The Training of Apprentices

How can we ever expect to have a thriving industry of young chefs entering our work place with enthusiasm and basic knowledge. Today here in Australia it is a shambles. The whole country has got no idea what is going on with the state that the hospitality industry is in. Chefs are in such high demand it's not funny, yet you cant find a good one anywhere. I can give proof to that statement too. I had recently run an add on seek.com.au for an apprentice chef award rates and a Sous Chef at $45,000-50,000 negotiable. I know it's not the best money out there but it is far from the worst We had one applicant for the apprentice position and seven for the sous chef position. Of which three were from over seas, two were only just qualified and two were out of the industry for years and looking to get back in. So there you have it a load of crap. Out of the seven only one would make the grade and coming from overseas would require a visa, which is not much help to our immediate future.

Anyway according to Julia Goodwin and her not so intelligent media people we should be doing fine as so many young chefs are signing up to become apprentices, yeah right pull the other one it's got bells on!! Full read on want a slice of masterchef Julie Goodwin

I have been trialling out some apprentices these past weeks, courtesy of some agency. To say they are of any use would be a lie. I have had 1st 2nd and 3rd year trials and the difference is nothing they are all crap.
I can only put this down to lack of training from qualified chefs out there, the lack of quality control at the training institute, the total inconsistent teaching and learning curriculum Australia wide and worst of all the wrong working kitchen/restaurants that apprentices are allowed to be placed into.
How the hell can we expect young chefs these days to learn the right way to produce food if they only open packets of ready made heat and serve foods?

We need to have in place a industry standard and that needs to be high enough, not to allow the abuse of young chefs, cheap labour basically to be enrolled into business that do not have the sound infrastructure of a good kitchen brigade that produce good quality food from raw materials and not packet quick fix commodities. On that note also, the suppliers these days should keep those so called great new products to the schools and clubs that can put them to good use knowing that they are not teaching a new bread of chef the wrong way. But I guess the supplier doesn't know a good sauce from a packet sauce or for that fact a good restaurant from a slop shop either so I rest my case there.

It is plain to see that the industry is fucked and if we it isn't changed soon then it's not going to worth dining out any time in the future because it will be just packet this and that for dinner, and as MasterChef Australia has just demonstrated anybody can cook and become the next best thing since Jamie Oliver. Somebody needs to do something.

I am open to any suggestions on how to save our industry so that when I retire I can still go and dine out with sound knowledge that I am getting a good meal from good fresh produce, created by qualified chefs. A dying breed...

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Guest Post on Banquet Manager's Blog

Check this out, Our first move into the vast world online with a 'guest post' on So You Want To Be A Banquet Manager. A blog full of funny, interesting and true to life experiences. Get inside the Banquet Managers head and see what it's really like to be a Banquet Manager and more.And here is the rest of it.

The post written by Ranting Chef from ChefsKitchenRant with the title

A Day in The Life of a Young Chef

It is well worth a visit and a great read, please enjoy and leave a comment, feedback is so important. Image courtesy of So You Want To Be A Banquet Manager.

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Sous Chef or Monkey

I just had to laugh when wifey read this out to me.

A reputable business in CQ is advertising for a Sous Chef. A great job for a qualified chef to step into, well you would think so.

Firstly lets talk about the job of a Sous Chef.
The Sous Chef is second in charge of the kitchen which means he/she must have a considerable amount of knowledge to understand what is required to run the kitchen in the absence of the head chef.

This knowledge doesn't just happen, you need to gain experience in real kitchen life, and lets just clarify that a pub, sandwich bar, fast food outlet and any other place that thinks it is a classy food establishment but isn't, don't count. You come to me with your poxy 5 years in and out of the above you are just waisting mine and your time.

The Sous Chef will be the engine of the kitchen the person who cooks, checks, orders, beats, grills and gives you the bollocks before the head chef has to be disturbed. He is the Head Chef's lynch man and will generally have one objective and that is to become a Head Chef themselves. That means basically that they will be doing everything that the Head Chef does so that when the opportunity arrives they can slip right in and take over without any drama.

