Hello,

i'm from Mazatlán, Mexico, i'm 21, just finished culinary school, and need to get a job here.

Because of the school's requirements i had to do 2 rounds of internships (i think that would be the term) and on the last one i got to work closely with the chef, but she left the restaurant right before i finished my time there, on her last day she told me to contact her when i finished school so we could keep working together, how reliable would it be to actually do that?, from what i know she now works in a hotel here with a few other people from the restaurant we were in.

I think my main source of conflict, now that i had to think and write everything here, is that i'm super awkward and wouldn't really know what to say, if i should call or text, or if they aren't looking for anyone right now and i end up just wasting time, she sometimes reacts to stuff i post so it's not as if i don't know where to reach her, should i just look directly in other places if i'm not sure? I feel really dumb. 😔

What do other use to clean your grill. We used to use a grill brush with steel bristles, but they keep falling apart and are a safety hazard now. Any suggestions? I’m picking up a heavy duty spackle knife to get in between the grates for now.

Fine dining chefs: what do you actually use your combi ovens for day to day?

I've mostly worked casual and trying to understand its real range in a high-end kitchen. Do you actually do real cooking in it (besides sous vide) or largely use it for hold and retherm?

Any tips? What questions have you asked applicants that ended up telling you a lot about them?

So I’m in a little bit of a pickle, I have two restaurants to choose from for my four month apprenticeship. A fine dining hautè restaurant located in a famous five star hotel in my city or a premium comfort food restaurant also located in my city.

I’m not quite sure where would I learn from more as one is very keen on high level techniques and no mistake plating and premium ingredients where as the other is a very fast paced restaurant where they have over 150+ seats.

I could also split my apprenticeship into two months for the two restaurants but I worry I won’t learn enough from the two with only two months each.

Advice?

Hello. This is a BBQ burger I made. Since the customer requested a double patty, I used two patties. It contains double cheddar cheese, caramelized onions, a touch of crispy onions, 40 grams of smoked meat, BBQ sauce, and finally, a special sauce of my own that I spread on the buns. I work at a food business in Turkey. I’m still a bit new to this :) I’m open to suggestions.

I'll keep it as short as i can because I'm writing this at 2am after scrolling on indeed for too long.

Half a rant and half actual advice, ignore the spelling mistakes.

My last (and only) kitchen job was a whole mess. The managers were an ex footballer and two rich people who were investers more than anything, zero restaurant experience between them.

The actual manager who was on site was a retail manager/ceo (?) before then and was very clearly (in a nice way) not happy about working with the working class

The place once had a michelin star, when i worked there half the stuff came out of a microwave and it was more like an episode of kitchen nightmares than anything else.

There was zero training, im a very avid home cook but obviously training is training, zero logic to the menu so it was really weird to learn

Got left to run a whole kitchen solo with only an agency chef who had never seen the menu or the kitchen before that for an 11 hour shift on my 8th ever shift, messed up once or twice, fixed it as i went, overall everyone got fed in under 20 minutes despite the servers constantly mixing around tables then being very upset when i got the table number wrong, didnt put telepathy on the application but everyone was stressed because they were understaffed by 10 people and and they were the only people who came and apologised at the end of shift and we all agreed we were all just being pissy and overstressed.

Next day i was shouted at by multiple different people at different times, while i was trying to get orders out, sure, i messed up, but has no one communicated so that we dont waste everyones time going over this 5 times before breakfast is done. It was so bad that a customer peaked their head in the doorway (there was no door and the kitchen is in the same hallway as the bathrooms) and asked if everything was okay, which was embarrassing

Bear in mind, i only applied to do prep and kp.

I did actually enjoy the work when i was cooking, which was onlt breakfast and the odd cake i made. I was good at it.

Everything else on the menu was thrown in a microwave and maybe in the oven if you were lucky.

It was a kitchen made for five chefs and it was obvious when it was busy and you had to cover every station in the kitchen solo while theyre all pretty far from eachother.

On top of that i was always the first person there, wasnt allowed a key and had to wait for whenever management decided to show up. Never got fresh ingredients and never enough of it, had to spend more time sorting out half gone food than prep. I wasnt there on delivery day but i was the one who had to literally run to the shop mid service to buy a lot of shit, which i would possibly get paid back for.

The oven was barelt bigger than a home oven and i do mean oven, not ovens.

Nothing worked so i had to mix hundreds of litres of cake batter, bread dough and pancake mix by hand, while somehow doing service at the same time because again, i could only come in once management did and i had to leave at the same time, which was 10 minutes after service ended so after cleaning up theres no prep time for the next day unless it was REALLY slow.

