- This will explain why I am the way I am with cooking and food. I will also be bringing exciting recipes. (you will NOT have to scroll for ten minutes.) Also will have cookware for line cooks and chef's personal use.
Welcome to The Kitchen
Cooking
I have loved cooking since I was seven, and my mom let me help her make cheeseburgers. I don't remember if they were good, but I remember everyone saying they were good, and I was hooked on cooking. Many cooks, me included, are still here despite poor pay and harsh working conditions in these kitchens. The love of cooking and feeding hungry people keeps them coming back so they can keep hearing the customers' 'OH EM GEE.' These are such good comments that fly back to the kitchen. It's often a thankless industry of sweat and tears, but for those who genuinely appreciate the food prepared for you, you make it worth it!
What people need to see is what we call the rush. When a restaurant is busy in the dining room, it's an absolute madhouse in the back of the house. Your adrenaline soars, your focus narrows on your task or tasks at hand, and nothing else but the music playing matters. You are so busy you don't even have time to go to the bathroom, so you hold it. You still grab that next check and get what it needs ready to fire because you are feeding hungry people, and no one else is going to fix this plate but you. The rush is undeniably addicting; we will go home after getting our asses kicked royally for five hours and be unable to sleep because our adrenaline is still at full tilt. We wouldn't change a thing.
You share this with your coworkers; it's all equal in a good kitchen. Everyone has good and bad days, but you should never let your coworker drown while you can help out. Your best friend is the guy who called you a piece of shit earlier because you dropped his tongs, and now, he has to run back to dish for another pair, but it's OK because the new guy you don't much like? He isn't as busy and has his checks caught up, so he grabs a pair. You'll have to ask him to go out for a drink after work to get him back for that little bit of help. You slow down a little, but your best friend, the one who called you a piece of shit earlier? He is behind, so you slide down and help him out. You are a team in a kitchen; when one fails, all fail; it doesn't matter if one shines unless that shine is leading his team and making them shine, too.
So, to put a little depth into the world of working in a kitchen, we love the rush, the adrenaline that comes from it; we love the sense of family, of being a part of a team that we often don't feel outside of work; and we love the appreciation that the public comes back with after they eat our food.
What people need to see is what we call the rush. When a restaurant is busy in the dining room, it's an absolute madhouse in the back of the house. Your adrenaline soars, your focus narrows on your task or tasks at hand, and nothing else but the music playing matters. You are so busy you don't even have time to go to the bathroom, so you hold it. You still grab that next check and get what it needs ready to fire because you are feeding hungry people, and no one else is going to fix this plate but you. The rush is undeniably addicting; we will go home after getting our asses kicked royally for five hours and be unable to sleep because our adrenaline is still at full tilt. We wouldn't change a thing.
You share this with your coworkers; it's all equal in a good kitchen. Everyone has good and bad days, but you should never let your coworker drown while you can help out. Your best friend is the guy who called you a piece of shit earlier because you dropped his tongs, and now, he has to run back to dish for another pair, but it's OK because the new guy you don't much like? He isn't as busy and has his checks caught up, so he grabs a pair. You'll have to ask him to go out for a drink after work to get him back for that little bit of help. You slow down a little, but your best friend, the one who called you a piece of shit earlier? He is behind, so you slide down and help him out. You are a team in a kitchen; when one fails, all fail; it doesn't matter if one shines unless that shine is leading his team and making them shine, too.
So, to put a little depth into the world of working in a kitchen, we love the rush, the adrenaline that comes from it; we love the sense of family, of being a part of a team that we often don't feel outside of work; and we love the appreciation that the public comes back with after they eat our food.