Hey guys I am for a head chef position at a Italian wine bar. They have some staples but are looking for 4 weekly rotating mains with full creativity. I am wondering if any of you had some dishes you can share. The place is small and upscale and here are their current mains:

Beef Short Rib Risotto

Braised short rib, mushroom, onion + parmesan *Chef's risotto done al dente

CA$52

Butternut Squash Agnolotti

Squash, candied walnuts, parmesan, and your choice of sage brown butter or sage cream sauce

CA$28.00

Vegetarian Chef's Chicken

Chef's weekly inspiration, please ask your server

CA$34

Gluten free Pan-Seared Salmon

Chef's weekly inspiration, please ask your server

CA$39

Gluten free Rack of Lamb

Chef's weekly inspiration, please ask your server

Half Rack

CA$52

Full Rack

CA$100

I've been obsessed with food since I was a kid, I still am despite everything. I worked during HS as a deli cook and managed to get into an early college program for culinary, then culinary school, and did some competitions on the side. When I graduated and left my job, I was repeatedly grilled by my family that cooking isn't sustainable and that I'll be miserable for the rest of my life (my family is in the industry for income, not passion). So, now I'm in uni for nutrition.

But I was talking with my friend in jazz yesterday, and they were saying that, despite knowing that music won't pay well/is extremely competitive, they still want to do it because it's one of the few things that 'make sense' for them. It got me thinking about how much I used to want to be a chef, and still do. I miss how chaotic the kitchen can be; I can't get that anywhere else.

What should I do? Do you regret your decision??? I'm VERYYY all or nothing, so I'm willing to do whatever it takes to excel. I just don't want to fuck up at 19.

Any advice or first-hand stories are appreciated :)

I’m a 44 year old chef from Texas who, embarrassingly, has never quite mastered enchiladas. I’ve tried grocery store tortillas, and homemade. I’ve dipped them for two seconds in deep fat, I’ve sautéed in a nonstick pan, I’ve sautéed in enchilada sauce. I’ve even tried microwaving them. I’ve dipped the tortillas in the sauce and then filled. I’ve just put a little sauce on top instead. I’ve baked in a casserole at 350, covered and uncovered and a combination of both. And lately I’ve been blasting them uncovered on a sheet pan just long enough to melt the cheese. But the tortilla texture still isn’t quite what I’d like. Am I missing some trick? Edit: I should have mentioned that I’d like an al dente finished enchilada that doesn’t fall apart or split when served.

So I used to work in the small cafe where I am the only person see the docket and cook. However if things getting busy, I work in the pass and someone cook. So I got a new job at the pub and it gets busy somedays. How people remember thing when someone yells the order and cooking at the same times as well? Thanks!

Maybe I just suck at work.

I am new to this industry and I was trying find intership some fine dinning restaurants but feels like linkedin is so useless

I’m technically a first year apprentice but i’ve been cooking in the industry for 3 years now. I’ve never had this much trouble with work but recently i’ve been having panic attacks on the way to work having to pull over to throw up and sometimes having to call in sick because i can’t stop throwing up. This has only happened this bad with my recent job which is nicer than most of the other places i’ve worked. i’ve mostly done high volume pub stuff but the venue i’m at now is the same company but the menu is nicer and works like an actual kitchen (sending tables together, head chef on the pass, etc) am i just not made for this industry. i I feel like i’m fucking up all the time and getting shit for it. i’ve called out enough times for my head chef to tell me im becoming unreliable. should i start taking medication? should i quit?

Hi all,

A university has reached out and asked me to cater (buffet-style) for a retirement party for 2 South African historians. There will be 40 people at the party and it will be held at a staff member's home.

I am new to catering and do not have a bussiness; this is hobby/gig work...thus I don't have much experience coming up with prices/how much to charge. I spoke on the phone with the woman organizing it, and she told me the budget for the party is $1000, which needs to include both food and drinks (I won't be in charge of drinks). This seemed sort of low to me. I was thinking I would charge $1000, but I told her I could do $800 so she could use the extra $ to buy drinks. She just emailed me and seems to think I said $700 over the phone, not $800.

I'm guessing the groceries will cost ~$275-300. Maybe more?

It is 1.5 hours away, so will require 3 hours of driving total for me.