A good Sous Chef must not only have fine cooking skills and posses a great deal of ability in all areas of the kitchen, but must also be a motivator and a leader. It is with great leadership that one can motivate the team to reach better standards.

In very large kitchen brigades there will be many Sous Chefs, 5 or even 6, each with a particular area of control and from these will be one leading Sous Chef often known as the Executive Sous Chef. The lowest or newest Sous Chef would be known as the Junior Sous Chef, but even at this level one not to be messed with, as they will be wanting to jump up the ladder too, and will do what ever it takes to get there, lets face it, who wants to be called junior for a long time?!!

So to become a Sous Chef, a chef will need to have experience in a vast amount of kitchen knowledge. As the career of a young chef begins they will be an apprentice, this will span from say 2 to 4 years depending on country and establishment. Here I wish to point out that you want to be learning from, and in a good kitchen, not an Average Joe place where they buy in the majority of time consuming and hands on jobs, for example stocks and sauces, soups and vegetables, cakes and pastries. This will tell you something about the quality of management and also the chefs that are employed, once again do some research.

After the completion of the apprenticeship the next level is a Commis Chef. The Commis Chef is a chef that does a lot of work and gets grilled for everything. Basically the hardest years in the young chefs life. He is qualified and is expected to perform, that is where the pressure begins, a lot of basic work is done, but with greater ability and knowledge to be learnt. Again the larger the establishment the more levels of Commis Chef you will find 1st commis, 2nd commis, and sometimes even 3rd commis.

The next promotion will be to a Chef de Partie, or if its a large place they will sneak in a Demi Chef de Partie. This is where you get to shine as a chef, it is where you are in control, or not, as the case may be, of a whole section. The kitchen is broken down into sections, I will leave the great detail to another post but for now they are larder, sauce, fish, grill, veg, pastry, butcher, and so on. The smaller the kitchen the more the sections become one, for example, the grill and fish will join, the sauce and veg will join. The butcher will be omitted, you get the picture. So you see that the bigger the establishment hopefully the better the kitchen will be set up with the chefs and sections for all to learn.

As a CdP it is your responsibility to have your area in control and set for every service. This is your opportunity to shine as an individual leader of a team, generally the CdP will have his own DCdP and commis that will work with him to run the section. It is here that the future sous chefs are born, only with determination, readiness and drive will you outshine your opponents, the other CdP's, to get chosen as Sous Chef, am I building a picture of how it all works, can you see that a Sous Chef is not just a general chef from some average hole, he/she is, and should have worked bloody hard to be given the title and gain the respect of which a Sous Chef should have?

Now with all this experience and knowledge, you would probably have been working hard at your chosen career for a minimum of 5 to 7 years and even then you are becoming a young Sous Chef. After 7 years of grafting and slaving your hours behind the stoves of many kitchens, you would hope to break into some better pay level, especially as Sous Chef with the responsibility of the kitchen in your hands at some time or other.

With the minimum wage staying at $543.78 per week that is $14.31 per hour based on a standard 38 hour week. Now I don't know any chef that does a 38 hour week, you've got to be dreaming, right? I also find it very confusing all this bullshit award system for each different hotel, motel, cafe, resort in each different state and so on, so lets cut the crap and get to the point, which is for $40-45,000 per year I won't get out of bed and nor should you if you have good background experience and knowledge. For a start you'll probably be expected to work about 50-60 hours a week, now you do the math, are you willing to work your arse off for about $14.90 per hour with all your talent, surely you're worth more than that, I know I am.
So back to the advert, a Sous Chef for $40-45,000, or a monkey, the choice is yours.
I understand that the industry pays poor but that is a joke. Especially for a place that charges customers $12 or $14 for a bowl of soup of the day, what the.....

If we charge the customers more for the product that's fine, we all know that commodities are not cheap, and restaurants need to make money to stay open, the question is, how greedy do some need to become?
Go and feed your monkey you moron, I'm going back to bed....................

image credit:dannyboyster

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False Advertising

Here is another classic advertisement.

