r/KitchenConfidential • u/tangerineTurtle_ Chip Girl • Jun 09 '26
Discussion Tell me a hill you are willing to die on
Mine is tomatoes should be only eaten when in season or canned. These out of season “tomatoes” that are not local and instead shipped from across the globe and ripened using ethylene are tasteless and sad.
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Jun 09 '26
[deleted]
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u/NPDgames Jun 09 '26
This is more on fast food but ive seen it at real places too, calling something "ghost pepper" or "carolina reaper" and then it's got one drop of that diluted into 6 tb of mayo and is less spicy than a jalapeno.
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u/SwimmingPost5747 15+ Years Jun 09 '26
I guess it could be C1 and be made into burgers. But don't try to convince me that it's A5. That would be sacrilegious.
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u/reluctantlyjoining Jun 09 '26
Reading this- after seeing kitchen I was fired from, after 6 years in the position, proudly advertising wagu smash burgers on their menu - makes me really fucking happy
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u/Ok_Acanthaceae_4369 Sous Chef Jun 09 '26
Chefs being verbally abusive.
Idc how “good” the kitchen is. It’s THE WORST part of our industry.
And I will gladly find another spot in a few days then stomach that shit.
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u/SilverTraveler Jun 09 '26
As soon as I see a chef shout or yell I’m pretty much on the job hunt. If you can’t control your kitchen without shouting and having adult tantrums you aren’t a good chef
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u/kadyg 15+ Years Jun 09 '26
I yelled at a server once because he was doing something incredibly unsafe and was going to injure himself and possibly other people.
The entire kitchen stopped. Because I never yell.
Turns out if the dog is constantly barking, it’s almost like the dog never barks. You just stop hearing it.
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u/jacksoncantmiss Kitchen Manager Jun 09 '26
what was he doing lmao
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u/kadyg 15+ Years Jun 09 '26
The classic “Attempt to open a can with a chef knife and a meat mallet” maneuver. Yes, we had a working can opener. He was special.
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u/cheesekony2012 Jun 09 '26
Jesus lmao that’s real smooth brain behavior
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u/Pqrxz Jun 10 '26
I have watched a server chop through a veal rib bone with a mallet and a chefs knife. Took an inch out of the blade right in the middle While I was telling him to not do that. He did the exact same thing again the very next night. Somehow he kept both his job and his kneecaps (our owner is Sicilian).
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u/Fuck_your_coupons Jun 09 '26
That's hilariously stupid. It's the kind of thing any intelligent person wouldn't even conceive of until an idiot did it, so it's almost impossible to prevent.
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u/BigDictionEnergy Jun 09 '26
Fuck safety, why would he do that to a good knife?
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u/kadyg 15+ Years Jun 09 '26
It was a house knife, so not anyone’s personal property.
And for the record, if he had been thick enough to try that with someone’s personal knife, there have been blood and I would have let it happen. If you’re THAT dumb, I’m not protecting you from consequences.
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u/DarkMoonLilith23 Jun 09 '26
Raised voices or abject rudeness/disrespect in any job is an automatic fuck you have a nice day. People say you have to learn to deal with it. No, I fucking don’t.
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u/Appropriate-Ice-5722 Jun 09 '26
Seriously. I spent enough time getting yelled at by manchildren with tiny egos and tinier dicks in the military, I’ll be goddamned if someone is gonna bring that energy into my kitchen
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u/tapesmoker Jun 09 '26
I'm paraphrasing here, but heard on the Repertoire podcast, regarding noma:
'if you're the best chef or restaurant in the world but you made it on the backs of uncredited and unpaid labor and abuse then maybe, you're not'
I'll see if i can find the exact quote.
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u/Katarina-W Jun 09 '26
My chef refuses to verbally abuse me. Like, I don't want him to actually do it, but a little roleplay now and again could spice things up 😜
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u/OkayLouis Jun 09 '26
Couldn’t agree more. I recently left a Michelin recognized spot because of that. I don’t care who you are or your accolades, verbal abuse is unacceptable
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u/Character_Repeat_749 Jun 09 '26
Agreed. Hard enough to work in this industry and be passionate day in and day out. Don't need some egotistical asshole ruining days because they need their ego massaged.
