Overheard a customer tell his friend that chefs are just 'glorified line cooks'

I was grabbing a drink after my shift last night at this bar near the kitchen and this guy in a suit was talking loud about how our job is basically just following instructions. He said anyone with a microwave could do what we do. I wanted to go over there and ask him how many tickets he's ever fired during a 200-cover rush on a Saturday. But I just sat there fuming into my beer instead. My station was hitting 300 degrees and we were down a prep guy, nothing glorified about that sweat. Has anyone else had to bite their tongue around clueless customers like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

emeryfox19d agoMost Upvoted

Threw my apron at the sous and told him to wipe that smirk off my face.

kim_nelson19d ago

Did your friend actually do that, or just think about it? My buddy Tom once chucked his chef coat at a dishwasher who kept banging pans during service. The dishwasher just laughed and threw it back at him, so Tom ended up in the walk-in fuming for ten minutes. Next shift they were best friends again, but that coat hit the floor like a towel at a gym.