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Tezcatlipoca posted:Do you people not know about isopropyl alcohol? The problem with isopropyl alcohol is that it's only considered food safe at a certain concentration, so if someone buys the wrong strength, or they mix it wrong, you could be in violation of local health codes if you're busted. Not to mention you could make someone very sick. Hot water, or a hot water/sani wipe is guaranteed to be food safe - you probably don't want to use it to clean table surfaces at the end of the shift, but in between seatings it's fine. Edit: Not to mention, isopropyl has a very strong smell. It doesn't bother me since I have almost no sense of smell, but I have a couple friends who would be very bothered by it as they're very sensitive to odors.
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Sep 20, 2018 04:52
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Vodka is solvent enough that if you dribble sauce on the rim of a hot plate it will wipe off rather than smearing.
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Sep 20, 2018 06:03
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pile of brown posted:Vodka is solvent enough that if you dribble sauce on the rim of a hot plate it will wipe off rather than smearing. Yep. We use Tork towels cut into strips, rolled, and soaked in vodka. Sauce guns dribble like hell, and I like clean, spotless rims. Also pretty important to make sure rims are totally clean and free of water spots/stains coming off the plating belt, because the retherm process will bake even an oily fingerprint onto it, and you definitely don't want to try cleaning a ton of plates coming out at 200+F when you need to serve a thousand within 12mins. In other news, the restaurant chefs are upset that us banquet guys are also being considered to go work at a few 3 Michelin star places for a month through a mentorship thing that chef is a part of. Can't wait for them to find out that fine dining is so totally a banquet operation.
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Sep 20, 2018 08:43
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Ah, thanks for the replies, guys! Figured that's what CdC was talking about, but never knew about "vodka wipes". My KM has tapped me to come up with ideas for our weekly specials, which are now going to be exclusively omelettes. As an example of what we're shooting for, last week's was "crab Rangoon": eggs beaten with a little stir fry sauce (soy, fish sauce, sesame oil), lump crab, garlic & green onion cream cheese, topped with drizzle of sweet Thai chile sauce. poo poo sold like mad at $6 a pop. A few ideas I've come up so far, which I'm hoping y'all could help me flesh out: --"Bloody Mary" omelette. Roasted red tomatoes, sauteed celery, then a spicy Worchestershire drizzle? -- Pesto omelette (my basil plant at home is going nuts, I've got pesto on the brain). Would you want the pesto stuffed inside the omelette, or do eggs beaten with Parmesan, then topped with pesto out of a squeeze bottle? Just make a basil sauce, then garnish with crushed pine nuts? ...I'm spitballing here. -- "Bruschetta" omelette. Roasted toms, basil, parm, balsamic reduction drizzle. Any other creative omelette ideas are appreciated! Our seasonal Sunday brunch menu currently has these omelettes: Philly cheese steak, Buffalo Chx, and Farmer's Market (tomatoes, goat cheese, mushrooms, spinach), so those flavor profiles are off the table, for me, anyways. Also, at only $6, I can't go crazy with the expensive proteins.
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Sep 20, 2018 19:46
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-Lahmacun, just as an omelette - ground beef, onion, tomato, parsley, cayenne pepper, paprika, cumin...look up some recipes. -Upside down (or inside out or whatever) shakshuka - keep the omelette a bit runny, stuff with a spicy tomato sauce (thickened more than usual), parsley, feta. Maybe some spanish chorizo if you want to add a protein (doesn't need to be pricey) -Jerk chicken - jerk chicken, some kind of veggie, not sure what to add on this one but I'm sure you can run with it (or someone else here will have an idea) -Migas - this one's a layup, crispy corn cortilla pieces, jalapeños, pico, and queso fresco (or other Mexican white cheese). Add some Mexican chorizo if you want (this should be super cheap), and/or a tortilla or two and refried beans on the side -Gyro - maybe not doable on your budget unless you go easy on the meat, but beef/lamb gyro meat, onions, tomatoes, tzatziki. -Green chili omelette - everything served on top, but New Mexico green chile sauce, pico, pork, maybe some queso fresco I'm bad at naming things, and I'm not sure where you're located to figure out what would be considered ethnic/exotic/unique to your area. But I'd start by picking a cuisine and either picking the most familiar thing on the menu (jerk chicken for Jamaican/Caribbean, for example), or just something that works well with eggs (migas). Some kind of an omelette with a good tomatillo sauce would be fantastic as well, hell, you could even do an "omelette divorciados" with both a tomatillo sauce and an ancho sauce, plus some pork, red onion, and cheese.