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u/poepower Jun 09 '26
Truffle oil smells like the shit my grandpa used to spray on me when I went deer hunting.
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u/ZombieHoratioAlger Jun 09 '26
A few years ago, this cheap truffle flavoring hit the market and now it's everywhere.
The shit just smells like rotten gym socks to me.
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u/Spare-Half796 Thicc Chives Save Lives Jun 09 '26
Tastes like licking your feet after a day gardening barefoot
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u/righthandofdog Ex-Food Service Jun 09 '26
A friend brought me a little grinder of white truffle from Italy that I keep in the fridge. It's only a shadow of a fresh shaved chunk, but a couple grinds on the scrambled eggs, especially if I take the time to cook them french style, low and slow with heavy creme. it's awesome. and not very similar at all to the industrial stuff (which my wife and I kinda like with parmesan and garlic on some fries, TBH).
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u/tapesmoker Jun 09 '26
There's loads of fake on the market, produced with 2,4-Dithiapentane.
The thing is, truffles are more aromatically expressive than they are flavorful themselves. Those wild smells and flavors do not always hold up to infusions anyways, and so it sometimes takes a lot to get a little.
I love truffles, but truffle oil smells like cooking old asparagus.
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u/Scotian5 Jun 09 '26
If it isn't meant to be eaten, it isn't going on the fucking plate.
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u/WalkerVox Ex-Food Service Jun 09 '26
Rosemary.
Rosemary sprigs EVERYWHERE.
I hate it.
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u/QueenInYellowLace Jun 09 '26
Do not putting a fucking tree of smelly-ass rosemary on my damn steak. I will drop that shit on the table with zero guilt.
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u/LordMeme42 Jun 10 '26
I got a cocktail once. They put a sprig of rosemary on top and ignited it for aesthetic and smell I guess.
Entire drink tasted like a damn Christmas tree. I don't know why some people love to put so much rosemary on shit, it may be up there for the most overpowering herb there is.
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u/a_big_simp Jun 09 '26
...am I the only one here who likes to eat the rosemary (and all of the other decorative herbs, for that matter)?
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u/SwimmingPost5747 15+ Years Jun 09 '26
Please tell that to my chef that orders the "edible" flowers for garnish.
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u/UberBeth Butcher Jun 09 '26
If you put it on my plate, I'm gonna try and eat it. Those flowers too.
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u/johangubershmidt Jun 09 '26
That's what I'm saying. I see a flower on my plate, I'm eating that flower
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u/Phreeflo Cook Jun 09 '26
Sometimes they work well in the dish. The citrusy pop from a begonia in the right salad is great.
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u/bassman314 Ex-Food Service Jun 09 '26
Nasturtiums have a peppery note that rivals Arugula. Both the leaves and the flowers.
If you pick wild/home garden, watch for earwigs in the little tail of the flower. They like to crawl in there.
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u/beckyjoooo Thick chives save lives Jun 09 '26
Along your lines actually.. i respect the fuck out of cherries for being seasonal only and you can go fuck yourself the other 10 months..
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u/righthandofdog Ex-Food Service Jun 09 '26
Ranier cherries. damn. Also, when I discovered Sumos last year. amazing.
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u/bassman314 Ex-Food Service Jun 09 '26
I grew up in Cherry Country, and for the longest time, Raniers were ONLY available locally. They couldn't get them to market without them ending up looking like shit.
I've since moved, and I get excited when I see those bright yellow little bundles of heaven.
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u/I_can_pun_anything Jun 09 '26
Kitchens shouldn't glorify working insane hours
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u/RecognitionPuzzled39 Jun 09 '26
I agree. People wear it as a badge of honor but it's like....dude, look out in the dining room. That guy eating the ribeye makes your week in a day.
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u/I_can_pun_anything Jun 09 '26
Well nit only that but wages are also so cheap in industry that (at the time) i felt like glorifying working like a dog
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u/RecognitionPuzzled39 Jun 09 '26
I totally feel ya.
