Vent: a line cook at my old spot in Portland said our pork was dry, and the chef just nodded
I was at a bar in Portland last month and ran into a line cook I worked with 2 years ago. He said the chef used to tell him the pork loin was dry but never showed him how to fix it, just sent it back. That got me thinking about how many kitchens I've been in where nobody passes down the why, only the what, so cooks just guess until they quit. Anybody else work somewhere that actually taught technique instead of just yelling tickets?
I've heard this same story from cooks in every city I've worked. Sometimes the chef doesn't know how to teach it either, they just know when something's wrong. Pork loin is tricky though, it dries out fast if you're not careful. Not saying the chef was right to just send it back, but kitchens are loud and fast and half the time nobody has a free minute to break down technique. Is it really a big deal though? Cooks move around so much anyway, you pick up stuff wherever you land.