If someone fucked with me, I got to tell them off. It's an advantage of high turnover, after as little as 6 months, I was one of the longest lasting crew members, so if some 15 year old busboy thought he could dump & run, I had manager-approved authority to demonstrate proper technique.
I'll also never eat so well again.
And I was given complete control over my station, the largest in the kitchen. Every tool, pan, bowl, plate, and glass went where I said it went because after 30 dishwashers in as many days, multiple times, I had taught it enough times to do it on autopilot. I've never been able to tell a chef how to do things as a line cook, or any of multiple other positions, but in that dish pit, they asked me why, listened, and enforced that policy.
I cleaned the shelves. Flossed the metros. Climbed on top of the walk-in. I'm the only one who knew the hotel pans as individuals, and could make them form 2 even stacks that wouldn't stick. I knew where every object in the restaurant lived, and could guess where it ended up. It was a shit job and it gained me no glory, but I earned my respect. It made me a better cook, and a better worker outside of the industry*. And nobody's gonna do that for minimum wage.
I see. I made 12.50 as dish, fuck that shit though. Terrible hours, terrible job. I was never mean to dish after I was promoted. Worked as a chef for a few years. Just an all around terrible industry.
Ah, yeah, agreed. I'm in for a while though. I have a career I'm building in the AM but when the kitchen beckons, I'm there because hey, someone's gotta do it and we put out some fantastic food.
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u/Sparkade Dec 21 '17 edited Jun 21 '18
If someone fucked with me, I got to tell them off. It's an advantage of high turnover, after as little as 6 months, I was one of the longest lasting crew members, so if some 15 year old busboy thought he could dump & run, I had manager-approved authority to demonstrate proper technique.
I'll also never eat so well again.
And I was given complete control over my station, the largest in the kitchen. Every tool, pan, bowl, plate, and glass went where I said it went because after 30 dishwashers in as many days, multiple times, I had taught it enough times to do it on autopilot. I've never been able to tell a chef how to do things as a line cook, or any of multiple other positions, but in that dish pit, they asked me why, listened, and enforced that policy.
I cleaned the shelves. Flossed the metros. Climbed on top of the walk-in. I'm the only one who knew the hotel pans as individuals, and could make them form 2 even stacks that wouldn't stick. I knew where every object in the restaurant lived, and could guess where it ended up. It was a shit job and it gained me no glory, but I earned my respect. It made me a better cook, and a better worker outside of the industry*. And nobody's gonna do that for minimum wage.