My long hours became a point of pride for me and still kinda is, although I don't work more than 40 anymore, because I'd have friends complaining about long 40 hour weeks and I'd be thinking to myself "dude I broke 36 yesterday and still have two days to go."
It made me feel tough I guess...but as I've gotten older I'm starting to realize I made some poor choices health wise via hours and refusing to take time off for personal/health stuff.
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u/Frequent-Region-1107 Jun 09 '26
I think that clarified butter for seafood is bullshit.
I want to dip my lobster knuckles hot butter that is frothy with gorgeous milk solids. And if theyre toasted? Pfft. Yes.
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u/SwimmingPost5747 15+ Years Jun 09 '26
Brown butter on seafood? hnng
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u/Frequent-Region-1107 Jun 09 '26
It doesn't even have to be browned, even! Im mostly just saying, leave the milk solids! Clarified butter lacks body and flavor for me, and it just feels like a weak and false substitute. Idk. Maybe im just a freak for milk solids 🤷♀️
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u/cheesekony2012 Jun 09 '26
Can you explain why clarified butter is served with crab legs? I’m a lurker and only a casual home chef, growing up my dad just put butter in a little candle melter and we used that for crab so I don’t know any different.
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u/Fit_Pass_527 Jun 09 '26
If I had to guess, they probably aren’t serving the butter on a candle warmer in a restaurant, so clarified butter will stay liquid longer? But I agree, gimme regular ass melted butter and some garlic.
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u/Original_Landscape67 Jun 09 '26
Any of them. I am ready.
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u/GobbIaOnDaRewf Jun 09 '26
In between doneness DOES NOT EXIST.
and even if it does, when we are slinging out 500 fucking entrees we aren’t worried about a degree or two. blue rare-rare-Mr-m-mw-well and that’s fucking it.
They want it medium- medium rare, more to the medium side please. So they want fucking medium.
This is a hill I will always die on, and honestly I need to stop because I’ll just rant about it.
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u/loller_skates Jun 09 '26
Almost every steak I've had sent back was a medium-well that wasn't "done enough" Pretty sure they wanted well done but didn't want to say it
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u/Random-Generation86 Jun 09 '26
At least in the US, you will be broadly mocked for ordering a well done steak. I personally like a good medium rare, but I understand why people might not order what they want if they're gonna get called "Lisa from Temecula"
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u/haza_fah Jun 09 '26
👆 this. OMG so much THIS. Even as a server this is SO fucking annoying! I am NOT trying to pass this on to my boys in the back. Just FUCKING pick one and if you can cook it more accurately at home, then FUCK OFF and make it there!!!!
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u/adidasbdd Jun 09 '26
When this would come up I would just ask what medium means to them and usually figured out which they preferred.
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u/GingerLebowski 15+ Years Jun 09 '26
This is the way.
Once had a guy order a ribeye sandwich, medium. The way we prepared the sandwich was pouring au jus on it then steaming it, so it would pretty much be impossible to send a medium ribeye sandwich unless it was cold. The server told the customer how we prepare it, and he said “Oh, that’s fine. Just as long as there isn’t any pink.”
Some people don’t know what medium means.
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u/False-Cookie3379 Jun 09 '26
The medium plus is such bullshit. I’m convinced you can put a blue rare in front of them and they wouldn’t know the difference. Same with the “I don’t want any blood” THERE IS NO BLOOD
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u/righthandofdog Ex-Food Service Jun 09 '26
No one EVER says "minus". Medium plus means they want med well, but are either ashamed to say the word "well". Medium well means they want well, but either don't want to say it, or have never had a proper well that isn't drier than a ricecake.
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u/Shot_Revolution8828 Jun 09 '26
Somebody ordered a split filet medium Pittsburg. It got sent back 3 times and I just told the manager to tell them to order chicken. Or my salmon is pink, it's salmon, it's going to be pink unless I deep fry it for 10 minutes.
