Too Many Pots on the Stove

It is always a pleasure to see your neighborhood favorite open a second unit. Assuming you are somewhat of a regular, you probably know the menu, staff, and possibly owner. You are proud of this "undiscovered gem" and really hope success is on the horizon. So, the owner opens another, then another, then another. People continue to visit these satellite locations and spur the owner on to open more. You, being the nice patron you are, feel pride as you cheer on the small business owner. After all in this industry, greater than 60% of all new restaurant endeavors fail within the first year. You really want your friend to succeed. If they succeed, then you can continue to eat the products you fell in love with in the first place. Sadly for you the operation is a huge success.

The owners' success is not always good for the patron. How many times have you seen him in the last few visits? Where is the usual manager on duty? Who is in the kitchen?

These are issues I have faced recently. I am a victim of someone else's success. There is a wildly successful restauranteur here in town that has opened 9 restaurants in a dozen years, 4 of them in 4 years. I loved his first try. Still do. Obviously, I was/am not alone. He has great food, uberfair prices and excellent staff. That formula has worked great. It is real, and what people want. I have eaten at his other venues and found the formula applied at those places too, much to my pleasure. These days, though, it is like the formula got lost, probably while opening another place.

I had been going to one of these restaurants for the porkchops for years. The same manager always greeted us, and checked in on us during meals. I always got the same thing, always. I fall victim to "restaurant rut" and when I find something I like that I hate to cook, I order it every time.I know this dish. I know it well. We went to eat there the other night about a month after restauranter had opened his latest effort. It was different. The menu was the same, the tea the same, and dining room the same. Even the vibe was there. Sadly, the manager we love was not there. She has not been present for the last few visits, but it is summer (and we hope she is well!) We were seated immediately, and as I glanced into the open kitchen, I saw a woman leading the crew. Being a female culinary student, I was filled with pride for her, as she has obviously worked her way up to a great position given to those who earn it. I even pointed it out to my husband. We ordered my usual and one of his 5 favorites and settled in for what we knew to be a good meal. It was fun to have a date on a random night, and I was really looking forward to that chop! Then it all went to hell. Dinner appeared. While hub's dish was spot on, mine as far from it, not even looking like what I have ordered approximately 50 times. I tried it anyway, and it was just not right. When our server checked on us, I pointed this out to her, and being a veteran on the staff (over a year's service!) she knew my dish and agreed. She agreed that it was covered in spices not used for this dish, and didn't even look like my favorite. Surely there as a mistake. I totally understood, and as she took it to the kitchen I looked forward to the mistake being corrected and oh! how yummy that chop was going to be. We visit this place enough to know these are people who want to make it right. Wrong! As I watched her take the food to the kitchen, I saw the chef approach her and begin talking. The chef then argued with the server about the dish. She argued with not only the server but also the manager on duty. We could see the whole thing as it happened. Needless to say, after her poor reaction to people who KNOW this dish, I had Taco Bell for dinner. There was no way I was going to let someone angry with me make me more food. Her unprofessional actions led me to believe that if I had ordered something else, I may have gotten extras not found in a normal sanitary dinner. Yes, her tantrum and reaction turned me off.

I am saddened by this turn of events but I wonder if it was not in the cards. This family of restaurants is so big, the checks and balances of a hands on management experience have been lost. I am happy for the success of the owner, he has worked hard. But only for himself. He forgot about me. I have paid countless dollars to eat this food and expand his empire. I am thanked for contributing to his success by having an angry cook bawl out not one but two staff members who were representing me. In front of me at that! I was the idiot who didn't know a porkchop from a ....., and the staffers were stupid for trying to make it right. If it had been my first visit, my first taste, I would not have known she had made it differently than the recipe used for at least 4 years. It would not have mattered. I still would not have liked it, but that is part of ordering something for the first time. That was not the case. I knew this dish well, and I am not crazy. It was not right.

This incident, I believe, is part of something larger. Mr Restauranteur is busy. Very busy. What with an empire to run and all, he has no time for what got him his empire in the first place. The patrons have made this guy a name in a very competitive scene. Now as we enter his eateries, we are reminded of a corporate culture where nameless, faceless stupid customers get what chef says they get. The people who fell in love with good food at a good price suffer. The patrons who come enough to know your menu and care enough to speak up are now the enemy. And from the looks of things, the kitchen is ready for battle.

