Food Workers |
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News from the World of Foodsville and Beyond
Not Always Fresh, but Rarely Stale
Monday, September 1, 2008 (Labor Day)
Video: A Farmer's Personal StoryVideo: Gordon Ramsay Interview
Of Interest to Neighborhood: Chef's Corner
Question of the Day: Would you share a story about your life as a food professional?
I am the Mayor of Foodsville. I am a lover of books and food and a friend to all who visit. Send me a Foodsville message or email me at: mayor@foodsville.com.
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bigcookingman: yes, just ask comment left Sep 05 |
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mypapabear64: i have been in food service all my life. my mother got me started cooking at the age of four. helping her in the kitchen of her uncles bar/ restaurant . i grew up in that place cooking at my mothers side and learning from my great-uncle. all i ever really wanted to be when i was growing up was to be a chef and i loved it for the many years that i did it . now i help manage a fast food restaurant. it is very different but just as enjoyable. i think that you just have to love being able to serve your fellow man a good meal. to me it does not matter if it is a burger or a t-bone you just have to put your heart and your love into what you serve.. that might sound crazy but it is what i have come to believe and it is how i have come to live my life.. so let us love what we eat and thank those who love to cook it for us comment left Sep 01 |
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EJ: I think one of the best parts of being a chef are the people you work with(as much as we may act like we dont like eachother), aside from the abilty to play with food. The old saying goes "you learn something new every day" I have found this to be more true in the restaurant than anywhere else. Sweat, toil, laughter, yelling, jokes, music, stories, technique, who did what last night, this kind of nonsensical rambling subject matter is what circulates through a kitchen every day. The suggestion that life can be dull in a kitchen or even repetitive, is absurd. And if a person can suggest that, then they need a new kitchen. The kitchen as well as the rest of the restaurant is somewhat of a gypsy carnival, a constant influx of new people from somwhere else as others make their exit, off to learn and laugh in other kitchens. Now, since I stated that a repetative existence in kitchens can be a sign of necessity for change, there is an element of static that needs adhering to in order for a kitchen to be both succesful, and profitable. As chef4cook stated, the day starts the same and ends the same, constant checking and re-checking of stock/product, preparation for the upcoming must be precise and regimented, anything less can be total chaos, which i have experienced first hand. As a chef, I sympathize with other chefs in that, when the night ends, they are still there, typically the person who locks the door on the way out, and bright and early, the person unlocking it for the waiting delivery man in the morning. Such repetition is the glue that holds an ever evolving industry of chefs/ cooks/ waitstaff together night after night. comment left Sep 01 |
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chef4cook:
Usually, my day starts off checking the prep list and taking in orders. I already know what my day is going to start out like because I plan that out at the end of the previous evening. Now, IF I have no delivery issues, call outs, no shows, or any of the other number of things that can go wrong at the start of the day, then I'm good to go. I get going on prep and when my crew shows I get them going. I try to organize things so that my crew doesn't have to think about what they need to do. As a rule everything is inventoried the previous night so that we know what we have to do the following morning. I cannot work any other way! And my crew knows this. DO NOT! inform me an hour into service that we only have X left of whatever. That will earn you a trip to the walk-in with me for a little chat. I hate to 86 anything unless I have sold out of it because we were slammed! Organization is key for me and I don't like surprises so I try to stay on top of everything. Occasionally shit happens, I know this, it can't be avoided. The trick is to keep it down to a minimum. So, if everybody pulls his/her weight, we have a good service, then I'm happy.
comment left Sep 01 |
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