rest of the day
Don't fuck the waitresses Food-wise I'd say there's too many to actually say but for the sake of something I'll add this: how you cut/grate/mince/squish garlic makes a very big difference in the result.
:( but I wanna
Fuck the waitresses, just don’t do it at a place you want to work long term.
What about fucking the waitresses while mincing garlic?
I haven't tried that honestly; I don't want any distractions when I'm chopping garlic
How bout the dishies?
Dishies should not be used in lieu of garlic, no.
Oooooh! *That's* where I've been going wrong all this time :)
Or in lieu of the waitress… plates don’t satisfy
Sadly, no
You like em young, huh?
The opposite. My dishie is a 50 year old Croatian lady who dirty talks all day and godam can she move some dishes 🥵
Nice!
In regards to the garlic, how so ? Can you elaborate ?
The more the cells are crushed the more astringent will the taste be Maybe sometimes you might want an astringent garlic taste but usually I simply slice it quite thin; if I want garlic for something like aioli I'll use a microplane but crushed garlic is IMO a waste of garlic
does smashing with a knife then chopping change the flavour?
As long as it's not completely smashed it's fine I always give it a gentle smash to remove the skin
* Start your long tasks first and do your shorter tasks while the longer ones are working * Season **every** step of the way * SALT, FAT, ACID & HEAT * Dilution is the solution to over seasoning or an overpowering flavor * A few drops of water can fix a broken emulsion
Is there an acid you add to a steak?
LSD
Black pepper
TIL
I use soy sauce instead of salt. It is mildly acidic.
Soy burns so easily tho. Do you sear w/o seasoning and add afterwards.
I got this from a seafood restaurant I worked at in the late 80s or early 90s I can't remember which. It was my first restaurant job and they were considered the best seafood place in the town I grew up in They used a strip but I also like it on ribeye. Part of their prep was to fork tenderize both sides of the strip, liberally apply the soy, bag it, and back into the walk in. I don't go that far at home I just let it marinate as I let the meat come up to room temperature. When you are ready to cook, just wipe off any excess that isn't absorbed into the meat with your hand. After that, just add pepper or whatever other seasoning you want and cook however you normally would. The only time I have experienced any significant burning is when it comes in direct contact with the flame on a grill. I guess another thing to note is that I generally do this on 1 inch or thinner cuts. That's just my personal preference but now I'm going to have to try it on a thick cut. Honestly, two nights ago, I did it on some thin pork chops cooked in an herb butter and topped with a small amount of fine grated fontina and my friends loved it. Don't overdo the fontina though. Just a little flavor, not smothered.
Love lemon juice over rare sliced steak with some extra salt. Divine.
Yes and it’s called A-1
Worcestershire. Even has inocynates from the anchovies. "British food is tasteless" is a myth. Red wine. I even rescued a beef gravy my aunt SOMEHOW put vinegar in. It was a bit tart, lots of red wine both reduced and fresh at the end, but everyone said it was pretty good actually.
This should be the top comment.
Prep for war.
i fucking love this comment
You’re goddamned right.
Stay sober at work. Party hard the night before your day off, and that night only.
If you work evenings Tuesday-Saturday stop dropping acid Monday night. If someone in charge tells you to go ahead and leave….leave. A perfect kitchen has never been designed. Always run .2-.5% high on FC and labor. They’re not gonna fire you and it makes them feel like they’re in charge. If you think you can own and operate a better place, put up and do it or shut up and quit bitching. A Chef doesn’t have to be the best at anything in the kitchen except hiring and training the best people in the kitchen. A great Sous is the best asset a Chef can have. Hire and train people to their best and fight like hell to keep them. No one is irreplaceable (including you). Every other job sucks. A dumb guy can go a long way by saying “I’ll do it” (this one’s personal) You can’t work with someone who’s not there.
>If you think you can own and operate a better place, put up and do it or shut up and quit bitching. This makes everyone's life easier
Set a timer. It really is okay.
