So I'm reading Anthony Bourdain's kitchen confidential right now.
Basically he portrays the restaurant world as the domain of drug-addled misfits who can't fit in in regular society.
Pretty much, he says it's something you would only get into if you were crazy.
The view he presents is almost darkly romantic at the same time; he presents it as a 'sex, drugs and rock and roll' type of world, with lots of sin and debauchery, cameraderie, etc... The image that eventually comes across is kind of beautiful in a way, even if it's also shitty.
IDK.
Can anyone who works in the food industry here comment on what it's like being in the industry?
Is it true that your life is basically a shitlife but there's also a lot of cameraderie?
Yeah, hes looking at it through rose colored glasses, but hes not wrong at all. When I worked Line, the guys next to me were more family than anything else. We did some odd shit, but luckily no drugs other than nicotine, caffeine and alcohol. Im not str8 edge at all but hard drugs and even pot have no place in a real kitchen. Druggos are just below fatties and women in the list of people you don't want on your crew.
>>7506929
I work for an upscale restaurant right now and I can agree with that.
The work can be traumatic, especially if you're messing up and you have a bad service.
It can keep you up at night and it tortures you but you want to go back to work and redeem yourself. its hard to put into words but many people have a version of PTSD.
They pursue different outlets like drugs and partying to cope
>>7506948
Is it true that there's a lot of abuse and screaming that goes on in these kitchens, Gordon Ramsay style?
Go watch the early episode of his show where he goes back to the restaurant he used to be the chef of to work the line, pisses everyone off by leaving to have a beer before the dinner rush, and then fumbles his way through the rest of the night.
Being a writer and a television host is romantic. All his old Mexican cook bros pretty obviously despise him, because kitchen work is terrible and takes more effort than it's worth, but you need to rely on the rest of the staff if everything is going to work.
>>7506960
Was that the one where Eric Ripert wipes the floor with him? That made me like Ripert, I used to think he was a french douche, dudes got skills tho.
>>7506959
depends on your boss. I've had a few that can get outwardly angry like that.
Mine gets really passive and snippy when we're falling behind or food gets sent back.
On busy nights, it definitely gets intense...especially when you're dripping sweat because its so hot in the small kitchen.
Nobody on my line does hard drugs, nor do I, we will go have a beer though after a heavy service to celebrate, Chef does coke but all he does is payroll, budget and schedules so I take care of everything else.
>>7506948
I've woken up in the middle of the night because I had a pasta dish come back because it was to dry. Issue was it was the President of the country club I worked at so my ass was CHEWED OUT FOR MONTHS over it. haunted me. Plus I don't like eating at restaurants with open kitchens. If I hear the POS go off I get anxious to go back there and start working.
Look basically cooking is the easiest part of being a chef. Anybody can cook. It's getting slammed with 200 covers in an hour, getting your temps right, having 2 line cooks call out on a busy night, doing plate up dinners for 300 people, running out of shit in the middle of service, the stress, the speed, thats what makes or breaks a home cook to a chef.
>>7506976
It took me a year or so to get the sound of the dupe machine printing another ticket out of my stress dreams...
>>7506942
>but hard drugs and even pot have no place in a real kitchen.
Are you talking about American kitchens or? Almost every kitchen is populated with addicts of some kind.
It is pretty much how he paints it. Just add on drugs that weren't around back then, xanax and adderall mainly. I can't tell you how many addied out servers/cooks I've had who take on a double they probably shouldn't have.
It's pretty fun when you're just a linecook. That first step to management is a motherfucker, though. Managing the back of the house is another fucking beast entirely. I'm not even an amazing chef, most sous positions are just given to people who can fucking workhorse themselves, not those who show leadership qualities.
ATM where I work, I walk a tightrope. Labor is short in the industry pretty much all around, my shitty resort city especially. I've got cooks who rage all night so they're great to work that 3-11 shift, cokehead dishwashers, and most of my foodrunners are like 16-17 year olds who come in on xanny hangovers. My newest hire just recently asked me about roxy, after hearing us all having a discussing about bud. I've gone from feeling really secure in him showing up on time to wondering when he's gonna fuck us all over one night and not show. When that happens, I go from working 14 hour shift 7 on-line, 7 off on expo, to a full on 16 hour shift where I have to close the shit down.
I'm just fucking rambling at this point, I don't know what else I should add. It WAS really fun when I was younger, but I'm kind of over it now that I'm starting to push through my 20s more.
