When I worked a station in New Orleans during Jazz Fest 2019 I learned I prep way too much

I was doing a guest stint at this Creole spot on Decatur and the head chef there told me to stop prepping like I was expecting a hurricane. I had 4 gallons of stock ready for a Tuesday service and he just laughed and said "you're wasting time and product." He showed me how they order daily and prep for that day only. I used to think that was crazy but after that week I saw how much fresher their food was compared to my old place. Started cutting my prep lists in half after that trip and it saved me money and fridge space. Anyone else had a chef call them out on overprepping?

2 comments

2 Comments

black.amy1mo ago

hold on, you said stock for Tuesday service? If you were using it that day or the next day it's fine but 4 gallons for a Tuesday is a lot. The real trick is the day before you do a big prep day, you use up what you already have. You don't need to make everything from scratch every single time. You can do a partial restock and build on what's already in the walk-in. That chef was probably also trying to show you how to manage your mise en place better. If you look at your menu and see what's actually going to sell, you can usually guess within a quart or two of what you'll need. That's the real skill, not just making less.

the_mary1mo ago

You ever work a brunch shift where you prepped like 10 quarts of hollandaise and then only sold like 6 eggs benedict? I did that once at a spot in Austin and the owner made me dump half of it in the trash at the end of service. Broke my heart. But @black.amy is right about that menu math thing. I started writing down what we actually sold for two weeks straight before I did any prep. Turns out my Tuesday lunch crowd only orders like 12 of the special and 8 of the other thing. Learning that saved me from drowning in leftover garnishes and half used sauces. The chef at that Creole joint was doing you a favor for real.