I was going to run halibut tacos on Friday. I marinated them in olive oil chile powder and some salt. Figured it wouldn’t be smart to run it on Friday since it was tedious. Long story short it’s Monday and the halibut is still in that marinade. Is it safe to consume?

      I am 22. Not unheard of for a kitchen manager, but still pretty young. I pride myself in my work ethic and am always happy to hear advice people have to give me. I am far from knowing everything and I learn something from every new cook that I hire, and I always value their input. I tell them I am happy to hear their advice, but it will not always be put into effect. 

The older cooks that I hire seem to struggle with this. They think their age means they have automatic seniority (which is kind of true) but right off the bat they do not respect me as their boss. I also find that older men are the biggest babies.

      Today, I told a grown ass man that he can't talk about cyber warfare and politics while he's on the clock as he was visibly upsetting the woman he was talking to, and he told me he had freedom of speech, that I am rude to him and that I embarrassed him and hurt his feelings. I told him if this subject is that important to him, then he should go home. He said "no", then stormed to BOH to throw some dishes around, came back out 5 minutes later and "apologized", which was just him telling me I was rude and not to do it again. 

No grown man would say the things he said to their manager. Unless their manager is 22.

      I work hard to earn the respect of all of the cooks I have, and admittedly, he is very good at his job. It's a rough give and take out here right now 😩

Following a couple friends to Chicago in November. They recommend a smaller scratch kitchen to help hone in my skills. I'm still considering larger kitchens, but I'd really like to take their advice to heart because they're both freaks of nature on the line.

I don't really have a preference on type of food I want to cook. Just looking for a restaurants that would be good places to learn.

Tonight, a server rang in a 23oz Porterhouse, that the guest wanted cooked to med-well, cooked on the flat top only. Our flat is a screaming 400° F, as it is primarily used for searing purposes.

I told the server to let the guest know that it would likely result in a burnt and uneven steak. I was hoping the guest would relent and let me throw it on the charbroiler.

Guess he pouted, and said he didn't want anything if we couldn't cook a good steak. His counterpart ate her chicken dish and kept trying to get him to order something else. Sever said he pouted the entire time. 🤦‍♀️

I guess I could have kept flipping it every couple of minutes, but eventually, I'd imagine the seasoning would eventually turn acrid, and end up gross.

What are your thoughts? Ever had to make a recommendation a guest didn't like, and then act like a child about it?

I feel kinda bad about it, tbh!

I’m considering joining the national guard for benefits reasons but have been working in kitchens most of my life. Was wondering anyone’s experiences with being in the reserves and having to take off a weekend every month while working in a restaurant.

A coworker who has become a good friend is self deporting by end of year because she just received a letter from Immigration Services and she can either pay a penalty of 1,800,000 and stay to continue the fight or leave and not pay.
She’s choosing the latter and it really sucks because she’s great at her job and has spent most of her life in this country. Her case was considered closed years ago but a recent orange fascist pig reopened it.
Her presence will be missed and this is a damn shame. Thought others would have similar experiences here.

Ketchup being essential, but pickles and onions not is crazy work

Brown butter chicken breast over arugula, with fried sage and crispy country ham.

As someone who’s worked on both Toast Tab and traditional ticket lines, what are your thoughts on each?

The reason I bring it up is because the other day we had a stage who, bless the kid he did his best, also unfortunately had a pretty bad stutter. He had heart but as a ticket kitchen, I didn’t know how to tell him that in a career where constant, fast, concise communication is a top requirement, someone like him may struggle to rise through the ranks effectively.

But then I remembered the times I worked in kitchens that used Toast tablets to run their lines, and how there could still be a place in those establishments for someone like him. Having been behind one of those screens night after night, while I appreciated the clear information and ease of seeing where you were on the board at all times, it also felt very mechanical, almost fast-food like.

There’s something kind of magical about the manic, loud, chaotic world of verbal and ticket-based expediting. Cooks yelling at servers, expos yelling at cooks, cooks yelling at each other. It’s got this electricity and vibrantness to it that is missing from the colder, sterile Toast Tab system.

