there is nothing worse than long goodbyes

ive worked in so many restaurants through my career. Sometimes I hate working somwhere. I would hate going in at 3 and working for some jerk off boss all night.

But then when I find a place that makes me happy, and i dont want to leave.

I’d say that a good 80% of all cooks are screw ups in some way or another. Thats how they made it into the kitchen. Me, for example have always had issues. I love having fun. I love to party and play, just as much as i like to bust my butt

Ive worked at a few stores that i was truly happy in. Where i loved my bosses and the other cooks. The waitresses were always pretty and outgoing at these places. Somehow though i have this uncanny ability to be at these special places and screwing the pooch and then getting the boot.

Its always sad. Everytime. I wanna write goodbye notes to everyone, shake hands with the guy that just fired me. I wanna extend my stay at these places just a bit more. But then I always get that last paycheck. That last handshake, that last hug and I realize how much that restaurant had done for me. How much i learned. How much i dont wanna go.

Then i walk home sit down and say damn, now i gotta go to the olive garden. damn.

 

to me there is nothing better than long goodbyes. It prolongs the pain

an old soul in a young man

I remember being 16, washing dishes, cutting veggies, frying potatoes and making rookie mistakes.learning and learning and watching and trying to be better… Tonight i worked in the kitchen that i helped open. I was a part of the menu creation, but i was more involved in the labor aspect of the restaurant. I set the standard in working hard, and cleaning and doing the grunt work.

i was let go, not because i was bad at my job, but because i was going through a bad phase in my life. I was drinking heavily and the boss made the right decision and let me go. Now a year later i am a bit more sober and clear-minded and he is letting me work for him again….

 

I am at the bottom of the totem pole, but i have gained so much knowledge being away for a year and working at other kitchens.

 

Tonite we were busy in the kitchen. i am great at pumping food out of the kitchen. So that’s what i did. we got out of the weeds, and it was exciting… I love being overwhelmed, but also having enough gusto to get thru it.

Our dishwasher tonite  was 16 and aspires to be a cook. I am only 24, but it was so weird. I wanna give him advice. Nobody ever did that for me. I tried to teach him those lil tricks that i have learned working in kitchens for a decade.. I showed him how to clean the kitchen properly. I showed him how to become an asset to a chef. I gave him advice from a cook that has been where he is. i washed dishes and was the chefs bitch for so long…. I think that the most real thing i told him tonite was this, ” anybody can be replaced. but if you work hard with a humble attitude, the chef is gonna want u, and respect u more because u work so hard……

 

at the end of the night, i gave him my global chef knife. It was given to me by a great chef, who saw that i aspired to be awesome…….. It felt good to pass it on… I told him the history of the knife, the scars it gave me and how much it meant to me …… I want to help aspiring cooks become better, because just 8 years ago, i was doing what they do. learning…….. I am still young, but i actually have seen a lot…..

 

Cooking is all about learning…. As soon as a cook stops learning and wanting to learn, he has given up.. I don’t care how long uve been cooking, there is always something to learn…..

when i was young i never dreamed of being a line cook, but i always aspired to be a pirate

Dear muggles (aka foodies/customers/at home chefs,)

There is only one job that can compare to being a cook and that is the job of a pirate. I am a pirate. all good cooks are. We sing and dance and drink and smoke and work our butts off.

this analogy goes so many directions. Pirates are dirty, swear a lot and love to sing… if you are a foodie and go to a restaurant, please don’t ask for booth, ask for the table that is closest to to the kitchen… It will turn you on so much… Hearing the cooks sing together, laugh together and clean together is so exciting. if ur food was great, don’t thank the server, thank the cooks. Take the time to tell me that you liked ur salmon. If ur food was bad take the time to tell me that the salmon sucked. I work for u. I sweat and bleed to try and make u happy, and any criticism is appreciated.

 

Pirates don’t get days off, neither do i. I work in three kitchens, 7 days a week. I WORK 70 PLUS HOURS A WEEK. there is no rest for the weary. Just like a pirate, i thrive of adventure and action. i love work. I love battle… I fire my cannons every friday and saturday night fighting for your approval.

 

I wear baggy pants, bandanas heavy chef coats carry knives in my belt and swear more than any pirate ever. It truly is a battle….. waitresses hang ten tickets in my window (about 50 plates) and i get it done, and i do it well. Although ur 1 of 50 customers im doing my best to make ur food like ur my only table.

there are two types of cooks, just like there r two kinds of pirates… Some pirates/cooks are there for the meager money temporarily, then there are the pirates that do it because they love it… I love it… I am cooking/pirating for u. this is my life. this is my career.

 

My kitchen is my pirate ship, and i want it to be the best ship ever.

 

in closing, this is my one day off. I work doubles tomorrow and the next day.  My body is screaming at me… its breaking down. My muscles are not agreeing with my brain…. but i guess thats just the life of a pirate.. work work work…..battle battle war… fight fight  dont surrender…

 

 

The pirate life is the life for me

Time = 7:00 Am

jeez. Muggles can truly never ever understand. Im off to the job…. Ive got brunch to cook.

 

All i can hear is the beastie boys song, “ive got skills, Skills that pay the bills”

Mind numbing work? really?

