So I have a customer come in right after we opened today. She told the server that she was in a hurry and had to eat quickly. So she asks if the new soup of the day is done, and the server comes and asks the kitchen. She returns to the kitchen and the line cook explains that the soup needs to cook out (crisp veggies), but it is finished. The server conveys that to the customer, who orders it anyway. A minute later, the server comes back with the soup. The woman said it was undercooked. We tasted it, the four people in the kitchen. It was actually fine, with barely a hint to "bite" to the veggies. I told the server to take out a bowl of another soup and tell the woman we were sorry. The customer was fine, but didnt tip the server.
HOWEVER. It was strange for the reason my intuition told me when we seated her that this woman would be a pain and she was. My gut feeling was to not even allow her to order the new soup because she would'nt like it, and sure enough I was right. There was a sense about the person that she would send back something or complain about something and that is what happened. I am not stereotyping here, but what is it that makes my intiution go off like that. And It isn't because the person had special dietary requirements or anything. It almost seems like a control issue.....

By Chefgbs (Chefgbs) on Wednesday, April 17, 2002 - 09:33 pm: Edit

I think that in order for some people to feel good about themselves, they need to belittle others. I've often counseled my single friends that a good indication of how people truly are is the way they interact with clerks, waitstaff, tellers, etc. If they are rude to these people (with no provacation)it generally indicates that they will treat their spouses the same way.

I really think that everyone in America should be required to spend 1 year in the military, 1 year in retail, and 1 year in restaurants. There would be a lot less people like your cranky-butt customer and a lot more appreciation for everybody in the world. Just my $.02

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Wednesday, April 17, 2002 - 10:52 pm: Edit

Oh No!!!!.....A Chef/Counseler.
I think we are in trouble. Hand that shovel, will ya.
That wase'nt $.02, that was like $1.50

By Peachcreek (Peachcreek) on Thursday, April 18, 2002 - 12:38 am: Edit

.....but as a social worker I see that the $.02 was really quite reasonable and I could certainly input at least $.05 worth of my thoughts.....Peachcreek's Friend.....Sally the Social Worker

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Thursday, April 18, 2002 - 01:28 am: Edit

No,......... I'm not going to say anything.
Welcome Sally.

By Esjay (Esjay) on Thursday, April 18, 2002 - 09:58 am: Edit

Peachcreek, Why didn't you tell her to put her false teeth back in?
Good to see you used your intuition, you can usually "predict" people by the "first impression", the way they walk, look, talk, it's not that hard to do, if you look closely at thair eyes, facial appearance, (after bit of practice) you can actually see an animal, and the person has the same traits as the animal, try it, I think you will find it works. What my point is.....knowing the reactions, you can then "deal" with this persons traits, know the "rules of the game" and play in your favour.
If the soup needs to cook out,.... then it is not ready for service???????

Steve, Australia

By Chefgbs (Chefgbs) on Thursday, April 18, 2002 - 11:02 am: Edit

You mean to tell me that you guys don't play social worker/coach/father/dominatrix/big brother/cattle prodder/ad infinitum every day you go to work? No wonder we have big egos, with all those personalities in our heads. Except for you pastry chefs, that is. You only have to worry about one course.

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Thursday, April 18, 2002 - 11:26 am: Edit

Yea, One course.
The LAST ONE.
You know......The one that they REMEMBER.
The one that brings them back a SECOND TIME.
The one they TELL the friends about.
The one that is the LAST TASTE in the mouth.
The one that they take their time eating, to make it LAST.
The ONE course that they wish they could have SECONDS of....Ya,...that one.
The course thats closer to GOD, than all the others, because it's Devine, and Good, and Pure.
Made by exceptional Chef's, REAL Chef's, Smart Chef's, THE first Chef's.
I could go on and on....but we all know the truth.
LOL,Have a good day.

By Chefgbs (Chefgbs) on Thursday, April 18, 2002 - 04:07 pm: Edit

The truth! You want the truth? You can't handle the truth! The reason it's the Last course, the LASTE TASTE, the one closer to GOD (a bit much, don't you think?), is because it's the one course most likely to kill. Leaving butter out at room temp, etc. Roflmao.

