Food industry thread

>Worked at a lowish-to-mediumish-tier restaurant
>Shift manager tells dish pig he needs to iron his shirt before he starts his shift

With regards to insoles, it's quite important to visit a podiatrist at some point and have them check what type you should get or whether you need them at all. You'd be surprised by how different everyone's feet and gait are.

People who act like they have never been in a restaurant before and don't know how to order.

>tfw you're restaurant starts getting national acclaim and wins the restaurant of the year award for the city

Feels fuming good man. Never lower your standards and just accept a place as a job. If you want a better job, just tell someone you want to learn and they will have more faith in that than some hotshotime new to town.

day 6 (?) of our ice machine being broken
I dont know the whole deal but apparently rats outside chewed into one of the pipes for the thing which stops it from working properly
I'm morning so the only difference for us is that we use less ice for cooling down shit but it must suck ass for our FOH

Are you not just buying bags of the stuff from somewhere instead?

Oh for sure but it will cost more to do that in the long run as opposed to fixing it

Are crocs really that good? I could buy a pair for $30 which I wouldn't mind trying out.

I have a pair of croc slip ons, they look like converse but are completely waterproof and slip resistant.

my nigga..

we got a james beard nomination being open less than 6 months. i think we will win this year.

I use these sika flex sole shoes sikafootwear.ca/ecom.asp?pg=products&specific=jnomirf8&gotogrp=36&gotopgnum=1
they were $100 CAD subsidized through the restaurant I work in and I have no regrets
I can work a week of ten hour days and I rarely think about my feet or back hurting, several of the sous chefs wear them
I've also heard really good things about both crocs and shoesforcrew so you do u

do you really want to wear crocs? no.. you want pic related

they wear out after like a year and a half, but they're the comfiest plus you don't look like a fag in them. who wears clogs in public?

Those look pretty fucking gay, dude. Plus, you're not wearing the crocs in public, you put them on when you get to work, and half the kitchen is wearing them, so who gives a fuck? They're comfy. Yeah... those are pretty fucking gay.

you wear clogs every day and you think you have any authority to judge whether something is or is not "pretty fucking gay"?

cmon

>restaurant of the year award for the city
what restaurant is this?

>be only cook in the restaurant who owns his own knives besides the chef
>try and be nice and loan out some of my extras to my coworkers so they have an easier time
>coworkers tell me "no they're too sharp I'm scared"
>mfw

I don't understand.

>you wear clogs every day and you think you have any authority to judge

Yeah. I also wear a scull cap and alternate checkered and striped, baggy as fuck, chef pants. I also run my clogs through the dishwasher at the end of the night if they got extra grimy and they don't fall apart after a year and a half. Do you even work in a kitchen?

backwards snapback and jeans that fit well here..

please kill me if i ever become you

Tons of chefs wear clogs and crocs in the kitchen...pretty sure even Mario Batalli endorses that shit.

Do you work at McDonalds or something?

>please kill me if i ever become you

Are you black or something? Those are the only people that care more about style over comfort. I'd literally kill myself if I went to work for a week straight wearing jeans.

>Mozoshoes.com
A little pricey, but they will last you a good while.

But I don't want to look like I have diabetes

Ive been in my share of nice restaurants as a cook, but I now work in a place where once a week we have a guest who brings in his clients for dinner. He spends over 2-3 grand each time he comes, tips every waiter $200, each bartender $200, and every person in the back, including the dishwasher $150. Never seen anything like it. Shits fucking awesome.

Me neither.
One of the cooks where I work has a nice Chinese cleaver that he let me use for prep once. I liked it so much that I went and bought one for myself.

I've used these in various settings (construction, factories, kitchens) and the only problem that I've noticed is that the heels wear rather quickly (within 18 months) but I think that can be attributed to my gait.

I can't imagine wearing heavy duty boots like that in the kitchen. They'd slow me down way too much, and I need to be quick on my feet.

That's understandable.

where the fuck do you live

South Texas.

Croc bistros are the best

Clogs are traditional kitchen shoes no one will give a shit if you wear them my line cooks would think your an amateur for wearing those in a commercial kitchen though

>dissing based houndstooth slacks, black clogs, white jacket, and a skull cap

It's like this nigga doesn't want to work in a Michelin Star™ kitchen. Only in casual joints do they let anyone but the sous and head chefs dabble in street clothes when they're on the line working.

