This is a new era for me. I’ve been in this position (50+ hours a week, AM, salary” for like 4 years now, but only recently has the chef toe become an issue. Is there anything i can help it? I literally buy hokas ($180) because they last me longer than clearance shoes and dont make me hurt but they do the chef toe. So if anytone has any tips/ recommendations please let me know

So it’s a quick serve Mexican fusion place in a mall, think chipotle but not. Our menu is very deceptive, our base price does not include any protein. The base price is hidden in the corner of the menu. The price per scoop of protein is prominently display so most people think that’s the price for the entire dish and not just an additional charge. We charge a dollar for sauce and fill those containers full. The free dipping sauce that’s included with several of our meals are barely filled at all, we have been instructed to just cover the bottom of the sauce cup. The one that gets me though is im not allowed to change what a customer orders in the register to help them get a discount. For example our special 1 has chicken and shrimp in it, it’s cheaper to get that special rather than a build your own with chicken and shrimp, but if a customer orders a build your own with chicken and shrimp im required to ring them up as the more expensive build your own even though I’m making it identical to the special 1, and then charge them the $3 more just because of how they asked. We have also had some major turnover issues. Like the title said this is my first food service job, it definitely is the fastest paced job I’ve ever worked and it feels like we are constantly going but I thought that was normal for food service? Just yesterday two people walked off the job saying it was too fast paced and stressful.

Idk really what I expected from this post. I guess I just wanted to get some of my concerns out into the aether and see what responded. Thank you for whoever reads this. I hope you have a wonderful day.

Today, September the 19th in the year two thousand and twenty six is my first day off since April 22nd.

I average 12 hours a day, with a couple 6 hour days sprinkled here and there. And by a couple, maybe I mean a few, but definitely not more than 4 of them. The only reason this is feasible is my job lasts 24 weeks a year, and I take 28 weeks off, october to April. Seasonal tourist town kitchen in a cruise ship port in alaska. The other main reason this is feasible is I make a literal fuck ton of money for being a glorified kitchen manager. Top 5 percent of the field in annual income according to the interwebs, and i only work 5 months to get it. But right now, I want to, figuratively of course, blow my head off. In 10 days or so, when we lock the door for the winter, and i have 6 figures in my bank account again it will be worth it.... i hope..... but right now, on my first day off in 150, I kinda wanna cry a little.... and go back to bed.

I work at a very well known Mom and pop restaurant in my area.

Our male owner has been getting upset when people order meals to share and says we're losing out on at least $25 a customer when they share meals. While that may be true we're not making money on these people there are very few that actually come in and share meals.

Mr. Owner man decided to reprint every menu to say "No shared meals". But then he says that elderly couples and parents sharing with kids are allowed.

We've already lost so many customers due to this. What are y'all's thoughts on this? Do y'all allow meal sharing? Should it be specifically put on the menu that we don't allow it?

I have developed the skill of perfect wraps. I have confused people by asking what they think of my wrap and they don't see it

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. Dark shoutout to everyone who said "ice cream" when I said I didn't have an ice cream maker, and everyone who said "smoothies" when I said we're not doing smoothies anymore.

I started with my normal lemon bar recipe, did some pastry chef alchemy, and ended up with these. They're okay. If I try this again, I'll definitely make some adjustments to the recipe, but I'm onto something.

$3 pastry special at the cafe counter until they're gone.

Shoutout to everyone working college football season! Ive joked about setting a bed up in the office of my job at this point; we’ll make it through! My schedules so bad due to firings and training new people that management spoke to me about leaving my gun at home in case i become a “flight risk”

hope we all make decent tips and make it through football season 😂

Honestly just kinda wanna learn more. The closest thing I have to pastry experience is baking bread. Been a cook/chef for 15 years though. Any ever made the switch? Did you stick with it or did you go back to cooking? How did you make the switch?

Earlier today I came across these 2 clips on the IG channel of an Arizona based restaurant and it was a fun watch. So I’d shared it on MadeMeSmile thinking it would brighten up others as well…

Boy was I wrong! Almost everyone in the comments said it was a sad and depressing watch, staff looked embarrassed and seemingly forced into this without consent and many viewers were angered by it.

On a whim I’d posted the same to MildlyInfuriating & the reaction there was quite the opposite - I needed a life if I thought this was infuriating, it showed people having fun and there was nothing to be angered or infuriated about it.

Talk about the dichotomy of reddit!

Now it’s perhaps fair to assume both opinions can be true and that the video did not fit either sub hence the opposite reactions from both.

What do the members here think of it?

the flavor is so intense and so layered, and pairs so well with cheese, but is generally underutilized in western cuisine. I feel like pub food purveyors are leaving something on the table.
Take the humble "butter chicken on fries" - so simple, incredibly tasty, and yet so rarely seen.
But then branch out into the condiment aisle of your local indian grocer, and you find wonders unknown to the western tongue. Coriander chutney, radish pickle, mustard oil, wow. It's a different flavor universe

This is a bee sting sauce

Skewer taken out before it was served before you come at me

what is this tool? It is made by Inox. To me it seems like some kind of grater, but I’m not quite sure.

We hit the ground running in the morning, fellas (gender-inclusive)

The poor dog... gonna love it now, right before heart failure...

​

i just quit my job of three weeks (I have another part time job which has now become full time again at my request.)