I was raised with the idea that the most mind numbing job was that stereotypical picture of a sailor peeling piles of potatoes. You know what i picture when i think of mind numbing work? a person at a desk, crunching numbers and going on diets.

In the early days of my culinary career my main job was to peel piles of potatoes, slice gallons of onions, gut chickens and clean the funky water out of coolers. And you know what? I loved doing that.

When i Have to cut 50 pounds of chicken breasts off the bone, i get excited. I sharpen my boning knife and get to work and then get lost in my mind. I think about hannah. the love of my life (sadly shes been 86 for awhile). I start to daydream ( still focused on cutting the chicken well) i remember those good days from the past. When i kissed her in her moms car at the park. When i proposed. When i felt on top of the world. I daydream about asking that waitress out. I dream about my future and how special and important i will be. I relive my life highlights… And then ive finished cutting the bird, and its back to working that line.

Cooking on a fast paced line is extremely stressful, You “muggles” could never understand. Im always correcting/fixing mistakes that other lazy cooks have made. I am totally dedicated to the “muggles” enjoyment. And then it gets busy, and i love it. Im watching ur steak, ur friend’s salmon, plating your boyfriends salad and he wants a house salad 86 vegetables (or some other crazy request) and im just so comfortable. I want you to have the best steak ever. i want ur boyfriend to say, “damn howd they actually pull off that request” then i plate ur food and i literally smile when i plate it because i know your gonna love it, because i cooked it the perfectly. It brings me so much joy.

 

Some chefs get frustrated when it gets busy. They dont wanna work hard. They dont truly love what they do. I AM NOT A CHEF. Yall i am cook, and proud of it. I love to clean just as much as i love making beautiful dishes. I am a worker. I love to be stimulated.

 

i pity you muggles. You sit at a desk and type and diet and come eat at my restaurant. You have the worst job ever. Me, my job is all action.. My mind is not numb. It is alive. My neurons are going crazy..

 

I hope that i can offer you some stimulation when you eat my food, because i know that your day sucked, and your mind is numb….. I like to think that i can help change that.

 

-sincerely

- an aspiring world changer

 

Only cooks can understand

In general chefs are grumpy, lazy complainers. Some chefs remind me of marines who sign up and realize being a soldier sucks. Id rather work will a cook than a chef any day of the week. Cooks sweat bleed and generally work their asses off.

 

Currently i work in a kitchen that only cooks could appreciate.Its a cooks playground. Its huge. I have an 8 foot butcher block to work on. 10 sinks to use. A massive walkin cooler. And knives. So many good knives.

This kitchen is unlike any “chefs” kitchen. It’s always clean. Food is always fresh. its sanitary.

I work for a pretty terrifying boss. He runs the kitchen. He is the absolute boss.

 

On my very first day i was exactly 1 minute late.. This was the biggest sin in my bosses mind. I have never ever been late again..

 

When i first started working there i was unused to my boss’ management style. Honestly he was mean. I went through hazing, and a year later I am still going through it. My boss is a cook. not a chef. He is a great cook. Sure, he can break my spirit and bring me down, but he is teaching me, making me better. I strive so hard to make him proud, and because of this the customer is getting the highest quality food. My kitchen (future kitchen) will be run just like his is. Working for him, working for someone who expects the best every single plate has improved my skills so much..I thank God for putting me where I am. It can be tough at times, but i am learning, gleaning all the ideas i can. No school can teach what I have learned from my boss..

my bonuses and raises are not monetary. My bonus comes when my boss says, ” that’s a good fish” I wish all cooks worked for that approval and not for that paycheck.

 

Thanks boss for what you have given me. You took me in as a screw up. You took me in as an average cocky cook, and slowly I am transforming into a people pleasing cook. Youve helped me keep my flavors simple but exciting. You have helped to forge my path in this crazy ass industry… I look up to you a lot.

 

“you know id pay for your vasectomy right? in fact if you don’t keep screwing up ill do it myself”

 

Only a cook would understand the love in that statement.

a dick tion

Everyone has this stereotype that kitchen workers are screw ups, drunks and drug addicts. Welp, its true. You wanna know why? When you “people” are starting to relax, sit down for dinner, have a glass of wine, you know what im doing? Im sweating. Im trying to set up the kitchen in 30 minutes, when its really takes 2 hours worth of labor. But as a cook, excuse me, as a good cook, i make it happen. I prepare all the things that help you relax. Slice bread, break down beef, stir sauces, slice mushrooms, reduce port wine for ur poached peaches. The stress is unreal.

So ya, cooks induldge. We get off at midnight, and guess what, after scrambling and sweating for ten hours, there is nothing better than 24 ounces of cheap beer and two ciggerates. when i get off at midnight after working my ass of for ur relaxation, a lil reefer helps settle my mind. Can you blame me….. I dont think you can. Because i just saw u and your girl finish off a bottle of wine and eat top prime sirloin….

am i a screw up? im asking. I drink, i smoke. but wasnt ur steak awesome? werent ur scallops seared to a perfect medium? did i not deal with all ur weird gluetin free/ no salt allergies?

Im not addicted, but you are a dick.. but still i make your food with love. so suck it up. we all have our problems… sure i drink a lot. But at least i dont make someone make my beer without gluetin…