Problem with the restaurant industry

You know what I really dislike and have an issue with in the restaurant industry? You’re expected to show up early( not talking about a few minutes, more like 30min-1hr), and sometimes you are expected to work through your break. It is utterly ridiculous what they expect from people and their sacrifices.

How come people are expected to come in early? Because your station is set up in a way that if you do not come in early, you will not finish your prep and you will get yelled at etc etc.

I know it is the nature of the industry, but I honestly think if you want an employee to come in an extra hour early, pay the person. People are giving up an extra hour of my life to come into work for free everyday. It adds up.

Many industries do not require this from their employees and their employees get paid more than minimum wage. Sometimes I think this industry is beyond messed up and I think I should get another job. Some days.

Not all culinary schools are the same

I assumed most of the culinary schools in America cover the same stuff, but I found out that is false.

I asked a new hired prep cook to blanch some broccoli before blanching the cauliflower, using the same water to save time and water. She said she has blanched before so I let her do her thing. I assumed she knew to not add vinegar to the water until after she finished blanching the broccoli because at the CIA, they would drill how to cook vegetables in our head. What to cook red, green, white, yellow, etc. colored vegetables in. She added the vinegar and blanched the broccoli which instantly turned a nasty greenish-brown. My boss was not happy that we had to staff meal the broccoli instead of serving it to customers.

Now I assume everyone does not know anything and will give them a step by step, not to be mean, but to make sure they understand and no one has to get yelled at.

Family Meal

I do not know if a lot of people know about this, but in most restaurants there is something called family meal. It is when a restaurant utilizes scraps and leftovers usually to make a meal for everyone to eat before service. Most restaurants I’ve worked in do this. I have experienced a restaurant who does not do this due to time issues. Being fed is probably the greatest perk in working at a restaurant for me.

Work when everyone plays

Expect to have weird days off such as Tuesday and Wednesday. It is typical in the restaurant industry. Almost always expect to work Fridays and Saturdays, because that is the busiest times for restaurants. If you ever get a Friday or Saturday off while working for a restaurant, consider yourself a lucky person and do not take it for granted.

To give everyone an idea of the amount of people that come in on Friday and Saturday vs. every other day, I will give you typical numbers at the current restaurant I work in.

Fridays and Saturdays usually range from 150-220 reservations, not including walk-ins. At another restaurant I’ve worked in, it has gone up to 300 before.

Every other day usually ranges from 30-80. 80 is considered a busy weekday.

That is why at restaurants they need all hands on deck on Fridays and Saturdays, when the average 9-5 worker goes out and relaxes.

Yelp

Yes the chefs and managers read your yelp reviews. Heck even the line cooks read them sometimes. I have heard the staff talk about yelp reviews before, in fact if there is a negative review everyone takes it to heart and tries to fix it.

Example: A restaurant I work in had reviews about how the pasta portions were small, so the chef made the portions 25% bigger.

Chefs try to adapt to make the customers happy because ultimately Yelp reviews can make or break a restaurant. Whenever I ask someone to find a restaurant to eat at, they always turn to Yelp first. Yelp even allowed restaurants to hide poor reviews for money but I believe they had since stopped that service because of controversy.

“It is not surgery, it’s just cooking”

The quote was told to me by Chef Jason Fox at Commonwealth, where I would frequently stage in San Francisco. He was a great chef to work for and knew how to communicate with everyone. He knew I would get frantic during a huge rush and told me to calm my nerves down pretty much. Now whenever I’m in the shits, I just remember what he told me and try to calm down and work through it.

Behind!

I was training a new person on the line the other day and one thing everyone noticed was we kept bumping into her. Why? Because she did not say behind!

The line is a fast paced area where people twist and turn with hot pans and bump into you. No one wants an accident. So if any of you ever work in a kitchen in the future and you walk behind someone you better yell “BEHIND!”. It will save everyone the time and trouble.

On a side note, it is so ingrained in my head that sometimes when I am in a crowded area like a supermarket I say behind and people look at me funny.

Water usage in restaurants

I live in California and we are currently in a water crisis. When I work in the kitchen I notice how much water is wasted! Well, not wasted, but to keep a restaurant running it requires tons of water.

You need water to blanch/boil vegetables.

Wash vegetables (multiple times)

Washing our hands, I wash my hands at least 50 times if not more during an 8-hr shift. I will count one day and make a post of it.

Wash dishes, dish machines.

Drinking water.

The list goes on and on. For an image of how much water we use to just clean 1 batch of greens: Wild Arugula, we fill an entire sink with water, wash the greens, drain the sink, add ice water and wash it again. We wash it a third time if there is still dirt. And we wash about 3-4 different types of greens a day. I do not feel guilty using that much water though, because if produce is not clean customers would complain and write bad reviews. My eyes just widened with the amount of water we are using during the drought.

Stay Hydrated

Most important thing is to stay hydrated. I’ve seen many people faint at culinary school because they are dehydrated. It’s also good for your health. I always start my shift with grabbing a deli container of ice water, with a lid( for food safety and sanitation). I end up drinking 2-3 quarts of water per shift. The kitchen is hot and you start sweating bullets. Last thing anyone wants is a cook on the floor during a busy dinner service.

MSG

It’s used everywhere, sometimes in disguised, such as kelp. Everyone thinks they hate it, but it tastes so darn delicious. I’ve staged at Michelin star restaurants and have seen aji moto (pure MSG crystal producer) on the pantry shelf. I do not want to ramble on, just saying people do use it and I do not have a problem with it.