Advertising can be very effective if done in the right places, and the correct way.

For me word of mouth is the best form of advertising, definitely not inflated, self opinionated advertising.

This brings me to write this post.

I rarely get a newspaper, basically because I can find all that I want over the net. But just the other day a friend of mine had this paper and showed me an article about respect. A very apt column and one that we both agreed on, I mentioned that I had read something very interesting the last weekend whilst having a coffee in town, about peoples professions and how others outside of their professions knew better, go figure.

Anyway after bringing the paper home and having lie around for a few days I began to thumb through it, only to stumble at the first page.

Right there in big full colour was some advertisement for a place that serves food and drink, it has a name but that's 'the secret'.
This ad would have cost a bit as it took up a third of the page.
It had the normal, place name, opening times, where it is, and a slogan of the establishment "yeah right", a picture and then the detailed stuff.
Now all the above is fine, because it is generally true fact, I mean your not going to put in a false address or telephone number are you!

But what got me again, is many over inflated establishments that need to drum up business, over exaggerate their ability, or lack of should I say. Just like a lot of people do themselves. Lets not go there right now.....

The right to state that you are, or have the biggest and the best...........in CQ (you fill in the gap) is down right bullshit and false advertising. How do you know that it is true? Have you been to every eatery in CQ and tried and tested them, I don't fucking think so.

Next CQ's FAMOUS..............once again fill in the gap. How does something become famous? Recognition and accolades, over a period of time famous, not just in your little shoe box.

Then how about this 'Award Winning Chefs', here I just have to laugh. Maybe they do have awards, like apprentice of the year, a big well done, or a culinary award from the Brisbane food expo, or some competition for best young chef in Queensland, they are awards. Not some piece of shit plaque that you won at the fucking show or fair, or maybe a cook off in the shopping centre.

The point is, lets not get carried away with this awards hype, the proof is in the pudding as the saying goes. Not some certificate that says you have the best or highly commended what ever in the region, voted or judged by the region. What the fuck! Stop all this I'll vote for you if you vote for me bullshit. Wake up to yourselves.

I have awards, but do I publish them or use them as advertising!? My fellow chef has more awards, does he do the same? No. If you have a real award well congratulations and very well done for participating, but cut the crap.

Awards and certificates are given out too easily by organisations with little or no depth within the industry. That's OK, but lets not over inflate them. An award from the Good Food Guide Australia or something like that well that's different. It's almost like saying you worked for Gordon Ramsay, when you only lasted half a day!!

On that note, lets move on hey.........

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I Hate Doing Breakfast, Especialy When......

Sunday morning @7.30 the phone rings. I am fast asleep in another world. The voice on the line screams "chef we need more sausages, can't find the fruit platter, the waitress is not here yet, HELP."

*********PAUSE & REWIND***********

Now after a big Saturday service, restaurant big tables a high profile wedding special customers to have cakes ready for, the last thing on my mind is work and definitely not breakfast.

Our breakfasts are set up so that the chef or a chef doesn't have to do them. Lets face it, it's not rocket science to scramble eggs cook bacon or sausages is it.

Now the deal is

The kitchen staff prepare the breakfast, and the ladies come and cook it. Nice and simple, and any chef with his head screwed on would be very grateful to the help they receive from the breakfast crew.
Also when there is excess room service, we set the trays with all that we can, prior to cooking and serving. This is a huge benefit to the breaky person as they don't need to run around chasing things like jams and cereals etc

So now that you can understand the set up we have, it should be plane sailing eh!!

The breakfast prep is usually done after the service as we require the trays and space for other items, also we don't get much chance either with the ala carte prep of high importance first.

Breakfast Prep

So the order from Chef goes out to the Apprentice get the breakfast prep done and the trays plus make sure the pancake mix is there. How many for chef? Do plenty as we can use whats left for Tuesday breakfast so make enough (fatal error *1) Yes chef comes the response.

