Anyone else on /ck/ a chef or sous chef in a kitchen?
On one hand I hate the food industry and on the other hand there's something satisfying about running a kitchen
The most frustrating part about the job is probably hygiene because it's difficult keeping things up to standard during a rush but you know you have to do it
I also hate dealing with modifications to dishes because a lot of the time the server will promise something that we cannot fulfill
On rare occasions we even get people who request a modification to a dish and then send it back because they didn't like how the modified dish tasted. For example if someone requests raw onions instead of caramelized onions and then sends it back because it tastes weird with raw onions. Then we have to make the dish again which is annoying as fuck.
Also, allergies suck. No offense but every time we get an order that specifies nut-free or something we have to get out new pans and change gloves and basically not touch anything with nuts until your dish is done and it sucks.
Also one time i had one of those people who are gluten free by choice claim that one of our desserts gave her a "gluten attack" despite the fact that she didn't even have a gluten allergy and also the server told her the dish had gluten in it
>be me
>doing a maths degree
>drop out
>get first job ever
>commis chef
>two months later
>turn 360 degrees and walk straight back to university
>>7844344
yeah im doing this for extra money to pay off my college so thankfully i wont have to do it for much longer
i will miss some aspects of it but i think being a chef for too long might actually shorten my life span
I'm a pastry chef and I don't even work the dinner rush anymore. By far the most frustrating thing is having people fuck up the plating of something you worked several days on. I show them exactly how to do it and they still fuck up. I just had to fire this Russian chick that I could have definitely fucked because she was always getting high before work and ruining things.
>>7844342
>n we have to make the dish again
I hope you charge him both dishes then
>>7844389
Our owner is a pussy because he's afraid someone will turn around and write a bad yelp review about us
I have no idea if he has servers charge them for the other dish but I suspect not
Honestly its really sad to see Yelp bring a man to his knees like that
He writes out responses to each negative review apologizing to them and it's really sad
>>7844414
>owner is a pussy
wrong Person for that job then...
>>7844379
>I just had to fire this Russian chick that I could have definitely fucked
wrong move... fuck her first , fire her after...
Chef de cuisine here, kitchen life a shit!
But seriously, its so satisfying when you make that perfect rack of lamb or a creme bruleé that looks like sex on a plate, if only people who don´t know shit about food would stop being dicks, and the rest can stop being whiny cunts.
>be me
>first customer of the day, 2 lades in their mid forties
> order 2 plates of the exact same food, because they can´t think for themselves
>2 rack of lamb on there, pop it in, comes out perfect
>send it out, sure as hell that it will make them orgasm from the mouth
>one of them sends it back
>wtf.png
>server "She want another one with 3 bones instead of 2, becasue her friend got 3 bones
>stare in disbelife at the server
>make a lamb with 3 bones, but less meat than the previous one
>no complaints
Why are these people left without supervison?
>>7844439
fomo
o
m
o
>>7844439
>server "She want another one with 3 bones instead of 2, becasue her friend got 3 bones
>stare in disbelife at the server
wow...
funny that , with all the psychopath working in a kitchen, mass hooting always happens in malls or schools, never in restaurants...
>>7844439
should've thrown a bare bone at her and yelled "BONER UP"
for real though sometimes when i get a perfect dish sent back for something minor i have to stop myself from just straight up quitting
>>7844446
>mass hooting
>>7844442
Yeah, I get that, but comeone, you have to be able to see that your 2 bones leave more room for more meat than 3 bones so it balances out. Sometimes I just wanna get in their face and shake them and ask them what the hell is wrong with them.
>>7844446
>mass hooting
my rack of lamb are in orbit
We are to busy, simple as that. Me I´m anti-social, mainly because I find people boring as shit but I guess that´s my problem.
>>7844449
I wish, and I can´t be to loud or show to much negative emotion since we have an open kitchen so everything is visible for the customers
What restaurant do you work at?