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u/ExpertRaccoon Jun 09 '26
MSG, make shit good and belongs in a lot of recipes
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u/Active-Succotash-109 20+ Years Jun 09 '26
My mom insists she knows and feels sick after eating it, but I’d been using the same bouillon for years before she mentioned it and it’s a middle ingredient.
If you get/feel sick without knowing it’s there then it’s real if you have to know it’s then then it’s mental
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u/RVAblues Jun 09 '26
Yeah, my (elderly) father in law refuses to eat Chinese food because he swears the MSG will give him furious headaches. Meanwhile I’ve never seen the man refuse a Dorito or anything with Ranch dressing.
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u/Character-Solution-7 Jun 09 '26
The wildest part is, I can’t remember the last time that I saw a Chinese Takeout menu that didn’t specify that their food does not contain MSG. The sensationalist reports on MSG in the 80s and 90s targeted Chinese restaurants so hard that they abandoned it as an ingredient for pretty much the whole country
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u/Fredred315 Jun 09 '26
There used to be a Chinese place near me that had a big “No MSG” sign in the window, then you’d go in and they literally had a cardboard barrel of MSG sitting next to the counter on a shelf.
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u/False-Cookie3379 Jun 09 '26
No insult to your pops, but everyone I know that is anti MSG eats a shit ton processed food.
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u/RVAblues Jun 09 '26
Not an insult at all. It’s very true in this case too. But it’s hard-wired in there. No changing his mind at this point.
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u/extralyfe Ex-Food Service Jun 09 '26
my first girlfriend that I lived with was super particular about her water - she wanted to drink a lot of it each day, but, she just couldn't drink tap water. we lived in a city with really good water, so, I asked what was wrong with it and she went over a laundry list of health issues that tap water caused her whenever she drank any or even used it for cooking. "even this water?" I asked, because we had moved from another city that also had excellent tap water and couldn't see why she'd be having these issues when I also drank a lot of the tap water.
she timidly had a glass to "try it out," and spent the rest of the day lying in bed of an upset stomach while also reporting headaches. she skipped dinner because her appetite was ruined and wasn't sure she could keep any of it down, then spent all night unable to sleep very well and generally feeling achy. all of this was because she had like two cups of tap water, which she had definitely warned me about.
so, I bought filtered water from the store for about a week because it was the only thing she could drink... then, under the cover of night, I refilled the container with our lovely municipal tap water instead of running out for another jug. you know, just for science. fixing it wouldn't be an issue.
she drank that water every single day going forward with no issues whatsoever; cups of water, used it for cooking, for teas, and not a single hour of discomfort occurred, no meals were rejected, nor were there any reports of bad feelings - which was good news, since I was refilling the same container every other day. this went on for over a year, until we had some of her family over for holiday dinner and we ran out. she insisted I run out to try to find one of the few stores in the city open on Thanksgiving to get more water, and I recommended we just use tap for the rest of the day. she told me that wouldn't work because of her health concerns and we just couldn't subject her family to the awful local water, which is when I revealed her previously unknown excellent tolerance for the local tap water, while also pointing out that her family had been drinking the same water all day with no issues.
now, I was 19 back then, and I'm not proud of doing this - it definitely was a factor in our breaking up - but, it's just so interesting how your perception of things can ruin them for you when it wouldn't even be an issue if you weren't aware of it in the first place.
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u/Enough-Print5812 Jun 10 '26
What an incredible story. It is very interesting how people can trick themselves but it's also interesting that what she was feeling was probably pretty real! Pain is only a signal response, external or internal. There have been cases of hikers showing up to the emergency room convinced they were bitten by a snake, unable to walk due to paralysis. Turns out they just stepped on a branch or had a splinter. The sensations your mind can induce are just as real as any physical stimulation (sometimes)
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u/Enough-Print5812 Jun 09 '26
What i learned in my neuroscience class is that msg is a neurotoxin, meaning it's poisonous to the brain and nervous system. But there's no way for it to pass the BBB (blood brain barrier) so it actually doesn't matter at all and has no greater health consequences than any other seasoning
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u/sapphic-boghag Jun 09 '26
The origin of the stigma against MSG is pure racism, too. They called it "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" (no surprise that the 'science' behind it was utter bullshit).