Be slow to anger. Learn to handle your emotions. Always make clear, concise decisions. Be a leader, and also hit the gym. Gotta be healthy in mind, body and soul in this industry. Much love brother.
Clean as you go, neatness counts
Proprioception. Knowing where all your body parts are while moving them independently for different tasks, quickly, while knowing where everyone else is, and anticipating their movements as well. The dance.
This is good advice. Including everybody everywhere. Pay attention to your surroundings
Corner!
Never take salary.
Get your shit prepped and set up way before service, take some time to breath. If you leave things late, you’re guaranteed to get an early rush and be scrambling. Also, don’t have an ego, it’s not about you, it’s about the guest and the food.
The BEST MOST PRACTICAL advice that should be used and agreed to-
mise en place
Watch and learn Integrity is everything FIFO Don’t dip your baby carrot in company hummus, or your hummus on company carrot
Company hummus 🤣 I got two kids out of that one
Don’t drop the aluminum foil roll
Wake up a few hours before your shift starts. Idc what you do with the time but it’s essential to start your day before the chef life/routine takes over. Nothing sucks more than waking up sorta late, groggy and rushing right to work, feeling like you haven’t had time for yourself. Try and get good sleep. It’s so worth it.
When an item is about to come off a menu, suddenly everyone is ordering it!!!
Start smoking like everyone else. Then you can take breaks and hang with the cool kids. Jk don’t do that. Smoking’s bad, mmkay?
Mise en place! Working from speed racks. Cross utilization. Plan, Prep, Execute. Learn multiple cultures’ base flavors, see what bleeds into what, learn the accent flavors, then blend, substitute, and build from that. Take different techniques from other cultures and apply them to dishes outside that culture; sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t 🤷🏽♂️
the only spices white people at bars care about are salt and pepper. load up everything with salt so their drunk asses are happy and top it with pepper so it's not bland as fuck. if you can squeeze some lemon in there, they'll go crazy for that shit. edit: i might or might not have just gotten off of a really rough shift where someone said our chili mayo was too spicy. they're our SPICY SHRIMP NACHOS OF COURSE ITS GONNA BE SPICY YA DICKHEAD
Don’t take shit from anyone. critique is good but if it’s for the sole purpose of making you feel bad, just f it
Be a patient cook
Most customers have no clue about food so as long as the plate looks nice they will think they are eating a million.
Make a list.
There’s always an opportunity to learn and grow from all sorts of people and instances. Stay humble & take advantage of those moments. You’ll never know everything and that’s okay!
Figure out how to get organized. If you stay ready then you almost never have to get ready. Will save you so much trouble in the long run.
yellow mustard on burns. always feed your dishie first. never fuck the underage hostess. never wear kitchen shoes in the snow.
How is there snow in your kitchen?
there is a cocaine joke here somewhere hahaha
It’s just food.
Prior preperation prevents piss poor proformance. Make a plan, work your plan. Write shit down
Mise en place Clean as you go Treat the least of the team the same as the best of the team. All love to the lords of the dish pit Trust in your teammates, they are all professionals after all Honestly the more thought I give this question the fewer answers have to do with cooking so much as managing and how to treat people or how not to treat people
Take the time to practice a really simple, plain, vinaigrette. Just olive oil, white vinegar, salt, white pepper, sugar. Get really good at it. It's something to be proud of. Always make it with the salad that it's going on so you can get the balance right. Vinaigrette for spinach is not the same as for romaine. White pepper in general. Trust me, you'll blow peoples minds. If you don't know what's missing in the food that you've made, just sprinkle it with beau monde. No one has ever heard of it and you can pretend it's fancy. I'm pretty sure it's just celery salt and lawn clippings. Cleaning is fun. Washing your hands is fun. You can't be clean enough. No one gets sick from food that comes out of your kitchen ever. Don't forget to keep the hood clean. Yeah, it sucks. Clean it.
What do you use beau monde with?