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Thursday, April 18, 2002 - 04:20 pm: Edit

Thats all you got!!!!?????
Room temp. butter?
Beginner.

By Chefgbs (Chefgbs) on Thursday, April 18, 2002 - 10:08 pm: Edit

There's more, but I don't want to offend our non culinary viewers. I think we both need to start working soon, don't you? We should be snapping at coworkers, not each other. Well, maybe not. At least you can't fire me if I call you bad names. But be careful chefspike, one day you might be working for me.

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Thursday, April 18, 2002 - 10:55 pm: Edit

I...am not snapping at you.
Yes, I need to start working, since my last place is dening my workers comp. claim. Then I hear today that they are bad mouthing me, to places where I've applied. Is that legal???
I thought we were having fun, but if you feel offened, I'm sorry and I'll stop.
And as far as working for you. I'll work for just about anybody, as long as I'm treated with the same respect they give their "Grandparents, or wife, or husband". It's when I start gettting treated like dirt, that I start to get mouthy(sp)
So, if your in LA.....

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Thursday, April 18, 2002 - 11:00 pm: Edit

Sorry, the word "dening" is spelled wrong.
It should read, "denying".
Peace.

By Chefgbs (Chefgbs) on Friday, April 19, 2002 - 08:28 am: Edit

I'm not offended, just running out of ammunition. I'm starting to shoot blanks with my wit gun. As far as the badmouthing is concerned, no it's not legal, but good luck proving it. How do you feel about fudging your work history? I know it's prevalent in our business, but I get the feeling that you are not like that. If California workman's comp is the same as New York, you are entitled to a hearing and you can even get a lawyer for free.

Would you like to hear my sad tale of woe? It will definitely make you shake your head at the very least and maybe even say out loud, "What is he, stupid or something?"

I started working at this country inn / conference center in Feb of last year. I asked all the right questions and even talked to one of the employees. Everything sounded great. I couldn't talk to more employees because of a snow storm that pretty much closed the place down. I was promised this and that, was told I had a good strong staff and things always had a way of working out. It had been like this for 22 years through good times and bad. It was only after I started working there that I come to find out that I was chef #30. No typo, #30. and one of the owners was the chef for the first 9 years. Okay, I'm arrogant enough to believe that I'm different. I heard the stories, they didn't describe me. I started out with a pastry "chef" who didn't know her arse from her elbow, a loser of a line cook who thought he should had my job, and a 15 year old punk who didn't think he should work all that hard. Background - I live in a place where the gene and labor pools are both pretty shallow. Okay fine. The punk quits, the pastry chef quits, the loser cook goes out on disability. All that is left is a dishwasher who doesn't speak English and I am the only person there who speaks Spanish. I'm thinking, how on earth were they communicating with this poor guy before I got there? He tells me they yelled at him a lot. Instant friend and work horse. For 4 months, it was him and I doing a la carte and banquets. It's nice to know I'm capable of doing the work, but dang, I can only do so much. The first time a "challenge" reared it's ugly head was when I had a rehearsal dinner on a Friday for 140, a clam bake, at our pool, and the GM wants to keep the restaurant open, and I told him I was good but not good enough to be in 2 places at once. He disagreed.

I am going to have to tell you the rest of the story later, my wife is dragging me out to go tagging- that means going to tag sales.

Ciao for now

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Friday, April 19, 2002 - 06:39 pm: Edit

Well, where in the hell are you?... my last job in Oklahoma? HaHaHaHaHaHa...
That turned out to be a joke. Boozer GM, sniveling asst. manager, and K.K.K. all through the place, Christ! I hated those people.
Ah, but lets just forget and move on.
I thought it was illegal. I plan on calling Labor Board on Mon. Lawyer on Tues. Newspaper on Wed.
That FAT chef didn't want me there in the first place. See, this is another reason why I'm on my way out. But, you have my vote for best story.
Sometimes I just think I'm going to lose it, because of all the arogance(sp)
Happy Tagging...........
Peace.
ps. please finish the story.

