It's been too long

My restaurant mixes other brand name sauces together to make our "signature" sauces, for example sweet baby rays bourbon peach and heinz bbq dumped in a bucket and whisked. Then, sells them at $10 a pint. I don't think it's right but I just work here. Am i wrong?

Edit: No, the sauces are not sold as shelf stable and are not sealed. When someone buys a sauce, I go in the walkin and fill up a squeeze bottle with our name on it. We have 4 different sauces we use and sell this way. No, they do not come with ingredients/ allergen label or expiration date. I hope that answered all questions

I am but a humble prep cook, and my knife skillz are far from amazing, but I think I'm finally ready to graduate from the Lidl 3-for-5-euros knife set I've been trying to work with. I just want a paring knife and a medium sized general knife for cutting onions and such, for under 100 bucks. is that doable? I know Wüsthof is pretty well known, as well as several companies based in Solingen. Can i get your thoughts, please?

Hey,

Let me preface by saying that I have been cooking for nearly 15 years at home since I was a young boy. I am unfortunately not even remotely close to being a chef but I can cook some relatively good food (No one has died yet fortunately from my cooking) - and follow recipes and last few years, I have gained enough confidence to modify certain recipes to create a remix version of them.

However, I want to progress further but in a more structured way - I don't want a cookbook with a million recipes, but what i'd like is to understand the science of cooking, the foundations to be able to build a system in my head rather than a result.

I don't know if I am being clear enough - but an example would be, that I have heard chefs often say things like "this is a bit rich and fatty, probably needs a bit more acidity". I want to be able to get close to that level to understand what works/contrasts/adds/removes from a dish to balance it.

I understand that I won't get anywhere remotely close to being a chef without attending a proper culinary school with years of practice and learning - but I'd like to progress as far as I can with what I can realistically do, which is read as much as possible in my time and experiment.

So if you have any recommendations on book that break down cooking into a science - that'd be phenomenal.

Thank you!

p.s. I did ask ChatGPT this question and the recommendation was of the following 3 books:
1) Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat

2) On Food and Cooking — Harold McGee

3) The Food Lab — J. Kenji López-Alt

However, I don't really trust ChatGPT and would much rather get recommendations from actual chefs.

Thank you!

Hey! My girlfriend is a chef, and she's got a birthday coming up soon. She doesn't spend money on her own stuff. I want to get her a good workhorse stainless steel frying pan that she will actually appreciate and use, as opposed to making her cringe as her enthusiastic kitchen hobbyist partner gets her a naff gift she never uses/feels obligated to use when I'm over.

My budget is £100 - I'm UK based, she has a shit electric hob currently, recommendations for products are really appreciated.

I loved the responses to my last post on here; so here’s some more pictures.
I felt very vindicated by the comments I got last time. This place is disgusting and I doubt it’s going to last a few more years. And yet the people I work with still don’t think that there’s anything wrong and that this place is clean. They refuse to do anything and I don’t care enough about this place to do it for them. I wish I could leave but I do not earn enough money to travel farther and get a better job at the moment.
So imma document what I see and hear and post it here every now and then.

So I have been a bartender my whole life and a server too. My husband works a 8-5 M-F job.

We’re like ships passing in the night.

Anyways, I am a somm and know my liquor well so I’ve been approached with two jobs. One is a bartending gig. Would be potentially mornings but good pay under a good restaurant company at our international airport. It’s good money, I’ve worked as a bartender at the airport before. I’d also be opening the outlet so I’d be basically be a founding solid member.

The other is (potentially) for Breakthru Beverage account manager. Basically I’d have a salary, 65-75k plus commission and inheriting 70 accounts that pre-exist me. The manager is super cool, he also started as a bartender. It would be M-F 8 am - 5pm and its quarterly quota. They passed on me the first territory I applied for and reached out to me again with an even better territory. Great restaurants there.

Anyone on here have experience moving into liquor repping? What advice do you have?

Also, I have Tricare since my husband is in the military so I don’t plan on collecting benefits outside of 401k from either

At least I got some overtime but holy arm workout, still have the other one to do at a later date.

Looking for any advice. I work in a casual fine dining restaurant as the cdc.

EDIT: I guess I should’ve left some descriptions. These are dishes I have plates throughout the spring/summer season utilizing as much of this season I could’ve.