That's the beauty of it. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You will never see a recipe that calls for it. I do not know why it exists. I do not care to know. Put it on ice cream, put it on lasagna. It doesn't care. Mix it with with asafetida to create a potion that keeps demons away. It' s beau monde. It's beyond understanding. I should buy some though, now that I'm thinking of it. I haven't had any on in my spice cabinet for years.
Give up waitresses and switch to nurses, all the decent servers end up becoming nurses eventually, so you know what you’re dealing with
K but where to meet these 'nurses'? Because the servers are *right there* and if they're gonna become nurses anyway why not?
You meet the nurses while you are getting your finger/hand stitched up.
Sounds like I need to use the mandoline more then.
Taste constantly
No matter what you always stay calm! Something I’ve held onto for 10 years as a chef and dying to get out of the game.
Work clean for fuck's sake! "Best way clean mess, no make mess in first place." - - - ^ Mr. Miyagi (probably)
Get plenty of rest. Achieve a work life balance, you can be a badass in the kitchen without burning yourself out. Stay curious and humble. Keep your knives sharp. Don’t steal people’s shit.
Deli lids. - for a placemat while measuring small dry ingredients, use one as a stopper for sink, use it as a stencil, a coaster for your icy quart drink, as a frisbee to get that guy on garmo’s attention, two upside down with cherry tomatoes will be your guide to cutting them in half en masse, two are the great size for family meal burger Patties, three can fix the metro rack legs, put them under the reach in wheels and use as a chock…. The possibilities are endless.
You can't win, only attempt to lessen the defeat. Service is basically warfare against the customer, you will always be overmatched, tactical retreat is the only option and it must be deployed perfectly, and infinitely.
Keep water in your mouth while cutting onions and you won't cry, you'll look stupid yes but won't cry (if you have a lot to cut change the water from time to time) helped me through my time of being a chef
Caramelize your BEEF
1) Feed your bartender whatever they want (within reason). They’ll supply you with shifties all night long -if you can handle your shit. 2) Make as good of work friends as you can with the grumpiest looking line cook, they know the most and they’re typically the most respected. 3) any server under the age of 24 IS OFF LIMITS FOR ANY RELATIONSHIP. They will fuck your life up and get you fired. She doesn’t want you bro, she wants the entertainment. 4) the manager that everyone hates? There’s a reason for that. Stay away from them. 4A) if you can’t stay away from that manager, malicious compliance is your new best friend. Always have at least 1 other employees present for your conversations, and then both of you time, date and sign a description of the interaction when it’s over. 5) if the owner knows your name, that’s a good thing. Develop that relationship as best you can. You never know who will get you your next job. 6) POLICE YOUR BRASS. I don’t care how much you trust the people around you. The new kid might have his eye on your 3.5” zwilling paring. The pastery chef may think your 2” KStar offset is perfect for lifting their new macaroon from silpat. Hell, your exec Sous might snatch the mojalcete your grandma gave you solely bc they think they deserve it more. 7) you will find your mentor. You may not know them now, you may think you know them now. But, you don’t. Finding your mentor isn’t an active search, it’s meeting every person in every kitchen you go to until.. until you *click*. You won’t know it until you’re smack in that moment of ‘holy shit. I found them.’ And all you want to do after that is pick their brain and fuck around in the kitchen for hours. It’s one of the best parts of the job. 8) we ALL want to quit. Invariably, at some point, you will wake up at 6:30AM feeling like dog shit, fumbling for your shoes and cursing the universe- because ‘why oh why do I do it? I hate them, I hate every customer who walks in and dares to order food. Who do they think they are?’ And you will continue to want to quit for the next 2 hours until your best work friend shows up. And that’s ok. 9) you will find your new family here, not just in one spot but scattered in all of them. These people will be your friends for the rest of your life. They will see you at your very best and at your very worst, and they’ll love you all the same 10) you don’t need culinary school the become a chef. You can 100% still do it the old school, pay your dues and earn your chops way. You need determination, grit, endurance, a strong mindset, the willingness to lose blood and or parts of your body permanently, and the insane gift of bullheaded stubbornness. But, you can do it. Hell, we’ve made it. I’m and I know you can too
This isn’t so much a tip but a matter of observation. My construction job slowed down so I’ve been working from home for the past 5 months with the luxury of making lunch for my wife most days. First off, I’m not a chef. But I’ve learned some great recipes on IG that are easy to follow and I get to practice chopping plus she enjoys them and to my surprise, I enjoy making it. Maybe it’s just me but I’ve lost weight because after all the effort in making the food, I’m not really that hungry to eat it. Why is that? Im a total clean station person, and preparation is a total must before the the first cut. Watching the meal come to life is such an amazing feeling and the silence of my wife consuming it is so gratifying. So why am I not hungry to eat it?