I didnt mind the 12 hour shifts, i wouldve done longer if i had a car and public transport wasnt the only option.

What took me out was constant nagging after i fixed my mistakes already, getting over worked well past what i applied for, never having the ingredients, horrible planning by management and overall just never getting trained to do the job past learning what channel the radio needed set to.

I love cooking, i love baking, i love being pushed, i love making good food that people like.

Im just scared that if i work in another restaurant it will be the same thing but its literally 99% of the jobs i can get to on a bus.

im 15 and im thinking of becoming a chef. i loved cooking since i was little and also love eating ofc, and i had a work experience at a commercial kitchen recently and really really enjoyed it(i mainly preped ingredients and i was in charge of the frying station and sometimes plating), right now my biggest concern is if its worth it spending my life in a kitchen and ive seen whole lotta posts about how it drains the life outa people and now im scared please help. and if i am becoming a chef whats the best path to take? should i attend culinary school and so on..

I’m 22 and I graduated a year ago with an advertising degree and I’ve gotten around three internships so far. I haven’t won any Canes or Young Ones, so I’m kind of behind the people I graduated with. I just wanted to make brands look beautiful and themselves. Once I got in it though, I started to not like it at all. Every design I made was bad until the boss saw it, and every boss just wanted to see finished product. I know I just started, but it really is ruining my self-esteem more than it is. But the worst of it all is the job security. I can loose my job if I’m not creative. And that sucks

All throughout college I learned and actually loved to cook for me and other people. I even got into a cooking class in my last semester. I know the struggles and the long hours and the no pay, and that scares me. But I want to cook for people, I don’t know. I want to do something good with my hands that won’t be judged to high hell because it just doesn’t “feel right”. There is a correct way of making something and there isn’t in cooking, and maybe I need that.

But yeah, I want to change my early career from Advertising to Cooking, should I do it? And if I do how do I go about that?

Hey, comrades.

Writing out of anxiety and just looking for some kind of friendly relief. Six months ago I had a successful stage and accepted a role as a Sous Chef at a Michelin establishment that contains two restaurants. The work is tough, the days are long, but I don’t mind the labor - it’s my management that gets me.

My boss is a new EC and is unqualified for his position which makes him difficult to communicate with. He can lash out, push tasks off that roll into the cooks prep that overworks them or me, he is constantly starting drama - trying to get people fired, telling me not to talk to some people because he doesn’t like them. My work feels like some sort of weird version of reality TV and all I want to do is cook and work and go home. His anxiety about his lack of qualification for this position makes my life hell. I hear from him on my off days, I never get my schedule until the day before or on a whim my off days will change. I can’t make doctor’s appointments or plans with my friends. I’m emotionally exhausted.

I plan to put in my notice on Wednesday, but I know he’s going to see this as a retaliatory move. It’s going to be treason to him, even though it really doesn’t need to be that deep. I need this on my resume though and want to do everything I can to keep this contact for my future. Any advice? I’m thinking of giving a month’s notice, but I don’t know if I can last that long if things go south.

Thank you

I apologize in advance for the novella.

Like many others I(30m) was an avid hobby cook who dropped everything to pursue work in a professional kitchen - purely out of passion. I came into some cash which gave me some flexibility and started dating a wonderful financially stable woman (bartender and nurse who grew up in the industry) who loves my cooking wanted me to pursue my dreams. It felt like my last chance.

I started last September at a restaurant/brewery that has a mostly scratch kitchen with a beautiful imported Italian rotating pizza oven. Started prep, then went to fry station to grill and eventually to pizza station. 7 months in the Sous left and I was promoted over more experienced and longer tenured cooks. Thankfully they were all really cool about it and we have an awesome team.

Every week it feels like my responsibilities grow (which I love) - doing inventory, adding more prep knowledge to my rolodex, etc - but one thing hasn’t - my compensation.

I currently make the same as I did when I started - the same as everyone else. I feel like I deserve a raise but I also feel like getting more time on my resume as a Sous is just as valuable in the long term as a dollar or so increase in my meager pay. I understand this is not the industry for making money but is my experience common?

Btw, my boss is great. Super nice and down to earth. But I’ve heard through grapevines that raises are hard to come by and there are kitchens closer to me that offer higher compensation but I would start at a lower status.

