My name is Chef Koo and this is my message to FOH.
I am a chef, and the level of training we go through, if proprely trained is part mad scientist, part pirate ship, part psychotic rage….and pure love of all things food. For you do ‘dis anothers use of gig letters is beyond me…you come across as an unpleasant person, and WAY to anal retentive. Coming from a chef, that says alot, as with all of my cooks I see them as little anal retentive seeds which I hope to sprout.
you see a chef usually has to deall with a crew of five or six handling the needs of a joint that can pull in 3-500 guests in a night. ,fix a plugged up drain gut 40 fish, grind pate, bake 8 different types of bread, figure out the nutritional value, deal with tardy vendors,and you are left thinking up a new special, beacause your godang fish did not arrive 3 hours before service, you have to worry whether or not your gonna have all your staff ther, or a guy gets injured, or dumb waiter who does not know the organization of running a joint is all based on timing…when to talk to chef, when to to give chef a wide berth….it’s our job to get our point across…my guy bust several dishes..I may not yell but I will ask if he or she learned what not to do next time….usually nuff said.
what irks me the most is when a waiter takes a special order, and "assumes we can hadle it" I had a guy who did this twice three timews a night, one day he came into the kitchen and told me he needed 6 beef wellingtons…(we do not serve wellington, but he thought we could "figure it out) puff pastry alone requires 2 days to make, duxelles, and other ingredients were there, but this guy just did not get a clue, and took attitude with my sous chef, for us not "having our shit together"
I locked the guy up, told him if he’s so f#&*ing smart, put an apron on and "figure it out"….he wanted to serve wellington that bad then make it…he looked at me dumbfounded, I waited for him to get started…looking at my watch….looking at him, and looking at my watch.
"clueless huh". the waiter just looked off into space, like I was a d%#k for seeing if he knew as much as he acted like he did….so I said, alright, since you do not know how to make it, you’d best tell them we can’t do it.
I called a meeting that night, and told all the front of house staff, that it was time they understood what we go through, and all waiters were required to learn the line….mise en place, knife cuts, dough prep methods, costing out the menu… the biggest whiner towards ths new policy was the "wellington guy"..so I fired his ass….all this guy did was make alot of money, treat my dishwasher like human trash, and act like an arrogant, pretentious little troglodite…..
I mention this beacuse if you had anyclue what a chef goes through in a week in my case 80 hours per week… yet I make a very handsome salary…but the stuff I go through, and the questions (redundant ones) that are asked by the same server is enough to make you want yo get your point across in a direct, and precise manner. I have little problem with your rant other than it’s purley bitter, non-fiction.
I triple dog dare you to run a ship..it’s hard, you have all sorts of angles happening in chaotic ways…..I have done nealry every job required to run a restaurant….waiters have it pretty tough too…but if we were all to get along by knowing each others stress, and ways of handling it right…this life we live could be alot easier.
so do us all a favor…drop the us vs them bullshit it’s unprofessional.
and don’t dis a guy because his grammar is "off" it’s petty, and arrogant, and using intellectual snobbery is no way to make a valid and intelligent point of view.
I can tell by all the posts on this site that I have read that none you would not last in my joint for very long. waiters like you are a dime a dozen, I seek the veterans, who have a thick skin, and can still move with a purpose, because chances are after a long night I will buy you a beverage, chill out, and do it again the next day.
good luck to all of you…. I hope you find what you are looking for in life.
Chef koo
Comments
This site was meant for waitstaff to bitch about their jobs. Any site with that objective is bound to be a loser magnet. If you are frustrated by reading this site, just stop reading it. After a while it’s no longer like rubbernecking at a car accident; it just becomes a drag.
But let’s not glorify the whole chef role. I, for one, don’t find my chef job difficult. If anything, it doesn’t encompass enough. I’d like to be the chef at 5 restaurants. That might be fulfilling. Yeah, the hours suck; I sure don’t work 80, hopefully never will, but beyond the weird times of day I have to work, life’s pretty good.
btw chefkoo - what do you consider well compensated for your troubles?
wow server, what you think of a person’s job description is the total reality. i trust you more when it comes to value judgements about someone’s job, rather than the person doing the job.
i need you to help me by pointing out what you think about other people’s experiences. they tell me all the time what they feel is the ” truth ” but i need the real deal from you.
for instance; is being the treasury sect. for the us govt a demanding position ? i wanted to buy robert reich’s book about his tenure but i can save forty bucks if you can tell me.
bravo!!! i hope they get the hint. i am in agreement with you 1 million percent. i sucks that on top of all that waitstaff EXPECTS family meal and if they dont like it then it is the kitchens problem. and if the food goes out to the table cold, its the kitchens fault, even though it was sitting at the pass for 6 minutes, and if we are starting our second turn, there is a table that hasnt moved for hours, and the little old lady at table 7 wants roasted pumpkin puree in the middle of march and even though it is out of season…ITS THE KITCHENS problem! and then the waitstaff all teams up and wont talk to the kitchen.
bravo for speaking your mind.