The thing now to remember is that the prep is always the same only depending on numbers to does the quantity change.

It's 11.30 pm and chef is having a beer and dinner. He asks the apprentice if the prep is done, yes chef, are the hash browns up? yes 2 bags chef, trays and pancake mix done? yes chef. (fatal error*2)

Around midnight the apprentice goes home, chef checks with the wedding staff to find out how things went, says goodnight to some guests that he recognizes and so on. The wash up is now finished and after all is checked and turned off he gets to go home.

*************PLAY******************

It's 7.55am and I get to work the breaky lady is frantically getting fruit for the fruit platter. I take over and get it done. Then I search for some more sausages.
I ask is everything o.k. the response is not good. Apart from the obvious, the breaky lady reals off a few things, like i had to go and get the bloody hash browns, whats with only a few sausages, how come there is so much furniture n the restaurant and so on.

Now I like my breakfast ladies and really appreciate what they do, what I hate is fucking apprentices that don't get the job done properly, especially one that you should know by now, and after the crock of shit fruit platter you attempted last time, what the fuck are you up to? Maybe if you paid more attention to the career you have chosen instead of knowing all the fucking words to god knows how many Lilly Allen songs you would become a better chef and not a fucking pain in the ass on Sunday Morning.

Things to remember

Fatal error*1 don't give an job of prep without the exact amount.
Fatal error*2 don't rely on the apprentice to do the job properly.
Fatal error*3 CHECK every thing and then CHECK again.

Now my message to my apprentice, and any other for that matter.
Firstly; Pay Fucking Attention
Second; do the job properly and not a half ass effort
Third; always do more than you have to 110%
Forth; if you take or use the last firstly inform someone, second replenish it if available.
there is probably loads more but will save them for another time

Message to self, Don't rely on your apprentice even if you think you may have a hopeful one. It will bite you on the ass.
Question to self, Why do you still do what you do?

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You Name It, I Fucked It

On Tuesday the 28th April, for a function, i was required to make two quiches. Not a problem i thought. Lol i thought very wrong.

Short Crust Pastry

The first thing that went wrong was my pastry base. A simple short pastry was made on the Friday before. The plan was to then roll out the bases and blind bake them on the Saturday so i wouldn't have to when i came in on Tuesday. Unfortunately, preparing the bases slipped my mind until after service on Saturday night when i found the short pastry wrapped up under my bench. (It was put there mid-afternoon that day to bring up to room temperature to make it a bit more maliable.) By this time it was too late to blind bake them, so i left it until the Tuesday morning.

How Not to Make a Quiche

Now, back to Tuesday. Once the short pastry was bought up to room temperature, i began to roll it out. It was, as i found, too short to work with. So asking my Chef what i could do, we decided on transferring it all into a bowl and adding a little more liquid to it. That was all fine. So with my new and improved short pastry, i pressed it into the greased bases and blind baked it for 20mins. All good i thought. WRONG! As i pulled out the par-baked bases i noticed cracks. "No problem" i thought, "ill just patch this up with my leftover short pastry. Oh fuck they're in the bin!"
So making up a very quick new batch of short pastry i finally had something to patch the cracks up with.

The Bloody Egg Mixture

As the bases sat to cool lightly. i made the egg mixture. Heres something no one can fuck up. Oh but i did. I was aware of the ratio of egg to milk, unfortunately, somewhere i miscalculated immensely. 2 egg to 200ml of milk. Right. So how the fuck did i end up with 4 eggs to 1 litre of milk? No wonder i failed maths.
Luckily Super Chef was here to save the day. He had asked me how many eggs i had put into this egg mixture. As i told him, he just looked at me funny and told me to add in four more. Now i had 8 eggs to 1 litre. Still not enough. Super Chef scratched his head and asked me once again if i had enough eggs. I told him what formula i was working from. (Once i had told him, i realized that i was meant to have 10 to a litre not 4 or 8.)With that, i was shot the weirdest look followed by a loud chuckle and an "Oh Cass".