>>7506992
yeah, im 29 now, and sold out to the man and went corporate years ago. Once you gotta rely on a bunch of sketchy fucks to make your day to day run just ok, you really get to resent stoners, druggies and other skeezy people.
>>7506972
Yeah.
Ripert breezes his way through a busy night on grill without ever having seen the menu while Tony is scrambling and pretending he's too old to read the tickets he spent 20 years expediting.
>>7506960
A competent staff make all of the difference. If one person can't do their job everyone is doing the job of two.
>>7506992
I'm the sous and I take on pretty much all of my chefs responsibilities since he is always coked up. Just hired another African guy as a 4th dish washer. They are all friends and fucking work like dogs, love those mother fuckers.
My food runners are all early 20's and heavy drinkers but they are on time so I will give them that. Our new FOH manager is a 25 year old blonde, 5 of the new servers are 16 - 19 year old whites girls she knows. They suck, they always fuck their tickets up, don't listen at preshift, I hate them. Our whole front of house is fucked but the BOH, we are really tight. Even with all the stress we are in a good place.
I'm sorry to hear shits not going to well for you my man. If you live in Philly and need a job let me know
>>7507001
There's a reason people like Ramsay have Michelin stars.
Training in a high end French kitchen is like being trained by the military.
Look at all the top chefs in America and they all trained under French chefs, or successful chefs who learned how to run their kitchen from French chefs.
>>7507011
>early 20's and heavy drinkers but they are on time so I will give them that
That's the thing about working in a kitchen. As long as you show up on time and pull your weight as part of the team nobody gives a shit about anything else you do, or have ever done.
>>7507019
I don't want to say it's anxiety per say, but like, any feeling of relaxing is washed away from me and I just get into work mode
>>7507023
Plus they are food runners not like their jobs are SUPER hard but they work. Hungover. but they work. Just do you job and whatever is going on in your life, leave it at the door before you clock in.
>>7507019
>this triggers the industry thread
>>7506929
This guys a fucking hack and he never did anything, ANY THING, of merit, why his book is considered good makes my brain melt.
I run my kitchen like this, you show up you work and you go home. If you show up and smell like beer you're out, if I assume you're on drugs you're out, if you harass anyone you're out(thats my job). Literally shut up, know when joking time is and when working time is, and generally be friendly.
Being a piece of shit "line cook" and I use that term extremely fucking loosely for all these shitbag drug addicts working at crappy corps or "irish pubs" and just party all fucking night and never learn how to do any actual cooking makes me sick, you waste your life until your prime years are gone and all you have to show for it is no savings and some wild stories, just like bourdain, lots of stories(that should be taken with a grain of salt, the mans a liar), no kitchen, no staff, no nothing. Hes a fucking joke who got lucky with his book and shows.
We call niggers like him burnouts, and I don't accept shitty workmanship like that when I run kitchens, if you want to be an alcoholic cool, I give everyone 2 days off in a row to smash, but if you have any inclination of having a future in restaurant work that gets you absolutely no where.
A healthy mind and body will keep you running for a long time, pills and shots keep people down, the sad part is most people get their start in the industry in shitty places and think that this debauchery is commonplace among all kitchens, when they take that jump to a real restaurant they really realize how dumb they've been, or they keep their old ways and never make it past 1st cook.
>>7507023
Meritocracy: is a political philosophy holding that power should be vested in individuals almost exclusively based on ability and talent. Advancement in such a system is based on performance measured through examination and/or demonstrated achievement in the field where it is implemented. FUCK OR WALK BOYS! YOUR SKILLS ARE WEAK, YOUR WEAK!
>>7507052
>thats a comfy gif
I know...
I spent probably an hour trying to find a youtube video involving a ticket machine constantly making it's fucking ticket machine noise just to fuck with people still working the line, and that's the best I found.
A year off the line and I actually miss the satisfaction of flawlessly getting through a busy night's rush. It doesn't always happen, but when it does your only compensation is your chef and cook bros telling you that you did a good job, but that's still pretty fucking satisfying.
>>7507042
Not enough red ink desu..
>>7506978
>It took me a year or so to get the sound of the dupe machine printing another ticket out of my stress dreams...
>stress dreams
Never worked in a kitchen but I can relate, I had stress dreams for about a year after graduating college related to the feeling of "how the hell am I gonna graduate this semester" that haunted me all through my last semester-and-a-half.