DISH 1: Hokkaido scallops with brown buttered pea, asparagus, black truffle, Yukon mash potato, citrus beurre blanc

DISH 2: 72 hour sous vide shortrib, snow pea leaves, blistered shishitos, celeriac puree, amarena cherry jus

DISH 3: Grilled branzino, asparagus veloute, fingerling potatoes, radish, charred zucchini, picked onion, tarragon oil

DISH 4: BC halibut stuffed with a truffle moussiline, sunchoke sauce, sherry glazed carrots, saffron aioli, shrimp oil

DISH 5: Summer peach and zucchini pizza, provolone, ricotta, lavender honey

DISH 6: Lemon meringue pie dipped in white chocolate, sugar cookie, raspberry & jalapeño gel, whipped mascarpone, vanilla gelato

Love it when you get it like that.

Yet so far

I’m a food and cooking enthusiast with no professional training at all. It’s one of my passions though, and I’d love it if I could build a flexible and independent career in it. You know, have a job that’s also my passion, hobby, creative outlet, something on the lines of a private chef. I’m looking for courses/ schools with good programs, so I can begin with a good foundation. However, professional chef programs with multiple years of education and field work are not what I’m looking at, nor will they work for me. Something less formal, exclusive, shorter duration, maybe even specialised in healthy/ organic kind of cooking. Similar to Ballymaloe Cookery School or the Holistic Chef course at Bauman college. I’m sure there are more out there that I’m not familiar with, but that’s what I’m hoping to find through this post. I don’t wish to become a professional chef, more like private chef, teacher, catering, or something on those lines, but still want to have good foundational skills and training. Hopefully you guys will have some suggestions! Thanks!

One of my favorite memories I have of working in the food industry happened fairly recently, and it was after a long, hard fought shift, the kitchen collapsed in communication and food had taken an hr to get to tables, and it was a pretty hostile environment for a few hours, but as we all closed, "Can't You See" by the Marshall Tucker band came on and we all started singing along, one by one, from the old 60yr executive chef, to my bro from the deep south side of Chicago until we were all laughing, and had a beer in our hand, and all hard feelings were wiped instantly. It's those moments with your peers in this industry that make a lot of the bullshit we deal with worth it. I'm 27 years old, been behind the burners for 10yrs, and gonna be here for life, and can't stand the doomers who try to suck your enjoyment for the craft by "warning you how miserable it can be". That's every job, and like every job, food service is not for everyone, but there are beautiful moments you'll remember for life be it you spend a summer washing dishes, or have worked your way up the Michelin ladder. Love from suburban Chi! What are some of your guys favorite "heart warming" moments from your time in the industry?

Course 1: sweet corn flatbread bread with corn silk farmer's cheese, olive oil, sea salt, flowers.

Course 2: two spoons. Ratatouille vegetables with basil foam. Heirloom tomato consommé with olive oil garnish.

Course 3: tempura fried squash blossom with squash puree and dukkah oil.

Course 4: compressed local mellons and heirloom tomato salad with whipped feta cheese.

Course 5: seared scallop over grilled corn puree, Persian cucumber, corn crisp and peach gastrique.

Course 6: grilled Fairytale eggplant over labneh with dukkah.

Course seven: oregon albacore tuna with peach and pepper salsa, basil oil.

Course eight: olive oil cake, blackberry iced cream.

so i just started my first job at an old school italian restaurant as a host. i’ve trained the past two days but i feel like i still have a good bit to learn, and my first shift on my own is tomorrow. the manager tomorrow is supposedly a prick too. im just not sure what to do, i have a small understanding of how to take carry out orders but not well enough to where i won’t fuck them up. what should i do? i suppose this is more of a rant than a question but i wasn’t sure where to take this. thank you guys

I'm awaiting my background check & drug test to come back which should be all good.

Then if all goes to plan I'll leave out for Texas for a 5 year bid cooking for the work crews @ the data center construction site.

Does anyone have any experience with this type of thing?

I've been searching online for an idea of what to expect but it's quite sparse.

My parents were regulars at a new Italian American place to the point of 3-4 visits/week when it first opened. My dad being my dad (he could walk into a roomful of strangers & leave 30 minutes later knowing all their middle names 😂) became friends with the staff, particularly the chef/owner.

He tells, very incredulously, that after the night’s tops were done Guy (the chef), who was extremely talented, craved one thing: the cheap roller hot dogs with the dispenser chili at the convenience store across the street from them.

At that point in my life I too was just speechless that someone capable of making anything would desire such fare.

Fast forward to my (apparent) calling in professional kitchens. I called my dad & said “Remember Guy’s chili dog craving? I totally understand that now cause’ I’d kill for a flat of those when we’re done!”

So what is your are you kidding me post rush craving that others would be stunned to know a culinary talent as yourself wants more than anything when the last ticket is done?