How to Bake a Quiche in Under 10 Minutes

So another problem fixed with the help of Super Chef. The bases were filled and covered with the now perfected egg mix. What else could go wrong? WELL... by the time we had fixed all my little fuck ups, i was running out of time. Thankfully Super Chef once again saved this 'Damsel in Distress' with his trusty microwave. Due to the fact that we had 10 minutes to produce the Quiches (fully cooked) and in the oven they would have taken at least 40 minutes, we had to use the microwaves to get these bloody things cooked in time.
7 Minutes later the quiches where finished. Just in time to plate them and serve. It was not a good start to the day, and the rest of the day wasn't much better.

SUPER CHEF SAVES THE DAY!

Four Things i learnt from this day

1) Never throw out supplies until completely finished with.

2) Know the formula/recipe to work with

3) Never under estimate the power of the microwave

4)I need to screw my head on when i get out of bed =)

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Chefs Uniforms, The Reason Why...

The chefs uniform. When asked the reason behind why Chefs wear checkered pants, the average Joe responded with "because generally Chefs are so dull they cant think of anything a bit more 'flavorsome' (pun intended) to wear".

But the real question is 'Do Chefs even know why they wear what they do?'

Up until a Hellraiser himself actually asked me if I knew the reason as to why I put on that uniform I wear 5 days a week, I had no idea there even was a reason.

But the truth is behind every little detail of a chefs uniform is a very valid explanation as to why it has been designed like it is.

Chefs Hat

Lets start with the Toque Blanche (Chefs hat).
Many people may think it is to keep stray bits of hair falling into food, and that's very correct, it is. But why does a traditional chefs hat have exactly 100 pleats in it? And why are some chefs hats higher than others?
The 100 pleats in the Chefs hat resembles all the ways in which to cook an egg.
Traditionally the Chef would have to demonstrate that he knew every way to cook an egg before receiving the honorary hat.
When designing the uniform, chefs decided that Chefs hats should be of different sizes, to distinguish the cooks from the Chefs. The tallest recorded Chefs hat in History was supposedly 18inches tall worn by Marie-Antoine Careme.

Chefs Jacket

Much of the chefs uniform has developed out of necessity. The jacket, for example, is double-breasted so it can easily be reversed to hide stains that may accumulate throughout the day; the double layer of cotton is also designed to insulate the Chefs body against the intense heat of the stove or an accidental splattering of hot liquid.

Chefs Buttons

Cloth buttons were even developed as they are able to withstand the constant washings and abuse buttons get in the kitchen from the pots and pans.
Now while on the subject of buttons, traditionally it was only the Executive or Head Chef that wore black buttons. Sometimes the Sous Chefs would also don black buttons as a sign of superiority and to distinguish the hierarchy of the kitchen brigade.

In very large establishments that often have several kitchens and up to 100 Chefs, black buttons would also be of great value so a passer by could identify who is in charge of that certain kitchen. Everyone else would wear white buttons as a sign of respect to those in a position of power.

Chefs Pants

The same rules apply with Chef pants. Majority of the kitchen brigade would wear checkered pants with the hounds-tooth print to camouflage spills and stains which might occur on the pants throughout he day.
Only the Executive Head and Sous Chef would wear black pants to further distinguish there superiority. Black pants were also practical for theses chefs as they could go to meetings without having to change their pants.

Chefs Neckerchief

The Neckerchief today is used mainly to give a finished look of the Chefs uniform, but traditionally it's use was to soak up body sweat while working in the hot kitchen.

Chefs Aprons

Chefs aprons must always be below the knee due to spillages being able to run off an apron and onto the floor rather than soaking straight into pants, thus burning a chefs leg.

As you can see from the brief description above, there is a reason why Chefs wear what we do. Many Chefs prefer to adhere to traditional chef's attire-the chefs uniform and its history are something to be proud of. On the other hand, it is understandable that a chef would want to be expressive.

