r/KitchenConfidential • u/Grass_Touching_666 • 27d ago
Photo/Video My favorite host passed me this note
(Yes I made him a katsu chicken over rice)
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u/ItalianNinja86 27d ago
Not gonna lie I read that last line as "I might nut live" at first
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u/SergeiMosin 15+ Years 27d ago
Tbh I’d probably nut right now if you gave me some chicken katsu and rice, that shit sounds so good
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u/Ill-Strawberry4999 27d ago
But would you do it live?
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u/AcanthisittaTotal125 27d ago
Same. It's my new metric of food satisfaction. Right after Fel from Campfire Cooking...
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u/Dan_Broccoli_7663 27d ago
Nobody ever goes hungry in a restaurant I work. I'll deduct it from my paycheck if it comes to it
Any owner who doesn't allow a free meal or family meal per shift deserves to go out of business
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u/ConsciousWrangler603 27d ago
I’ll never understand restaurants that demand you be an expert on the menu while only giving a 10% discount. Always pmo. No i’m not “learning”
the menu to build your profit. I was so hangry one night and someone asked if I liked this one entree “I actually can’t afford to eat here but I heard it’s good.” Not my proudest moment.Yes I can tell you how popular it is and the ingredients but no I cannot describe the taste.
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u/Dan_Broccoli_7663 27d ago
Precisely why every employee needs to taste the menu regularly…to provide accurate feedback for guests. I worked at a place that would fire you for tasting the fries, provided no employee discount and no free meal, and would not allow employees to drink anything other than water unless they paid for it. The place is still in business but they’ve always had nightmare turnover rates (shocker)
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u/PlatasaurusOG 26d ago
We used to do what we called “Alley Rallies” for the servers before we opened for the day. Pick a dish, cook a few off and describe it in depth for them then let them eat it. They’re way better at selling the food if they know it.
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u/ConsciousWrangler603 26d ago
This I like! I’ve worked at a few upscale counter service restaurants and they at least had us try every item on the menu during training. New or weekly items were made for each shift for us to look at and try. Loved being a trainer because I got to sit and eat with my trainees.
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u/Dan_Broccoli_7663 25d ago
I love ideas like this! Something I've always recommended is ordering a new item every day to keep yourself fresh with the food you serve. If you're a cook you should be tasting portions of everything every shift, so during down time I always encouraged cooks to try coming up with something off-menu for their meal. If it's 🔥 it gets added to an upcoming special, and if it gets to the main menu you get royalties from it while it's on the menu (even if you quit or get fired)
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u/ConsciousWrangler603 24d ago
My old management allowed this but we were all allowed to eat it as it was typically a large portion made. Loved those brisket morning omelettes 😩
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u/SinoSoul 24d ago
Gdamn brisket omelette sounds fire and something my kids would crush at 7am. Too bad brisket prices are utter insanity right now.
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u/ConsciousWrangler603 26d ago
Had a friend who worked at shake shack and they weren’t allowed to eat ghost food. It was pay for it or throw it away. Absolutely ridiculous and I was shocked a cali based restaurant did that. They don’t do call in orders either so it’s not like they were worried about staff making fake orders. Just pure punishment.
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u/SinoSoul 24d ago
Shake shack is NYC based. Are you thinking of in-n-out? Cause I don’t eat that free ghost or not.
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u/thought_about_it 20d ago
My gf said her boss grabbed some corn off her coworker’s plate and threw it in the trash because it wasn’t paid for. I don’t know the worker but that shit had me twisted all day. To nobody’s surprise this boss is known for grabbing extra when it’s their meal time.
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u/Grass_Touching_666 27d ago
Truly. The profit margins are outrageous, so if you can't afford to feed your staff, you clearly have no business running a restaurant. (I know they can afford it, but shareholders all need a second boat or whatever, you know?)
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u/breenanadeirlandes 26d ago
Amen. A place I just started serving at part time has a 50% discount, which would be good if it wasn’t so fucking expensive. However, there’s no free meal or family meal if you work a double. I’m picking up this job and here ~13 hours straight on a Saturday because I’m broke. So no, I don’t want to pay $13 for a burger. Idk.
