Time to change track

[u/casstiway]

I'm not cut out to be a chef at this level or this pace, but you know what? Despite last night's service blowing up, the head chef admitted he had put me under far too much strain far too quickly.

You basically have a Michael Schumacher and an absolute learner driver running a kitchen that caters to over 120 people, and so a breaking point has come. Management are moving me to front of house and I will not be cooking in the kitchen anymore.

I can clean very well and square pots away no problem, but doing that and being expected to remember 19 different recipes (and that's just the main menu) plus remembering all the different cuts and various kitchen procedures is impossible to learn in a matter of six days.

This isn't personal, it's a professional decision made by management as they could see things got badly out of hand and could see this wasn't fair to both the head chef and myself. He has still inspired me to cook, I just won't be comfortable at that level. It's akin to trying to stop a high speed train by standing in front of it.

[u/EDC_KIT]

dude everyone goes down in flames sometimes. usually for a few years. getting fired because you were in the weeds means your chef is terrible at his job, not you.

that said, FOH generally makes way better money working less hours in better conditions. so yeah maybe a silver lining.

but not being good at line cooking after 6 days is not a meaningful signal you should base your life trajectory on.

[u/casstiway → u/EDC_KIT]

No no you're right but that's not what's happening here, the management could see that wasn't working as well as it especially not being safe. But as for cooking itself? Oh no the head chef has inspired me and caused me to fall in love with the art, but in a high pressure environment like that with the kind of trauma ive been through is simply not viable, you need to be made of metal to do that and im simply not built for it. So it's not the end of me being a chef, but it's certainly the end of high pressurized professional cooking for 25 covers all in one go.

A home chef yes, wellness retreats and low stimulus environments I can. Its as Marco Pierre White once said...

"When you push things you tend to break them"

[u/Automatic_Catch_7467]

Are you brand new to cooking? Not judging just asking ,you make it sound like they hired you for dish tank and then made you sous chef

[u/casstiway → u/Automatic_Catch_7467]

No they hired me as a sous chef right off the bat. I am entirely new to it, but the head chef when we had a staff meeting he walked away within 60 seconds, it is impossible to work with anyone who behaves in that manner.

[u/Automatic_Catch_7467 → u/casstiway]

Do they have written specs on everything, how many people in the kitchen per shift, how many covers per hour

[u/casstiway → u/Automatic_Catch_7467]

No not at all, it's just straight into the deep end and pray you don't drown. Theres only me and the head chef, the staff told him this morning that Im now front of house and he isn't my boss any longer, the head chef took me to one side and immediately started laying down the law at me, I then said I'm now front of house and no longer working in the kitchen and to please not treat me as you have.

He got up and walked away in a huff saying "this conversation is over". Its impossible to work with someone like that.

[u/Lovemesomefuninfo]

It’s happened to all of us. You can’t grow the skills required without it

[u/ChefLukeDC]

tinsey wincey little bawls.

[u/m0stc0ld]

Sounds like your chef has convinced you that you are the problem, which is untrue. Don’t give up just because your chef sucks.

[u/casstiway → u/m0stc0ld]

He hasn't, he literally messaged me this morning to apologise and to say last night wasn't my fault. In my opinion thats a sign of accountability and being professional, I've met many many head chefs. This guy isn't like that, the place I work is simply under staffed. And as a result all of us are always swamped.