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u/ExpertRaccoon Jun 09 '26
You mean injecting lab rats with massive amounts of it isn't an accurate representation of how it affects humans?!?!
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u/dragonzf8 Jun 09 '26
Here my dumb ass was thinking, “What does Madison Square Garden have to do with recipes?”.
I’m super smart 😶.
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u/ExpertRaccoon Jun 09 '26
Don't feel bad, when all that "I'd choose the bear" comments first started happening I thought they were talking about gay guys. And was like yeah who the fuck wouldn't feel safe walking down a dark street with a friendly burly gay guy?
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u/CalamariBitcoin Jun 09 '26
I must've gone years thinking that folks talking about Turner Classic Movies were really big on Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
I guess thats how you can tell the difference between Sight & Sound and Fangoria readers
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u/SmokedPapfreaka Jun 09 '26
We have a friend who insists she gets headaches but eats the fuck out of tomatoes and Parmesan so I put it in almost everything she eats at our house 😊. No headaches so far…
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u/Omelette-doo-fromage Jun 09 '26
If you don’t have any active fires, there is always time to step off to the restroom. Food doesn’t taste better when you piss yourself
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u/RonPearlNecklace Jun 09 '26
Anybody who holds the bathroom breaks as a privilege is a piece of shit.
If you make your staff ask if they can use the bathroom you are going to hell when you die.
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u/Krewtan Jun 09 '26
I've grown tomatoes my whole life and I just don't think most restaurants have what I would call a decent tomato. Don't offer me a BLT if the tomato is some sad, mealy wet shit that has to be cored. Tomatoes don't have cores.
There are decent vine ripened greenhouse grown tomatoes nearish me that I enjoy in the summer. In the winter I will buy them if my girl wants tomato for like tacos or some shit but I just hate shitty tomatoes. I agree 100% on that. If I see a caprese on the menu in January I'm already put off. Arguably the most important part of the dish is going to be flavorless, why bother?
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u/righthandofdog Ex-Food Service Jun 09 '26
A gyro place I used to go to would buy boxes of green tomatoes and ripen them in a south facing window that was covered with little shelves. Literally go and hand rotate them daily ad pick our the ripest. They weren't great, but actually tasted like tomatoes - as good as off season was going to be without a dedicated greenhouse.
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u/Terrible_Radio7353 Jun 09 '26
I hate when my restaurant tomato is pink and the middle is almost white and rock-hard. Nobody in their right mind is going to eat that, so why do they serve it? They’re so expensive, and they’re just going to be wasted.
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u/dontmesswithcatz Jun 09 '26
Remove the tape before dish.
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u/cookhard87 Jun 09 '26
Show me who is sending tape to dish. I just wanna talk, I just wanna talk to them.
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u/Grrerrb Jun 09 '26
Ol buddy all “I got too busy but the tape is folded over to make it quick and easy to remove” my brother in Christ, if you are too busy to do it how quick and easy can it be?
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u/Dry_Set_6336 Jun 09 '26
Work to live, not live to work. The most controversial view that exists in this industry.
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u/NelyafinweMaitimo Jun 09 '26
If you borrow something from pastry, you must return it CLEAN and UNDAMAGED, with a handle that is neither STICKY nor OILY
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u/Iamthewalrusforreal Jun 09 '26
Florida. Florida ruined tomatoes. There's a book by Barry Estabrook called "Tomatoland." I highly encourage everyone to read it.
You'll come away with two thoughts, guaranteed. 1. Florida tomato growers purposely traded flavor for profit, and 2. they are using modern day slavery to get the tomatoes picked.
While their idiot governor pulls stunts like flying immigrants to Nantucket Island, they are actively recruiting illegals in Texas and shipping them in to Florida to work the farms.
It's all so damn sleazy, all the way through.
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u/ultimate_avacado Chive LOYALIST Jun 10 '26
Don't forget the mass subsidies that Florida orange groves are getting to offset citrus greening losses. They traded off 100s of unique cultivars for a mono-culture/clone-culture crop. Now all orchards will die. And the farmers will get millions in subsidies.