>>7844461
Privately owned in a more upsacle suburb, concept is a wine bar with cheese and meat platters, alongside hot dishes that are a la carte in mini format, rack of lamb, lobste rsoup with puffpastery lid, redbeats with chevre and herbal butter. Not making any big waves but we pretty much knocked out all other competition since we seem to be the only ones caring about the the quality
>>7844461
OP here: A small local restaurant in New Orleans. Working my way through that Tulane tuition. It's nice to work with fresh seafood but it also kind of sucks because the standards are high
>>7844474
Have you watched Treme?
Janette is why I became a chef.
>>7844480
No I haven't, I've heard a lot about that show but never watched it. I might check it out
>>7844487
Do it my man
I hope to come over for cafe au lait and beignets some day
> Be me
> Work in local bakery
I make cakes for a living
yoy jealous faggots
>>7844504
baker.. not chef...
you will never understand what it mean to be a line cook ...
most cooks are good bakers.. never met a baker who can cook and stand the stress
>become chef
>work my balls off every day, all day
>no weekends off ever
>always working nights
>always working holidays
>busy as FUCK on holidays, so no longer look forward to them
>oh boy, christmas, that means family time right?
>FUCK NO, it means I have to make shit for about a million banquets, while also feeding all the assfuckers that want to come in for regular service on christmas day like a bunch of cocksuckers
>its hot as fuck all the time
>come home smelling like grease and sweat every night
>all im doing is making the owner rich as he profits off my skills
I did it for 10 years and left the industry. Its not worth being in unless you are running your own restaraunt/cafe/whatever. Theres no point staying in it and working yourself to the bone just to get shitty pay so some fucker can get rich off you. You can get a ton of other jobs that pay the same and better for only a fraction of the effort you have to put into being a chef/cook.
Almost everybody Ive worked with that was 35+ and still cooking was an alcoholic/coke head. Its a soul crushing, and unrewarding profession, and the Food Network has only ensured that millions of naive faggots are constantly flooding into restaurants wanting to be chefs, ensuring that you will never get paid a decent amount of money, because now you can always be replaced by the next person in the stack of 100 resumes that wants to be the next "Top Chef".
But maybe Im just a bitter faggot, and nobody should listen to me.
>>7844524
the food industry and the medical industry are so similar in the ways that they overwork their staff and totally normalize illegal practices. like it's bs and doesn't need to work that way, it's just always run by greedy jews who know they can't run the business the right way without being poor themselves.
glad you got out. confuses me that holidays are so busy. i've always stayed at home with family on holidays, never once needed to go to the store or a restaurant or etc, just seemed polite to me
>>7844524
it definitely wears down on you i think
at first i didn't understand and i thought being a chef would be an easy job for me but it's about a lot more than just cooking skills
the food network lied to me
>>7844504
Being a baker in Germany is hell. Your shift starts at 4 or 5am. The bakeries always offer coffee and sandwiches, too. Get ready to experience what a cook at prime time experiences except it's 6am and you're both serving and baking at the same time.
>>7844562
eine aufbackstation ist keine Bäckerei...
I worked for one evening washing up in a small restaurant. They shouted at me for washing up too slowly. Then for not washing up properly.
That's the extent of my manual labour experience. Holy shit I would go crazy if I had to do that every day.
>>7844595
in one kitchen i worked in during high school we didnt have other people to clean up or a dishwasher so every night we washed all of the dishes, swept & mopped, wiped down the tables and the counters, and cleaned the bathrooms. all within like one hour. they really made us work for our shitty wage.
Holy shit gluten free is the worst fucking trend. Most of these cunts don't have an allergy and don't know what will be absent from their order.
GF fag orders a blue cheese salad and suddenly change their tune when we inform them the blue cheese has gluten in it. "oh well that type of gluten doesn't make me ill"
Server comes back and asks for a monkey of croutons as well. Might as fucking well the cats outta the bag
Sous Chef here.
I'm currently going through the feeling of stagnation and looming passive hatred for my chef. I've known him for years, and I've been employed in different ventures of his. He's always been a hot head but recently I've just grown tired of it all the time. I've recently picked up a drinking habit at work to take the edge off, but honestly it's getting to the point where I'm always buzzed at work.