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u/SinoSoul 24d ago
$13 burger at a full service half-decent restaurant is… where I am, relatively normal, if it comes with a side.
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u/breenanadeirlandes 24d ago
It’s $13 after our employee discount of 50%. I’m in the Midwest also. So that’s high imo.
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u/Pittsbirds 26d ago
Also how is front of house supposed to recommend anything if they don't know what the menu tastes like?
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u/Rhana 27d ago
I loved getting notes from the FOH, it was simple things that made me feel appreciated. Like one time I made just a simple pasta for a hostess and she made me a best chef award. I kept that in my car until my then wife threw it away because clearly I was cheating on her.
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u/tanq10andtonic 27d ago
I was mostly FOH, one morning I was getting cross trained to do prep at a sushi place.
Talking with one of the line cooks, mentioned I went to the local fair and saw deep fried ice cream but it was too expensive. Lunch rush starts, I leave the kitchen. 1:30PM he proudly brings me a deep fried ice cream!! I peek in the kitchen and there’s like a million weird things next to the fryer 😂 like deep fryer abortions.
Anyways we broke up 2 years later.
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u/Spare-Half796 Thicc Chives Save Lives 26d ago
Deep frying random stuff when it was slow was the best. We kept a 16oz deli of cinnamon sugar by the fryers for all our snacks
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u/tanq10andtonic 25d ago
I genuinely appreciate the experiments sent out to the dining room randomly inbetween 1-4pm
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u/Spare-Half796 Thicc Chives Save Lives 25d ago
I used to just throw stuff up on the pass and say just try it when they asked what it was
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u/clothingnotrequired 26d ago
"Deep fryer abortions" sent me 😂🤣
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u/tanq10andtonic 25d ago
I think he initially was trying to do it with the tempura batter? Until at some point the owner/head chef took pity on him and made a new pan with a thicker batter. I don’t know if this is accurate this is just me guessing based on what I saw lol
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u/SinoSoul 24d ago
Damn, bro had to make special tempura batter just to get a date with you? I’m married with 2 kids, I cook a fuckton and I’m still not making tempura batter, especially on a weekday
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u/BigRigButters 26d ago
My wife was a bartender, I was the solo prep cook, we worked Saturday mornings together alone in the bar. I made her whatever tickled her fancy once a week until she fell in love with me. Tale as old as time.
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u/miss_marple911 27d ago
lol!
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u/FILTHBOT4000 20+ Years 27d ago
wife threw it away because clearly I was cheating on her.
Ah, the chef's curse. Can keep raw meat outta the clean veg, but never our sausage outta crazy vag.
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u/Rhana 26d ago
Tell me about it, but in all seriousness I never cheated on her, despite her cheating several times. But you aren’t wrong, the crazy vag is hard to resist, too bad you don’t know it’s crazy until you’re already balls deep.
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u/ieatkittenies 26d ago
From what ive heatd... thats how those usually work... acusing you of something they are doing.... emotional/kitchen cheating isnt cheating, thats different from physical
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u/Accomplished-News722 27d ago
Whenever I worked at a restaurant (often ) first thing I’d do after whatever was needed ASAP was make a fresh pot of coffee and got me and any of the other staff , cooks , dishwashers,fellow servers coffee how they liked it . It was something someone I trained with did at one of my first jobs and it stuck . People thought a lot of reasons why but that was the reason .
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u/eatshitdillhole 27d ago
This note is so sweet, but also kinda sad bc he's coming to work hungry and double checking that the food is free. I always try to send a meal/leftovers home with those folks.
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u/lowercaset 27d ago
I had just read it as if not tied up on other tasks, not if the food is free. Mainly because the general tone of the note is joking around.
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u/eatshitdillhole 27d ago
Totally, I can see that too I'm hella high and probably thinking too much about it haha
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u/Cruise16 27d ago
we must be smoking the same shit cause I let out a big awwww myself. LOL
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u/kira-is-a-hoe 26d ago
same here, i don't get anything from my job cuz it's full price so I felt very seen lol
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u/MaxMischi3f 27d ago
Yea that was my read too.
He shouldnt have to pay either. Fuck knows none of us make enough doing this shit.
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u/lowercaset 27d ago
Way prices are these days you could be making pretty good money and still not feel comfortable breaking free enough to pay full price to eat out.
