Posted by Glenn Messick on January 06, 1999 at 18:46:16:
In Reply to: quotes concerning posted by kai on January 06, 1999 at 02:07:30:
Heres one I picked up from old chef a few years back. It is one of my favorites " If you have 3 hours to chop down a tree, spend the first two and a half sharpening your axe." Its a pretty profound quote, the more you think about it.I've adopted it as sort of a personal credo, as preparation is a vital aspect of our business.This concept can be applied to almost anything, at work , or "real life". One of my own creation is " The kitchen is not an emergency room." After witnessing one too many( some bad) chef snap outs early in my career, I decided that I do everything in my power to prevent the same from happening in "my" kitchens.I try to run the most low key kitchen in the world.It doesn't always work, but I try.My attitude is: yes, we may be in the weeds.Yes , we are almost out of the veal special.Yes , Barb just dropped all of table 21s entress down the steps.No one's life is hanging in the balance. No one will die if the demi glace properly reduced by 6:00 . Amputation is not the end result of a burnt rack of lamb. I do everything in my power to ensure that service goes off without a hitch, but I refuse to act like an imbecile over what really ammounts to nothing.Cheers!!!