There's the wakeup, seeing you're not in a dorm, and the slow set-in of realizing you've already graduated, which starts to calm the panic.
>The feeling of whatever stress chemical it is rushing into your chest.
Awful
>>7506992
>It WAS really fun when I was younger, but I'm kind of over it now that I'm starting to push through my 20s more.
What is it that was fun about it initially?
The teamwork element?
I often hear cooks describe a certain 'high' from working in the kitchen, is that a real thing in your experience?
>>7507065
Nothing beats the feeling. I love making beautiful plates, and getting compliments on my specials, hell last summer we did a BBQ for the members and I worked the grill. this little boy came up to me and said "that was the best burger I had in my WHOLE LIFE"
mind you he couldn't of been older than 6 so I mean, my competition wasn't tough, but still. Those things beat out all of the stress by a long shot.
>>7507068
I use duel red and black ink. Black as the main dish and red as the sides/modifiers
>>7507075
The "Zone" is a really cool feeling, like, when your pressed as fuck but you are just flawlessly cranking out orders and all the stations are doing the same, idk what other kind of feeling can compare. Plus living as close to a pirate as legally allowed is pretty fucking cool, just don't expect to have any sort of normal friends, family or relationships.
>>7507075
>I often hear cooks describe a certain 'high' from working in the kitchen
It's called adrenaline. A high speed service can be like participating in an extreme sport, and "nailing it" only enhances the high (^:
Maybe
>>7507075
It's hard to explain. When you are on the line, with people you work well with, and you're just getting HAMMERED all night, I mean tickets coming in non stop and you are just pushing out food, for 4 hours go go go go go you don't stop and once you clear that last table every thing just stops. Service is complete. You're tired and sweaty and usually burned and it's just you and your boys fucking victorious. It really is like a natural high. you need to experience it, go get a job man!
>>7507080
yeah, The Red, as we called it was mostly the picky/menu writers/allergy dupes. I was referring to the lack of red ink does not trigger me half as bad as *Well Done* *Side from a different item* *gluten free* *split plate* *no butter or dairy* etc etc.
>>7507075
Well if you're young and able, getting through a crushing dinner rush by executing everything near flawlessly and fixing problems is kind of the same as being in a fight and winning. Shit goes down but you keep it cool and knock that fucker out, doesn't matter how much of a marxist you are you're still going to feel pretty fucking good about yourself.
Much like being at war though you just get used to all the bullshit after a while and the days sort of slog on unless you can remain creative the whole time, which most restaurants don't do.
I've worked in places where we've changed the menu every day, not the full menu mind you but always 2+ items on a 10 item board, that was probably my best job in terms of being kept interested, but even then as the months and years go on you realize most chefs only really have a few styles and they kind of repeat things often.
Oh instead of a cauliflower puree... we have a sunchoke puree! wowzers!
Take the grilled rapini off that and.... grilled asperagus!
ect ect.
>>7507045
But face it, you're an addict too:
You're addicted to the heat of the stove.
Everyone in this industry is an addict of one form or another... Most addicted to the heat.
>>7507074
I went to a notoriously challenging college where there was always stress coming from multiple directions, graduated just fine, then became an alcoholic, lost track of my goals, and spent time working in a kitchen.
Trust me. The stress of getting a paper in on time is nothing compared to the sound of that fucking ticket machine printing out three more orders when your window is already full of tickets and you just know you're going to need to run across the kitchen to the walk in for backups just to get those out, but it feels like there's no possible way you'll be able to step away from your station for even a second because you have a dozen things cooking and 3 different people barking at you and now the fucking ticket machine is past the edge of the counter and you don't even know how deep in the shit you are but you just go into auto mode work like a fucking machine because the entire restaurant will cave if you shut down.
Hours later (it seemed like minutes) you're outside having a cigarette after clearing the board and the manager shakes your hand and thanks you on getting everything out perfectly on time, and you're just thinking of the two hours of cleaning you need to do before you can punch out, knowing a late night party will show up drunk and order everything on the menu right before close.
Being able to fall asleep without thinking about more tickets coming in is why cooks become alcoholics.
>>7507088
Tonight we had a table from hell. The wife first requested A french onion soup, no onions. For her entree she wanted A panko crusted halibut, steamed carrots and burr blanc sauce. The only thing on the menu tonight was the sauce, but she is the wife of the President of the club so we just HAAAADDDD to do it. plus her son has almost every allergy you can think of so steamed peas and chicken for him!