As with anything, the chefs uniform will continue to evolve, who knows what the future has to hold? One thing is certain though, the image of a chef, in a full chef uniform, a pristine white jacket and toque, is recognized the world over as a professional.

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Chef's Kitchen Mayhem on Saturday

You have to see the whole picture to appreciate what really goes on, so lets just try to put you into the action scene. imagine an above average restaurant, a venue that you would book in advance for your night out.

Decent table and chairs, white linen cloths and napkins. Polished glasses and cutlery. Elegantly printed menus.
Dim lighting and background music, are you there yet?
Now throw in some loud chef screaming “what the fuck are you idiots doing,” the crash of his fist on the pass echo's through the dinning room, his face full with anger, a look that would make the average Joe flinch and run away.


Welcome to Saturday night mayhem. This is and should not be taken as the norm for each and every Saturday, nor should it be limited to just Saturday. But listen and learn as you need to see the whole picture to understand.

The Mayhem Starts

During the day restaurant bookings are coming in. The number of dinners grow, but this is Saturday and in the hospitality industry weekends are full on. We as chefs understand this and prepare our produce accordingly.

The clock ticks over and we rush around all day living on air, coffee, coke, air, chocolate, v drinks oh and more air doing whatever is needed to ensure that all is ready for this nights performance. Did I forget to mention that we go out, or home for lunch, Not. We don't, we are too busy serving lunch and prepping up to sit down for lunch or even morning smoko, things that are a given in other professions.

Well the show must go on. The doors open at 5pm and the curtain goes up at 6 or 6.30 or 7 or 8 at what ever time you book. Now again, imagine this, if you are going to see to your favorite artist, pop group or show, would you be arriving late? No f...ing way, so why the fuck do you turn up late, or worse don't even show up for your booking at the restaurant, oh I forgot, you didn't have to buy a ticket did you. That will come in the form of a reservation fee to most places eventually, maybe sooner than you think. With the loss of business in these bad times it could easily send a small restaurant broke, but i will leave that for another day. Back to my show.

Show some Balls

Late in the afternoon we get a call from a staff member with some half ass excuse why they can't work tonight. Now that really pisses me off. Not just because they are letting the team down, not because they are putting extra pressure on the rest of the staff, not because we make the rosta to cope with our business, No, but because us chefs bust our balls to ensure that we can put on our show each and every night no matter what.

We don't just call in because we got a headache, or a bad back or because mummy wants us to go out for nans birthday dinner, you bunch of wusses. For us this is as important as it gets. Do you think we put our heart and soul into our daily grind so that you fuckers can just piss us off. If so you better get out now.

O.k. now you know that the restaurant is full and wuss has called in with whatever, lets just add into the mix a wedding for 90 guests in the function room, ha ha it just got that bit better eh.
But wait there's more.

Curtains Up

By now the adrenalin is flowing and most of the staff have arrived on time I add woo ho. Steady, I didn't say early. Specials are learned, last minute details of the evening are put in place and the curtains go up!



The phone rings, again....again....again....again....sorry sir we are full. Sorry mam we are full, yes at 7, yes and 8 mam. I have often wondered if people just think that they can have a table at a busy restaurant any time they like at the drop of a hat.

Oh they think they can, silly me.

Now lets get this clear so you don't think I am being ridicules, I do understand that sometimes you get home and feel like going out for dinner, and that you just want to turn up, that maybe fine on a week night, even then you could end up disappointed, but not for better restaurants and definitely not on Saturday's.

Mayhem Intermission

Author's note,
Holy cow I have just read my post so far and my blood is pumping full on, I need a chamomile tea to calm down.
Please pause if you feel the need....................................................

The first dinners arrive and we begin to entertain, so well it's eerie The clock ticks over and steadily the wedding guests take there seats. We set the buffet with all our efforts of the day, what a sight, full bowls of salads, hot and cold selections, fish, meats, we have something for everyone. Follow this with desserts and wedding cake tea and coffee. Throw into the mix some alcohol and you have a great wedding night.

