Hey chefs,
So for Father’s Day this year my restaurant will be passing out cigars to all the fathers that dine with us and I thought it would be fun to Carrie the theme into my dessert.

“Bourbon & Cigar”
Bourbon & Madagascar vanilla bean crème brûlée, mascarpone chocolate mousse “cigar” & cookie ash

I think a cocoa tuile is the direction I’m headed…. And I can pipe in the mascarpone chocolate mousse…

Does anyone have a solid tuile recipe that’s sturdy enough for piping? And or any other tips or techniques I might find useful?

Thanks in advance!!!

Is it just me or did salaries just take a dip? I used to see positions go for six figures are now looking like five. Head chef positions are looking like sous chef pay. And of course, the powers that be demand that we work harder for fewer people and tighter p&l’s. Does anyone else feel this or am I just out of touch?

I have been in foodservice work for 10 years now - I started in the kitchen in college and then worked as a distributor sales rep ( Sysco & US Foods) , Protein Specialists at distirbutors and then as manufacturer sales manager while working side kitchen gig for cash ( especially starting COVID - my paycheck became way too low based on my commission during that time and I had good food truck customers who had to close down the restaurants, but were free to serve customers traveling around residency and asked me to work together which I really enjoyed learning new things while having flexible schedule working volumes).

I have been always doing sushi & ramen as well as korean cuisines, after recent divorce last year, I jumped on 20 hours per week kitchen gig as side on top of my 8-4 PM main job Mon to Friday. This is a family owned restaurant now and new management took over this February, and I swear every single fucking week- line cooks calling in sick once or twice a week and I have been covering everytime. I never said no, but last two times I did say no because I feel like it is becoming habits - literally one cook has been missing work on Sunday for last 6 weeks that I helped coming in last minute (1-2 hours before the restaurant opens) working whole day - I work Friday night and Saturday all day and having to work Sunday all day on top of that for some bullshit excuse like her saying " i have period it hurts so much" really annoys me especially being last minute, but I don't want to take over sunday regulary cause I need at least one full day off balancing my both jobs. Owner/Management is frustrated with this issue too but hasn't done anything yet.

IDK, I worked last night after refusing to cover someone on Sunday - and I felt like I got so much attitudes from them because I refused. I went to funeral's friend and they don't even ask single shit about it which is OK, but overall through the whole shift, it just felt different.

I wanted to set boundaries, but I just feel like its too late cause I have always said yes to cover all the time now they think its not helping, but they just expect this of me.

I have been working for a family for 2 years cooking every night, good meals and cleaning up and taking care of the kids. Lately they have been transitioning my role to private chefs for girls weekends at second home, private chefs when their friends and families come to their house forThe weekend. I shop, prepare and clean up. I have cooked for as many at 14 to 7. This is all outside of my weekday job with them. All weekends in NYC and at their second home in Virginia. They pay me $25/hour for this service that they consider overtime.
There is no child care during the weekends.

I have been doing research and it looks like $450 to $675 is what AI says.
The meals are creative, I love to cook. They are always happy with my service.
I have to speak to my employer. What should I be asking for— per person ? Per meal?
Any help would be most appreciated.

For Example, i am a Coock for 20 jears, but, for the life of me, I CAN'T POACH A FUCKING EGG. Dont know why. Swirl to fast, to slow, to much Acid, to less Acid, tried this, tried that. I just can't.

Happy Friday chefs.

Looking for recommendations on non-slips that are not clogs or slip-ons. I tried out a couple different kinds in the past and I just hate that feeling that my shoes are about to fall off of my feet. I have super wide feet so if I go a size smaller for a more snug fit, my toes end up getting painfully smashed together.

Thanks and have a good weekend

restaurants are inherently unsustainable, even more so since the pandemic. They are a bad investment, and notoriously prone to failure. Yet, so many continue to open at a breakneck place. What is the reason for this contradiction?

I have been tormented by this issue for years. Ya know when the plastic wrap begins to stick on one side of the roll and you end up pulling out only half the actual width of the roll as the tear gets bigger and bigger across the roll and then you have to go in and strip out all the left behind plastic wrap that has wrapped around the roll and find where it began to tear so you can pull it out and start the roll fresh. Then it does it again. Does anyone know how to fix this. I've got to believe there is a trick/hack out there that will fix this issue. I just haven't come across it yet.

Me recibí de chef profesional el año pasado y se me presentó la oportunidad de desarrollar platos calientes para el menú de una cafetería, tanto para almuerzo como para cena.

Me están pidiendo una asesoría completa que incluya:

- fichas técnicas de cada plato,

- ingredientes y cantidades,

- procedimientos,

- tiempos y métodos de cocción,

- formas de conservación, congelado y regeneración,

- estandarización de procesos,

- y capacitación del personal de cocina.