By Chefgbs (Chefgbs) on Friday, April 19, 2002 - 11:34 pm: Edit

Okay, I'm back. Got me an old cast iron skillet for $2, a set of copper goblets for $3. Oh yeah, the story.

Let me tell you a story of a man named Jed, poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed. Then one day while shooting at some food, up from the ground come a bubblin' crude....oil that is, black gold, Texas tea. Sorry wrong story.

Just sit right back and you'll here a tale, a tale of a fateful trip, that started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship. Dang, that's a tale for another time.

Okay, I finally make him understand that the father of the bride and 140 of his closest friends really don't want to see a non English speaking dishwasher cooking his lobster (to order) and such. So my dishwasher and I impress the hell out of these people. The GM takes a vacation from my back for a few days.

Challenge #2 - GM wants to buy a new grill, a portable grill, because the one we have at the pool just isn't big enough. I do the research and come up with a good looking 6 foot grill, industrial strength for $2,000. He says no, we can't spend that much. You're probably thinking, why didn't I ask for a budget before hand? Well dear reader, I did. Was told to get what I needed. The GM tells me to go to the local Sears and get one of those nice looking grills you see in peoples' back yards. I told him that it would be too small for our needs and the last one they had didn't make through their last season and it costs $1,000. He wants it anyway. Okay, I say. I buy it and the dang thing doesn't even come with a propane tank. I have to spend another $50 for the flippin' EMPTY propane tank. It gets delivered, already assembled. I fired that muther up and everyting was OK. Wheeled it out for its debut, turned it on to preheat, went and got my mise and when I came back, it was in flames, in front of the guests. We had to refund $500 to the guests for the inconvenience. AND IT WAS ALL MY FAULT!!!

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Friday, April 19, 2002 - 11:50 pm: Edit

I love stories like that.
so get to the part where your not working there anymore.....
who did ya kill?
stab?
give the finger too?
come on !!!!!!

By Chefgbs (Chefgbs) on Saturday, April 20, 2002 - 12:00 am: Edit

PART 3.

Gm wants to know what I'M going to do about it. I tell him I'm going to raise holy hell about the grill with Sears and could we please get the grill I wanted in the first place? Noooooooooo, just replace it with the same model. Being the good little corporate executive wannabe that I am, I follow his instructions. Get a new grill, UNASSEMBLED. Thank God it wasn't a Christmas present that needed to be put together on Christmas Eve. I had a hard enough time with my kids' bikes. Loaded it up (300 lbs.)into a pickup truck with my maintenance guy, bring it to his workshop and put it together. Wheeled it back to the kitchen some 200 yards over uneven terrain, and fired that muther up. Ah success. When it was time to make IT's debut, lifted it up onto the back of the pickup, drove it to the pool and made wonderful use of it. Ever try doing a BBQ on a 4' charcoal grill and a 3' propane grill for 250 people ? Day is done, gone the sun and another happy couple bites the dust. At the end of the night, the GM wants me to bring the grill back to the kitchen. I told him that was not a very good idea as it was not meant to be constantly moved around and would probably break and I did not think I was capable of lifting it again after an 18 hour day.

Now pay attention here. This is where it gets interesting.

He goes on to tell me that I haven't been here long enough to understand. The people in town watch us and everytime we get something new like a tractor or some other piece of equipment, they try to steal it. Can you say Kennedy Conspiracy and Area 51? I them inform him that either the grill gets broken or it gets stolen and we'll be out a $1,000 either way. No, I have to bring it back to the kitchen, he says. I tell him that I don't want to jeopardize my back because of this grill and if I get hurt, who will cook? This goes back and forth for a while and then he makes the stupid mistake of making bodily contact with me while attempting to intimidate me by getting in my face. He-130, Me-230, and angry. I like those odds, a lot. Just before he was going to be sent to the hospital, the Dir. Ops steps in and pushes him away. Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda.

Well dear reader, I have to stop now, as it is past my bedtime and I forgot to take my Geritol. I will continue this saga tomorrow. Will our hero prevail? Will Truth, Justice, and the American Way triumph over the forces of evil and darkness? Tune in tomorrow.

