chef |SHef|
nouna professional cook, typically the chief cook in a restaurant or hotel.
That's the definition out of my dictionary off of my MacBook Air. The definition is correct. Chef. The true chef puts in years of hard work to perfect his or her game in the professional kitchen. I mean years. I can never honestly call some kid straight out of C school a chef. Though some graduate and work for a restaurant, and immediately they are chefs, or because of social media are self proclaimed chefs. Not even close. It's like taking judo, joining a dojo, and you get a black belt real fast. When you are put to the test, you better show action, if not you'll be run out of town fast. Sushi chefs take years to perfect their craft. And that's just making the rice. So Johnny at Shopping Center Sushi that learned how to roll a Cali can't be a chef right then and there. He's just a twister.
Chefs that paid their dues are knowledgeable about their cuisine. Usually if an Italian chef stays the course and not go into other genres, he will no doubt be a master by the time he retires. Understand, you need to do the time to be called a chef. A chef, understands his methods, techniques, his suppliers, his kitchen setup, costs of everything, food, employees. He or she does the scheduling of all staff. A chef comes into the kitchen early, and usually is the last to leave. That's the true chef. I observe some of these young guys in their early 30's with tattoos that have that chef coat on, and some of them conduct themselves totally unprofessional. Sure they can sear a piece of ahi and drizzle some concoction over it, and make the plate pretty, but they haven't done the time yet. Thanks to social media, and shows like the Food Network, kids think being a chef is easy. Go to C school, get cerified, work for a well known restaurant under a well known rock star chef and they are perfect. They'll be featured in their local paper, and they'll get hundreds of likes from social media. Big deal? Well- yeah it is, but like I said, put in the time.
When you watch a professional retire, he or she will have proof they were bad ass. A doctor, attorney, carpenter, engineer, business owner. When these types retire, they will have a list of accomplishments several miles long. Kobe Bryant, 20 years in the NBA, 5 titles! Michael Jordan, 6 titles. Magic Johnson 5 titles. Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in golf, accomplishments, championships. If you like them or not, in their particular field they are proven. Chefs? Hey put your time in first.
Respect comes from getting dirty with your team. Not just barking orders, "Hey move it, cut those bags of onions!" No, respect comes from the lowest person on staff when they see the chief of the kitchen get down and dirty, prepping, slicing, chopping to help out. Even lending a hand to the dishwasher. Leaders serve first. Chefs I worked with that did the dirty work, I'd do anything for if asked, within professional reason of course. So if any young up and coming chef is reading this, you better lead by example. Yes you need to be firm, and strong if not your staff will run all over you. However, you can be firm, professional, and still a good person to your staff. And I know chefs got egos. I got chefs in my family. And working for them in the kitchen, it's all hard ball baby! If you can't stand getting yelled at, stay away from the kitchen and go park cars. I been yelled at by chefs, called names by chefs. But they are the way they are. After the shift, we usually share a few beers. I've seen others wilt. But the chefs that yelled at me to move my ass, well they had every right to. Why? I can be a lazy ass haha. But like I said, those guys ran the trenches, they helped out. I worked for flakes as well. Guys that just sat in their office with the hot waitress chick. F him. No respect for those ball sacks!
A true chef understands his kitchen to a T. He is familiar with the electrical set up. He can even get that pipe wrench and fix a leaky pipe. A true chef is strong, not weak. If the chillers need to be moved for some new ones, he will gather his team to move it. They don't wait, they take control. True chefs don't hesitate, they move quickly. Their decison making process is swift. If they need to prepare a VIP dinner for 1,000 they will plan in advance. They understand all the variables. Where is this to be staged? Indoors or outside? How many are vegans, how man have allergies. For 1,000 people, what's the total cost going to be for the menu prepared? They have to be swift in math. Their minds are made for multi-tasking. If you can't deal with multiple items at any one time, forget being a chef. Go park cars buddy! And true chefs are never sloppy. They are impecable. A dirty towel sits on the prep table? Someone's ass is going to be chewed out. Rinse water not clear? Mr. Dishman will get an earful. Too much meat on that chicken carcass? Prepcook will get his! True chefs will never waste anything.
Chefs will work well with the owners of the restaurant. Or if he or she is the owner, they will work well with landlords, and local officials that put local rules or laws regarding the food and beverage industry into effect. Yeah they need to be people who can work with people.
Skills. A true chef understand how to do the butchering of meats. (Unless he or she is a vegan chef).. Even breaking down large fish like tunas, salmon and the like. I've worked with so-called chefs that had no basic idea on how to take meat off of a whole chicken. Or filet a fish. I'm serious. I'm like, "What fck school did you attened? You can't even figure out how to debone a fck chicken? Really?" No respect for those so-called chefs.
Here's the thing. Chefs in training, stick to one cuisine first and be totally masterful of that. If you are learning Japanese, spend years at it. Perfecting your craft. There's nothing wrong with working for many different restaurants. However, I have a chef friend that is good at many cuisines, but master at none. She's very mediocre at best. She jumps around from Mexican, to Italian, to India, to Chinese to Hawaiian foods. But she doesn't spend years perfecting any of those. She learns a little bit, and puts her own cute twist on everything. It's like if I was learning building maintenance. If I just watched a plumbler for a few days, and then the electrician for a few days, and the carpenter for a few days and said, "Hey I got it." Then go out on trouble calls and completely do a half ass job at the apartment complex, I'd be the laughing stock. Words of the wise, spend years perfecting your craft. If you want to be the best barbeque chef, spend time at that craft. If you want to be a Chinese chef, spend time at the wok. Master it. Become it. The problem today is these young kids don't want to put in the time. Just because you can make a decent pan sauce, does not make you bad ass folks.
True chefs at the end of their careers look it. I mean they do. Even if they workout, they look worn out. And that's because they paid their dues. So don't be fooled by those pretty chefs on television. Makeup artists you know, they make people look good. Chefs got bad backs, sore bodies, wornout knees. True chefs are really like athletes. So, for me, I'll see how a chef operates before I can really say, "Yeah this chef is true to his craft, to his profession. He respects it in all aspects." And also, just because you wanted to learn about food and beverage and got your certificate, unless you've put in your time. You are just a backyard cook or bartender with a certificate. If you aren't going pro with your goods, you're just a neighborhood foodie.
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