The Community Guide

c/chefs

22

davis.emma•5d ago

My first station collapsed during a Friday night rush in Boston

I was running the saute station at a busy Italian spot in the North End, and my entire portioned out mise for the night got knocked onto the floor by a busboy at 7pm. I had to scramble with the sous to re-chop and re-portion everything in 20 minutes while tickets kept piling up. Has anyone else dealt with a total station wipeout and had to rebuild mid-service?

15

davis.emma•5d ago

Hot take: The new steakhouse in Austin is overrated

I went to that new place, Juniper, off South Lamar last Friday. Everyone's raving about their dry-aged ribeye but I thought it was way too salty and the crust was burnt. For $65 a plate, I'd expect a better sear and less smoke flavor covering up the meat. Has anyone else tried their brisket appetizer? I'm wondering if I just got them on a bad night.

8

alicem29•6d ago

My mentor from 1998 called me out on a stat I totally forgot

I was digging through old notebooks from my first kitchen job in Portland and found a note that said 70% of new restaurants fail in the first year. My old chef always said that number was way higher if you counted the ones that barely break even. Does anyone still track that stat or is it all just gut feeling now?

19

elliot_king•7d ago

Changed my mind about brining chicken after a disastrous Friday night

I always thought brining was just extra work for no reason. Then last Friday we had a 50-cover dinner service at our spot in Austin and I forgot to season the chicken early. Ended up throwing 30 lbs of breasts in a quick saltwater brine for 20 minutes and they came out juicier than anything I'd done before. Has anyone else had a brining save their shift like that?

1

parker_patel84•7d ago

Tried a $12 grocery store knife after 10 years using high-end ones...

Last week my fancy Wusthof broke mid-shift at the diner. I grabbed a cheap Santoku from the corner market for 12 bucks just to finish service. Honestly? That plastic-handled knife held its edge for 4 straight days on carrots and onions. I was SHOCKED. It even handled slicing tomatoes better than my old blade. Now I'm wondering if I've been overthinking gear for a decade. Has anyone else found a random cheap knife that actually worked well?

10

umamurphy•7d ago

Heard a line cook say mise en place is just organized stress, and it stuck with me

Last week I was doing prep for a Saturday rush and this kid who's been on the line for maybe 6 months said to me, ‘mise en place is just organized stress.’ At first I laughed it off, but then I thought about how true it actually is. We spend hours chopping and portioning just to handle 90 minutes of chaos. Has anyone else ever had a throwaway comment from a coworker change how you see your own routine?

2

max472•8d ago

The shift that went sideways on a Tuesday night dinner service

I had a night last month that started off smooth and then just fell apart. We were doing a standard Tuesday, maybe 80 covers, nothing crazy. Then the walk-in cooler decided to give up around 6 PM, right as the first big table orders hit. I had to scramble and move all the prep into the reach-in and hope it stayed cold enough. The line was already backed up by the time I got back, and the printer just kept spitting tickets. Chef had to jump on the sauté station himself because my guy was in the weeds. By 9 PM we had the cooler guy coming, a full dish pit, and three burned pans from the rush. Has anyone else had a night where the equipment just picks the worst time to break?

20

singh.blair•10d ago

That chat with a line cook about seasoning paste vs. dry rub changed my whole approach

I was breaking down a case of pork shoulders last Tuesday at 6 AM and this kid Kevin (22 years old, been cooking 4 years) tells me he thinks dry rubs are a scam for BBQ. He said the paste method locks in way more flavor because it has acid to break down the meat surface. At first I laughed it off, but then I tried it on a batch for our Sunday special and the texture was genuinely better (we sold out by 2 PM). Has anyone else switched to paste or am I just late to the game?

7

the_brian•11d ago

Just swapped my mandoline blade after a year of frustration

I kept getting uneven veg slices and blamed my cheap mandoline for months. Finally changed the blade yesterday and suddenly everything cuts perfect, so it was user error this whole time. Anyone else hold onto dull blades way longer than they should?

9

morgan.nancy•13d ago

The afternoon I accidentally became a short-order cook for a wedding party

Last month I was prepping for a private event at this spot in Portland, and the bride's uncle walked into the kitchen asking for a "real cheeseburger" because the menu was all fancy small plates. I figured why not, whipped him up one from our staff meal stuff, and next thing I know he's brought back 12 people all wanting the same thing. Chef was not thrilled but honestly it was funny watching them eat burgers in fancy dresses and suits.

20

barbara_butler•13d ago

Had a sous chef tell me my plating was too safe and it stung

I was plating a duck breast dish for a special last Tuesday at our bistro in Portland, and my sous, this kid named Marcus who's been at it maybe 3 years, just flat out said 'that looks like something from a hotel breakfast buffet.' I was pissed at first because I've been doing this for 12 years, but then I watched him plate his version with a swoosh of sauce and a pickled cherry on top and it hit different. He wasn't being rude, he was saying my food looked good but didn't stand out. Has anyone else had a younger cook call them out and actually changed how you approach plating?

17

mason.margaret•14d ago

Found out my fish spatula was way too thick for eggs

Was watching a video from a line cook in Chicago. He measured his spatula. 1.5mm thin. Mine was almost 3mm. Explains why my omelettes always tore. Grabbed a thin one off Amazon for 12 bucks. Night and day difference. Anyone else using the wrong tool for basic stuff?

