Oh yeah for sure!
I’m originally from Chicago and a few years back I won a James Beard Award which turned my life upside down and I got asked to move to Florida (Siesta Key) to open a restaurant and catering facility, so I thought f**k yeah! And now I’m experiencing what “season” is all about when I’m catering a offsite party of 4000, while doing another party of 400 in our ballroom, with a 200 in our other one, another 100 over there AND a restaurant full of guests…on a Tuesday lol what did I get myself in to!?!
lol I feel your pain all that stress would have given me a heart attack by now. I enjoy the simpler things like not managing anymore , not planning the functions or the menus, just going in looking at the count grabbing the recipe book and doing my thing and laughing at all the new fresh out of school guys with their big attitudes running around like a chicken with their heads cut off …
Ah yeah man…they know everything right?
Well…the definitions at least lol
hahaha exactly and wouldn’t know time management if it jumped up and bit them in the ass
Man Florida is the worst for culinary staff!! Laid back beach mentality and shit…not what I thought it would be!! Thankfully the Gulf is in my front yard so I’m reminded of what I love about it everyday I get home haha
Where abouts are you if you don’t mind? (please don’t say Florida… please don’t say Florida)
hahaha no not Florida , I am in Williamsburg , Va and that attitude is like that with the majority of younger cooks these days. It’s sd when a 47 year old man like myself can get more don’t in 3 hours then they do in 8 , and that’s with , well used to be with, taking a smoke break quite often. I have a few friends down there that have been begging me to move there saying jobs are a plenty lol
Well then I’m in the wrong area of Florida haha, We have been here almost 3 years now and there is a lot of quick seasonal cook jobs sure but that’s for a few months only. As far as someone like yourself or me who are about the same age with experience and we need a stable salary paid job…good luck!
That’s what I have always believed is our “curse”. We work and get ourselves to a certain level in our career and it’s almost like we have worked our way out of a job, in the sense that we can’t just go take an hourly line cook position to support a family(mine 4) and we rarely can ever even take a sous spot either. So it’s a grueling hunt to find that 1 place with a hole in it for an exec or even De cuisine spot ya know?
But we are a completely different kind of breed…gluttons for punishment…
That’s exactly right, and its the main reason I stepped away from the line and management and do just prep and caterings, both of those I find easy and stress free, let the younger guys have the high stress jobs. I got tired of fighting with the younger crowd who only wanted to make a name for themselves and have NO CONCEPT OF FOOD OR LABOR COSTS which is the primary reason a restaurant is successful in the first place. At 27 years of experience I have owners that cringe when the get my resume and do it infront of my face, lol
Can I reiterate my suggestion that someone start a thread for chef talk? LoL
Definitely NOT culinary school; probably the farthest thing from it. I’m a computer science major, minor in biology. My hope is to get into bioinformatics with one of the big biotech companies in my area. The closest thing I’ve come to being a chef is being a mom…which is kind of like being a short order cook when you have a picky kid. LoL. I dated a chef once…does that count? I love to cook, mostly breakfast and dessert cuz those are the most fun, but there’s no way I could handle the pressure of doing it for a living. Definitely something I’d think you would need to be passionate about to stay in.
Hi everyone! I’m Jim a friend of @DarthVapor, he has spoken VERY highly of you guys and this site so I thought I would give it a try!
What’s up brother!! It’s about damn time you got on here! Happy to have ya Jim (even though we see each other every week)
You just have to log on more then once though
Welcome jimmy. A friend of DarthVapor is a friend of mine. Have fun and if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
I will say this may get confusing for me having two friends named Jim on here…I suppose @Jimk you will always be my #1 sweet cheeks and Jimmy…well you’re Jimmy!
hey Jim welcome bro hang and see what’s goin down…
some cool shit if u vape
Actually I kinda owe it to this guy for getting me to diy! Short version…I got into vaping and I was buying my juices when I found out he actually made them (way before I even knew it was a thing) so I picked THE SHIT out of his brain and well…here I am!
I got a guy like that to hahaha I think I just traded a bottle of juice for a tfv4… I FKN HOPE HE BRINGS IT TO WORK TOMORROW!!!
@jimmee1; welcome! and I don’t mind sharing @DarthVapor; there’s enough of him to go around, obviously!
#1 sweet cheeks?..it was honey boopkins last night! Oh my god, really now…you’re getting me confused with another man! ; )
Shit! It was our Honey Boopkins Friday wasn’t it! See this is why I tell you not to roofie me 1 there’s absolutely no need for it and 2 I get my days mixed up!
I want my purple jammies back btw
See ya @jimmee1! I can already see you running away in absolute horror! What a way to get introduced lol!
I’m hoping you just went to work
…and suddenly there was an eerie silence all throughout the thread…