I love kitchens, I love food.. but I'm tired..
I feel like cooking is one of the only things in life I'm passionate about. That being said I'm not sure I could handle the stress of working in a restaurant or completely give up my family life.
>>7844618
According to the server's I've talked to GF people are a headache
It sounds like they just want an opportunity to bring up the fact that they don't eat gluten and will make trouble with the server so that they can announce it
>"Well why is this gluten free but the appetizer that I want not gluten free as well?"
>"Can you make this without gluten? I'm gluten free."
>"You don't have gluten free crostini? I don't eat gluten."
>>7844524
I had actually come into the food industry fully aware of how brutal and tough it is.
>Mother was an executive chef for 15 years
For my entire childhood and teenage years, I was told I wouldn't amount to shit and that I would just be a weak peice of shit my entire life. I began working as a line cook when I was 16, and within 2 years I became the head cook of that place (I say cook, because it was just a southwestern place, and I was by no means a chef)
The kitchen was the only place I ever felt like I wasn't weak and useless and it's the only place I was ever given the opportunity to prove this, and earn the respect of others.
The blinding amount of work, and pressure, I find somewhat enjoyable.. There's something about teetering on the edge of failure, and fighting your way through it, that gives a sense of reward to me.
I see a lot of people bitter about how culinary is incredibly brutal and not what they expected (understandably so). This is just a product of such a modern attitude, there is no respect left for the amount of labor that goes into food.
Also I see those bitter about how culinary takes them no where. It is a field that only rewards self avocation, you always have to be working for that better position, or next step. Be aggressive in progressing further, and it will pay of.. The system is almost designed this way, to ensure that only those with an absurd drive make it through to be an executive chef.
>>7844439
>stuck up cunt story
Yea nah, in any normal country society would lynch her for being a cunt.
>>7844618
It's funny because just slapping "Gluten free" and "Organic" onto something in a shop basically gives them free reign to jack the price to whatever they want cuz they know hipster yuppie faggots will buy it.
Organic eggs at the supermarket? Really? It came from a chicken's vagina how much more fucking organic can you get?
Longtime server here
Thanks for putting up with FOH's shit. You guys work way harder and you should probably get paid more. But fuck you guys for thinking our job is a walk in the park though
>>7844439
Good call. Arguing with the customer about serving normative would've probably gotten you nowhere.
>>7844562
Because bakeries are a big deal in Europe, central Europe especially. At least you don't have horrible sweltering summers like we do down in Mediterranean region.
>>7844861
Ive moved from dishwasher to line cook in under 2 months is that motivation or me just bein a fag?
>>7845118
>fuck you guys for thinking our job is a walk in the park though
We don't man. We would end up literally killing people if we tried to deal with them. I can't pretend to be happy or care about customers, your skills and the shit you put up with are appreciated. If you aren't a total prick the kitchen probably loves you.
>>7844618
My wife, who is allergic to wheat, is terrified as fuck to dine at restaurants because servers/kitchen doesn't fucking care because they think she's faking it. I can't fucking count the times a 'gluten free' meal has resulted in days of fever, paralyzing abdominal pain and severe depression. Fuck both the hipsters and the restaurants.
>>7845721
Unfortunately that's the world we live in
>get a tummy ache after a fuck huge bowl of pasta. I must have celiacs
>get a little sad sometimes. I must be depressed
>have a drink every night. I must be an alcoholic
>>7844342
Is funny, I have seen various movies portray the restaurant owner as a role at times even for retired rich people, something carefree, then I finally got to know someone and eh, a whole another story even if the place was relatively chill.
>>7844342
Stop whining
Get out the kitchen if ita to hard to cook
You have to make standards and enforce them even if it requires new staff.
Lead by example and not by words. You will get no respect whining about someone's allergies or a picky customer.
I would probably quit in a few days if I had a chef with that attitude.
>>7845598
No idea man I dony know your kitchen and I don't know you, but keep pushing. Only you can fight for yourself, and the harder you try the more you'll achieve. Culinary awards those who self advocate. So if you want to go further, fucking try for it. Show your uppers that you have no intention of slowing down, and keep kicking ass.