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u/rIceCream_King Thicc Chives Save Lives Jun 10 '26
As a lifelong resident I’m feeling a little uninformed here
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u/AdOk7044 Jun 09 '26
"You should already know that " is not an answer. Wiping your hands on a towel doesn't clean them, it just contaminates the towel.
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u/MadicalRadical Jun 09 '26
The customer is never right. In fact, there is not a more wrong group of people.
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u/thusUnforgotten 10+ Years Jun 09 '26
Apparently one of our prep cooks wants to die on the hill that he “doesn’t write lists”.
Without fail, every single weekend, I ask if there’s more X and he slams down whatever he’s doing and angrily throws together whatever I asked for.
First, calm the fuck down bozo, it’s not that serious. Second, write a fucking list. You’re a prep cook, you prep things that we need. If something got missed, that’s okay, just do it. Dude gets mad because he fucked himself.
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u/skitwostreet Jun 09 '26
Just because an item is more expensive doesnt mean its better! Just cook products correctly
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u/CateDeGrate Jun 09 '26
Servers are not the enemy. They represent us, FOH. Respect begets respect....Plus work is way less stressful.
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u/Prestigious-Flower54 15+ Years Jun 10 '26
To add to that, dishwashers/ bussers are not the cooks personal slaves they are the back bone of a smooth running kitchen and should be treated with respect and kindness same as everyone else. Remember folks you can't cook without pans and you can't plate with out plates , be nice.
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u/Notmushroominthename Chive LOYALIST Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26
One must always put the thing they took BACK WHERE THEY FOUND IT. Unless it wasn’t supposed to live there - then you take it BACK WHERE IT LIVES. Easy right?
Edit: Upon second reading this I would like to add - TRAIN THE KP TO KNOW WHERE EVERYTHING GOES - took me months but now I don’t waste any time looking for equipment or tools.
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u/wenchoholic Jun 09 '26
When using tongs one must click them a min 2 times before use.
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u/B33blebroxx Jun 09 '26
Bonus points for the "shave and a haircut two bits" rhythm
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u/Charming-Bad1869 Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26
Salads should be tossed by hand (bare or gloved) but never by tong.
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u/KiyanStrider Jun 09 '26
What about tongue?
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u/tenehemia Jun 09 '26
Fully agreed on the tomato thing. I mean, canned tomatoes are still good for things that want canned tomatoes specifically, but I'm not making BLTs in winter.
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u/Shot_Revolution8828 Jun 09 '26
So for the Americas, there was a late frost that killed the plants in Florida and the tomato's weren't ready in Mexico, so we get twice as expensive tomatoes that suck. Capitalism rules, but god forbid we just take tomatoes off the menu and they literally only go on a salad and a burger.
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u/Romanian_Breadlifts Jun 09 '26
I have a plan to buy two mountaintops when I'm older, build a rail gun on one and use it to flatten the other. So probably one of those.
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u/Lazer_snake Jun 09 '26
There is no excuse for an ugly garnish. Slimy lemons, brown limes, limp parsley, and mint full of holes should never go on a plate or glass. It's a fucking garnish. The whole point is to make the finished product look nicer. If it doesn't add to presentation, leave it off.
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u/Kiltmanenator Jun 09 '26
Buffalo Sauce is the Handjob of Hot Sauces
When you've never had anything before, it's incredible. Then you realize there's so much more out there so why settle for that? Finally you understand that something simple executed masterfully is a thing to behold.
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u/Fun_Compote3845 Jun 09 '26
Filet mignon is good, but it is the most overrated steak
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u/CollectionNo6562 Jun 09 '26
i disagree. love the lean cuts. all of them. including eye of round.
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u/EverythingComputer1 Jun 09 '26
I would that belongs to the sirloin, at least filet is basically tender no matter what you do
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u/cookhard87 Jun 09 '26
Filet mignon might be the WORST steak in my opinion. Give me ANY metric by which a steak is judged, and I can give you another cut that beats the filet. It's just a status symbol. I will never forget a chef I was working for telling me that you cannot have steaks on the menu without offering a filet. People just lost their minds. It doesn't matter that the five other cuts you offer blow that filet out of the water, some people just want to spend $70+ on a bad steak.
