Are you a wolf, or a sheep?

[NO ChoP!]

Wolves work in packs, they compete with each other to be number one. They make each other stronger and only the strongest survive. As a team they are invincible.

[knyfeknerd]

I am the walrus.

Ku Ku KaChoo!
I can't believe I'm the 1st.



I like to think of Jesus as wearing a tuxedo tee-shirt, which says I'm formal, but I'm here to party.

[brainsausage]

Yeah I like this bit. I think something that separates the wheat from thew chaff in the Chef game is knowing things you don't need to know. Some people just pick things up but not everyone. You notice other guys making mistakes even though it's not your station but somehow you know everything they have to do

'Kitchen sense'. Seeing but not seeing. Just knowing what's going on. Noticing the big and little things. Congratulating a dishwasher for finally figuring out where the robo coupe blade goes(without being condescending), and chastising your lead line cook(who can bang out a million dishes on a Friday) for not properly mincing an onion. Catching a waitron ignoring a table, and praising a bartender for describing that dish just right while you're having a drink and doing orders. Noticing that sink needs work, that corner needs dusting, that person isn't working out, that person needs a little help, the drafts are getting a little stale, the paint is chipping over there, the seating chart could make a little more sense... Being a chef is like having way too many kids and a big giant house(es), that you really care a lot about.

[JDA_NC]

^^

And on a more basic, line-cook level - you want that awareness and chemistry too. You know you're with a solid cook when you don't really have to talk during service. I don't want to be working with someone who has to be told, or call back, their orders multiple times per ticket. Or having to tell them that this push is 90% off your station and a little help finishing plates and putting them up instead of ass-scratching would be appreciated. Same as you do when they get weeded. That unspoken connection... it's surprising just how many people need things spelled out for them.

Especially now that I've been doing this longer, I am extremely appreciative that my first 'real' kitchen job (ie I was taught to think about food and not just sling plates) was in a restaurant where the menu was printed daily - and changed often -, there were no heat lamps in the kitchen, you did plating yourself, and you had no tickets. It taught me a lot.

[Salty dog]

I don't want to toot my horn but throw owning the place on top of that. It puts things in perspective. It's no longer about the food and kitchen, it's about keeping 30 people happily employed. I'm as satisfied as the next cook when I'm slinging hash but when my people start having babies and buy cars and homes......NOTHING gives me more pleasure.

That my friends is what this stuff is all about. Creating a place for happiness and prosperity. Cooking almost seems trivial.

[brainsausage]

I don't want to toot my horn but throw owning the place on top of that. It puts things in perspective. It's no longer about the food and kitchen, it's about keeping 30 people happily employed. I'm as satisfied as the next cook when I'm slinging hash but when my people start having babies and buy cars and homes......NOTHING gives me more pleasure.

That my friends is what this stuff is all about. Creating a place for happiness and prosperity. Cooking almost seems trivial.

Couldn't agree more.

[NO ChoP!]

Well, back when I was hands on at the restaurant, worrying about keeping my staff happy kept me up at night. Seriously.

[Geo87]

I'm a bear. I plod along, do my thing. Not the fastest, not the best. I am quiet until poked, don't poke the bear. I eat wolves and shyt sheep. At the end of the day you Can't resist me . I'm the last man standing. I am the bear.

LOL! Seriously funny. Lol does not properly communicate how much I just laughed.

This reminds me of a friend & fellow chef. Nmko you may know him, the sous from restaurant 2 , then sake, then esquires. He is a bear. We had a conversation about work shoes... I wear skulls and cross bones berkis... Non slip, comfortable & pirate friendly. This friend said he wears Italian leathers... I think ***, has to be the worst choice of footwear slippery as hell. All he said was I like to move slowly and keep an eye on things. He is a bear if I ever saw one.

Is it acceptable to be a dingo? We don't have wolfs down here... Dingos are ferocious and get to cackle like maniacs... Also hunt in packs.

[Nmko]

LOL pirate friendly... i just burn't out my 5th pair of berkis. Im on Macbeths temporarily till i find something that fits my size 13 wide ass feet. I go through a pair of berkis in 3 months... not wasting any more cash on em.

Don't know him? i think? - I have pretty much been living at work for the past 6 months....

[marc4pt0]

Well, back when I was hands on at the restaurant, worrying about keeping my staff happy kept me up at night. Seriously.

Know that feeling all to well. Certainly don't mean this in a negative way. It was kind of an honor, in a very difficult sense.