Hot take: That line cook at my last gig taught me more than any culinary school class

I was working a Friday night service in a busy spot in Portland, Oregon about 3 years ago. We were getting crushed and I was on garde manger just trying to keep up. This older guy named Rick on the hot line saw me struggling to plate a cold appetizer and just walked over, said "stop trying to be perfect and start being fast," then showed me his trick for quenelles using two spoons instead of one. He didn't say much the rest of the night but every time I was about to mess up he'd look over and make this little hand signal to slow down. It stuck with me because he wasn't trying to teach me some fancy technique, he just wanted me to survive service without losing my cool. Has anyone else had a coworker like that who changed how you work without even trying?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_ruby23d ago

Rick sounds like a real one, those little tricks from seasoned cooks hit different than anything in a classroom.

skylercooper23d ago

Read somewhere that most pro chefs learned more from failing in the kitchen than from any cookbook.