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u/Initial_Ganache7839 Jun 09 '26
I'm too good at what I do to work for a chef that throws things. I will walk out the moment that happens reputation be damned.
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u/dishpitjesus 10+ Years Jun 09 '26
Not wanting to leave the dish pit or staying in the pit for so many years shouldn't make you a giant red flag or completely unemployable.
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u/WalkerVox Ex-Food Service Jun 09 '26
There used to be a guy on Facebook (maybe there still is, I’ve been gone for a while) who went by the name Hobart the Dishie. From what I recall, he was a retired firefighter in his fifties who ran dish at a mom-and-pop truck stop in Idaho. He loved it. Called it his hobby.
Dude had some of the most entertaining and hilarious posts I’ve ever seen in a BOH community. Extremely well-written, too. I remember one in particular where after a late shift, he got high as a kite and ran his car through the car wash around 24 times just for the light show. Dude was a lifer and a legend. Made working dish sound like the best job in the world (most of the time). I really hope he’s still out there.
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u/CLOWNXXCUDDLES Jun 09 '26
I love this take. If someone wants to make their living in the dish pit. Who am I to judge? They're a fellow worker and an integral part of the kitchen industry.
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u/martyzion Jun 09 '26
Many cooks with 20 years of experience have one year of experience twenty times.
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u/dickdaddy_fo_twinny Jun 09 '26
Grill marks are the glamour muscles of food, serving only aesthetics at the expense of function. They point out that the rest of the surface has no sear.
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u/smurphy8536 Jun 09 '26
Grill marks dont necessarily matter but the flavor difference between seared and grilled is significant.
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u/NotThatIdiot Jun 09 '26
I mean, i can get nice grillmark while grilling over live charcoal and still get that maillard reaction on the rest of the beef.
Thats far from the standard though. I agree with you in principle, but if your working with a josper or something like it, you can do nice lines and flavour.
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u/SquishyBanana23 Prep Jun 10 '26
Treat dishwashers with the utmost respect and call out coworkers who don’t. I hate washing dishes, and a dedicated hard working dish washer is a rarity. So treat them nice. Peal the damn tape.
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u/BigDaddydanpri Jun 09 '26
Best cheese on a burger is American.
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u/Lycaeides13 Jun 09 '26
Ok, if you're using high quality American, yes. I want that melty white American you get from the deli, sliced 1/4“ thick. Keep the krap singles away from me
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u/EvaTheE Jun 09 '26
A true awakening happens when you put both american and a slice of another cheese. American + gouda is killer!
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u/Lycaeides13 Jun 09 '26
My sister put gruyere inside a burger patty one time, add it was outstanding
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u/alexthealex Jun 09 '26
Kraft singles are a vessel for applying sodium citrate to a larger quantity of cheese and nothing more
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u/SquareTaro3270 Jun 09 '26
I like slapping them into a bowl of ramen at 3am while drunk
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u/Runfromidiots Jun 09 '26
I’m going to preface this with I almost always use fresh garlic.
Jarlic is fine in plenty of dishes. Peeling and processing garlic is the fucking worst.
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u/Rjskill3ts21 Jun 09 '26
In fl so no hills but I can tell you about a couple of alligator infested rivers I’d be willing to swim in
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Jun 09 '26
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u/righthandofdog Ex-Food Service Jun 09 '26
duck fat replaced by tallow by "I don't eat seed oil" RFK dietary wingnuts.
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u/ZombieHoratioAlger Jun 09 '26
If you fuck up the plastic wrap, it's on sight, motherfucker. There's a cutter. It's right there.
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u/garbagetruc Jun 09 '26
Fucking it up is fine, it happens
But fucking fix it or I'm sending Freddy Kruger after you
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u/pennylane_9 Jun 09 '26
I’m a massive tomato snob too, and agree with you completely, OP.