Back to behind the scene and into the kitchen, the wedding guests are eating well and fast, we send out refill after refill. With years of experience we know how much food to produce for each size of wedding. Tonight would be no different. But with such big eaters and plates bursting at the edges we are being tested to the limit. Food is being organized from every corner.

Extract from the Chef's Kitchen Service

“Order in chef,” comes the voice from a waiter, “check on chef” from another. “On order” I announce with a voice of authority, “one dozen killers, two pillow, one smoked duck, main course 2 ribs 1 medium 1 rare, one with prawns 1 fish 1 salmon.............. New order, 1 carpaccio, 1 balls, main course 2 duck.............. On order, ½ dozen mornay, 2 prawns, main course 1 rib well done, 1 peppered rib medium, 1 chicken, 1 marinara................” “Order in chef. order in chef.”

“On order” I call again, “ciabatta and pizza entree followed by 2 fish mains, are you ready for more? Yes is the reply.......... “On order, no en tree straight out, 2 rib well done.” “Hey waiter did you tell them it will 30 minutes?” “Yes chef” I get back. We need more fish chef sounds out from the wedding buffet chef. We run around for the fish. “Order in chef, order in chef” the waiter cry.

By this time the later bookings have arrived early and we are still waiting for some early ones. Do you get the picture now.

The orders are flowing thick and fast when suddenly buffet chef shouts “there all through chef,” a huge sigh rains out, but no time to rejoice as the dessert buffet has yet to be served and it's only 7.30.

More orders are called and the bell is rang to call for service, they are now running from table to table. Table two and away they walk with plates of food, but not just ordinary food, food that we have been preparing all day, food that has been cooked with care and attention to detail, not frozen bang it out crap but good fresh quality produce turned into sex on a plate it's that good.

Restaurant Waiter please

Clumsy waiter pulls the plate from the pass and spills the perfectly balanced salad. Stop shouts my chef, stop again rings out, Hey you bring that back I call, don't ever take food from the pass like a bull and proceed to the table with a fucked up plate, do you understand I say, whilst rearranging the picture.
They just don't care I let out to my chef. Now the adrenalin is pumping this is what it's all about busy but in control. for now anyway.

As more and more orders come on the restaurant staff just don't have the experience to deal with the customers all at once, the need to slow and stagger them has all but gone out the door and we have no chance to enjoy our own performance.

Chef needs to scream and bang his fist to get some attention, but by the time they get organized out there we are swamped, it just seems like they want to get all the orders then serve all the drinks, then take all the food and so on.

Hey guys it's not supposed to be like that.... duh.

Breads to the wrong table, desserts not taken quick enough, I could go on and on.

Finally a waiter steps up with balls and faces the chef. Things start to settle and we find some sort of rhythm not the best but the best in the situation we are in. Then my chef shouts the ovens shit it self. The rational oven that we recently had a few dramas with and we thought were all solved, suddenly stopped working. Lucky the wedding hot food service was finished and we had the other 2 ovens to continue with, but as all fine tuned systems run it really puts the whole routine out of whack.

Bloody Apprentice

Suddenly a scream fills the noisy kitchen.............the apprentice has cut herself, she is holding her hand like precious gold, and so it is, they are our tools of the trade and without them we are nothing.

She walks with haste over to me, dripping blood along the floor. The sound of breaking glass and china ring out. I run water over the cut, oh yeah it's a cut alright. I shout out to my buffet chef, take her out back and keep her hand up high with pressure on. The young girl is walking with a wobble now, blood filling the cloth around her hand.

Now you have all probably scene a movie where in the midst of a mass disaster some one shouts is there a doctor on board.

Doctor Doctor

Well It just so happens that I know a few Doctors in town, and tonight this one particular doctor was in for dinner with his fiancee.
They happened to be sat in the middle of the restaurant. I had greeted them on the way in, as I try to do with the majority of people I know.

I shout out his name across the room, he looks over and I wave him to come. I guess that beats a waiting room any day. I escort him out the back to our patient to which he then attends.