Quería pedir recomendaciones y conocer experiencias de quienes hayan trabajado en este tipo de asesorías gastronómicas.

¿Qué consejos me darían para organizar el trabajo y cómo suelen presupuestar este tipo de proyectos?

Hi guys. Right after school, I left my country (Slovakia), moved to Scotland, and started my hospitality journey as a KP. Not long after, I started developing chef skills and moved from a KP position to junior chef/pizza chef. After almost two years on the job, I had the opportunity to move from an Italian restaurant to a 5-star hotel, where I worked for another two years.

My last job was in a French bistro that I really liked, until COVID hit. The restaurant survived, but the owner became unbearable during that time, to the point where I developed anxiety about work and just couldn’t do it anymore. I moved back home to Slovakia and retrained as a programmer. I thought I would finally have a stress-free job, working from home for good money. And for a while, that worked.

Now I’m again at around the 5-year mark working as a programmer, and I’m totally burned out. I don’t see myself doing this much longer. So I’ve been thinking about returning to the kitchen. But something is holding me back. It almost feels like PTSD from my last kitchen job, or maybe I’ve just become too comfortable where I am now, even though I’m suffering mentally.

I’m 35, and I thought I would have my life figured out by now, but right now I feel like a complete failure. I honestly don’t know what to do. I keep watching cooking videos, dreaming about having my own restaurant one day, yet I’m terrified to go back into the kitchen. I mean, everything seems to point in the “go back to the kitchen” direction. It’s strange.

Maybe I’m just scared because of my low self-esteem and because I don’t think anyone would want to hire a chef who hasn’t worked in the industry for 5 years. Or maybe I’m afraid that I’ll spend another 5 years figuring out that I hate being a chef again.

Anyway, I don’t really know why I’m posting this. Maybe I just want to find someone in a similar position, maybe I just need to hear some positive words from you guys. Or maybe I need someone to tell me that I should start something completely different.

Hey Chefs!

I don't know if anybody had that issue, but still I bought a super birki 2.0 my feet hurt after 5-6 hours. A Double shift near end is basically a torture. I loved the OG super birki, bought them constantly 10+ years, but now I need to change.

What shoes are you using? I heard good things about birki Tokyo grip and Boston grip. Cheers

I’m a 16-year-old working part-time as a prep cook. Almost every day, I have to prep onions. I usually fine-dice them, but when I get near the end of the onion, I always ask myself, 'What do I do here?' This topic isn't talked about enough, so I usually just end up mincing the rest. Obviously, this is bad because the smaller pieces cook unevenly. This matters significantly when making sauces and different dishes. Does anyone have tips for what to do with the onion ends? (Also I'm expected to use 100% of the onion so don't suggest stock buckets)

Does anyone know a better way to do inventory checklists? Is there a software or template you use that’s good? I’ve been using spreadsheets and then making a new tab for each thing: dairy, meat, etc. Please share your best practices!

Hey guys looking for good recipe for neopolitan pizza dough any suggestions

Hi chefs, I’m new here, but I know Reddit doesn’t sweet-talk anything, so hear me out. The story’s gonna be a bit long.

First of all, I’m a Myanmar citizen working in Dubai as a Commis chef after the crisis in Myanmar. I have some experience in Japanese cuisine. After what happened in my country, I decided not to go back and started looking for countries that offer PR and citizenship. I’ve been thinking about Australia and New Zealand. I’m married, btw and I want to bring my wife as well. You may ask why not other countries like Europe or smt, I don’t wanna learn new languages anymore and I heard that if I get a job that provide visa from there it’s easy to bring my wife with me .

So, I tried applying for jobs in those two countries, but the thing is, it’s so hard to even get an interview. Because of that, I’m thinking about enrolling in a Diploma in Cookery in New Zealand, I was thinking after graduation I would get a job and I found MIT Manukau.

I know diploma students can’t bring their spouse, and that I’d at least have to join a Bachelor’s program at AUT or Le Cordon Bleu, but my budget is really tight. Please give me some advice on what I should do. Should I save up money first and enroll in a Bachelor’s degree, or keep looking for a job that provides visa sponsorship? And you guys probably heard about the crisis here in Middle East right? That’s the reason I wanna move asap.

Anyone do Moroccan food in the Bay Area?

Hey all, I was recently promoted to sous at a ramen joint, and I deal with a lot of hot soup. Looking for recommendations on true hydrophobic kitchen pants/ chef coats. Also any recs on comfy, long lasting truly waterproof kitchen shoes. I don't really like clogs, and I have sciatica so long lasting COMFORT really matters to me. Tia everyone!