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Sep 20, 2018 20:15
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Shooting Blanks posted:The problem with isopropyl alcohol is that it's only considered food safe at a certain concentration, so if someone buys the wrong strength, or they mix it wrong, you could be in violation of local health codes if you're busted. Not to mention you could make someone very sick. Hot water, or a hot water/sani wipe is guaranteed to be food safe - you probably don't want to use it to clean table surfaces at the end of the shift, but in between seatings it's fine. Literally everything has to be the right concentration that shouldn't be a barrier for entry. Anyway I was just suggesting an alternative that might be better than vodka. Vinegar or peroxide would also work. Tezcatlipoca fucked around with this message at 21:09 on Sep 20, 2018 |
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Sep 20, 2018 21:02
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Sooooo I've finally entered the restaurant industry and ended up slicing a bit of my finger off on my first day because I was a bag of nerves. https://twitter.com/JernlovCT/status/1041970446672048128?s=09 I'm still mega nervous and I really dont think I can do this kind of job but it's the only career I have any qualifications in. Will I ever stop melting down when you get too many tickets? Will I ever pick up the pace? It's so hilariously stressful and I do love it but I'm not sure if I could do it for the rest of my life 
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Sep 20, 2018 21:14
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Solefald posted:Sooooo I've finally entered the restaurant industry and ended up slicing a bit of my finger off on my first day because I was a bag of nerves. https://twitter.com/JernlovCT/status/1041970446672048128?s=09 It gets better and you'll get faster. Chef De Cuisinart posted:Can't wait for them to find out that fine dining is so totally a banquet operation. Can you elaborate on this?
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Sep 20, 2018 21:21
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Good to know. The manager of this restaurant and the Chef training me both seem to have faith I'll get the hang of it soon. Just got a lot of self doubt I guess, whelp.
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Sep 20, 2018 21:40
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Solefald posted:Sooooo I've finally entered the restaurant industry and ended up slicing a bit of my finger off on my first day because I was a bag of nerves. https://twitter.com/JernlovCT/status/1041970446672048128?s=09 Eventually your soul dies and you become okay giving customers "good enough" food. You also stop caring about ticket times because you recognize that you're only human while you'll probably get faster you still can only make a certain amount of food at a time.
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Sep 20, 2018 21:42
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See this is the problem, it's a small restaurant with just one Chef on. The waitress is usually the Owner/Manager or her sister and they get mega fussy about the timing and love to stand over your shoulder looking at the ticket time and then at their watch non loving stoo. I only got 4 tickets on Tuesday and I felt a bit overwhelmed trying to get them all out within 15 mins of order. We only have one oven and two hobs so it's mega hard to time everything right now especially when I don't know their set recipes or how they want the food presented. I hope I get the hang of it but even during training I was working alongside the other Chef and we got hit with 7 tickets all at once on Saturday. He cooked and I plated up and we still had a hard time. It's just such a surreal environment for me. I've never been a KP or anything and I feel like I've jumped into the industry in the most stressful way possible.
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Sep 20, 2018 22:09
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That's truly a poo poo management tactic so keep that in mind and let it roll off
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Sep 20, 2018 22:13
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You're completely hosed.
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Sep 20, 2018 22:14
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Tezcatlipoca posted:Literally everything has to be the right concentration that shouldn't be a barrier for entry. Anyway I was just suggesting an alternative that might be better than vodka. Vinegar or peroxide would also work. Why is a poisonous compound a better option than vodka? Honestly curious about your rationale here... Vodka is food safe, omnipresent in restaurants, well vodka is cheap, evaporates quickly, leaves almost no residue or odor. I've never tried peroxide, and I'm not sure how edible it is, or good at wiping stains. White vinegar works but carries a lot more odor than vodka, and most other vinegars leave sticky or colorful residue.
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Sep 20, 2018 22:24
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My point exactly. Vodka is not just omnipresent and cheap but it is also idiot proof. That's a great combination for a restaurant.
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Sep 20, 2018 22:42
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I don't understand how reading a label is a thing that cannot be managed and that you don't realize a ton of restaurants don't serve liquor. You have to use test strips for sanitizing solution but you can't figure out which kind of alcohol to use?
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Sep 20, 2018 22:47
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Tezcatlipoca posted:I don't understand how reading a label is a thing that cannot be managed and that you don't realize a ton of restaurants don't serve liquor. You have to use test strips for sanitizing solution but you can't figure out which kind of alcohol to use? We're saying it's a suboptimal solution - isopropyl has a very strong, distinctive smell. I have at least 2 friends I can think of offhand that would be put off if their plate came out smelling like that. If there are no other options, sure, it works, but it's not a significant cost savings measure, it certainly isn't a time saving measure - I'm not sure what makes it better, and just by virtue of being simple, available, and extremely cheap vodka is hard to beat (or the already measured food safe hot water from the glass washer). Vinegar would likely have the same effect as isopropyl, I'm not sure about peroxide being food safe to begin with. Edit: To be fair, in Houston it's pretty uncommon for a restaurant that cares about wiping plates to not have a liquor license. Wiping down tables, yes, they have to find something else.