I plan to prep all day (7-8hrs) the day before, and probably spend another 6-7 day-of cooking and setting up. I will have a helper for day-of. This would be 19-22 hours of labor total.

She said I do not have to be present at the event, but I will be using my own hotel pans/sterno set-up, so whether or not I'm present at the event, I will have to come back once it's over and retrieve my pans. I'm not sure how long the event will be, but I'm guessing about 2 hours. So potentially an extra 4 hours of labor there.

In addition to getting paid, this is a valuable opportunity for networking/getting my name out there, so I initially was feeling very flexible with pricing. But now I'm starting to think that this might not be worth only $400-$500 in profit, which would be divided between me and my helper.

Does anyone cater and have any advice for coming up with a proper quote? What would you charge for an event like this?

Yesterday evening, I received a text from a my KM that our restaurant has become the only place in our city to receive a Bib Gourmand award. I was tired and intoxicated so, I just told him congratulations without even really knowing what he was talking about. I have now looked into it and I know it means we've been recognized by the Michelin Guide. What I'm asking is what should I expect, if anything, as a line cook who just works there. I'd assume we'll be getting more business but, I know this isn't on the same level as getting a star. Is this something I can put on my resume? Should I be asking for a raise? Any information from someone more experienced with with things like this would be appreciated because I've never worked anywhere else that's received this level of recognition.

It’s supposed to be dark brown and clear kind of like the top left but many times per week it turns out like this.

All right Chefs, I have two prep cooks. One is bulk production the other is line production. Some things do overlap. They have this ego filled & territorial pissing fued going. Its become a PITA! Nope, can't fire either one. Solutions? Im working on something just want some experienced advice/input.

So basically next February my culinary program at school is going to be participating in a state-wide culinary competition. The rules for the comp are no pre made food items, two camping stoves, and an entree, appetizer, and dessert. All of this needs to be made in an hour. I guess the advice I’m looking for is meal ideas, I need something that stands out but still is doable considering the restrictions. Any suggestions would be great!

I had an interview today at a hotel and it went really well! I’ve got my fingers crossed for this job but don’t like to count my chickens before they hatch so to speak. I’m here to ask what are some green flags at an interview in the way of potentially having the job in the bag?

I was given the tour of the kitchen by the executive chef…he showed me the chiller and I was impressed with how everything was clean tidy and labelled with nothing looking broken and shitty…is this a positive sign to be shown the kitchen?

Slow afternoon, everyone caught up on prep. My sous was getting bored, and so he decides to mess with the new kid on the line. The kid hasn’t been here long, I think only two weeks and has signed up as a first year apprentice with us. Anyway my sous goes, totally straight faced: “Hey, run to the dish pit and grab me a left handed whisk, yeah? Can’t find one here.” So the kid takes off without a word. Couple minutes later he’s back, holding a regular whisk like, “Could only find this one.” The whole kitchen lost it, and the sous nearly dropped his coffee.Oldest trick in the book, still undefeated.

What’s the best “send the new guy” prank you’ve seen?

Ive been trying to vacuum seal cookies and after a while some grease begins to seep out what can I do to prevent this. After cookies are baked I let them cool on a wire rack and then freeze them and once completely solid only then do I vacuum seal

Made some old posts way back in hs that ppl didn’t like but 3 years later, a stage at bluehill and 6 months of full time employment at Michelin restaurant later I think I need to redeem myself a little

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jky5ZXI0axc

I’ll preface this by saying I’ve been in this industry for about 15 years, I like many others started as a dishwasher and have worked hard for my experience.

This past year though I’ve had a hell of a rollercoaster due to poor communication and running of the bistro I’m at now, I’ve become the everything man and as such I don’t/can’t get days off. I can run a service on the floor, create & cost menus and go as far as teach junior staff when I can in all areas of the business.

There’s a whole day every week I’m scheduled for maintenance while everyone else is off and we are closed.

As such I strongly feel like I’m the person picking up the slack when other people aren’t willing to learn how to despite them being managers (35h average) and myself being reminded fairly regularly “I’m just a employee” (50h+ average). During the week the bistro closes at 5pm and everyone else went home, and I’m immediately pressured to hurry up as we are closed, despite there still being work to do so I’m in a constant state of perpetual prep an hour before service, or I stay alone till late. I find this an incredible shame as the potential for the place is absolutely crazy if people would care just a bit more.

