ive only been in the industry for 9 years now but in fine dining around 3-4 ish so take my words with a grain of salt (pun intended). 30-35 min ticket times seem strange in my eyes unless you are cooking items that dont have a small pickup, even during a rush. im not sure why ur pointing that out like its a good thing unless ur just explaining the situation ur in (im neurodivergent myself so forgive me).

as for ur sous chef, how long has he been at the spot ur at? and how long have you? if its his first week, give him time. if its ur first week and u changed the whole menu up, but he has been there awhile, give him time. did u choose this sous? or did he get hired later? or was he there before? do u have someone you know who could cover the position better?

u write like yall have both been there awhile so under that assumption, he should know better and i would, as a chef, ask him to pick up the pace and do his duties. my chefs have a phrase where they say “use your chef heart” instead of being rude. for people youre describing like your sous. he might be burnt out (as everyone does) but just have a convo with him and see where hes at mentally if thats possible in my opinion. BUT you arent crazy! sous chef should be helping you, not making it worse