There will be a fair amount of you gentle readers who will think that I should just grow up, lose the chip on my shoulder and move on. Feel free to chime in with your opinions. Just remember, opinions are like a**holes. Everyone has one and they all stink. Except mine, of course.

Cia for now

By Chefgbs (Chefgbs) on Saturday, April 20, 2002 - 12:03 am: Edit

Be patient chefspike. How can you be a doctor if you don't have any patients?

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Saturday, April 20, 2002 - 12:33 am: Edit

Doctor ???

FORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Playing through please.

By Chefgbs (Chefgbs) on Saturday, April 20, 2002 - 11:57 am: Edit

Part 4.

We find our young(at heart) and devilishly handsome hero in a kitchen that is 130 degrees F at 9pm on a Saturday might. I'm not too concerned for myself because it doesn't bother me too much, but have you ever seen what 130 degrees does to salad, 200 salads for that matter? We are in the middle of a wedding banquet and I have this incredible urge to heed nature's call. Silly me. Right after the 1st course goes out, I go. While I am gone, the GM calls for salads. The students I have working for me from the CIA do as they're told and bring up salads. Had I been there, I would have stopped it, but...Anyway, in the space of 5 minutes that I am gone, the salads are brought up, and promptly die. Why? Because they were brought up, laid out on waiter trays, DRESSED, and allowed to sit in the stifling heat. I find this, my stomach does a 2 1/2 double somersault with a 1/2 twist in the pike position. Oh class, who called for salads? The GM did, they say. Oh, okay. I rush back to the walk-in to get more mesclun, which by the way costs me $25 for a 3# box (organic and outstanding). Whilst I was gone, the GM discovers the salads in the kitchen, wanting to know why they weren't being served. He then proceeds to tell my young,, impressionable and very loyal staff that I had no clue as what I was doing, that I can't get the job done, why do I need so many people in the kitchen, yadda, yadda, yadda. Of course, the kids tell me what went on while we are replating 200 salads. So the next day, I have a little chat with the owner. Are you happy with my work? Yes. Have there been any complaints? No, just compliments. Okay, why then, is the GM badmouthing me to my staff? I'll talk to him says our aged owner. But does it stop? Nope, all summer long this continues and all summer long, I tell him in a civil, professional manner that I do not appreciate this. I am working 19 hour days with no days off since March and I could could use his support instead of his abuse. I tell him for the umpteenth time that without a staff,(I've increased the staff at this point to myself, an extern, 2 dishwashers, and a pastry chef I will ahve gone through 3 pastry chefs in the time I was there. I'm still short a sous, 2 line cooks, and a pantry person). With corporate groups in during the week, the restaurant open all week, me doing breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day, it's pretty much an impossibility that I can prep for these large weddings on the weekend. Sidenote-we are a 4-star kitchen where EVERYTHING is from scratch. That is why I need 6 people in the kitchen on a Saturday to get the prep done. Total labor cost for those kids=$600. If I had a sous for that money, we probably wouldn't need all those kids, but he does not see it that way. After speaking with the owner, he tells me that he has no problem with me, he likes my work, yadda, yadda, yadda. Why would my staff lie to me like that? He says they are mistaken and may have taken things out of context. Ooookkkkaaayyy. I've learned that this place has a terrible reputation for working there. My doctor tells me to be careful, they are going to get rid of me at the end of the season, the person at the bank, my vendors, my vet, for Godsakes, they all tell me the same thing. So now I am getting worried. I call a headhunter and even HE has heard of this place. Thank God, it's not me. One night, at the pool, it was 11pm and I had been there since 5am and I am due back in at 5am. I am tired, smelly, and cranky. So I nicely ask the waitstaff - 25 OF THEM for a party of 150 - if they would be so kind as to put things away for me and clean up. They do because I treat them nicely, feed them even better, and they know how hard I work. So here I am, 5am the next day and the dir ops is still there because the overnight guy fails to show. He's cranky, but I try to cheer him up and he rips into me about last night that I had no right, they had their own work to do, etc. That's when he used the "S" work. Yes folks, he had the cojones to call me a SLACKER! I'm sure dear readers, that most of you would have attributed it to weariness, crankiness, and he really didn't mean it. I mean, remember - 19 hour days, averaging less than a day off a month, 30 -45 days straight and everybody else gets 2 days off because we have to keep payroll down. Anyway, I blow it off. Later that day, after another lunch at the pool, I'm outside the kitchen with that 1000 yard stare going and the waitstaff are bringing back the equipment and whatnot. Plenty of room to pass by. I'm not in the way. Dir ops is po'ed that he's got to get his hands dirty. After the reception later that night, around midnight, he pulls me aside and proceeds to rip me a new a**hole about earlier.