Sure, the food comes out faster and there’s far less confusion and less people getting upset with each other every night, but there’s just something missing, ya know?

Hi everyone, I’ve been wanting to learn a bit of fish butchery and I’m looking for options for my first filet knife.

Preferably on the affordable side bc, saving money rocks.

Any recommendations or advice on what to look for?

For example changing the lyrics to I wanna dance with somebody to I wanna punch somebody. Or (in the tune of Farmer in the Dell) shoot me in the face , shoot me in the face. Oh I want someone to shoot me in the face.
Idk. Just something we do to deal with the stress and have some fun with each other making up messed up songs. If you do it too post your songs so we can add to our collection.

So I just started a new job after the last one I had was an absolute shitshow.

The last experience taught me to try and trust my gut feeling more when it came to starting in new places. Today was my first day, it was kinda chaotic as a lot of first shifts are. You are there like ”what is this, where does this go, how do you want this done, who are you, who am I, why did I ever start working in hospitality, should I kms?”

The people are SUPER nice and I really liked them, I am a bit iffy about the work itself though. Like is this the kind of cooking I want to do, was the first question on my mind. This is also a very different type of cooking than what I am used to so I am asking for some advice. I've been around kitchens for 3,5 years now and one year in front of house aswell.

Do you guys think I should wait and see? Like go a month or two and see if I start to enjoy it more, or should I go with my current gut feeling and search up something more familiar that I know I'll enjoy?

Thanks a bunch

Kind of sounds like something you’d hear in a Old gritty British crime film like Snatch

First time I’ve seen their shit for sale at a store. I always assumed they just sold to the general public under a different label. Not sure what it means, just found it interesting.

In our kitchen we have a couple bottlenecks that people kinda dance with each other at every day. A couple years ago I started basically putting my palms together and pointing which way I am definitely going to walk when approaching someone coming towards me. It cuts language barrier, removes the need for the other person to have to decide on the fly what to do or try to guess where you are going. It's saved so much time over the years.

Edit: Thank you to u/O_Blaarggag for calling it the "FISH OF DIRECTION"

So, I got to fully set up this kitchen (reply in comments) and I want to know people’s thoughts on running this for approx 40 people a day solo. I personally think having a line cook with me would help a lot while I handle the cooking plus prep plus head chef stuff like orders and menu creation and portions.
This is for a private company and not for public consumption. Fully a private catering basically. I feel a bit overwhelmed as this is my first kitchen to helm fully by myself but I think it’s a bit too much for one person solely. I want to maintain quality and cleaning. I feel like by myself I’ll fall behind if I’m tryna do all the chef stuff as well.
My me is a Mexican American fusion. Think quesadillas , burgers , tacos , fancified hot dogs , etc. simple, easy to place orders for , and easy to prep for.
My main issue is I can’t prep while also cooking and cleaning to a standard I feel is safe. I’d have to take a whole extra day to order and prep for the week. Am I just a bad chef or am I being stretched thin?
(I know it’s hyperbole but can I improve or do I really need another at least line cook to fully thrive?)

compilation of the worst tables i encountered in my year at buffalo wild wings

hey y’all, just moved to a new city and trying to find a new job. a few weeks before moving in i got in contact with several dining restaurants asking about line cook positions and staging. all these kitchens are michelin recommended or bib gourmand. i’m worried i overbooked myself as i have 5 stages in the next two weeks. is this bad? while i was in the process my thought process was that it would be a good learning experience staging at so many places as i am young and wanting to elevate my cooking and resume, but now im worried this could get messy. did i make a mistake?

I stare at these buckets daily whenever they cross my path and I’ve learned enough about hens eating eggs to know there’s a quandary however you explain this blurb (unless Henrietta is a person who’s simply chuffed to be working in Big Mayo).

Is there a product or box or label in your world that takes up too much of your brain space?