Back to my domain I return where I ask for his partner to come to the kitchen. As she approaches I explain quickly what has happened and she then also assists. Our apprentice was in the best hands you could get, her own personal doctor and nurse.

The service has to go on and the other chefs now grew extra 'go gadget arms' as we so often do to fill in.
Suddenly the sound of broken glass fills the kitchen again, “what the fucks going on” I shout as the Saturday night special chef smashes a couple more. All is quiet as we look at him, work continues as we all understand the pressure and presence of mind that is required to finish our duties as true professionals.

The service comes to an end and the last few desserts are sent. We gather together and throw some comments at each other, trying to come down from a high octane night of pressure, frustration, excitement, drama and tragedy.
This is the end of our busy week and this was just one Saturday. How was yours?..............

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Hospitality Professionals?

What is it with you so called Hospitality Professionals out there? What gives you the right to call yourself a Restaurant Supervisor, a Maître d'Hôtel, a Sous Chef, an Executive Chef, or a Barista? What have you done to earn that title? Are you qualified in that area, or did you just happen to fall into that position, because the guy above you did the runner one night?

This pisses me right off. Too many times now have I seen these so called professionals blag their way into a job, and it becomes obvious after a short time that they're thick as 2 short planks.
There's too many people in this industry, who were stupid an uneducated at school, who continue to be so in their working life.

To be good, you have to be clever too. It involves complex thinking, operational skills, multi tasking and raw talent, all whilst working under extreme stress, pressure and temperatures that can be 60c and upwards. Don't come into my place of work, 4 hours after I started, then bleat about how hungry you are, or how your back hurts or how much better you were in previous jobs. I don't fucking care. You're shit and I know it.

There's young apprentices who want to be right up there, cooking and plating the fancy food, but still don't know how to make a Hollandaise, Restaurant Supervisors who can't answer the phone and make a drink at the same time, and senior Chefs with bugger all experience. I myself had to come through the hard way, and there's been some major obstacles for me to overcome in my career. And then there's the customers, who think they know better then me, I don't fucking think so, go back to the chop and slop at your local club.

So let me tell you, if you're one of these "young guns", you're not going to last, you're going to fuck around in life, just like you do at work, loser.

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Hospitality Pay Rates

A couple of days ago I saw an advert for a Head Chef position in Central Queensland, for a newly created establishment. The salary offered was 60 - 65k AUD per year. Not a bad deal I hear you say! Bollocks says I! This particular place has been in the pipeline for some time, touted as the next big thing, and I can only imagine how many millions of dollars have been spent on it, and they want to spend that small amount for a Top Chef?

Any Chef in a Head or Executive position is expected to work a minimum of 60+ hours per week, with some working up to 90 - 100. They are required to be on call 7 days, to cover staff shortages, work all public holidays to save wage costs, split shifts, late shifts, weekends. And this is just the "hands on" cooking job, the administration has to be done in the Chef's own free time. You might think this would result in a huge pay packet with all that overtime, but guess what? No overtime paid! Is this just the Chef industry? I really don't know, but I have friends in other trades, such as electricians, plumbers, builders etc. who work just as hard but get paid for their efforts.

Obviously, when you become a Chef, you know you're going to have to work unsociable hours, nights, weekends and holidays, but as an apprentice you're paid for every hour. With time you have more experience, take better positions, and one day become a Head Chef. If you can't accept these hours, then get out and do something else, it's only the good ones who get this far. But by this time, you're getting paid for a 38 hour week, and getting shafted! Like I have said before, I love my job, I'd rather be happy at work than do some mind numbingly boring shit for lots of cash. So I keep doing it :)

There is not a lot of money to be made in the restaurant game, and part of the reason is because the customer will not spend the money for the privilege of dining out. Jamie Oliver and the like, have told the public it's easy, and you can buy any ingredient you want from the supermarket now! So why would you want to spend $40 on a main course? If you understood what we go through to get those meals to you, perhaps you would appreciate it more.

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