>>7844652
>gluten free crostini
Jesus Christ
>>7845620
This. Good servers are super appreciated, always. You guys doing a good job makes our lives way easier.
>>7844649
this is exactly me dude, I was always mulling it over and finally got a commis position. I can finally see why chefs try to sell out as soon as fucking possible and get an internet show or something
>>7844414
>write a bad yelp review about us
I've worked at a few restaurants before. Yelp means jack shit, any place that relies on you giving a customer a service or good will have it's reputation built on word of mouth.
>>7846336
I don't believe that serving is easy, but FOH team members are some of the most selfish individuals I have ever had to work with.
>>7844474
New Orleans chef here as well. So nice to see another on /ck. How was Essence weekend for you? Do you despise black people now?
>>7844342
>Also, allergies suck. No offense but every time we get an order that specifies nut-free or something we have to get out new pans and change gloves and basically not touch anything with nuts until your dish is done and it sucks.
as annoying as this is, this is probably the one thing that doesn't bother me
>vegan flips the fuck out because after eating their entire meal and saying it was delicious, they found out we fry all our shit in beef tallow
>didnt read the menu and all the large print stuff specifically pointing out that we use tallow to fry stuff
>its somehow still our fault
>we have a dish, basically spicy chicken soup with jalapenos as the heat
>order comes in, spicy chicken soup with no jalapenos
>tell the idiot waiter thats the whole point of the soup and he attempts to argue with me
>leaves and a few minutes later comes back saying the customer is asking why I can't remove the jalapeno for her
>have to walk out to the dining room and explain it to the cunt
Old people and food modifications are the worst.
>>7847060
>season dish with salt and black pepper
>gets sent back
>"too spicy. no black pepper please."
>>7847060
No joke I've had a customer- a grown ass woman at that- ask us to pick all the carrots and onions out of her soup.
>>7847060
>used to work at a steak house
>there's also a salad bar, bread bar, and multiple soups
>cleaning a counter or some shit when this old dude taps me on my shoulder
>I turn around, "Yes sir, how can I help you?"
>Old dude looks livid; "What's wrong with this picture," he says as he gesticulates with the ladle in the French onion soup
>I got shit to get done in the kitchen so I just look the old fuck in the eyes and shrug
>condescendingly he says, "French ONION soup. Helllooooo! Where are the ONNIOOONNS?!?!" as he makes a scene
>I do a 180 and go back into the kitchen as he started to throw a tantrum
>I say a few passing words and let the assistant manager deal with it
>MFW
The baby boomers are the most patronizing people. Just because I work minimum wage and am decades younger doesn't make me a nigger.
>>7844439
>>server "She want another one with 3 bones instead of 2, becasue her friend got 3 bones
That's the dumbest thing I've read in about half a year.
>>7847307
and?
where were the onions?
>>7847307
So did your french onion soup have onions in it or not nigger?
>>7847307
>calling a buffet a steak house
>>7846881
FUCKING YELP
>Not realizing that yelp is that word of mouth to many many people now
The age of being truly social is dying anon. People just hide behind their fucking phones all day, and get spoon fed everything they think from their phones.
As much as I hate to admit it, yelp plays a big role, that and Google reviews. Whenever they look up a place, and then it shows a low star rating or they see negative things, people immediately think the worst.
The Internet is cool and all, but we live in a fucking dark time. To think that human intelligence would degrade so far, that we'd begin to loose the ability to think for ourselves, and have everything we think come from a screen.
Makes me never want to have kids, what's the fucking point of parenting if technology will just brain wash them into liberal sheep.
>>7844342
>On one hand I hate the food industry and on the other hand there's something satisfying about running a kitchen
Sounds about standard for the cooking industry OP, you hate your job but refuse to let it win
>>7844434
enjoy your lawsuit
>>7845749
>have a drink every night. I must be an alcoholic
y..yeah, no problem with drinking at all here, mate. heheh..eh..heh
>mfw I worked as a host for a year
>mfw I had the easiest job possible
You crazy fucks back in the kitchens deserve medals for doing what you do.
