I was certain that given the fact that production on Tuesday night was over an hour behind and chef had to tell us, in so many words, to get our shit together... that everyone would be on the same page for last night's class. I guess I need to learn to stop expecting other students to hold up to the same standards that the school has set forth for us.
Oh, sure. I spent a few hours getting my prep list together. Writing my recipes out. Going over the evening's production in my head so that I was on track and in the zone. Of the other ten, only one managed to come in prepared. When asked why they weren't, rather than just admit to being lazy, selfish, half-assed cooks, the others simply tried to bullshit their way past the chef with one excuse after another.
Do you really expect that shit to fly in the real world? Do you actually think that in a real kitchen, in a real restaurant, any chef worth his salt is going to give you a pass because you didn't want to put in the effort? No. I don't think that will work out for you at all.
I never intended for the last few entries to become massive bitch sessions about my fellow students. But I still can't wrap my head around why someone would even bother showing up if they didn't want to learn anything. It makes them look bad. It makes my school look bad. These morons are going to go out there and land jobs based solely on the reputation of the school and when they fail, as they surely will, it will not only make them look bad, but it will make the school look bad. In turn, that means I have to work even harder as they bring down the reputation of the school and the chefs we've been training under.
Yes, culinary school is hard work. Yes, you have to study. Yes, you have to have some basic skills together by the time you graduate. If you can't manage to follow the standards that were set, do me a favor and just quit. I'm working my ass off and I'm learning a lot, but I can't handle having to be lectured on simple, basic shit that you should've learned MONTHS ago, had you actually given a damn and put any effort into this.
Let me repeat myself. CULINARY. SCHOOL. IS. NOT. EASY.
You make it harder on yourself and harder on those of us that are here for a reason when you don't bother trying. If you're not here to succeed, get the hell out of my way. It makes me sad to graduate with a class of sub-par cooks. 6 months in and you can't manage a "Yes, chef!" without feeling stupid? Get over yourself and, while you're at it, get the hell out of the kitchen.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
mental mise en place
Alright, so I've mentioned before that I can't understand how someone would choose to go to culinary school when it seems as though they really don't care much about food or where food comes from. It makes me wonder if maybe they're just there because they don't know what else to do and it seemed like a good idea. It's one thing to enjoy cooking. It's another to want to do this for a living professionally. Let's face it. Cooking in a restaurant isn't nearly the same as cooking dinner for your family at home.
That being said, I wanted to talk a bit about mental mise en place. I know a lot of cooks who have no trouble getting mise together for service. They get all their prep work out of the way so that everything runs fairly smoothly. Except that somewhere halfway through service, when things start to get stressful, they begin to flip out. Why? They aren't mentally prepared for service that night. They might know the recipes, but can't adapt to the pace of the kitchen. They get stuck and they hold things up for everyone. "What do you mean I can't saute 2lbs of mushrooms at one time in the same pan?" As they lose focus, they panic and that only makes things worse. It's a slippery slope and it shatters their confidence and this bleeds into the next night, and the next... and the next...
Whenever I head into the kitchen, I spend some time before service preparing my mental mise. I know the recipes, but I like to go through service in my head a few times so that if something goes wrong, I can fix it. Hopefully, this keeps things running more smoothly. You never know when something might happen. Maybe someone isn't ready with a garnish or they didn't realize they needed a bain marie ready for a timbale. Because I've got myself ready mentally, I can run over to help out. I'm less likely to panic if something does go wrong.
Mental mise en place is something that I think separates a good cook from a great cook. It takes average cooks to new levels. If you can't get into "the zone" mentally, forget it.
Yet, even with all this discussion, most of my peers will come in for service not knowing what the menu is for that night's production. They don't have recipes written out. They can't even prepare standard mise because they just don't know what's going on. So do yourself, and the folks in your kitchen, a favor. Take a half hour and prepare your mental mise en place. It'll make you a better cook and, hopefully, it'll catch on.
That being said, I wanted to talk a bit about mental mise en place. I know a lot of cooks who have no trouble getting mise together for service. They get all their prep work out of the way so that everything runs fairly smoothly. Except that somewhere halfway through service, when things start to get stressful, they begin to flip out. Why? They aren't mentally prepared for service that night. They might know the recipes, but can't adapt to the pace of the kitchen. They get stuck and they hold things up for everyone. "What do you mean I can't saute 2lbs of mushrooms at one time in the same pan?" As they lose focus, they panic and that only makes things worse. It's a slippery slope and it shatters their confidence and this bleeds into the next night, and the next... and the next...
Whenever I head into the kitchen, I spend some time before service preparing my mental mise. I know the recipes, but I like to go through service in my head a few times so that if something goes wrong, I can fix it. Hopefully, this keeps things running more smoothly. You never know when something might happen. Maybe someone isn't ready with a garnish or they didn't realize they needed a bain marie ready for a timbale. Because I've got myself ready mentally, I can run over to help out. I'm less likely to panic if something does go wrong.
Mental mise en place is something that I think separates a good cook from a great cook. It takes average cooks to new levels. If you can't get into "the zone" mentally, forget it.
Yet, even with all this discussion, most of my peers will come in for service not knowing what the menu is for that night's production. They don't have recipes written out. They can't even prepare standard mise because they just don't know what's going on. So do yourself, and the folks in your kitchen, a favor. Take a half hour and prepare your mental mise en place. It'll make you a better cook and, hopefully, it'll catch on.
Monday, April 12, 2010
The longest two weeks of my life
Man, where did that 2 weeks go? I've never slept so little or worked so hard on any single project in my entire life. Not even when I worked on a team of software engineers under a manager who had no idea what he was doing.
