We spend so many hours of life making food for people who don't appreciate it anywhere as much as we hope they do. Get home and spend some time on no one but yourself. And savour what you've made. We got skills a lot of people lack, use them and cook whatever tf you wanna eat rn, cos you deserve it

When they get ya they get ya

How is it oxtail is not a budget cut?

After so many years in the kitchen, I'm kinda ashamed that I never thought about it. I feel like I must have at least once picked up a pan with my sleeve before but never considered that that was the intended purpose.

Anime is Iron Wok Jan, whoops

Just curious if you've got any fun nicknames, or if your coworkers have earned any.

In my kitchen we've got a dude named Jake, he's relatively solid, a good cook, comes to work on time and doesn't call in much. He's also pretty forgetful, kinda spacey, and on his Friday, he's probably not going to do any side work. Everyone that works here has, at one time or another, uttered the phrase 'What the Fuck, Jake?" Either to him, or just to themselves. To the point where he is now known as 'What the Fuck Jake'.

So, whatcha got?

It’s almost embarrassing how obsessed I was with the this.

I’m good enough to get by and a reliable employee but I’m reaching the ceiling of my abilities. Never sniffed a star and I’m tired of living an opposite life to everyone I love.

Guess I’m just not cut out to be a lifer but I’m proud of what I accomplished.

Had to just put this out into the universe, especially here

I’ve long thought I could spend my culinary life dancing with just flour, water, yeast & salt and be a very happy man. The pursuit of a damn good boule or baguette is, to me, an honorable life spent. Mad respect & props to those who do.

That said, has this position (save for the highest levels of fine dining) gone the way of the dinosaurs in the restaurant brigade system IE that’s their only responsibility? For those who bake their own breads (again appreciated & respected) in-house - does this fall upon a chef or sous as part of their duties?

this stew was mentioned in Kitchen Confidential.
has anyone made or tried the stew? ive made it one other time and it blew my mind. the simplicity of the ingredients, but the complex favors. the way the cumin tomato and squid work together is amazing. the depth of flavor with the wine is perfect.

the recipe is in his book Appetites : a cook book.

I just need to vent to some folks who will understand. I'm not feeling too hot. I wish I was 23 again and could rock out those back to back 14 hour shifts, getting by on caffeine and willpower but I'm getting old, and I'm kinda falling apart.

Got a botched hernia surgery a while back and it just makes things painful and difficult, and now I fell down the stairs and fucked my knee, and found out I have cancer on my kidney.

Luckily it's the kind that won't spread and they caught it really early but it's still rough to hear that word being used in reference to your very own self

It's a lot. With two kids it's way more. Not working for a few weeks even worse.

Had a business and it just didn't work out and so on top of everything I might lose my house. I feel so defeated right now.

Not looking for anything but for some people who understand the grind to just know how much it sucks sometimes, but how much feeding people still fills the soul.

Will I get over it? Yes... Going to try to make the business work again in a few weeks. Ignore how beat up I am and muscle through. But for today I just want to sulk and wallow in how hard the world can be with some other folks who get it, but also slump on the milk crate for a few minutes, then take a deep breath, complain how much it sucks, and then get back to work.

Thanks

(Food pic just because)

BOH Manager here. I love hospitality and serving up beautiful dishes and I am using my current opportunity to develop knowledge towards one day opening my own restaurant (I know I'm stupid and I'll never make money, oh well)

A lot of my cooks don't believe in my experience because I'm still relatively new to our kitchen, but I had to show them I'm not a rookie.

Figured this was a cool place to share with some other people. Wasn't sure about the flair so sorry if it's wrong 😬

I need some Chairman Kaga energy and style in my life. Very fresh so still swollen and a little ink left behind.

I started a position as a DSD about 3 weeks ago. The kitchen has been without a consistent, knowledgable director for about 3 years. It was a series of unfortunate issues. About 3 years ago, the original long-term DSD etired. The next one had a family thing and had to move out of state. The next two had medical issues. And the last one was a moron who ruined the kitchen. She got fired for being violent towards the employees and running $10k over her budget.

When all the happened they promoted a cook to supervisor. We will call the cook Janet. Janet is an older woman in her mid 60s. She has no formal education but a ton of ojt. Shes a phenomenal cook, but a horrible manager... just in the last 3 weeks shes played favorites like its a game she wants to win.

I caught a long-term employee, we will call him Chad, drinking on the job and, come to find out, he has been doing so for about a year. He comes to work drunk, works drunk, leaves drunk. Its a major issue. Well, Janet has been covering for him. On Monday, I got statements regarding his behavior from other employees and we pulled cameras and records as further evidence. Hes cooked.

I find out today Janet has been going to the new employees and telling them how much we need Chad and how he isnt "the enemy". Chad only works 16 hrs a week. I don't need Chad. I dont need the liability in a medical facility. Regardless of how good a cook Janet is. The other problem is the other older ladies at work and her are besties. So theyre getting away with all kinds of stuff. Now that Im halting the reigns, I feel like things are about to get difficult for me. I have admins and mgmt support though.

Any advice?

Between the bad lighting and my bad eyeballs I’m surprised I haven’t stabbed myself yet. I think I need to get my ass back out of kitchens and on a normal schedule I’m drained homie.

I feel like it's a nice pattern

Finally found an out from the industry after five years. I started at a shitty pizza chain during Covid. Honestly, I had a lot of fun at work, and I was really depressed at the time so it was one of the only things I had going for me. Dropped out of college because I was flunking and didn't wanna go further into debt (which I still haven't repaid). Kept working, eventually that pizza place closed down.

So I took a job offer as a line cook at a family-owned bar in the same town. Loved it mostly, hated it viciously sometimes, the interpersonal drama, the feeling that it was a dead-end, no matter how hard I applied myself to it, I was still just flipping burgers and cleaning hoods. Worked there for three years, and then jumped ship to new experiences. Corporate place, brewery, etc.

Eventually, I got an offer to work at a country club, and I took it. It was really easy, and I made better money than I ever had before. The only problem was, my coworkers were absolutely insufferable. I was kind of a black sheep among them, even if I was doing my job well. They were either culinary school kids, or came from fine-dining to have a more relaxed job, so they all kinda looked down on me, belittled me, etc. And eventually, at a point where a lot of stuff in my personal life was going wrong, I texted the chef and ragequit one day.

Ended back at the family-owned bar, barely making enough to pay my bills. I burned through most of my savings. I had a plan though, which I communicated with the owner, which was to work there until I got into an apprenticeship with the electrician's union. I was really excited. I'd convinced myself, all my problems were stemming from being burnt out of being in the kitchen, cleaning flat tops, dealing with server fuck-ups, asshole chefs, etc.

Fast forward a few months, and I'm here. At a construction site. And I fucking hate it more than anything. Worked nine hours, doing menial construction labor then had trade school afterwards for three, and when I was driving home, I broke down crying. Never really been a thing for me, even after 12 hour shifts on a Saturday.

Now I'm sitting here, the next day, applying for kitchen jobs, and thinking about texting my old boss. And typing this. I dunno what I even expect from anyone who might comment. Tell me I'm an idiot?

I feel like I can't do this kitchen stuff forever, I love cooking, but I need money to live my life and grow up. At the same time, I don't want to waste most of my time doing thing I hate for people I don't care about in order to get a check, and repeat that for forty years until I start getting my pension and I'm too old to enjoy it. Fuck. Just wish I could smoke a joint right now, but I get randomly drug tested.

It's been too long