Will I eat there again? Sadly, not likely. The incident in this outlet is not isolated. I visited an outpost not so long ago only to have to an extremely inattentive staff make sure that (a.)my mother died of thirst, and (b) I needed to beg for my check only after getting less eye contact than a dissheveled fat drunk girl at closing time. Yes, what a stellar experience. Please Mr Restauranteur get rid of the distractions of an empire. Get rid of the outposts you cannot visit daily. Keep up with your staff. Do quality checks. Hell, hire "secret shoppers" Do whatever it takes to get your mojo back. You are dealing with the public. We have short memories. If we hear "it's like it used to be!" we will return. Remember who's dollars earned the interest necessary to open all these new places. Slow down, sir. If you cook it like it used to be, we will come. Pay attention to your successes, remember why they were successful in the first place. Remember me, I used to eat porkchops about twice a month. Remember when you had time for your loved ones.

Too many pots on the stove means someone is gonna get burned. I have already been burned but I will be okay. If you get burned, well, ....it's probably your own fault.

Save me from myself

I was just checking out Bob DelGrosso's Hunger Artist blog (check it out under my links) and he has posted something that has set me off. No, I am not mad at Bob in the least. His news is unsettling to me. Hasbro has recalled Easy Bake ovens due to the fact that they could burn someone. Duh? Doesn't the word oven imply heat? Doesn't the word bake imply the use of heat? Good God! What is next? No pool because of the risk if drowning? If "they" (whoever 'they' are) ruled my world, according to "them" I should be dead.


In today's world, so many things are hazardous we really need to stay inside and watch tv and eat well done food stuffs.Seriously. Let's take a look at the risky behaviors I have risked my life with just recently. Big Brother forgive me, for I have sinned. I used the oven. I now know I can be burned so next time, I will eat the cookie dough raw. Oh, I can't do that either. Noone has ever eaten raw cookie dough and lived to tell about it. Hmmm, maybe I will eat a healthy spinach salad and oh wait, some cow crap made people sick and now folks not affected by the scare are not trusted to purchase and wash the greens and consume. I will just drink some water and ponder this. Damn! the water is from a tap and I live in an old city. Lead abounds. The fact I grew up visiting my grandmother's 1820's era home and drank water, tea whatever means I should have never seen 5th grade. Maybe I should just go on a bike ride. Shoot! I don't have a helmet and after surviving all these years without one, I must wear one because it sets a good example for children. I'd hate to be the poor example that utimately caused little Timmy a scraped chin because he copied me. screw the bike. How bout a jaunt to the beach? Maybe I'll go to my regular place. Oh yeah, it is overrun by tourists who really believe my tax dollars need to pay for lifeguards on every block so they get out of actually being responsible for their own kids. Isn't that why I pay for county parks manned by lifeguards? I guess I will just read on my couch. Damn! I can't concentrate because I am so upset over the number of trees sacrificed to publish this tome. I guess I could watch the news. Oh! which news to watch? Every group has named a different channel "the man" and I don't want to offend anyone or spend money on causes I would never entertain. I begin to think about dinner. (At least that's easy, but if I lived somewhere with more socially active residents, my choices would be limited because harassing people is okay as long as you don't eat foie gras and I hate confrontation.) Wait, not so easy. I visit my favorite hamburger joint (joint, not chain!) and am informed that due to a state law, my meat must be overcooked. (even though the law was actually repealed, the cooks don't want to learn how to cook a variety of temps even if I am the only table) On the way home I remember I need to feed the cat. The declawed cat. Oh yes! My true ticket to hell, even though I have no idea who had this done, and adopted him from my sister who had rescued him from the SPCA. Not our fault but I suppose it would have been easier to have him put to sleep than take him in, love him like only a childless mother could, and put up with the judgements attached to something my sister and I had nothing to do with. Yes, America, I should be on the most wanted list.

Writing this rant, I am trying to figure out when "they" took over. Why isn't it a world where the philosophy of Wings rings true. Live and Let Die. Quit telling me all the reasons what I do is killing me. Mind your own damn business. "They" have never had raw cookie dough, ridden a bike with no helmet, or known the sweet sweet pleasure of a juicy burger! "They" know so much better than me, what's good for me. Wait, actually, "they" don't. Have you ever seen a list of "Do's?" Me, neither. Everytime they look out for me, the edict starts with "Do Not" Maybe it is that the public is more likely to react to negative commands. Hmmm, are we really that stupid that well into adulthood, we need someone to tell us all the don'ts? I think not.

