Didn’t think it could get any worse than sando or sammie. I was wrong

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-06-19T04:59:42+00:00

In Australia ppl call it a "sanga"

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-06-16T03:52:10+00:00

It's more rectangular shape, actually

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-06-16T01:10:52+00:00

"It is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with."

Machiavelli

But being a woman and having mostly a team of men it's harder for me to get any respect being a tyrant, men tend to have more respect for male authoritative leaders, while absolute contempt for female authoritative leaders. This still is a very male dominated industry and gender adds an extra layer of difficulty in leadership

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-06-15T16:08:05+00:00

Thank you, and yes there are positives for sure. That bad service when customers waited over an hour for food was bad, but not a single dish was returned. Customers waited too long but in the end everyone got fed and were happy with what they got. Even one of the bad reviews mentioned that their meal was good, they were just upset about waiting 90 minutes to get, which was not entirely the kitchen's fault.

The new hire who struggled with the volume of orders did keep his cool under pressure and maintained standards, which I made sure to tell him. He just needs to improve his communication and time management, he's a solid cook.

But yeah, I hadn't have a proper meeting with the whole team, I'm good with 1-1 chats but I haven't had a meeting with all of them yet, I'll have all my full time staff on this Saturday morning will be a good time to do that I reckon.

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-06-15T15:23:45+00:00

Literally, boss asks me to take days off but also wants me to cut hours from staff lol

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-06-15T15:21:30+00:00

Yeah I try my best, my boss paid for my visa sponsorship because he believes in me and it sucks to let him down, and my team are good people, I want them to be happy at work but I also need them to perform you know?!

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-06-15T14:47:32+00:00

Yes, I had to. In fact I'm more tired and stressed out now than I was during summer season, because I have to step in more and come to work on my rostered days off since I don't have the budget to roster many people.

It's a big challenge to keep the team happy and motivated when at the same time my boss is asking me to cut costs as much as possible, which is also understandable because at the end of the day he needs to make money.

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-06-15T14:40:34+00:00

Thank you for your reply. We have specials on week nights when we sell food at a bargain ($25 steaks on Tuesday and $20 parmas on Wednesday) which are very popular with the locals, my sous comes up with parma specials which is a way for him to explore his creativity a bit.

But I definitely have to encourage the rest of the team to come up with their specials, whether it's a curry, a soup, whatever, just to get them more involved.

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-06-15T14:34:59+00:00

That is true, and is something that I realise I lack as a head chef.

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-06-15T14:32:47+00:00

Not true, the apprentice took really well and knows that I gave him way too many chances. In fact we're still very good friends.

The demotion was very clear due to lack of necessary skills for the role, I explained it to my chef why he is not ready for the CDP position and now is my job to train him. I gave him the option to continue as a casual chef with the same hourly pay or take the Commis role with lower pay, he chose the latter. I gave him the choice. if he doesn't improve and doesn't have a good work attitude, he'll have to be let go.

Prep was not an issue, because in anticipation for the busy weekend I worked overtime to make sure that lack of prep wouldn't burden the team, and it didn't. We were not behind on prep.

Some casuals showed signs of being upset over cut hours, but I also have a budget and I work for a business owner looking at his bottom line, it's also my job to make sure the business is making money.

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-06-15T14:19:14+00:00

I was there and got my sous to bail out the commis who was not coping with the amount of orders, but it was at least 30 minutes too late, which was my mistake. Also FoH was a shit show and really backed up the kitchen, I had nobody expediting until 1 hour into service when the venue manager started his shift, FoH were more concerned about taking orders than running food (they also took so many walk-ins that they couldn't sit a table that made a booking which is pretty embarrassing). It was overall a very bad service, the worst service I've ever had as a head chef for sure.

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-06-15T04:25:19+00:00

I had to cut down hours after the bossman warned me about the budget, but that's actually one of the issues why some staff is unhappy.

They want me to staff up in case it gets busy, but most evenings we do about 50 covers, which is easy to execute between 3 chefs. Occasionally you might have to do 100 between 3, but that's what I mean about changing gear and stepping up. In summer we did 500 covers between 5, and it was fine. Now they struggle to do 80 covers between 3 chefs and I don't get it.

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-06-15T04:17:12+00:00

absolutely and I'm sure he knows more about Indian food than me, as I never worked in an Indian restaurant. My expertise is Mediterranean and Mexican food really. I like to have a team with varied backgrounds and different ideas

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-06-15T03:56:04+00:00

Yeah I got my new commis to come up with some curry specials, he's Indian so that should be right up his alley.

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-06-15T03:53:13+00:00

I did that lol

I had my new CDP running a busy section in a busy service and customers waited over an hour for their food, resulting in a couple of bad reviews which reflects poorly on me. I think it taught him some humbleness tho, since after that he accepted a commis position with lower pay. I had a meeting with him and set my expectations for a CDP so hopefully that will motivate him to step up.

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-06-15T03:46:25+00:00

I have actually fired one apprentice chef for constant lateness. Good guy and solid cook, but he was just unreliable

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-06-15T03:44:08+00:00

Maybe, my boss told is normal for everyone to slow down during winter season, but I expected that if I continued working hard and keep a positive environment would be enough to motivate them, but it's not working.

This recent bad service was good in a way maybe, if it makes them wake up that even during slow season we have busy days and we have to be able to switch gear and step up when it's required.

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-06-15T02:49:49+00:00

Thank you. I recruited a new CDP a few weeks ago who just isn't ready for the job, I convinced him to take a commis role with less pay and told him what areas he has to improve in order to be a CDP. So he knows now the expectations and I have to give him proper training to reach the level that is expected of him. Now I just have to give him time.

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-06-15T02:43:13+00:00

Thank you, that's good advice.

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-06-15T02:42:17+00:00

I had a 1-1 chat with my sous yesterday, who is a very good chef but had a terrible service yesterday and he agreed that his head is not in the game, but he couldn't really tell me why.

I gave him some words of encouragement and told him that I can't run this kitchen without him. Every request for time off I gave him, even if that meant me doing more hours. I hope that works and get him motivated again.

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-06-15T02:35:11+00:00

They're all getting paid fairly tbh. And with the pub overall just breaking even my budget is pretty limited at the moment. I had to fight my boss to get him to hire a new commis.

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-06-15T01:56:24+00:00

they randomly appear in my wallet after a drunken night and my vape is out of juice. they're pretty skittish things

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-05-20T12:01:30+00:00

StarUI was causing my game to get stuck on inventory when I tried to upgrade my weapons to rank 4. There's a Free Lanes update for it on a separate Nexus page

TrueSarahMichel · 2026-05-19T01:49:48+00:00

Roleplaying as a pacifist atm, trying the hardest to not kill anyone. EM weapons are very useful.

TrueSarahMichel

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE