c/chefs

24

kair65•6h ago

A dishie's comment made me rethink my plating

I had a line cook named Marcus tell me last Friday that my sauce swoosh looked like a frown. He was just joking around, but it got stuck in my head... I watched a few customers and realized they didn't even touch the sauce. Now I spread a thin layer on the plate instead of piling it up. Anyone else take plating notes from the dishwasher or line crew?

25

williamt44•1d ago

TIL my knife sharpener was making things worse for months

I kept wondering why my chef's knife felt dull no matter what I did. Turns out my $30 pull-through sharpener was actually grinding the edge at a bad angle. I spent like 3 months blaming my cutting technique before a line cook pointed it out. He showed me his stones and let me try a few passes. Fixed the blade in maybe 10 minutes flat. Anyone else had a tool they trusted that was secretly messing everything up?

22

davis.mia•1d ago

Dropped $600 on a used Rational combi oven

Bought it off a restaurant closing down in Portland. Thing heats evenly, steams perfectly, and cuts cook times in half. Any tips for cleaning the internal sensors without damaging them?

19

shane_nguyen•2d ago

Dropped $400 on a Japanese sushi knife and honestly it's collecting dust

My line cooks keep grabbing the $30 kiwi knives anyway because they're lighter and easier to sharpen on the fly. Anyone else find expensive knives aren't worth it in a busy kitchen?

11

roses69•3d ago

Visited a small farm-to-table joint in Vermont and noticed their prep station setup was genius

I stopped at this little place called The Rustic Root near Burlington last weekend. They had this magnetic strip on the wall behind their main station holding all their most-used spoons and tongs. No drawers, no clutter, just everything right there. I asked the chef about it and he said it cut his reach time in half during service. Has anyone else tried something like that in their kitchen?

3

shane_nguyen•5d ago

Saw a guy at the farmers market use a fish spatula for everything

Last Saturday I was at the Portland farmers market watching this older chef flip crepes, slide eggs, and transfer pastries all with one fish spatula. He said he has used the same one for 12 years and never needed another tool. I went home and tried it for my Sunday brunch service. Ended up using it for flipping pancakes, lifting cookies off the sheet pan, even scraping down my cutting board. That thing is way more useful than I ever thought. Has anyone else discovered a random tool that just works for everything?

7

rayc89•6d ago

The shift from hell that turned into my best night ever

Last Friday was chaos from the jump - we had a 50-top come in at 7pm with no reservation and half the walk-in was broken. Somehow everyone on the line locked in, I ran expo like a man possessed, and we cleared the whole thing in under 90 minutes without a single ticket coming back. Has anyone else had a night where everything just clicks after starting off as a total disaster?

18

laura_white99•6d ago

A customer asked if the sauce in my pan was for the trash or their plate

I was working a busy Saturday night dinner service, about 8:30 PM, when a guy at table 12 flagged me over. He pointed at my saute pan where I was deglazing with wine and shallots, and says, 'Is that leftover sauce or are you cooking something for me?' Stared at him for a second, then told him it was for his steak but he was welcome to taste it from the pan if he wanted. He just laughed and said that's the closest he has ever been to a chef's secret. Made me wonder how many customers actually think we just open cans back there.

5

kimr33•6d ago

Heard a sous chef say prep lists are just suggestions and honestly it threw me

I was in the back of the kitchen at this bistro on Oak Street last Thursday grabbing some supplies and I overheard this sous chef telling a new line cook that prep lists are more like guidelines than actual rules. He said he just writes what he feels like and adjusts as the shift goes on. I've been in the industry about 8 years now and I always thought a prep list was this sacred thing you had to follow to keep things running smooth. But then I started thinking about how my own list gets tossed out the window by 6 pm when we get slammed with tickets anyway. Maybe I'm overthinking it but is there really a right way to handle prep lists or is it just whatever keeps the station from crashing? Has anyone else ran into this kind of thinking from a senior guy?

4

wendy978•8d ago

My sous chef told me to stop flipping my fish so much

He kept yelling at me to just let the salmon sit for 4 minutes straight without touching it. I always thought I needed to keep moving it around the pan, but I tried his way last Tuesday and got the best crust I've ever had. Has anyone else been doing fish wrong their whole career?

7

the_emery•9d ago

Shoutout to the guy who told me to season my cast iron in the oven, not on the stovetop

After three years of spotty seasoning that flaked off every few months, I tried his method at 450 degrees for an hour. The difference was night and day - my eggs slide around like they're on teflon now. Has anyone else made that switch and noticed a big change?

14

lindaw12•9d ago

Just had a sous chef tell me my plating was too 'old school'

He said my sauce swoosh looked dated, but I've been doing this 15 years and customers at our Boston bistro never complain about it. Anyone else getting pushback from younger cooks on classic techniques?

12

taraj11•12d ago

I finally had a Saturday service that nearly ended my shift at The Grotto in Portland

Last month, I had a Saturday dinner service where every ticket was a nightmare. We had a 12-top show up 20 minutes late, then one of my line cooks cut his hand on the mandolin right before the rush hit. By 8pm, we were 45 minutes out on entrees and I had three tables yelling about their steaks being overcooked. Has anyone else had a shift where everything just fell apart at once and you had to decide between quality and getting food out the door?