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Sep 20, 2018 23:39
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Solefald posted:Sooooo I've finally entered the restaurant industry and ended up slicing a bit of my finger off on my first day because I was a bag of nerves. https://twitter.com/JernlovCT/status/1041970446672048128?s=09 look for opportunities to jump ship to a better industry and then never look back
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Sep 21, 2018 02:03
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i'm sure you're physically and mentally capable of doing the work, but it's not worth it in the long run
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Sep 21, 2018 02:03
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Solefald posted:Sooooo I've finally entered the restaurant industry and ended up slicing a bit of my finger off on my first day because I was a bag of nerves. https://twitter.com/JernlovCT/status/1041970446672048128?s=09 If you really, truly want to get out, go apply for a help desk position at large companies near you. You can get hired with near zero experience other than recognizing what a keyboard is (they will train you!), the work won't be fun but over the course of 6 months to a year you can get some skills to start to transition into something lower stress and better paying (after working your way up the ladder in help desk). Especially if you're willing to pursue education on your own time, even if it's nothing formal. Seriously, working in restaurants is something you do because you love it, you have literally no other alternatives, you're paying your way through school, or something else along those lines. It's hard to make a career out of it, especially BOH, because ultimately it's hard on your body. If you want to gut it out, go for it. But there is a large contingent of regular posters ITT who got out of the industry and mostly use this as a place to just shoot the poo poo.
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Sep 21, 2018 02:38
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Tezcatlipoca posted:
You know head counts ahead of time, prep is counted out for the next day, dietary restrictions are known in advance, and you already have an alternative or modified plate designed to fit with coursed service, so on and so forth. I always tell people to start in banquets, it's so much easier to scale down to restaurant service than it is to scale up to banquets.
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Sep 21, 2018 02:39
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Skwirl posted:Eventually your soul dies and you become okay giving customers "good enough" food. You also stop caring about ticket times because you recognize that you're only human while you'll probably get faster you still can only make a certain amount of food at a time. The hospital has done this for me. Especially when patients sit on their asses for an hour at 5, then they all start ordering at 6 like dumb motherfuckers. Yes I have no patience for patients. The money is good at least, and it's otherwise not stressful.
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Sep 21, 2018 02:51
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JacquelineDempsey posted:Ah, thanks for the replies, guys! Figured that's what CdC was talking about, but never knew about "vodka wipes". Shepard's pie omelette. Bit of ground beef (or lamb if you can get it for a price) with peas/carrots/onion/corn in a beef gravy and a bit of whipped potato. Sounds weird, but this is an actual thing I've eaten and it was surprisingly good.
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Sep 21, 2018 06:05
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JacquelineDempsey posted:Ah, thanks for the replies, guys! Figured that's what CdC was talking about, but never knew about "vodka wipes". I got one I like to call the "whole can of Spam" omelette. It's five to six eggs, every kind of cheese you have in the building and one can of spam diced small and fried extra crispy. The trick is to layer the spam and the cheese so you don't just have a wad of dry spam in the middle.
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Sep 21, 2018 08:05
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I finally dropped a dime on dummy. Once again, he was drinking and getting high all throughout the dinner shift. This time, it had to be more than weed. He came back from his fifteenth bathroom break really hosed up. Even if it was just beer and pot, I'm not handing a knife to this guy anymore. I told boss man and he agreed it's a problem. He'll "tell him." I don't know if he's telling him he's fired, he's back down to dishwasher, or what. Worst of all, we have one of those open kitchen style setups, I don't know what the exact term is, but about half of the customers can watch us do our thing. This guy's on the end of the line, so our clientele are treated to a view of a slack-jawed idiot, leaning this way and that, obviously not hard at work, and to make matters worse, he's also just a really unfortunate looking guy. He looks dumb even when he's perfectly sober, which I can't guarantee he ever is. We had a really sharp, awesome, experienced cook leave because boss man is stingy with the money. Either that or he got deported or thrown in a camp, we have no idea, we're unable to contact him. Which brings me to my question: Why the gently caress does everybody assume the liability of hiring people whose paperwork is not in order when all this crazy poo poo is going down? When it's been going down for decades? And why the gently caress let some high, drunk idiot replace a good guy instead of just handing out a few more dollars for quality craftsmanship? Are our margins paper thin? I've been here a year, we've lost three good to great cooks, our foh manager, our temporary replacement foh manager, and I'm splitting next month if el jefe won't put more money in my pocket. It's a situation. I enjoy being a cook, though, and will be looking for work in this field.
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Sep 21, 2018 08:42
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Undocumented workers work cheap, keep their heads down, and never ever ask for unemployment or workers' comp. They are an incredible draw to a certain sort of cheapass owner.