...

I'd rather not risk losing user status, but its a major city on the west coast.

>Tons of chefs wear clogs and crocs in the kitchen...pretty sure even Mario Batalli endorses that shit.
Scientist here.
LOTS of doctors and lab geeks wear clogs. The elevated heel, good arch and firm insole, is good for leaning over a bench all day (lab work), or a patient or surgical patient. And, like another user said, they can be sterilized with a good wash out or disinfectant. Also they are hard toes, though not always steel toe. Next time you're in an E.R. notice if your doc is wearing Nikes. He's not willing to throw them away when some blood gets on them, and he's not going to wear dirty shoes either. Another benefit to hard molded footbeds is not overuse of your little baby foot muscles all day from the squish and flex of a shoe like a Croc. I love Crocs, but not with extreme amount of walking or standing all day. I use them more like a short stint, kind of a recovery shoe. I love them for padding around a hotel rooms when traveling, or walking form TSA to the gate and while onboard cause they double as a pool shoe and end of day recovery shoe, and can be wiped dry immediately. If I put dirty socks back into them, no problem, my shoes won't be ruined by other people's foot fungus all over the floors.

Incidentally, my sister, an orthopedist (and her collegues) calls Crocs "workmans comp shoes" because of how many people get injured wearing them. Be careful you don't trip on them, and if you do trip often over the toes that kind of squish and grab the floor, stop wearing them.

tfw you finally have a day off, but you feel like it's being completely wasted.

But really, that's all I wanted to do all week.

>mfw i get one day off
>mfw its payday

How the fuck do I deal with a customer who only comes to the restaurant to act like a dick?
It is a fairly new restaurant, I am a server and sometimes things come out wrong

We have a drunk man who comes, sits at the bar and makes loud jokes about the food as it comes out of the kitchen. We can't kick him out because he isn't aggressive and nobody has complained.

Here are some examples of his 'jokes'

>Customer orders loaded baked potato as a lunch
>I bring it out
>Side is SLIGHTLY burnt
>Drunk notices
>follows me to the table
>points at the burn
>'loaded baked potato? I think the load times were a bit longer that you expected'
>chuckles and walks off
>customer asks for it to be remade

>Everytime a woman orders a banana shake he says to them 'wow he actually got your drink? After what I saw him doing in the toilets I thought he misunderstood when you told him to go and 'banana shake'

>we do free refills on soda
>whenever I walk past the drinks machine he says 'I bet the manager wished he had a free refill on his staff because this one has gone flat' and points at me

Its fucking annoying. The manager refuses to kick him because he spends so much. Do you think I could make a false complaint?

it was my day off.

Well you probably suck at your job because you're new, and the food probably does suck if you guys are burning baked potatoes and shit. That said, if you really want to get rid of him: write down his license plate, call the police before he leaves one night and report somebody driving erratically. If you know his route home you can tell them the roads he's usually on and that he does this on a regular basis.

Alternatively you could befriend him by being an even bigger dick to him (I used to do this when I worked FOH and people were assholes, if you know what you're doing it works) and make some decent tips. But like I said, you sound pretty new to the job so you'll probably fuck that up.

>Alternatively you could befriend him by being an even bigger dick to him
Share some stories? Not that user but can't see that happening without getting in trouble by a higher-up

Long story short: at one point at this place I started working FOH because they were actually that short on competent people and somebody needed to go up and set some people straight. I didn't do it for very long, maybe a year, and I worked BOH at the same time. I used to work in a call center so I figured those skills would carry over to in-person service. Turns out it's a lot easier to deal with people in person than on the phone.

