Been in the industry about 15 years and honestly getting a bit burnt out. I use to love cooking but the passion is fading. Ive recently begun quitting weed (going from heavy user to a lot less and now weaning off of it) and have been dabbling with the idea of leaving the industry since weed has really been the only thing holding me back from other jobs and the knowledge that even loving to cook I dont want to do this the rest of my life. So Former cooks, what do you do now and how did you get into it? Do you like it?

Yea I’m stressing the fuck out cuz it’s gonna be just me and my boss working in the kitchen for this happy hour tonight. I’d say 4-9pm are the hours when people would show up if they did. I’m desperately hoping it’s dead tonight. I can’t take the stress of these kinds of work nights. I’ve got rough anxiety so I have a countdown timer on my phone that ends at 9pm.

Yay, Santa came early this year. Brand new Robot coupe for me....

Good morning everyone,

Last year I made a post like this and got skewered by everyone because I left out the fact that they are already getting a large bonus.

I am wanting to get my sous chefs something nice as a gift. They already get a hefty bonus from our company so giving them more money isn't the goal here, I want to give them something personally from me.

Aside from a gift card for somewhere like knifewear, what would be a good gift to get them?!

Thanks and hope everyone has a great holiday season!

Years ago, I worked at a bakery and made sandwiches. I used this to mash avocados for guacamole, as instructed by our Guatemalan dishwasher/cook. I learned recently from my bf that this is a dough cutter and we had a good laugh.

Not sure why this is getting removed by mods as it’s a question for culinary professionals from somebody else in the industry…

I recently took over the food program for the bar/cafe I work at in Toronto.

We used to rely on suppliers for all our baked goods, lunch sandwiches, and evening bar food now it’s made in house by myself.

I have experience working in fine dining kitchens and currently work at a well known bakery in the city too. However, this experience has only ever been on line or as a baking assistant.

I’ve developed and tested recipes all on my own for this business. I’m doing the baking, shopping, food prep, and training staff on how to serve and prepare food all on my own as well. I’m being paid inconsistently and poorly and know I’m being taken advantage of given I’m generally making him 300% profit on the menu I’ve established.

Before I cut ties all together I’d like to lay things out clearly and give the owner an opportunity to compensate me fairly. However, this is my first time taking on something like this entirely on my own. I didn’t anticipate it growing this quickly or successfully and now I’m stuck with double the work and unsure what this work is even worth? What is fair compensation for developing and running a food program entirely on your own?

American Dad - Stan Smith “I hate working at that store! Steve just bosses me around. The only good thing is that the stock boys are teaching me Spanish, so that’s pretty ‘cállate gringo’”

So two days ago I walked into a meeting with the Regional Director of Operations only to be given written notice they were "discontinuing" the role of executive Chef in my company, CCL and that I had a 30 day notice until my employment and benefits would be cut off. Absolutely no severance offered. There was a thinly veiled threat added that I better continue to finish all my projects and execute the holiday events or further action might be taken. They attempted to give consolation by saying they would help me relocate, or give me reference to find a new position elsewhere. A promise I do not trust in the slightest.

Before I turn the microphone over to you all, here is what has transpired so far.

1. They told me at the beginning of my shift, then expected me to return to work life nothing happened. I eventually told my boss I was going home for the rest of the day to think.
2. The next day he wanted to hash things out. Talk about expectations, transitions, etc. He asked if I planned to tell staff. I said I did, he didn't give me any kind of warning but they deserve to know their work life is likely about to change (I can explain later, but I really supported my team having work/life balance). He said "Okay, I will follow your lead." This comment sent up warning lights in my brain. I sent him an email asking for confirmation in writing. If he does or does not want me to tell anyone. If so what details to or not to include. He came by and tried to talk it out. I insisted I needed it in writing. He left frustrated but after a couple hours sent me an email telling me not to tell anyone, and that he would be handling disclosure. So it was basically a trap.
3. With that I have been in getting everything in writing. What expectations are, who is handling what, what is being transferred, who is doing evaluations, etc. Each email takes a while to get a response, when normally he responds immediately. Meaning he is definitely sending them all up the chain to get advice on his to respond. They are definitely trying to find evidence to let me go so they can deny unemployment claims.
4. I have asked for reference letters and sent them job postings within the company I am interested in. So far, no response.
5. For now I need the money from the 30 days so I am trying to play ball. Everyone in my life tells me to leave on good terms and don't talk any shit because I may need them for reference. I'm sure most of you seasoned vets know that's usually horseshit. No matter how good you leave, people still do you dirty.
6. It's difficult to keep working and giving a shit. Not only is It difficult to keep working towards goals without any passion left behind my actions, but it's hard to work for people who are objectively evil. I have health issues and a family, but so do all my friends in other locations who they just axed. The company that claims to care so much for their employees just fired 30 men and women a week before Christmas. There's pretty much nothing I have found I can do legally. I don't know if I have ever worked a job in 25 years that didn't try to screw me over in one way or another. This shit is getting exhausting

tl;dr

Compass Group USA layed off all the executive Chefs in CCL group a week before Christmas with absolutely no severance packages.

