Chefs are no stranger to overtime! I get 20 hours overtime every week. Guess they rather pay me extra than to hire some college dude at minimum wage.... When I'm super high at work, i swear I can visualize taste in my head... makes for some crazy recipes.
I've only been to work high once and that night we done 80 covers over 3 hours, it was hell. When I'm high I can create but remembering every single detail on a dish 2 weeks into a new menu was hard. Slipped up once or twice so I always work sober now. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I hear that dude^ I can't work high either. I slip up to much when I tried as a dishwasher. Dude, my job refuses to give me more than 32hrs. Shit pisses me off cause now I need to have work 2 jobs just to survive. Cause its Corp. and its cheaper to grab fast food kids to work my side at a cheaper rate then they pay me.
Have you thought about going into fine dining? You'll get over 40 hours easily in that section of catering. When I go into high end fine dining in a few years I'll drop back down to a commis or chef de partie. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I want to so badly, but I'm trying to go to a community college and get my A.S. first. Cause no one around here is taking me seriously. They see me as another corp. short order fry cook. I'm worthless to the fine dining places as they've told me. Hoping after getting some more line experience, learning different stations and getting some better references for my resume and an A.S. will give me a better chance cause I hate short order cooking. There's no passion in it at all.
My old head chef said the best way to go through the ranks of the catering industry is by bluffing... Bullshit baffles brains as he used to say. Get one of your mates to be a reference and say he was your old head chef from a posh restaurant. I don't like to play dirty but sometimes to get ahead we need to! Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I've always BS' ed my interviews since my discipline and willingness to learn the kitchen is there, they want reliable people who can put out good food at their pace. Food can be fun and rewarding.
Bluff it? I seem to hear that a lot and yeah... I feel like I may have to toss in a bluff or two to get ahead. Getting tired of the big timers looking at me like I'm a waste of time just because I don't have the resume to back my drive and passion for this industry. Bonefish was a good move on my part though. Talked my way in and they're teaching me alot about handling myself in high volume restaurants.
Get a start at a restaurant you want to cook in by being a dishwasher. Kick ass, work the shitty hours, show some respect and work your way up. That's what I did. You won't need a resume for that, just show that you're in it for the long haul and are reliable.
Just got offered a job at the best hotel/restaurant in my city has a brigade kitchen of 15. I'm going back in at commis level as its fine dining but the exec head chef says in a years time he'll have trained me to Demi/cdp level in fine dining. I am so fucking hyped! Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Yeah I hear that. It's how I got my first line job. Worked my ass off for a year washing dishes at a TGIF. Finally they moved me up to the line, and well... I realized that it was just a big joke. I didn't like it at all. It was pre-frozen crap and dropping it in a fryer. No battering or anything. I've moved around a little myself but so far with bonefish I'm pretty happy. Room to learn saute and salad, maybe even grill down the road and pretty much any chain i put an app in to work a second job and pick up some extra money.... has called me back within 24hrs practically begging me to come work for them cause we're the "best chain" in my area. I do have dreams of moving up in the world to fine dining and working for guys who serve people who pay more on a bill then I get paid in 1 pay period. One day ill get there.
I prefer to showcase the produce we grow , so I'm more of a farmer persay. But I can cook the shit out of all of it. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Grasscity Forum mobile app
30 year restaurant veteran here.. sold my place a few years ago and am enjoying weekends and holidays tremendously. fingertips ar still dead, so i'm happy i can still grab hot things like a boss.
I was on this slightly rough schedule for a bit, though I prefer it. Work 10 days straight, 4 days in a row off. I hate working 5-6 then 2 days off, I can't relax and get life shit dealt with.
Don't know if I said in this thread but I packed in a job after working 66 hours over 5 days at an average of £4.50 an hour. I don't mind working long hours as long as I'm not being treated like a mug. Walked straight into a new job, 4 job interviews and got 4 job offers... Gotta be doing something right Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app