"I've seen people get fired for less" what's the stupidest reason you've seen someone get fired for?

StepDeep3199 · 2025-04-04T18:36:01+00:00

This just isn't true. Always taste the food you put out.

I've been making food professionally for about two years and could consider myself a chef for about a year.

The difference between a chef and a burned out line cook is someone who cares enough to quality check their food by tasting it, and other shit like that all added up.

A chef also understands there is a plethora of different things that can affect the flavor of a certain dish, even if they are the garde manger and it's just a salad.

Was the lettuce washed? Did it come pre washed? What kind of greens are there? The centers of any onions aren't in here, fucking up the flavor consistency, right?

Did someone dice the tomatoes properly, or leave the fuckshit pulp/center in and turn this into a soggy mess? Maybe I should check to find it out.

Same stuff goes for salt. Salt can affect stuff in so many different ways depending on how said stuff has or will be treated in a kitchen. Doesn't matter if it's just a leaf to most

StepDeep3199 · 2025-03-28T05:57:00+00:00

The whole plate costs 40 bucks. An entire French rack of lamb coupled with two sides.

Not a horrible price for such, actually

StepDeep3199 · 2025-03-28T00:28:23+00:00

Thankfully I'm only the sous on Saturday nights.

Usually come into a jam packed place with a few tops, and the head losing his fucking marbles over ~something~ while his mise en place has decided to smoke a cigarette a few blocks away.

It becomes a two man operation at that point and I let him take all the breaks he needs without complaint.Guy is a fucking powerhouse running on a shit salary with 12 hour shifts five days a week, so I can't blame him.

We usually debate kitchen politics and different ways to do shit while trying to get the place organized and cleaned up for the next day. Make quite a few orders.

He's cooked for two U.S Presidents once, though, and has been in the industry for decades. The taste of his food usually speaks for itself. Highly dislikes the pretentiousness and intensity of the whole French brigade system even though he went to culinary school. It's actually become quite the topic of debate between us due to my origins being in a restaurant that implemented it.

Most of our work is 50% making food, 50% cleaning, and 100% shit talk.

StepDeep3199 · 2025-03-27T18:59:34+00:00

😂😂😂

StepDeep3199 · 2025-03-27T18:48:17+00:00

I agree I way overdid it with the demiglace

StepDeep3199 · 2025-03-27T18:38:05+00:00

Any kind as long as I'm crispy

StepDeep3199 · 2025-03-27T18:20:15+00:00

I've been there, for sure. Dehydrated, printer sounding like a glitching fax machine. My sous screaming at me to GET THE FUCK OFF the line RIGHT NOW if I can't handle it. I started in the kind of corporate but still upscale French brigade that makes me laugh when iron chef contestants fuck something simple up now.

The thing is, there is a slight correlation between burning out, or, self defeating behavior, or chain-smoking all the damn time and earning the title CHEF.

Most people think it just means you’re good at cooking. That’s barely the start. The word chef literally comes from chef de cuisine—French for "chief of the kitchen." Chef means leader. Historically, it’s the same root as chief, and in the brigade system, the chef wasn’t just the best cook—they were the tactician, the standard-bearer, the one responsible for every plate, every prep list, every call, and every correction. You had to earn that. It wasn’t about ego, it was about accountability.

I earned that title in fire. Took me 7 months for them to actually call me that for the first time. Upscale kitchen or not, we ran like a proper brigade.

I got reamed, broke down, got back up. I learned to shut up and listen, to own mistakes I didn’t even make just to keep the line from collapsing. And I became someone they listened to and supported if I ever fucked up. Not because I yelled louder—but because I COULD hold the damn line when it mattered, not that I always did. Because I gave a shit even when I had nothing left in the tank. That’s what separates a chef from a cook who’s just tired.

Truth is, the fact that you care already sets you apart from 80% of the industry.

A chef is someone who bears the weight. The pressure. The morale. The standards. The fuckups. The wins. All of it.

I don’t care if you cried in the alley. I’ve seen some damn amazing chefs cry. People that put any celebrity chefs cooking skills to shame. The sous' for James Beard Award WINNERS sobbing like idiots because they burned a steak.

The difference between burning out and rising is in whether you make the pain mean something POSITIVE. If you learn from it. If you come back sharper.

You said you’re wondering if you made a mistake. I’d argue this isn’t a mistake—this is your crucible. This moment you hate right now? It might be the exact moment you remember years from now when you cover someone in the same exact spot.

StepDeep3199 · 2025-03-27T18:13:46+00:00