>>7507091
Thats some fucking childish philosophy right there.
Is it better to be addicted to crystal meth or jogging? Is it better to be addicted to cigarettes or playing guitar? Would you rather your mother be addicted to crack or addicted to providing her child with the love and care it needs for him to become a good citizen?
Dumb fuck.
>>7507081
That's a pretty good description.
There have been many times when I thought my concentration was just going to give out, but I somehow pushed through. Then when I went out for a cigarette before closing up for the night I literally couldn't sit down without everything around me moving and shaking because that's how much I'd been moving.
>>7507090
Yo, I love purees don't talk shit on them but you're right. My chef for the past year have run boring menus I finally convinced him to let me do daily specials (usually 2 a night) and it has really brought back the creative side of my line cooks
>>7507094
>knowing a late night party will show up drunk and order everything on the menu right before close.
>Being able to fall asleep without thinking about more tickets coming in is why cooks become alcoholics.
Jesus, me and my chefs would get into huge screaming fights with the hostess about that shit. Kitchen closed at 11pm She would seat a 6top just to get that easy tip money, meanwhile 95% of our prep is in the lowboys/coolers and most of the kitchen is torn apart/cleaned. She would say "it was 10:5x, you close at 11" etc etc, and of course this 6top would go and order wine, apps, mains, desserts, the whole shebang. The 10% cut on the tip that hostess would make by seating them usually ended up being more than the whole kitchen made in that hour of re opening and re closing down to boot.
>>7507105
everyone loves purees, but I just mean he would run a dish he ran 6 months ago but literally just change the puree, if ya get me.
used to work at a pizza place in a college town
before the lunch rush, the kitchen crew would go into the basement and smoke a bowl together
making pizzas is the best while high no joke. so i guess drugs and camaraderie in the industry is true on my part.
>>7507104
yep and thats why most cooks are drunks, its the only way most(myself included) can get wind down after service, and get some sleep in a fast enough time to be up again early to get to work, but since your hungover or sleep deprived you need to get a coffee or red bull, and no food sounds good since thats all you do, so the only thing to go with that caffeine is a cig or two, than by the time your back to normal your are actually hungry but fuck making food for yourself, its easier to eat a "mealwich" which is just whatever leftovers from the walk in or line you can find placed between bread for convenience, than another smoke and a coffee after to counteract the sluggish feeling from the mealwich, and than its time to start service all over again. NAAAAAH SAVANAYAH MMAMMA HEESSSABO CIRCLE OF LIFE!
>>7507107
Dinner service ends at 9pm almost every night she will come in at 9:30pm (Hey they have been sitting at the bar for an hour but now they are at a table, 4 top, are we open?)
No. Fuck off you had all night to order.
>>7507112
I get you brother, sorry I get defensive when it comes to purees. Pic related, the sweet potato and pistachio puree I did for a wedding tasting
>>7507107
Last place I worked we had just the bar menu for the last hour or two before the kitchen closed, so most of the kitchen could be cleaned/closed, but the half of the line I would work did almost all the bar menu items, so I would pack everything up with the most popular items in the front of the hotel pans or whatever.
Every fucking night the bartender would come in to grab 2-3 apps 15 minutes after we were supposed to close the kitchen and make up some lame ass excuse about how they lost track of time. Then I'd punch out and see that they ordered food for their fucking friends.
If they didn't bring me shots and the occasional pint at the end of the night it would really have pissed me off.
>>7507133
kek, nice fork drag, was the spoonswipe too cool now a day? Just busting balls man, looks nice but im just too old school to do the modern messy plate thing
sounds like construction with 1/4-1/8th of the pay
>>7507140
>nice fork drag
Is that even a thing nowadays?
I feel like every kid ran their fork through their food at some point, and that's exactly what that looks like.
>>7507144
Construction is usually more physical labor, but far less stressful.
>>7507147
well, the one plating fad was the spoonswipe, which is taking a serving or soup spoon, slapping a sauce/puree down and making a Nike Swoosh type design with it, i assume this is direct backlash to that style of plating.
>>7507140
Actually I kinda overuse the spoonswipe so I need to try new things ;- ; that was the first plating technique I learned I need to get away from it.