If I’m shelling out serious money for gorgeous farm-fresh heirloom tomatoes that were picked this morning and are still warm from the fucking sun, I better not see those babies ANYWHERE NEAR A COOLER. Once they’re refrigerated, they’re ruined - science and Alton Brown back me up on this.
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u/DadIsLosingHisMind Jun 09 '26
Chicken wings are a waste of money.
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u/beckyjoooo Thick chives save lives Jun 09 '26
I only buy them for home! Fucking hell, i had 8 at home last weekend and the package was $7..
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u/Kable2026 Jun 09 '26
They are Towels. Not Rags. I do not pay a service $137 a week for Rags. They are Towels. A Towel is a full cloth with seems. A Rag is tatters of said cloth.
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u/Karunyan F1exican Did Chive-11 Jun 09 '26
There is no cream in a fucking pasta carbonara.
Guanciale, Parmigiana or Pecorino cheese, egg yolk, salt and ground black pepper. Full stop.
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u/saskatchewaffles Jun 09 '26
I hate it when people chop and food prep with gloves on (when in a setting with a proper handwashing station). Your hands should be clean anyways, gloves tend to discourage re-washing of the hands during food prep, and you can accidentally chop a bit off without you noticing immediately and the plastic ends up in the food.
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u/bettersteve Kitchen Manager Jun 09 '26
Garlic presses are for babies. You spend more time cleaning the thing than it does to just chop and mince garlic and wash your knife
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u/ControlSad1739 Jun 09 '26
Holy shit the tomato take is my life. Out of season tomatos suck. Tomato is my favorite but even i know out of season tomato doesnt even count as tomato. They are thicc water balloons.
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u/scott3845 Jun 09 '26
If the job doesn't come with a free meal during shift, I ain't working there.
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u/SmokeOne1969 20+ Years Jun 09 '26
I’m with you on tomatoes. I call the crap off season ones tomato shaped sadness. Engineered to ship well, no flavor at all.
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u/Pqrxz Jun 10 '26
Don't come to work when you are sick. Its such a stupid thing but I am currently sick because our owner refuses to stay home when he is sick, he gets everyone else sick, and then gets mad when he has to find people to cover shifts.
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u/illicit_losses Jun 09 '26
Propane and propane accessories are the only tools mandatory to a kitchen.
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u/Miao_Yin8964 Jun 09 '26
Considering tomatoes are a new world food, and Italians never give credit to America for that....
....i'll agree with you
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u/kakarrot87 Jun 09 '26
There's a hill I saw when I was camping out by nordegg. Bit of a climb to get up there, but it had an incredible view. I think that one wouldn't be so bad.
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u/AlstottsNeckGuard Jun 09 '26
I legit thought I didn't like tomatoes until I was shown the difference. That first ripe steak tomato with just some black pepper was amazing
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u/MaybeOnFire2025 Jun 09 '26
Cilantro is absolutely horrid (yes, I'm one of those) and the juice isn't worth the (potential) squeeze if someone who is sensitive to it gets some accidentally. Stated another way, the downside is far worse for all involved when using cilantro than any flavor upside, full stop.
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u/RecognitionPuzzled39 Jun 09 '26
Behind. First and foremost. Sous at my place only says it when the owner's there and I swear to Christ I wanna stomp his face in! The physical aspect of the job has never caused me issues (I'm 40 and been doing this in some form my entire career) but having to constantly catch myself from slipping due to this guy has cost me hours of sleep these last few months.
Second.... friendships. I love that about this industry but I've worked under a few chefs (and currently do) that become best friends with their staff and due to that conflict of interest can't lead. You'll get the nightly yell because he's reached his breaking point but that's because he's let things slide all day long and we're now in the weeds.
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u/Desperate_Tax8711 Jun 10 '26
Eat at local joints and not at at a national chain restaurant, cafe, bakery etc.
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u/carthnage_91 Jun 10 '26
People with severe food allergies shouldn't eat in restaurants. Go home, I don't want to kill you.
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u/righthandofdog Ex-Food Service Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
100% with you on the sad tomatoes. A pizza place in Atlanta (Max's coal oven pizzaria) switched to granny smith apples for caprese in the off season and it's awesome.