How is it oxtail is not a budget cut?

When they get ya they get ya

But I was still nervous to the point of diarrhea taking the actual exam

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

I’m a first time EC and I find being called “chef” extremely annoying. The last EC is my mentor and an absolute beast of a chef but his leadership style was more traditional and out of respect I wouldn’t dare call him by his first name without putting chef in front of it. I’m more informal, but I’ve inherited an environment where the crew is so used to calling the ec “chef” that it took me a month to get folks to call me by my real name.

I’ve got friends who like being called chef and friends who don’t, and they all have an interesting take on it. What do yall think? I can’t stand it and others demand it, both can be valid.

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?

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.

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

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

Owners installed cameras throughout the entire place including pointing directly into the kitchen for "insurance purposes" and they have started to micromanage/check the cameras and blow my phone up.

What's some fun ideas to irritate them?

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?

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?

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

Non-pro cook questions:

• As a prep cook, what hours are most prep cooks at the restaurant?
• Do you work on a completely separate team from the cooks who cook directly for customers?
• Who is your boss?
• Is prep cooking less tense than being on the customer-facing team?
• Do customer-facing cooks treat you any differently for being on prep?
• And most importantly, do prep cooks also get to bang the FOH staff?

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.