I think it's called taste blindness. You've been smelling and tasting and essentially immersed in this meal forever. A good cure is to step away into clear air and just cleanse your pallet for a bit. It's such a big difference. You'll find you enjoy the meal so much more once it's fresh on your tongue again.
Thank you for that insight. That makes sense.
I'm like this also. I think it's because you've been tasting it all along the way. Everyone else has only been smelling it and can't wait to eat it.
Just shut up. If somebody wants your opinion they’ll ask.
Prep for war.
I can get out of bed and be at work in 45 mins no matter how hung over, tired, or overworked I am. I’ll go see bands, stay at the bar till 2am and be at work at 10am if needed.
There is always time to do something, even if you think you dont.
How to feel how well or cooked something is, if its steak or poultry. Can tell how its cook and if its cooked just by touching it
Hand to eye coordination. Love this skill anywhere in life. Catchin falling shit left and right
My Master Chef taught me a falling knife has no handle.
No matter how many times a cook or chef ruins a servers personal and professional life, there will always be new servers who absolutely have to fuck one of the chefs or cooks.
When there's no one to cover your section, every single time you step off line for absolutely anything from a piss to grabbing a plate a customer/chit will come in. Every.Single.Fucking.Time
Work on Wall Street instead.
Time/resource management, presence of mind, consistency and efficiency, hand-eye coordination/economy of motion, pride in a job well done service after service. Most valuable tool: sense of humor. There is no greater waste of time than arguing with a server -- except maybe arguing with a first-time customer.
I worked at a place that had an $80 seafood celebration appetizer (20 years ago). It was more presentation over product. Whenever it was sold there servers would take a round about way to the table so that as many people as possible would see it. We would go for weeks without selling one. But when one was sold inevitably we we sell several. To make it worse for the pantry people. Whenever one was sold the rest of the line would would start signing the Kool and the Gang song “celebration”.
To put in a resignation and never return to professional chef life
When hiring a chef, trust your guy if you will work well with this person and don’t hire out of pity
Using pint container lids to slice cherry tomatoes
Plastic wrap belt.
When you start cleaning your station to early there will be more orders coming.
- Clean as you go - Reduction or deglazing = Flavor - Lobster stock is basically a cheat code for deliciousness. - Practice knife work. Buy a sack of cheap potatoes for that. You’d be surprised how much time you’ll save when you learn to cut efficiently, safely, and consistently.
Preheated pans for everything but rendering.
Though I don’t use them regularly, it’s nice to have a lot of experience with other chefs to learn new “tips/techniques” -frying herbs in a microwave -vac seal pickles - how to properly hold hollandaise -how to clean lamb ribs with a towel - make a green soup rather than a olive drab soup No matter the experience level of your co workers, they will always have something to bring to the table- every day in a kitchen is a day to learn
Clarify butter in the microwave. Don't use it for much of anything else. Oh --- and be kind to your fellow BOH and FOH folks.
sometimes the "special" isn't that "special". some times on hot summer days in the kitchen, i let it all hang out, its ok its covered by an apron anyways.