We need to rethink this whole wine pairing thing. Don’t get me wrong, I love wine, LOOOOVVVEE IT! But, with dinner I just want a cool Stout or Ale that goes well with my food. We should have beer pairings as well, just sayin’. Am I crazy? Maybe……..yeah maybe just a little. I need a beer.
The Line
Working up the food chain in the kitchen is weird. You become a cook because, well usually, you want to cook. You start in the dish tank or as a prep cook. Then eventually become a line cook where you’re being burned, cut, and beaten down to a pulp for 3 hours during service……depending on how busy the restaurant is. Then you become a Sous where you’re doing more paperwork than cooking, wishing you were back on the line. By the time you’re a Chef you’re not cooking at all, just creating and managing.
But, every so often I get all the paperwork done and I get to send someone home, allowing me to work their station. The line can be very fulfilling and it can also be draining. If you have all your Mise en Place, a sharp knife and aren’t THAT hungover you’ll probably have a great service. On the other hand, if your not set up or “in the shits” it can be the worst experience of your life. You’ll feel like you’re storming Normandy Beach with a watergun instead of a machine gun. You have to be somewhat of a pirate to be a line cook due to these conditions. That’s what was so appealing to me. And of course, you get to play with knives and fire, every boy’s dream, right?
Lighting Fires
Yesterday was my first day back in the kitchen in a week and a half and I felt like an old Ford Maverick that’s been sitting in the garage for years, RRRRUUUSSSSTYYYYY! Little did I know that cooking is like riding a bike, you can’t forget…… once you’ve created a monster inside of you, it NEVER goes away. The badass inside will always come out. This, of course, has been the longest I’ve been away from a kitchen( commercial) in 5 years, so that feeling is expected.
Nothing changed, except the appreciation my co-workers showed me when I returned. Apparently, being the Sous chef, I’m the only one that knows what we need, when we need it product wise. I also forgot that most of the recipes we have are in my head and no where else, oops. The place was a fuckin’ disaster. So I spent all day yesterday putting out fires………… which doesn’t mean I didn’t start any(hehe)
I love kitchen pranks, they’re what keeps the morale up in my pirate ship that I call my kitchen. In order to keep this Motley Crew of cooks lively, alert and happy is to make them laugh. But, it has to be hilarious in the way normal people would be afraid of, for instance:
Today I took three paper towels, tied them all in one big knot(so it won’t float away from the fan) and lit it on fire from the stove top. Then you choose a victim, mine was Arturo who was busily peeling a case of artichokes…..very focused. I walked up behind him and said,” Que Esto?”, pointing at nothing in particular and watched as he looked frantically at what I was pointing at. That’s when I dropped my flaming ball in between his legs, walked away explaining that it was nothing. I turned the corner and waited……and waited….and waited. Then I heard my success,”PUTA MADRE!!!!!!!! PINCHE CHRIS!!!!!!!!!!!”. I ran around to see and there he was dancing trying to put his pant leg out. The whole kitchen laughed hysterically and would’nt stop talking about it the rest of the night. The best part about the prank is that even the victim thinks it’s funny, so everyone comes out the winner.
Starting out
This is the beginning of my rant to the world of what goes on behind those closed doors in the restaurant. My up to date version of “Kitchen Confidential” if you will. Interesting and funny, this industry is an everyday adventure. Enjoy