I am the anti"them" I say eat raw cookie dough before putting it into your preheated oven. Drink tap water, hell get crazy and drink it from the spigot outside. Ride without a helmet, and laugh when you fall! Eat whatever you like because it tastes good. Spend your family vacation with your kids, not pawning them off on lifeguards.Rescue an animal from an allergic kid's mom without knowing his history. And spend more time loving him than debating the choice of his previous master. I challenge you to do what you like to do. Sure, be responsible, but quit listening to them. In fact, I should tell you don't listen to me, either. Listen to yourself. Do what YOU like to do. Eat what you like to eat. In the end, are the foie fascists going to attend your funeral after you fall off your bike on the way to the place that makes the best medium burgers in town? If so, will they throw paint on the fur coat your grandmother bought in 1945? Will they drink the iced tea made with tap water at the home that has been in your family for generations? Will they understand the cat has not always been yours? Probably not. And that's the way I want it.

Entry level

I started my new job last week. I am cooking at a catering company.I worked on 5 projects in as many days. Lots of repetive drivel.I scooped out red potatoes, played with phyllo, and resisted all urges to make any of the dishes "my own" I worked Sat night outside in the hot, humid Carolina air. I smelled like goat and was sweaty and filthy with crab - garbage juice . I had no energy for anything after the function ended. I f'ing loved it!!! It was the first time in a while I felt like I actually was doing something productive. I think alot of new grads would have hated it. I made close to 4 digits an hour (both sides of decimal point) I was required to contribute to a team led by someone with less education and about the same amt of experience as me. I had to perform boring, repetitive tasks any monkey could do. I had to keep up with what I put in the oven. I had to focus and was going to be very nicely held accountable for my actions. I already told you this is not a get rich quick sheme, right? I expected worse.
My rant is ready to be served.
It seems that recently I am hearing more and more about new grads who are extremely disillusioned about where a chef's career really begins. For some reason entry level is not where they are supposed to enter. Why? I am not sure. When I returned to school, I was there to get an education, not a damn thing made me believe I was ever going to start in any better a role most great chef start in...that of dish dawg. (insert affection here...love you guys!) A diploma does not ensure a track record...got it? Are you loyal to your employer? Do you show up on time ready to roll in any weather? Cool start, now can you peel vegetables? Great and no complaint so now let's move on. Here is another responsibility for you and another test and on and on. See how easy that was. Yeah, another aspect of your new career, it actually takes work. At the end of the night no rank is excused from helping clean up. Every place I have orked, chef and dish washer had whatever equipment was at hand actually using it for a common goal...going home. Yeah..that thing about teamwork. You will be working with folks who did not have the benefit of an education like yours. Guess what, after 8 years, Mr/Miss Less-educated is the sous chef. She is reliable, humble, eager to learn, has an endless supply of elbow grease, volunteers to stay late, and can kick your ass in a skills contest anyday. Sous C. is who you should emulate. This person has worked their way up and can show you how they did it. Calm down...Of course one day you want to be Exec, correct. But for God's sake, you don't honestly believe your diploma gives you the right to even circle one of help wanted ads looking for an executive chef? Oh, I see! You are here cooking until your agent gets the final offer from Food tv.You don't need to invest any part of yourself in your job because its just a job until soething better comes along. Yeah, I didn't go to culinary school to be famous, I actually went there to learn how to cook. I guess Julia Child and Jacques Pepin just trotted in and got to show our moms how to cook in their own homes. Yeah, neither really had experience, or much practical knowledge just degrees.
Fools! Please quit your endless whine fest. I am disappointed that you are disappointed. What other 2 or 4 year course of study guarantees a top post? None that I have heard of. Think of your time doing the work you think is beneath you as a sort of grad school. You are honing your skills. You are finding out the best way to work with all sorts of people kind of like a masters in human resources. You suggest a way to cut costs to your chef. Sounds a little like accounting. Your constant repetition of cuts has you that much closer to surgical precision. You get the idea. Everyone has to start somewhere. You just don't start at the top!!! Please quit crying about doing what people have always done. Work your way up! Earned successes are the reality. This is not an industry where you can fake it. Take time to listen and learn. I love my job. When I leave I will know that place inside and out. Why? Because that's what I am there to do. Work. It is a job. Go out there and prove yourself. Earn accolades, don't demand them. No role in the kitchen is below the greats that inspire us. They all did it too. What makes you so damn special?

Just my rant on the starry eyed work-phobic babies that went to school for all the wrong reasons and then bawl that the brochure lied.The only lying going on here is between you and yourself. Do your homework before you sign the check. Entry level is where you end up with your fancy diploma. If you can't stomach that, I don't trust your fish.