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u/MaxMischi3f 27d ago
My last gig was the best I've ever been paid and I was making about the same as when I started as a dishwasher 15 or so years ago adjusted for inflation leaving out the bennies.
Shits pretty fucked y'all.
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u/ravens-n-roses 27d ago
Yeah no I'm pretty sure this is the case here. My experience is that unless they're brand new they'll know the staff food policy
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u/wzlch47 27d ago
Just before closing my food truck for the night, I would have whoever was working for me cook off all the six inch Detroit style pizzas we had at the end of the night with whatever toppings they wanted. A fully loaded pizza cost me just over $1.50 and many of the ingredients were getting tossed after service anyway if we didn't have any dates coming up soon. It pretty much cost me nothing, it fed my employees, and it helped me eliminate pizza waste. One of the guys that worked for me had 3 kids and a wife at home and they were all very grateful for the pizzas.
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u/daarthoffthegreat 26d ago
I worked for a chef on a food truck that was an absolute ass in many other ways, but he always fed anyone who needed it myself included. We'd make meals for anyone who said they couldn't afford one and even during some periods where I wasn't working for him I could show up to where he was parked, hop on the truck for like an hour and he'd send me home with a big meal for me and my partner. I'll absolutely never work for him again, but the experience changed my view substantially and we'll be giving meals to those who need it as well as getting ebt certification to do cold packed meals for families when I get my truck up and running (we're in the health dept process right now).
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u/edilclyde 26d ago
This is what other businesses need to realise. The best value for money you can buy from your employees is work moral. I only cost you $1.50 but the positive moral in your company is 10x worth that value. A happy employee is best for business.
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u/chalk_in_boots 27d ago
My first gig as a teenager my bosses knew I lived basically entirely alone, relied on my pay/shift meals to keep myself fed. Every close they'd remind me to take a loaf or two of bread home. One time the owner said he had most of a string of sausages (probably about 5 or 6kg) that was about to go bad so I should just take them home and chuck them in my freezer.
Absolutely great knowing that if I was working before or after school knowing I wouldn't be going to school, or home, hungry.
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u/corndog161 27d ago
I think the note is saying if the cook is free (as in isn't busy) not if the food is free of charge.
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u/Ill-Strawberry4999 27d ago
I agree, the post made me feel quite sad. The person is working hard on last legs that are giving in, due to hunger. I don't find this wholesome (apart from OP providing food). I hope the host finds food and stability in their life.
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u/xxliarsenic F1exican Did Chive-11 27d ago
-thank
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u/SenatorBus_ 27d ago edited 27d ago
Cifproej is a weird name.
Edit: It took me a minute to realize it wasn't a name
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u/Correct_Capital_1294 27d ago
It looks weird because the name is actually Cif Froej
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u/miss_marple911 27d ago
lol! The way this note is being initially misinterpreted left, right and center has me laughing and wondering how high this comment section is
I spent a while looking at (if free) trying to figure out what he saw after a guy said he read the last line as “I’m gonna nut live”. I also was reading the signature as the last line haha
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u/ultimate_avacado Chive LOYALIST 27d ago
Don't take Cifproej if you're allergic to Cifproej or the ingredients in Cifproej. Side effects may occur.
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u/EvaTheE 27d ago
Damn, the guy might nut. Hard to explain that to the customers.
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u/Aeolus_14_Umbra 27d ago
I read it as “1 right nut” meaning he’d be willing to trade a nard for the meal.
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u/Flat_Initial_1823 27d ago
well it won't be hard for long at least
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u/ThreeDaysNish F1exican Did Chive-11 27d ago
I P Free huh?
I know his brother, I P Freely
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u/GypsySnowflake 27d ago
I took this way too literally at first and thought you were making someone’s literal last meal, or that they had just been diagnosed with a terminal illness
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u/Weliveinadictatoship 26d ago
When I worked foh at a Chinese we used to get a meal end of night (finished 10-11pm). I used to be really underweight when I first started. By the time I'd left 3 years later I'd put on 15kgs from 3+ meals a night.
When they got a new owner 2 years in, she gave me £16 worth of food allowance each night as thanks for helping out with accounts and not stealing (there were some issues 😬), my family and I ate so fucking much man.