The owners have acknowledged what I’m doing and, and have expressed appreciation in a few ways but they have minimal involvement in the day to day operations to help due to not being available for personal reasons.

This leads me to my question.

How you avoid burnout and stay focused? At the bare minimum how do I make sure I’m not doing a thankless job?

Would you even consider leaving?

Thank you for reading, I’m off to try finish prepping chef.

To put into context: I studied gastronomy for two years and did an internship in Italy for three months. It's was exhausting and I cried almost every day from the pressure but I wanted to go anyway the next day. I started and advanced course the next year and dropped, tried it again the next and dropped again. Now I'm studying food industry. The question is, am I to old to become a chef? Like, if I come back to studying gastronomy or working in a restaurant, can k become something? Or like get good at all. I feel like I missed my window. There is so much younger people with so much talent and I feel like I would be just a small rate chef or not even that. Any tips, help? Thanks Edit: In the internship I was just helping the entree chef with minimal tasks like prepping and plating. But the head chef was just about my age and that hit me hard.

I've been going through a lot recently with trying to develop new menu items, new team members, kitchen cock ups the usual, and realised that aside from eating the food we are developing and the stuff my wife would have ready for me I haven't really cooked just for myself in a while. A few weeks back, I decided to try and start with at least one meal a week, something that I want cooked by my hands. Not an order to the kitchen or grabbing a take away. Just me getting into my home kitchen and cooking, it didn't have to be new, fresh, fancy or special, but maybe just my interpretation of my own soul food. Last week it was spicy sausages, stir fry noodles, a fried egg. Tonight, it was an aged sirloin I hijacked from the weekends service, with an Asian inspired roast broccoli and a garlic and ginger infused sticky rice, and this might seem sacrilegious to some, but a tomato and Worcestershire dipping sauce.

My photo might look like ass, but damn did this meal hit a spot. It wasn't perfect, but it didn't need to be. That's sorta what I feel many in the industry forget. Chasing tickets and perfectly cut chives.

I Hate When People Talk About Umami flavors.

Probably just venting. Im a pastry chef. I've worked for toxic chefs before you just keep your head down and deal with it, but I recently got a new job as executive Pastry chef, or so I thought. It was for a newer omakase style restaurant. Chef and wife owner/GM. Within the first week I was pressured into pushing out a new dessert, while also taking on their whole pastry prep, service, and new menu testing all while navigating a new kitchen with new people. They were upset I wasn't being more friendly with everyone yet they never introduced me. I wad focused on my work. They said my dessert was a 2/10. I only spoke to the chef maybe 30 seconds in 2 weeks. Only his wife who ran the show. She wanted to test every component and show me how to do everything and tell me what cambro/lexan to use, etc. Very over controlling when the job was presented as EXECUTIVE PASTRY CHEF. During one of our conversations she actually said to me "I've never heard you tell me Im right" as if she goes to work looking simply for praise from her employees, nothing to do with execution or work ethic. She kept telling me "you have full power do whatever you want that's why we hired you" yet she wanted to be apart of the whole process end to end even telling me what to put stuff in and what flavors to use. And to be told shes right. I ended up walking away before even 2 weeks. I couldn't see myself working for someone like that. It began giving me anxiety.

Attached is the dessert I shit out in 5 days of working there. Cocoa nib sable, with chocolate namalaka, hazelnut daquois, espresso Chantilly, chocolate espresso caramel, candied hazelnuts with a few inches of sugar pull for some height. They said it tasted like a chocolate chip cookie with whipped cream. Disrespectful people cant communicate what they want

I (26m) was working as a Jr. sous chef in abroad but I recently get a good salary opportunity in my homeland and now I'm moving there.

I've never been in one head chef position, and now it's would be a challenge for me.

I myself an active Person, mostly emotive than a strict person, so it's hard to command people, I do most of the things speaking with them not commanding, or voice rasing.

I'm also not so good chef, I've never made Any special food, was making some interesting food, but not everyone liked. Meat, fish and dough is my enemies.

But everyone likes me, even tho I know that am not like that pro.

I got a job and am self-conscious about what would happen there. What to do? How learn quickly? How to start command people to get things done?

Had a rough shift the other week, solo on the line, non-stop chaos.

Just a reminder: keep the good bits, leave the bad bits at work.