9

adams.taylor•15d ago

TIL that spending $250 on a decent Japanese chef's knife was the best move I've made in years

I used to buy those $30 knife sets at the grocery store and sharpen them maybe once a year... My wrists were always sore after chopping. Last month I finally bit the bullet on a single Shun Santoku from a knife shop in Portland. The first time I sliced through an onion without pushing down, I felt like an idiot for waiting so long. Has anyone else had that moment where spending more actually saved them time and frustration?

17

ellis.jennifer•16d ago

My sous chef swore I was over-salting the pasta water. I proved him wrong.

Last Tuesday during brunch service in Boston, my sous kept telling me to cut the salt in half for our pasta water. He said it was wasteful and overkill. I let him run the station for a shift with his method and the customer feedback was immediate - three plates came back complaining the pasta was bland. I went back to my usual 2 tablespoons per gallon and the complaints stopped. Has anyone else had a younger cook try to change a basic technique that was working fine?

5

eva_gibson•16d ago

Hit 200 covers solo on a Friday and nobody warned me my feet would just quit

I knew the rush would be crazy but I didn't expect to hit exactly 200 tickets by myself before 9 PM. Has anyone else had a number like that sneak up on you and make you question your whole setup?

25

avery_stone95•18d ago

Can we talk about how I blew $200 on a fancy French knife

Was at a knife show in Portland last spring. Guy selling a $200 Japanese gyuto. I laughed. Told my buddy no way it's better than my $50 German one. He dared me to try it on a tomato. Night and day difference. That thing sliced through like nothing. Felt the edge grab and glide. Bought it on the spot. Now my old knives sit in the drawer. Has anyone else had a cheap tool that actually worked better long term?

-3

robinson.matthew•21d ago

Just found out why my knife keeps rusting between uses

I was cleaning my chef's knife after service last night and noticed brown spots again. So I finally looked it up and learned it's from leaving it wet even for a few minutes. Apparently carbon steel can start to oxidize in under 5 minutes if air hits it. I've been letting it air dry on the rack like a dummy. Who else has a drying routine that actually works for carbon steel blades?

2

david123•21d ago

A line cook told me I was overcomplicating my poaching eggs and he was right

I used to fuss with vinegar and swirling the water like some ritual. He just said crack it into a fine mesh strainer first, let the thin whites drip off, then slide it in. Took me 2 tries to get it down and now I save like 30 seconds per egg.

10

mila395•22d ago

Just found out that 40% of restaurant orders are forgotten on Friday nights and it hit me hard

I was reading a food service industry report last week from the National Restaurant Association. It said that 40% of kitchen errors like forgotten tickets happen during peak rushes on Fridays. That stat blew my mind because I always thought it was just my luck. Has anyone else seen that number and started changing how they prep for weekends?

32

claire999•23d ago

Saw a sous chef flash-chill stock in an ice bath and it clicked for me

I always just let my stock cool on the counter overnight until I watched this guy at a pop-up in Portland drop his pot straight into an ice water bath. Took maybe 20 minutes to get below 40 degrees and now I do it every batch. Anyone else have a simple trick that changed how you handle cooling?

28

max472•23d ago

I'm the only one who hates the wood fired pizza trend in restaurants

Honestly, I don't get why every new spot in town thinks they need a $20,000 wood fired oven. I ate at a place in Portland last month that charged $26 for a margherita pizza that came out burnt on the bottom and doughy in the middle. Three years ago I worked at a place that spent all this money on one of those ovens and the chef never even figured out how to control the heat right. The pies were always inconsistent and we had to comp half of them. Everyone in the chef community acts like wood fired is the only way to make good pizza, but I've had better Neapolitan style from a regular deck oven. Does anyone else think this trend is way overhyped for what you actually get on the plate?

7

andrew_wood72•24d ago

The head chef's note on my prep sheet about dicing onions changed everything

He wrote 'stop crying' in red pen. I was cutting root-to-stem that whole time. Now I leave the root end intact and it's night and day. Anyone else get a tiny tip that saved them hours of burning eyes?

2

hart.taylor•24d ago

Still kicking myself for doubting the instant-read thermometer

I always thought they were a gimmick for home cooks but after ruining a $60 ribeye last week I finally caved and bought one. That thing saved my dinner service tonight... has anyone else been converted this late in the game?

19

the_wren•24d ago

That time I ruined a whole hotel brunch service with bad timing

Last month I was running brunch at a 80-seat place in Portland and decided to batch my hollandaise 45 minutes early. Turns out holding it over a double boiler that long makes it split no matter how whisk you. I had to re-fire 20 eggs benedict orders while the server stood there staring at me. Has anyone else had a sauce disaster that backed up their whole line?

5

fiona_fox56•27d ago

Switched from hand-chopping 50lbs of onions to using a robot coupe

Back in 2015 at my first line cook gig i would spend 2 hours every morning hand dicing onions for stocks and soups, wrist killing me by 10am. Last year i finally caved and bought a refurbished robot coupe for $400 off a buddy and now i can blast through that same pile in under 10 minutes clean and even cuts. Anyone else held out way too long on getting a food processor for prep work?