14

gonzalez.wesley•13d ago

I switched my knife grip after 8 years and it feels weird but better

I used to hold my chef's knife with my index finger on the spine, like a lot of people do. Last month I watched a video from a guy in Portland who said that grip kills your knuckles and wrist over time. He showed the pinch grip where you pinch the blade right above the handle. I tried it for a week straight and my dicing got way faster, plus no more fatigue after 3 hours on the line. But I still catch myself slipping back to the old grip when I'm in a rush. Has anyone else made this switch and actually stuck with it long term?

25

simon_coleman•14d ago

Vent: That sous chef who told me to stop salting my pasta water

I had a sous chef at a place in Portland 2 years ago who swore salting pasta water was a waste because 'you season the sauce anyway.' Tried his method for a week and my pasta came out flat every time. Has anyone else run into older chefs giving advice that just doesn't hold up?

1

brookethomas•15d ago

Dropped a full cambro of stock yesterday.

Right at the start of service in our kitchen in Portland. Had to scramble to make a new batch in 20 minutes while still plating tickets. Any tricks for speeding up stock in a pinch without a pressure cooker?

6

sage_park6•15d ago

Hot take: I dropped $90 on a knife sharpener and wish I'd just used a brick

Bought one of those electric pull-through sharpeners from a big kitchen supply store about 6 months back. Thought it'd save me time and keep my knives perfect. First week it seemed fine. But after 3 uses I noticed my chef's knife just wasn't biting into onions like before. Like it was pushing through instead of slicing. Checked the edge under a light and saw little micro-chips. Took it to a buddy who's a line cook and he said those things eat metal unevenly. He showed me a wet stone and I grabbed a brick from my driveway to practice on. Actually got a better edge in 20 minutes. Anyone else had that experience or am I way off on this?

21

jason_stone•16d ago

Remember when we all used to blanch veggies in boiling water?

I switched to steaming broccoli and asparagus in a perforated pan over stock 3 years ago and never looked back. Way less nutrient loss and they hold up better on the pass. Has anyone else ditched the old school blanching method?

12

brookekelly•17d ago

Burned 40 steaks on a Friday night because I trusted my new line cook too fast

I was working the grill at a busy spot in Portland last week when my new guy told me the fire was "perfect" after I asked him to check it (he had 3 days experience). I turned away to plate two orders and came back to a wall of flames from a grease flare-up that ruined an entire $700 worth of ribeyes. How do you guys break in rookies on hot stations without babysitting them every second, or am I just expecting too much too soon?

1

river351•17d ago

Realized my mise en place was a lie after 9 years in the kitchen

Last Tuesday during the dinner rush in Edmonton, I grabbed what I thought was julienned bell pepper but it was all uneven chunks. Turns out I'd been rushing my knife work for years and blaming the line cooks. Has anyone else had that moment where you realize your own prep standards are the real problem?

16

mary_schmidt•18d ago

Not buying the hype about mise en place for every dish

I run a small crew on a roof all day and when I get home I just want to cook, not spend 45 minutes chopping stuff into little bowls. Everyone online acts like mise en place is the only way to be a real cook, but I found a shortcut that actually works for weeknight meals. Instead of prepping everything before I start heating oil, I just wash and cut veggies as the pan gets hot, and I season meat right before it hits the skillet. Last Tuesday I made a stir fry with chicken, broccoli, and bell peppers in under 20 minutes without a single bowl on the counter. The trick is to pick recipes where you can stagger the prep, like adding onions first then slicing carrots while they sweat. Has anyone else tried cooking like this or am I just lazy? I swear the food tastes the same and I have way less cleanup.

24

alicea26•19d ago

My sous chef said to stop salting eggs early. He was dead wrong.

He kept saying it draws out moisture makes them watery. But I had a bad scramble service 2 weeks ago. Tried it his way. Eggs were bland as hell. Next shift I went back to salting 10 minutes before cooking. Way better flavor. Who told you advice that flopped?

17

jesse_west•19d ago

I used to smash garlic with the side of my chef knife until I broke a $200 blade last month

I was in the weeds on a Friday service at Bull St. in Savannah, went to crush a clove with the flat of my 8-inch Wusthof, and heard that sickening crack sound. Sent the tip right into the cutting board at a weird angle and snapped off about half an inch. My KM just stared at me. Now I use the bottom of a small saucepan for garlic and it works way better. Has anyone else wrecked good steel doing stuff like that?

5

quinns20•20d ago

PSA: I finally figured out why my knife was dull after every shift

I spent 6 months blaming the cheap steel at my station until a line cook pointed out I was scraping my blade across the cutting board to move chopped herbs. That habit alone wrecked my edge in about 2 weeks.

26

hall.charles•20d ago

Went to a small diner in Ohio and saw something smart with their prep fridge setup

I was visiting family near Columbus last weekend and stopped at this little diner for breakfast. The owner overheard me talking about kitchen flow and invited me back to see their setup. They had this simple thing where they labeled every shelf in the walk in with a day of the week and only put that day's ingredients on it. So on Wednesday, you only grab stuff from the Wednesday shelf. It cut down on their food waste by like 30 percent they said. I never thought about organizing by day instead of by food type. Has anyone else tried a system like that or do you just rely on FIFO and hope for the best?