Sorry, I've to split this post.

By George (George) on Saturday, April 20, 2002 - 12:30 pm: Edit

Hey Gian,

Whats the name of this hell hole?

Please tell me you didn't find this "job" through one of my sites.

George

By Chefgbs (Chefgbs) on Saturday, April 20, 2002 - 08:07 pm: Edit

Hi George,

You know, it's funny. I was looking for a couple of months, checking out ChefJobsNetwork religiously and a bunch of other websites and I finally found that job through the newspaper. Go Figure. I really wish there was a reliable way to find out what a place is really like. Do you think if I mention the name, I could be open to lawsuits and stuff? Any lawyerly types out there that want to field this question? Everything I was told during the interview turned out to be a lie. The Zagat rating they got before I got there was abysmal; food got a 13 and service got a 16. The Zagat rating I got was an improvement; food-22, service-22. I've been gone for 2 and a half months and I am still listed as the chef on their website. Hmmmm. The guy they replaced me is already gone. I hope the new chef they hired checks this out so that he will be better prepared. Supposedly, the chef previous to me imported 500, no typo, 500 pounds of Scottish smoked salmon through his own importing company at $6/pound over the going rate. Tells them that he got a great deal and he has smoked salmon all over his menus. Nice, huh? Makes you wonder. I mean the lights are on, but is anybody really home? Anyway, I walked into all this smoked salmon in the freezer and trying to figure out how many ways I can use this stuff. As I was using it, I noticed there was no shelflife whatsoever once it was thawed, and it was getting to the point that I had to pull 2 or 3 sides at a time to get one that was good. So after 4 months, I was forced to throw it all away. What a terrible waste of life. I didn't dare take a chance by giving it to a soup kitchen.

Back to my story. Dir ops tells me that as a manager he shouldn't have to say "excuse me" as he was passing by and that he's tired of during everybody else's job including mine. I fall for the bait and ask what is it that he's talking about. He tells me that I should have broken down the truck with all the food and equipment and not his waitstaff. It's "just not a waitstaff function". Seems to me that waitstaff the world over have been breaking down buffets when the buffets are indoors and returning said food and equipment to the kitchen. Why should it be any different when the event is outdoors? It just is, he says. Okay.

Just as an aside- how many of you chefs cut the wedding cake yourself? or have your pastry chef wait all day and night to cut the cake? I don't know about you, but everywhere else that I have worked, and it's a lot of places, the cake was always cut by a captain or maitre d'. I was told that everywhere the suits worked, it was always the kitchen's responsibility to do that. Before I get cut off for verbal diarrhea and going over the space allotment, I'm going to stop until later.

Just so everyone knows, I am not bitter about this, just terribly amused and we chefs do value the importance of a good war story. Kinda like when I was a kid, we had to walk 5 miles uphill to school in the snow, both ways.

The next part of my story involves my pastry chef fiasco. Stay tuned and we'll eventually get to the part where I lose my job . It won't diappoint you.

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Saturday, April 20, 2002 - 09:44 pm: Edit

Boy,....you are really drawing this out.
Get back to the damn story.

By Chefgbs (Chefgbs) on Saturday, April 20, 2002 - 10:15 pm: Edit

Yes dear. I'm back. I'm beginning to think that you are a getting a cheap trill from my perilous journey. Do you think I could write a good book with this material?

My pastry chef or what I did on my summer vacation.