I know I've mentioned before that I've had the displeasure of working with people who aren't exactly committed to their education. And I've thrown up all over you guys about how they irritate me to no end, etc. So what's the problem? Remember how I said 4 of us had 2 weeks to design 1 restaurant? Yeah, here's the thing.
No one in their right mind would attempt to put something like that together in 2 weeks. Most people take months, if not years, to come up with a plan like we came up with. Now, don't get me wrong. I understand that the point of this was to combine students and stress them out and observe how they work as a team. There was simply too much work for one person to do in two weeks.
That's where the problem comes in. Of the four of us, only two of us really gave a damn about this project. We worked our asses off and slept, on average, 12 hours a week. The fact that it took an entire weekend to recover is simply amazing. I've never felt so completely exhausted, both mentally and physically.
I'm proud of what my team came up with. As far as I'm concerned, however, my team consisted of two people. The other half didn't seem to understand what a team was. And, if they did, they didn't want to be a part of it. I really wish they had quit, or that we had simply given up on them. That's not the point of the class, though. If one failed, we all failed.
So what happened? Two of us did all the work. The other two will get a grade based on what the others did. Where were their sleepless nights? Why, when they would turn something over to us, did we have to do all their work over again because it was sloppy and non-standard? How can you work as a team when certain people flat out refuse? I'm still not sure.
The important thing here is that we finished. This food and beverage management course... this exhausting and mind-numbing two week period... has taught me more than I could ever have imagined. Maybe the point wasn't to rely on your team, but to learn to rely on yourself.
When I started this class, I had no desire to ever own a restaurant. I wanted to run a kitchen someday, but not the entire operation. Now? Well, now I KNOW that I can do it. What's more, I know that there will always be problems. Disagreements. Someone will think it's appropriate to put a turkey and catfish pot pie on a fine dining menu. I lost friends. I gained friends. More importantly, I gained a new perspective.
It makes me a little sad to know that some of my classmates will never succeed in this industry. They don't want to put in the work or the effort. Maybe that's a good thing in a way. It makes those of us who desire to be the best stand out. On the other hand, they will graduate and make my school look bad. I guess I have to understand that I can't control anyone else. All I can do is continue to give my personal best, which I'm discovering is a lot better than most of my classmates. That isn't to say that everyone is like that. There are people in school like me. People who love food. Who love to cook. Who can think for themselves and not need someone to hold their hands through the entire program and remind them what a good job they're doing.
In the end, I know that I've learned a lot more than just how to design a restaurant, or do market research, or schedule BOH operations or how your budget can drive your operation upward or into the ground. I've gained a new respect for the industry and those who succeed, because not many people realize what it takes to do so.
So, to those of you comfortable with mediocrity, enjoy it now. Your shit won't fly when you graduate. If you graduate. And should you end up traveling in the same circles as those of us who actually work, I'll remember you. You made me understand how much harder I could push myself. But you started digging a grave for your career before it even started.
I know I've mentioned before that I've had the displeasure of working with people who aren't exactly committed to their education. And I've thrown up all over you guys about how they irritate me to no end, etc. So what's the problem? Remember how I said 4 of us had 2 weeks to design 1 restaurant? Yeah, here's the thing.
No one in their right mind would attempt to put something like that together in 2 weeks. Most people take months, if not years, to come up with a plan like we came up with. Now, don't get me wrong. I understand that the point of this was to combine students and stress them out and observe how they work as a team. There was simply too much work for one person to do in two weeks.
That's where the problem comes in. Of the four of us, only two of us really gave a damn about this project. We worked our asses off and slept, on average, 12 hours a week. The fact that it took an entire weekend to recover is simply amazing. I've never felt so completely exhausted, both mentally and physically.
I'm proud of what my team came up with. As far as I'm concerned, however, my team consisted of two people. The other half didn't seem to understand what a team was. And, if they did, they didn't want to be a part of it. I really wish they had quit, or that we had simply given up on them. That's not the point of the class, though. If one failed, we all failed.
So what happened? Two of us did all the work. The other two will get a grade based on what the others did. Where were their sleepless nights? Why, when they would turn something over to us, did we have to do all their work over again because it was sloppy and non-standard? How can you work as a team when certain people flat out refuse? I'm still not sure.
The important thing here is that we finished. This food and beverage management course... this exhausting and mind-numbing two week period... has taught me more than I could ever have imagined. Maybe the point wasn't to rely on your team, but to learn to rely on yourself.
When I started this class, I had no desire to ever own a restaurant. I wanted to run a kitchen someday, but not the entire operation. Now? Well, now I KNOW that I can do it. What's more, I know that there will always be problems. Disagreements. Someone will think it's appropriate to put a turkey and catfish pot pie on a fine dining menu. I lost friends. I gained friends. More importantly, I gained a new perspective.
It makes me a little sad to know that some of my classmates will never succeed in this industry. They don't want to put in the work or the effort. Maybe that's a good thing in a way. It makes those of us who desire to be the best stand out. On the other hand, they will graduate and make my school look bad. I guess I have to understand that I can't control anyone else. All I can do is continue to give my personal best, which I'm discovering is a lot better than most of my classmates. That isn't to say that everyone is like that. There are people in school like me. People who love food. Who love to cook. Who can think for themselves and not need someone to hold their hands through the entire program and remind them what a good job they're doing.
In the end, I know that I've learned a lot more than just how to design a restaurant, or do market research, or schedule BOH operations or how your budget can drive your operation upward or into the ground. I've gained a new respect for the industry and those who succeed, because not many people realize what it takes to do so.
So, to those of you comfortable with mediocrity, enjoy it now. Your shit won't fly when you graduate. If you graduate. And should you end up traveling in the same circles as those of us who actually work, I'll remember you. You made me understand how much harder I could push myself. But you started digging a grave for your career before it even started.
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