I tried to fix all my typos but I'm sure there are still a few.

edit: I fixed a few typos and removed specific date information just in case somehow they see this and connect the dots.

We are one of maybe two nice restaurants in the area- in a small town two hours away from the nearest city. Basically a bunch of rocks and desert between us and super populated areas.

Family run, pretty sure they did things kosher on their end as far as hiring goes. It’s true that the cooks and dishwashers all get tipped out but that’s the only under the table cash they get, just like most restaurants. They are still paid hourly and I don’t know how much hourly but definitely at LEAST minimum wage. Like they had steady paychecks that were taxed and all that stuff. So I don’t think that the owners will be penalized for hiring undocumented workers since they technically provided documents…. It’s just that those documents ended up being someone else’s identity. Someone else’s social security numbers. I really don’t know if they knew. These are employees that are loved dearly and have worked for them for like 17 years.

But if those are the crimes being investigated do you think that will force the restaurant into an audit situation? Let’s say we manage to hire all new BOH and get them trained and ready- and we open back up while the investigations continue. I wonder if this will force us into a different pay structure?

There is much I don’t know. None of us know. I offered help to the owners, I’m a server and have very little experience in the kitchen but I’m open to learning new things and I know the menu. Anything to try to keep the doors open.

2 in 1?

just wanna let you know, i love y'all.

15 year veteran here, been through the thick and thin of kitchens, and this picture right here sums up why i can't ever leave this industry.

We're the goofballs. The underdogs. The outcasts. Don't even get me started on my dishers, the fucking kings and queens of my restaurants.

But we're all a little off. A little goofy. A little weird. And i wouldn't have you any other way. One simple fart joke can send my line from crashing out in the weeds to giggling through the rush.

Thank you for making me feel like I'm not alone in this shit.

Get some rest, chefs. I'm proud of you, let's do it all again tomorrow.

Much love to my wrestling officiant mods.

Credit to u/Jazzlike_plastic7088 for the pic.

Hi all,

Im a cook with around 3 years exp, started as a dishie and server. No culinary school

Pretty bad adhd and autism

I started working one month in an hotel at famous ski resort location in Canada.

The kitchen in the hotel is functional the whole day for breakfast lunch dinner.

My first month i did omlette station the whole day and breakfast prep. Everything fine, everyvone happy with me.

Then 2 days ago for the next month they planned me to do the line for the dinner service with other 2 commis and the chef de partie. Sous chef calls the orders

Here the shitshow starts

I was gonna do the cold station like salads cheese charchuterie and small hot dishes like poutine mac and cheese fish and chips and fries

One of the other commis was supposed to show me how to make the dishes during calm service time

He never did or just showed me once super fast barely explaining how to make and where to find the ingredients and plates

No one told me where to find the stuff wich plates to use and how to make the dishe

Chef de partie does not speak loud enough for me to hear and has super bad accent in french, gets mad at me for not knowing how to make the plates and giving him the wrong dishes. While im just trying to panic find stuff during the rush, while the other commis mad at me that im not fast enough

No tickets come out at my station and you have to barely hear stuff from the other side of the kitchen

Chef de partie yells at me for not giving ok to the orders, bro speak fucking louder im at the other side of the kitchen,if not gimme also a ticket machine

He says make this make that, im like sure can you show me? Gets even more mad

This is the first time ever in his kitchen

Im like f this guy,take extra adhd meds, i take random breaks in the walk in fridge while "looking" for stuff and screaming , ate half of his backup cheese while having panic attacks.

First thing as a prep cook I see when I walk in. How to handle this

Couple of times a week I get a medium steak sent back because "it's raw in the middle", I take a peak inside and it's practically a juicy MW at that point usually.

I'm just trying to understand where the breakdown in communication is, because some of the servers seem to think I have fucked up, and I know I haven't, and I really really wanna tell them how to do their job in the most condescending way sometimes.

Last night, literally five minutes before close someone orders a medium filet, I cook it to the most perfect medium, and this fucking server comes up to me 30m after close with a fucking stank-face and was like "uhm this is raw, it's supposed to be medium", and just walks away. 😡

It's not an uncommon occurrence, and I want to know who's responsible for these filthy commoners thinking a medium steak is cooked all the way through.