My first pastry chef gives notice, I've got to find a new one quikly because we are going into wedding season. GM won't let me use ChefJobsNetwork, says he's never heard of it. Doesn't trust it. Whatever. So I end up advertising on hcareers.com, foodservice.com and ihirechefs.com because he has friends who work for these companies. Whatever. Tons of responses because I don't list the salary. None of them are anywhere near NY. I inform him every step of the way. Pick who you want, he says, you've got to work with him. Thank you, I say. I narrow it down to this young lady from Cali, the left coast. She can't come for an interview in person. Multiple reference checks, lengthy phone interviews, she's the one. Remember, I'm infoand rming the GM EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. He tells me to make her an offer-housing, benefits, salary. I do. The next day, he asks me how it's going and when can he meet her. Long story short, he has no recolection of our conversation saying that I haven't told him a Goddamn thing. I can't make her an offer until he meets her. I politely tell him that we had discussed it the day before and I had already made her the offer. No, call her back and take back the offer. I tell him that I will not do that. I can make myself look like an a**hole all by myself, I did not need his help. If he did not want her, he was going to have to call her back. Calmer heads prevailed and she started working for me. When she does have her interview with him, he told her what her bennies and such were going to be. VERY different from what I was originally told to tell her. Instant problems. She became a person who liked to poke the lion with a stick without the benefit of having bars in front of her. I threatened that I would leave if they got rid of her. It worked for a little while until they got rid of her behind my back. For a long time, she thought it was me, but thank goodness, she's come to realize what really went down. So he got rid of her without a replacement. I still only had an extern and a dishwasher at this point, so the knife that was already in my back was being twisted a little bit harder and a little bit deeper. We had some pretty strong words over this all the way back in July.

I stop here so I won't get cut off and the next installment will be the final chapter. I promise. I have to admit that it is a bit cathartic to be writing all this down. George, don't get rid of this in case I decide to write a book later on.

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Saturday, April 20, 2002 - 10:30 pm: Edit

A book?
a book........
books have ends, like in the end of the story.
the last page.
your unemployed, what the hell else are you doing!!!!!!!!!!!

By Chefgbs (Chefgbs) on Saturday, April 20, 2002 - 10:47 pm: Edit

Okay, final chapter. The scene is a really important dinner in which the top travel and food editors from all the big name magazines descend upon our small town to do promo pieces on Hudson Valley tourism. This occurs in November of last year. This is my chance at the big time. So I offer Smoked Lobster with a Thai chili and Tahitian vanilla - corn sauce or a Roast Breast/ confit Leg of Long Island Free Range Duckling with a Duckwalk Vineyards Blueberry Port Reduction. You guys HAVE to try this blueberry port. It's very yummy. But I digress. To put it bluntly, I kicked some very serious ass. Everyone was impressed, compliments are flying and everyone is having a grand ole time, especially the GM, who is having in fact, too much of a good time of an adult beverage nature. If you catch my drift. So while I'm talking to some guests in our lobby, our good timing GM passes between me and a guest and punches me in the stomach. As he is passing by, you can see the cloud that is following him. The guests and I just look at each other and continue our conversation. It wasn't a hard punch, but it took me by surprise and it stung. I get a little po'ed but by the time I have a chance to talk to him about it, he's gone for the night. The next day, I try to talk to him about it, but he says he did no such thing. I beg to differ, I say. It goes back and forth like this and I tell him that I have no choice but to inform the owners. Tragically, this is not the first occurence of this type of behavior and if he gets caught again, it's goodbye Charlie. He panics, throws me out of his office and gets to the owners before I do and tells them his version of events. I make the stupid mistake of going to our outsourced HR to file a complaint. The bitch of it was that he never apologized for his behavior. Although he did say he was sorry I misunderstood his intention and he was sorry my perception of the events were mistaken. Bad things happened from there on in which don't really mean anything except for the time I interviewed my replacement in December. Ostensibly, he was interviewing for the sous chef position. The thing was, nobody told me he was coming and I really don't think anyone was expecting me to be there. Anyway, the old hairs stand up on the back of my neck because this guy had some pretty bad juju going. After he left, I am talking to the GM and Dir Ops about him. Did you guys notice he was high as a kite? Did you see the rosacia blooms on his face? It seems they missed that in their hurry to replace me. Hehehe. This guy actually bragged that he'd been thrown out of the CIA. As ye sow, so shall ye reap.