The couple getting married are 26 and 23? I think. they love the messy plate shit. On their description sheet they said "Fun, creative, wild and colorful plates"
cause you know, thats always fun with 150 head plate ups
>>7507150
there's good paying construction jobs where you sit all day
stress can get up there tho
i'd rather cook a shitty steak than build a bridge wrong
>>7507156
ah, yeah, im only 30 but that shit seems so....off to me, I don't like that composition style at all, lemme take 40secs to mock a plate how I would do it. Ok, so I love working from the center, so it would go puree down first, fan 3 slices of the beef, a quick squeeze of the glace/sauce/demi, slap the microgreens on top and than come in with a line of the crushed pistachios, but mix in some parsley and lemon zest with the pistachios as a play of a classic gremolatta. The whole thing could be a fun twist on Osso Bucco, but do a sweet potato style risotto instead of a puree (small diced sweet potato instead of the arborio rice, but made the same way)
>>7507183
pic related
>>7507183
You sound exactly like the Old french chefs who I use to work with, but thats a classy plate right there. Unfortunately a lot of our profit comes from banquets so I gotta follow their request to the T.
I'd love to work a service with you though mi familia
>>7507161
>i'd rather cook a shitty steak than build a bridge wrong
That seems like the reason why most construction projects take far longer than they're supposed to, and go way over budget.
If you have one guy on grill who can't cook a steak properly it can shut down the entire restaurant, because that's how small the profit margin is.
>>7507190
yep, my first really good chef/teacher was a fucking Francoboo so that shit is imprinted on me for life now, hell, I used to draw shitty mock plates like that on napkins/dupes/waiter pads before every service. I hate art and most everything about it, but god damn if I don't like plating.
>>7507099
>The wife first requested A french onion soup, no onions.
lmao wut
>>7507282
I assume she found the texture of caramelized onions bothersome and did not want them in her soup. Up to me I would have dipped a china cap into the pot, ladled out the broth, slapped a crouton on it, cheezed and broiler'd it and served it. If she was "allergic to onions" well she was SOL and refused to make it, fucking make the server find that detail out. You gotta be like House M.D with those retards.
>>7506929
its one of the more accurate portrayals of working in the business
a lot of times its far worse than what people think
>>7507122
yo that album doe.
work in the industry. I'm an addicted to cigarettes, alcohol, and weed. Those are the main three that I used every day.
Is it a result from the industry? No, I'm just a crazy fucked up individual that thinks its norm.
Love the fucking people I work with. All great lads.
I am a shit hole waiting to be filled with more shit.
>>7507367
how can you be an alcoholic and a stoner? Do you blaze during the day and then drink at night, or what? I don't understand how someone could come home, get stoned, and then want to start drinking
>>7507384
I fuggin hate stoners in my kitchen, but hell if you don't give em a prep list and some music they will bang it out no problem, thats about all you can expect from them tho, so take it or leave it.
>>7507384
Not him, but I drink all day then have a couple of joints at the end of the day to help me get to sleep.
>>7506942
Dude, when I worked in restaurant kitchens the dish pit guys were the biggest stoners I knew.
Hes gay. Dont confuse the gay world with the str8 world
>>7507094
>The stress of getting a paper in on time is nothing compared to the sound of that fucking ticket machine printing orders
Yeah I'm sure the prospect of not graduating on time and having nowhere near enough money to take another semester because you're on scholarship at a private school and losing the lined-up job at a company you've been interning at for 2 years and becoming a degree-less drop out in a saturated job market with no prospects essential 180-ing your entire life at its most crucial trajectory-determining point just doesn't compare to having to flip 2 more burgers on some Wednesday.
Thanks for giving me perspective.
>>7506948
I worked in a upscale seafood restaurant in the DC area as a teenager. I was the only kid there and worked pantry and prep.
I also fought in Iraq as a Marine Infantryman.
I don't think you can get PTSD working in the kitchen brigade. Rather you are a giant weepy pussy
>>7509474
A lot of people in industries such as this never really acknowledge that at the end of the day, if everything fell apart, the impact would be insignificant. It's an important thing to keep in mind in my industry, but clearly the people here think they're dealing with far more dire circumstances than they are.
I work corporate retail, but I started at a store and our store manager used to say this at meetings. Probably important for the people like those in this thread to hear to help lighten their easily stressed psyches.
>>7509169
dish pit, while in the kitchen, isnt what this guy is talking about