>>7844342
I started cooking professionally at 15, doing prep on the weekends, graduated school at 17 and have worked my way through some of the best restaurants in the city, at 21 i left my job as cdp at a fine dining place and have been running the kitchen at a small cafe. I've seen staggering amounts of drug abuse, unsafe work environments, unpaid labour, wage/tip skimming, burnouts and breakdowns,I've missed so many occasions and destroyed relationships and my body by age 25. My only regret in life is cooking
>>7849364
amphetamine/coke/opiates at the start of shift, benzos at the end of shift, weed and liquor when you get home
the kitchen staff rides it hard and puts it away wet
>>7845118
Nah, fuck you for making 4-10x what I make for doing virtually nothing.
"Wahh, I had to pour water. I had to write down words on a piece of paper. I had to smile at people. I only got 15% on my $300 check."
The amount of sheer effort you put in is literally invisible next to that of any single BOH staff member, from the Sous down to the dishwasher and prep cooks. You are a living beacon of everything that is wrong with the schism between FOH and BOH because you don't suggest any change, you collect your $2k a week, and go home and forget about your job while I go home and re bandage my burns and try to scrub the stink of grease out of my skin.
You are a subhuman parasite, like every other "server."
>>7850046
>you collect your $2k a week,
is this true? can't believe it desu..
>>7851513
Only if you work at a top tier restaurant, and even then not that much.
>>7850046
Maybe if you were not an ugly retareded fuck your could work FOH
>>7844524
You're right, but you definitely could have parlayed that work into a restaurant ownership or holding equity if you were smart about it. Not trying to get you to feel regret, but smart creative fucks who cook well can definitely become chef extraordinaire.
>>7844630
Go find another opportunity and gracefully exit the restaurant you work at. Don't let things get too bad
>>7851814
sick burn
10/10
would kek again
Im finally doing some real prep cooking in a nice restaurant
But this thread makes me fearful of the future. Should I get out and find some other profession before I become a burnout? I've only been in a kitchen working enviornment all my short life, I don't know anything else
>>7852915
I've bounced around more odd jobs than I can even think offhand and I'm 29. Among them I have worked in a kitchen. Of them all, I would have stuck with the cooking job. It has it's downsides, sure, but all work does unless you're some asshole big-shot who sits on their ass. What matters is, get some experience in, that's the important part. Stick around, see if ya like it, and at worst, as long as you don't flake and put in notice before you leave, you have something you can put as experience and reference on a resume: that's what counts.
>>7852915
Your best bet in the industry is to become a head chief in a fancy place and make it run like a well oiled machine where you're just in supervisory and menu making roles. Working in the kitchen past 30 is hell because long services, skipped weekends and events, if you do them, will take a toll on you. I would not recommend becoming a restaurateur either because 95% of them are bad their jobs and reason why so many restaurants shut down no matter how passionate you may be about it. This old chef who mentored me used to say he would never own a restaurant because good practices and perfectionism would basically ruin it financially.
>>7852915
Unless you want to be lower middle class in a shit job for the rest of your life, consider cooking as nothing more than a temporary gig that pays for whatever can get you a better job
>mfw working in a stationary trailer that serves only burgers and fish and chips
so fucking easy to prep, every cook time is written down and I spend most of my time playing emulators on my psp
>>7853182
Not necessarily. Problem is people look at it as a dead end job instead of a stepping ladder. If you have passion for cooking, and as cliche as that is it's also critical, you should be improving yourself with time. Two guys I know started as dishwashers and now one is a sous chef in a respectable place, other guy became an alcoholic. Get your chef degree even if it's from a course because it's going to open your possibilities if you want to work in any half-decent restaurant.
>>7845721
That sucks. The cunts that order eat gluten free as fad are the ones that ruin it and in turn the cooks/servers become apathetic and resentful.
>>7844580
Deine Mutter ist keine Baeckerei