This happened many times:
>generic drunk asshole complaining all night and treating his girlfriend like shit while ordering more crown&cokes or bud lights (always those drinks with those shitheads)
herewegoagain.jpeg
>generic drunk asshole decides to start fucking with someone minding their own business at the bar
ohboy.qpeg
>random drunk asshole gets fed up with the fact that nobody is getting fed up with him, other than his girlfriend who has been ready to leave for the past 3 hours
>side note: this happens equally as often with the genders reversed, women can be drunk assholes just as easily but they think it's cute when they do it
>so anyhow around this time I would bring them their bill
>asshole always complains that we're kicking them out when I do this
>I tell them we want them to get home safe/something similar
At this point it can go one of two ways:
>asshole isn't too drunk and they suddenly become understanding, with the help of girlfriend/whoever we get them out of the damn bar and they go on their merry way to hopefully drive off the road into a ditch and injure nobody but themselves
Or
>Asshole becomes a problem because they drank too much and they start shouting like idiots
>I do not tolerate shouting in my FOH unless it's me doing it
>I calmly put my hand on their shoulder, they slap it away, then I lean in and tell them "that's how I became the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"

My sister in law is living in my office right now. Any tips on getting her a job as a hostess? She has zero restaurant experience, but she is hot and has a pretty smile. Something I can put on her resume, some code word, a simple fib that might give her an edge on paper?

>she is hot and has a pretty smile

That's literally the only thing you need to be a hostess. Just have her apply in person to everywhere nearby.

Alrighty. I have been having her apply to all the chains (there are a lot on one spot) online, and then we are going to go follow up in person.
We need to make her independent. O sweet Jesus, she can't live here forever.

Thanks user, enjoyed the story!

I own a restaurant currently. I hate the customers that get their bill and freak out because of how much it is. Like we bait and switched on them. The fucking prices are plain as day next to everything on the menu!

Yeah if you're cooking fillets on a flat top and steaming them, that place sucks. Your chef is a douchebag. It's real easy to not give a fuck when it's not your money involved. He should be embarrassed and fired. Chicken doesn't take too long to cook. We run pretty high volume and we don't pre cook any proteins ever

They're comfortable, easily washable, ugly as fuck, slip resistant. Yes they're that good. Fuck these dumb niggers that are worried about putting on a fashion show in the kitchen. Take care of your feet man

nigga that's a cartel member lmao

If you hafta buy DrScholls then obvsly you don't get what you pay for.

What a faggot. How many of those big burly men did he suck off in the closet while high on coke?

What this guy said.
Be very nice to that guy and try not to find out his name.

>be line cook
>recently promoted sous chef is a dick
>lay offs mean hes the boss most evening when my shift is
>constantly yelling at us, hounding us over every single thing micromanaging every detail
>his entire idea of motivation is yelling at you to work faster every 5 seconds

I've only been in the business for about 6 months, is it normal for these guys to act like the most belligerent drill seargeants imaginable? Our head chef can get testy but he doesn't ever yell or swear at us for the sake of it. It just comes off as real unprofessional, like he watches Kitchen Nightmares and thinks acting like Gordon Ramsay on the show is entirely appropriate.

Depends on where you work. I cook at a university and everyone is cool. Some guys get an ego when the get 'promoted' and get their name printed on their coat but they're still alright. Some ex chefs have that status shit going where they were their tall chef hat all the time but theyre still pretty nice dudes.

lots of arrogant pricks in this biz but not all places are like that. Get some experience and move on if you like cooking

>recently promoted
he'll calm down after a while. the additional responsibility, paperwork and having to actually enter the dining room to give face time to patrons for various reasons can be nerve wracking for a lot of people.
remember your first week on the line? it's kinda like that times a million.

What do you do when you're working with shit people? I used to work with a bunch of really good and on point line cooks but they all left and shitty ones came in.

They do the bare minimum amount of work, terrible communicators, cannot take criticism and do stupid shit like listen to music during work or even fucking worse, wear earbuds.

>listen to music during work or even fucking worse, wear earbuds.
Earbuds are unforgivable but music is completely fine. Might be different for the line but in the mornings everyone is bored to death so music livens things up

If the attitude of your peers don't change after addressing the issue or making formal complaints just quit. You will never be as good as a cook you can be without a good team with you

>used the bathroom after a co-worker and it smelled like he just smoked heroin
I've been able to tell that the dude was loaded a bunch of times, but he gets his job done, so I never gave a shit. Smoking drugs in the bathroom customers use in the middle of dinner rush with a dining room full of people is pretty stupid. I kept my mouth shut though because I'm not a rat.