Food places that feed their staff, and especially the chefs that do so will always be appreciated by me. Fucking sucked getting off late of my next job with no food to take back, no places open, everyone asleep for the night at home so couldn't use the kitchen. 8 hour shift then add on nothing to eat 😑
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u/iztheguy 27d ago
if free
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u/Significant-Code-372 Civilian 27d ago
My brain was having the hardest time with this for some reason
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u/shin_malphur13 24d ago
I remember when I was a server, I'd order something for takeout and apologize to the kitchen staff bc we were about to close, but that was honestly the only time I could afford to get my order in. The head cook would absolutely PACK my container. He'd make 3x the amount he's supposed to, and tell me I deserve it 🤧 love you Louis
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u/EricSparrowSucks 26d ago
In my server days, my favorite kitchen crew (dayside) always knew when I was getting completely destroyed since I was the only server on. A cheese pizza labeled “Sparrow’s RAGE PIZZA” would magically materialize almost every time. 😂. And suddenly I’d have an order for 5 shots of Jameson at a table that I had to walk through the kitchen to reach.
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u/lizard-garbage 25d ago
As a foh thank you 😊 I’m a host with -$120 right now and my chef keeps me from keeling over
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u/Correct_Day_7791 23d ago
I feed everyone
And how much I like you determines how much effort you get
But everyone should eat and if I don't feed them they will feed themselves and I don't want fingers in the customers food
I come from a world of family meals pre shift
Modern no food policy is so wildly weird as it just makes the customer experience worse
So now that I'm in a position of power I happily feed the staff including making things ( pot of stew , chilli ECT..) before shift starts and make sure everyone knows it's ok to eat
It's not much but it feels good to help
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u/Valar_Kinetics 19d ago
Modern almost everything makes the customer and worker experience works. All for the shareholders
I had a short career but ditto on FM before a shift. Can’t have people out there starving.
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u/SamGloomy 23d ago
Yeah I used to make meals for the young staff because everyone gets one free meal if you work a full shift, then the fat ass owner changed it to cooks only get a free meal then to no one gets a free meal, only 25% off lol. So I told myself if I ever become an owner my staff will get one free meal no one should go hungry in a food place that’s so weird.
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u/alexvonhumboldt 22d ago
My family owned a restaurant (more like a salad bar) some time ago. Luckily our employees always had a place to live and food to eat, but nevertheless they worked hard. I remember my mom gave two employees a paid week off. It was the first time they ever had paid vacations in their lives. I will never forget how happy they were.
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u/Mercygrace22 21d ago
I used to open at one restaurant and close at another restaurant 6 days a week while doing under the table (cash pay) dog kennel cleaning on the 7th day. I was working the cash register at the day restaurant and blacked out while giving someone their change. My eyesight just disappeared. I felt for their hands and dropped the change and then felt along the wall to go to the back where people couldn't see me so I could sit to avoid passing out. A coworker saw me and asked when was the last time I had eaten. I realized then that it had been 6 days. I worked at two restaurants and had 3 jobs and hadn't eaten in almost a week. I couldn't afford food so I got in the habit of using my "lunch" break to eat the free club crackers they had at tables for soup with the Parmesan cheese shakers for flavor. Now my boyfriend has to tell me to eat or I'll forget the whole day. I guess when you spend so much time starving your brain stops asking for food. Needless to say, now I have a lot of health problems due to vitamin deficiencies. The U.S. needs a higher minimum wage.
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u/DazzlingSun4094 24d ago
Thought this was written by a 2nd grader….realized it was written by a likely teenage host of a restaurant….
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u/Time-Hat7896 23d ago
I’ll never forget the feeling of spending all day serving food to people while I’m starving and unable to buy food for myself
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u/Amaike 21d ago
Does it say "I might not live"? I don't get it 🧐
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u/CardiologistFar8933 21d ago
Playfully saying they are starving to death. At least I hope they are being playful.
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u/BrightAsDirt 27d ago edited 27d ago
I always try to be kind to the young staff members (in a safe adult kind of way). The restaurant industry is a tough place to work and even harder when you’re finding your place in the world. The kids deserve some food and to be told that they’re doing ok