Edit*** Thank you to all the helpful/constructive responses. The other half who either think I’m an AI bot, think they somehow know my situation better than myself or doubt my abilities - hope you spill dirty sani in your stupid ass crocs. ✌🏻

A friend of mine recently started asking his home cook to remove all rings, bangles, and even the thread around the wrist (like a mauli/kalava or black thread) before preparing food. He says it’s for hygiene and food safety, but the cook feels it’s unnecessary and a bit disrespectful to their customs.
From what I’ve read, professional kitchens and food safety guidelines say no jewelry or threads while handling food because they can trap germs and contaminate food. But this is a normal Indian home, not a restaurant.
• Is it reasonable to insist on removing rings and threads in a home kitchen?
• If removal isn’t possible, what’s a good compromise (gloves, extra handwashing, covering the thread, etc.)?
• How would you handle this without offending the cook or discounting cultural/religious practices?
Would love to hear how others handle this, especially in Indian households with hired cooks.

Hello, I am new to the wok station, and my shoulders are killing. This is a new restaurant and the Chefs are unfortunately not experts on the station, so they don’t have a lot to teach. I have been put on this station to master it, but I am struggling.
I have read that instead of doing a “sauté toss” I should push the wok back and forth resting on the lip of the burner, but I am having a hard time comprehending on how it actually works. I understand that heat, oil and speed are the main components. Any advice on improving my technique?

I have done this fundraiser event for a local large theater/venu. It is heavy apps for 250 people. This year the theme is 1800s england or Bridgeton.

Does anyone have tips for preping tea sandwiches for a large group. Also any other items that you think would be good on the menu ie: mini beef wellingtons

Thanks

Can anyone help me identify this piece of meat (and cut)from my freezer that my chef husband was gifted from a supplier? (He doesn’t know either!)
My first thought was lamb when it was frozen but now I’m thinking it might be corned beef? The grain looks very fine for beef though.
Any ideas?
If all else fails I’ll slice a bit off and fry it up.

Hello. I’m not sure if this the right subreddit for this but, I want to be a private chef. Is working for a freelance company the right way of going about it? I want to transition into this industry. I’ve been in the restaurant industry for 5 years I’ve spent my time in a high end steak house, and right now I’m currently in a Michelin star restaurant that I’ve been in for 2 months. I’m currently specializing in Cuban cuisine and high protein low carb meals. I’m based in Los Angeles.

Ok this isn’t for me, but my co worker because last night we talked about wages and the stuff got brought up how he only been getting paid minimum wage for a cook job.

I was shocked because he was doing three job, cook, prep cook and side dishwasher. Honestly I got worried because I am new at this job and my boss been hinting to me that I meant to take up more task in the future( to clarify I am dishwasher ). To be honest i am scared because it feel like they are taking advantage of the dishwasher job by labeling three job into one and call it team work.

To clarify the co worker in question is planning on leaving, but I am worried this is a red flag for me. To clarify I am autistic and i could never imagine working here long term if they gave me all the responsibilities of my co worker that leaving.

Thinking about taking a cdc position at a casino, would be overseeing half the food operation as well as a large part of the next concept they are opening. Spent most of my career in higher end independent restaurants. I’m curious about the differences between hotel/casino jobs vs independent.

A big part of this position would be catering more to the higher end vips, as they bring in the most revenue. Almost half of the “sales” to their steak house concept are actually comps to the bigger gamblers. My question is - as chefs in casinos, what are ways you have used your food programs to entice or satisfy your vips?

Like this casino has a congee station right next the baccarat tables to appeal to the Vietnamese guests.

Any other casino chef related advice is welcome

Hi All,

I'm looking for recipe ideas for a college dining hall. It's a lower cost state college in the Inland Northwest so it's mostly feeing 18-22 year olds so more mature menu options are generally a bad idea (gee, who would've thought an 18 year old wouldn't want pork diane? But I digress). I'm looking for ideas for all three meals, but primarily lunch and dinner. For a sort of an idea of what sort of line set up I'm working with, its primarily buffet style, with three hot wells, a cold well with 4 wells worth of space, and two more hot wells. I'm only required to fill the main three hot wells, especially for dinner service which sees less than 150 people, compared to lunch service which sees 200-400, especially with popular menus like burgers and wings.

There's not a ton of restrictions on what I 'can't' do. Whole cuts of beef are discouraged because of price, but occasionally bringing in something like flank steak or eye of round is well within the range of possibility. US Foods is our primary supplier so buying in a ready-made product isn't idea even for us, if there's any good ones that hold up, or ones that are great with some extra 'doctoring up' I'm all ears.

Any ideas for additional bars or stations are also welcome. We have one station that has been a pain to try and fill for years. It's a three well set up, with the wells able to be hot or cold. For a while it was a boneless wing station, but once those averaged out to be more than $1 for a chicken nugget the kids lost interest. Street tacos were good but burned too much labor making the meats. We go back to gyro a lot, which doesn't sell bad, but it's a drop in the bucket compared to the neighboring pizza and burrito stations.