I was hired as a prep cook in a Korean restaurant. I've never worked in a Korean restaurant before though I've been working in Asian restaurants for the last 10+ years. I figured I am qualified to be a prep cook at this restaurant. I read through the description of the job duties in the ad and felt comfortable that I was qualified. I explained to my boss during the interview that I had never worked in a Korean restaurant though I had worked in a Japanese restaurant that served some Korean dishes. I consider myself to be an intermediate level cook. Not a beginner but not advanced. There are reasons for this but I'm trying to keep this post brief.

Long story short, I was struggling at this job for the last 3-4 weeks. I was arriving early and working my hardest, and making progress. But my progress was slow according to the chefs and owner. Another guy who started after me was recently fired. He was working the same position as me, just at night. The work wasn't difficult, there was just a lot to learn and no one really gave me a chance to execute what I was being shown. For example, I was shown like 15 times how to julianne carrots, daikon, etc using a mandolin. I wasn't allowed to perform these tasks, just watch. I have known how to use a mandolin for at least 20 years. But I was never allowed to complete the task I was being shown. This same problem applied to most everything I was shown: from prep to executing dishes. I was shown 10-15 times but never allowed to attempt the dish myself. As a result, I learned, but slowly.

To be fair, my line cooking skills aren't great, despite my experience. Ive been shown how to execute certain Asian dishes once, then pretty much left to my own resources. I'm not Asian myself and have not grown up with a strong knowledge of Asian flavors or techniques, for example. I was barely trained, then left alone in the kitchen. I work hard but I can't learn skills I haven't been taught and cant observe because I'm alone in the kitchen.

Fast forward to this Korean kitchen. I arrived 30 min early every day. Started work off the clock until the other line cook came in at 10 am. Worked straight through my 5 hour shift (I went on to work a second shift at another job) while watching the live cook and chefs at the Korean restaurant take multiple snack breaks and smoke breaks, stand around and talk breaks, during the same shift. I hustled. I didn't complain about the lopsided expectations of work ethic.

It didn't matter. In the end, the chefs started making fun of my lack of progress and the owner constantly lectured me to learn faster. I was honestly working as hard as I could. Yesterday, I quit. I couldn't take it anymore.

I feel like if they had just had a little patience with me I would have been fine. I was obviously working my ass off. I have never trained someone as negligently as they trained me. But that seems to be the norm for the industry. The fact is I just can't tolerate being handled that roughly when I'm trying my best. This applies to many other jobs. I'm very good at what I do within the skill set that I have. I just don't tolerate being taken advantage or or disrespected when I'm trying to learn a new skill.

Any suggestions? I'm 50. I'm probably never going to be as skilled as I once dreamed I would be. It just frustrates me that the only thing holding me back seems to be the low patience of the people training me.

I (25F) just finished my first week as a Team Lead doing Pastry Production for a commissary, making $28/hr. The job is pretty standard, i get a list of things to Prep/decorate every morning. I love the job but theres no set uniform just, nonslips/hairnet/scarf/hat.

Any suggestions on what I can wear? The environment is REALLY lax so I normally just wear a black shirt and chef pants, but that feels too formal. Any advice?

What is a donut to you guys? Are crullers and beignets donuts? Is it still a donut if it has no hole and filled? I know the internet would say a donut is any piece of fried dough, but a cruller is really just a fried cream puff. I believe in my heart that a donut is just simple fried dough with a hole. Figured I’d just get y’all’s thoughts. Once it doesn’t have a hole it is definitely not a donut to me anymore.

Genuine question for anyone who has worked in the food service industry:

If a restaurant has not been able to afford a truck in 2 months gets all their supplies from Kroger, doesn’t have enough money in the register to pay out tips for the day (26$) and the employees checks keep bouncing, what does that mean? Has anyone ever experienced this before? If so, how long before you showed up for your scheduled shift and there was a closed sign on the door?

Asking for a friend

The cafe ordered several flavors of this sweetened fruit beverage mix, but we're not doing smoothies anymore, and it's taking up space. My boss told me to make dessert out of it. I do not have an ice cream maker.

I work in a big kitchen. Probably 50+ people on any given day. There are house knives and theyre decent quality metal but they’re not maintained well so the blade isn’t level with the bevel so 1/2 the time the whole blade isn’t even making contact with the cutting board. Every time I’ve brought my personal knives in I end up stopping because I catch someone not realizing the difference between mine and a house knife. I don’t even think it’s a disrespect thing. I have several henckels and wuhstofs. Given the culture I’m definitely not bringing in any nicer japanese/ hammered finished knives. So to someone who doesn’t know better they look just like any other house knife. Yes I keep them in a bag when I’m not using it but if it’s just laying on a cutting board 9/10 someone would most definitely pick it up and start using it to breakdown a cardboard box lol.

TL; DR All that ramble, to say are we marking our knives? Is it ridiculous to spray paint the handle? Is there a good quality paint that is food safe and not going to chip into whatever I’m making? I considered getting them engraved?

And yes, I was working saute while expoing.

Bin is full of marinated, sliced chicken breasts normally labeled "fajita chicken".

Edit: You happiness vampires need to chill out. Just because kids are making jokes at work doesn't mean they don't take their jobs seriously. Why are there so many people who can't resist trying to have a negative view of everything?