The anti-climactic end of the story is that they let me go in Feb. of this year (on my wife's birthday) saying that because I had failed to offer the owners lunch one day, my loyalty was in question. I had no idea I was hired to be their personal chef as well. I said see ya, stayed in their house for 2 extra months (it came with the job). Their final act of immaturity was to tell unemployment that I was dismissed due to misconduct and it took 8 weeks to get it straightened out.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Any other tales of woe and hard luck out there or am I the only sap out here.

Feedback from you please Mr. Chefspike.

By Chefgbs (Chefgbs) on Saturday, April 20, 2002 - 10:53 pm: Edit

I just picked up a consulting job for a deli that wants to go upscale. I start at my first country club on the 30th. I've had an offer to enter a partnership in a restaurant. Don't know what to do about that. Any advice? It's pretty unchartered territory for me. On Monday, I am going to talk to another country club whose chef just walked out about picking up some shifts at a highly inflated salary. It seems that the country club I am going to be working at is not too busy -120 at lunch 7 days a week and dinners only on Friday and Sunday. If I can pick up extra money during the summer, I won't have to work during the winter. Did you get the Gap job?

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Tuesday, April 23, 2002 - 04:01 am: Edit

gbs....
have not found out about the gap job.
congrats! on the jobs and work.
now you have something better to do, than bore us here, with those never ending stories.
if you need advice on pastry, send your questions and the check to...............
I hope it's my turn to find work, the dog needs new shoes.
lol.

By Chefgbs (Chefgbs) on Tuesday, April 23, 2002 - 10:11 am: Edit

Hey, at least I'm not a Red Wings fan.

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Tuesday, April 23, 2002 - 10:25 am: Edit

Your not a Pastry Chef either,
and I'll be the first to tell you, I don't hold anyones ignorance against them.


Go Red Wings!!!


lol.
peace

By Chefgbs (Chefgbs) on Tuesday, April 23, 2002 - 07:32 pm: Edit

Thank God I'm not a pastry "chef". That WOULD be truly ignorant. You guys get to work with what? 10 different ingredients? Every dessert has those same 10 same ingredients, over and over and over. My theory is that the first pastry "chef" was a con artist. He took those ten ingredients, made something with it, and then someone said, "Yeah, but what have you done for me lately?". Then, he changes the amounts of those same 10 ingredients and calls it something else. And when he was too intoxicated to light the stove for fear of blowing up, he said, "F**k it, I'll throw it in the freezer with a little piece of paper wrapped around it."

Peace right back at ya.

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Tuesday, April 23, 2002 - 08:48 pm: Edit

HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa.......................................................................
I think it's 80 ingredients, maybe a few more.
Well, if I had over 500 things to work with, I'd still wrap it and freeze it. I love doing that.
I love those little pieces of paper.
I remember those days and nights when the stove was too drunk to light, and that damn oven would not stop turning, and spinning, and turning.
Hell, that whole shop needed AA.
I've said it before, if only the world was run by Pastry Chef's, How better off we would be.
How much more calm we would all be.
How much more we would all get done.
How the world would be happier...
Makes ya cry, don't it.
The TRUE artist, creats much, with very little.

My birthdays in Feb. too.
GOOOOOOOOOO Red Wings!!!!!!!!!!!

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Monday, June 03, 2002 - 12:17 am: Edit

This thread should be in... " George's All Time Hall Of Fame "
This is truly a piece of work.
See,...Ex. Chef and Pastry Chef having a conversation.
Brings a tear to my eye.
The Red !.........
The Octi !........
The Cup !!!

By Peachcreek (Peachcreek) on Monday, June 03, 2002 - 02:34 pm: Edit

Picky customer update: She has come back a bunch of times since that day she sent back the soup. The waitstaff KNOW to NOT serve ANYTHING that isn't COMPLETELY finished. So I guess it got resolved after all. The waitstaff know how to handle her and she keeps coming back. Does the waitstaff kiss her b*tt? Absolutly.