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Sep 21, 2018 10:50
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Liquid Communism posted:Undocumented workers work cheap, keep their heads down, and never ever ask for unemployment or workers' comp. Also seem to have a disproportionate number of bomb rear end cooks.
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Sep 21, 2018 11:39
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A problem in all fields in the US right now (I’ve seen computer touchers complaining about it) is that management treats all staff as fully interchangeable with no training or investment or turnover costs. There are some limited ways in which this is a reasonable way to approach the current labor market, and a ton of ways in which this is wrong and self-destructive. A big driver is foreign worker abuse (undocumented, or through abusing the visa system), and the ongoing destruction of the US education system by idiot stemlords and Randian disrupters.
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Sep 21, 2018 13:06
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Discendo Vox posted:A problem in all fields in the US right now (I’ve seen computer touchers complaining about it) is that management treats all staff as fully interchangeable with no training or investment or turnover costs. There are some limited ways in which this is a reasonable way to approach the current labor market, and a ton of ways in which this is wrong and self-destructive. A big driver is foreign worker abuse (undocumented, or through abusing the visa system), and the ongoing destruction of the US education system by idiot stemlords and Randian disrupters. Man, if there were a way for workers to form a union against the management.
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Sep 21, 2018 14:16
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Skwirl posted:It's kinda funny to me that restaurant owners and managers generally understand that quality ingredients for their food and good booze for the bar costs more than lower quality ones, but can't accept the same principle applies to labor. I work at a retirement joint and I'm a new manager. We're putting in a new restaurant downstairs where the deli used to be. My boss told me how much it cost to put a door in the wall between the kitchen elevator hallway and the new patio. More than I make in a year. I mutter these words each time I pass it, especially working over eight hours on salary.
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Sep 21, 2018 16:27
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Republicans posted:I got one I like to call the "whole can of Spam" omelette. It's five to six eggs, every kind of cheese you have in the building and one can of spam diced small and fried extra crispy. The trick is to layer the spam and the cheese so you don't just have a wad of dry spam in the middle. That's a lot of food for $6. I think the SPAM alone is like $4. It's also over 1,000 calories before eggs and cheese. Do it.
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Sep 21, 2018 16:47
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Also undocumented workers won't report wage theft or poo poo like not giving legally mandated breaks or massive OSHA violations.
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Sep 21, 2018 17:01
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Skwirl posted:Also undocumented workers won't report wage theft or poo poo like not giving legally mandated breaks or massive OSHA violations. This. I was fortunate enough to spend most of my time working for an ownership group that was actually really decent to workers, but I've heard some real horror stories about how workers are treated here in Houston. It's funny too, because there is a massive lack of talent right now due to the sheer size of the F&B business right now, and it's been that way for years. Owners bitch about it all the time but then gently caress over everyone they do hire, there are a few that have a certain reputation for doing exactly that.
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Sep 21, 2018 17:29
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BBQ Dave posted:I work at a retirement joint and I'm a new manager. We're putting in a new restaurant downstairs where the deli used to be. My boss told me how much it cost to put a door in the wall between the kitchen elevator hallway and the new patio. Restaurants: simultaneously operating on razor thin profit margins and very profitable.
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Sep 21, 2018 19:40
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iospace posted:Man, if there were a way for workers to form a union against the management. "Hey guys working here sucks. Let's form a union." "Lol. gently caress off." That is how that conversation goes.
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Sep 21, 2018 20:21
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BBQ Dave posted:I work at a retirement joint and I'm a new manager. We're putting in a new restaurant downstairs where the deli used to be. My boss told me how much it cost to put a door in the wall between the kitchen elevator hallway and the new patio. Uh, what kind of door is this? Are they putting it through structural support, plumbing and AC, running power and lighting to it, attaching alarms, a pneumatic ADA entry system, and plating it in silver? Doors, even exterior commercial doors, are not all that expensive.
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Sep 21, 2018 21:00
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I imagine it's more where they put it was pricey than what the actual door cost.
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Sep 21, 2018 22:37
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Field Mousepad posted:I imagine it's more where they put it was pricey than what the actual door cost. I know, even so that's bonkers. That chunk of wall must be seriously no-door territory for it to cost that much.
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Sep 22, 2018 00:44
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Discendo Vox posted:I know, even so that's bonkers. That chunk of wall must be seriously no-door territory for it to cost that much. You're assuming you know what he makes in a year. I agree, it is probably a crazy number, but those ADA compliant openers plus all the associated contractors are not cheap. Edit: NM I just noticed that he said salary. drat, I agree with Vox then. Was the GC a friend of the owner or something, was this single bid? Shooting Blanks fucked around with this message at 01:55 on Sep 22, 2018 |
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Sep 22, 2018 01:41
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I will be in Phoenix Saturday and Sunday, any goon run spots I should go to? Will be visiting mu buddy going to the Bears game.
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Sep 22, 2018 02:04
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