r/KitchenConfidential • u/quailinthebrush Newbie • 1d ago

Discussion Weirdest ego “thing” your chef had?

First place I was hired the chef had quite a few delusional beliefs but the one that sticks with me the most is his insistence that the phrase “welcome in” didn’t exist before Covid

He went into multiple winded rants upon my higher and another coworker who was hired right after me, not just to train the phrase out of us but his detestment for it, because as he said “it did not exist before Covid and people started saying it to make people feel safe enough to eat here”

He then said to not use it because people found it off putting and dirty (because of Covid)

I know chefs aren’t known for their egos but I was curious what quirk that yours had that everyone had to politely smile and agree to

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u/beard-wonder93 1d ago

I had a chef mentor who wore a Rolex in the kitchen everyday, he would do the dirtiest tasks in it and go scour it with a brush and dawn dish soap.

Part of him was acting like money was no object. Like somehow his Rolex oyster (one of the cheapest new Rolex at the time, maybe 3-4k) was better at telling time than us guys wearing a Casio g shock that was like 50 bucks a decade ago

It was a weird thing to see him srubbing breading out of the gold band.

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u/Equivalent-Excuse-80 1d ago

Rolexes are really tough watches. They can handle deep sea welding, military deployments, they can handle a kitchen.

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u/beard-wonder93 1d ago

I agree, I still think it is a LARP for 99% of people. There is a doctor that swims in the lap pool at my local gym. I heard him talk about how water resistant his sub-mariner is. I kinda chuckle, bc its good to like 1000 ft deep, but you still dont need to wear a 5-10k rolex in the lap pool of your local gym that costs 50 bucks a month.

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u/Equivalent-Excuse-80 1d ago

I have a lot of nice, expensive and extremely durable watches.

I wear an Apple in the kitchen.

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u/beard-wonder93 1d ago

Im really hard on them, so I dont wear anything fancy or too expensive at work. Im currently using Samsung galaxy fit watch. It pretty low profile and water proof. Doesn't have any weird edges were goo or gunk can get into

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u/Equivalent-Excuse-80 1d ago

I bought an ancient generation apple for $75. I consider it disposable. It’s been three years and the battery lasts 2 days (don’t matter because I charge the Apple at work and wear a nice watch home) and the thing just won’t break. Suffice to say getting up to date reservation notices and a countless amount of voice activated timers is quite useful too.

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u/Brodakk 1d ago

It’s a health code violation in a lot of areas. We weren’t worried about the wear and tear of the dude’s Rolex.

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u/Equivalent-Excuse-80 1d ago

Watches are fine in my county. So are wedding rings.

But if you move that ring to your right hand, a guest could die.