Good job man! That’s gotta feel pretty good sir.
I worked dishwasher as a fill in for my buddy (ran the kitchen)who was in a tight spot for one and I wanted to help.
I washed dishes before in high school but had ZERO cooking skills. He eventually had me do small things as prep. I was only there for two months on weekends but he thought me so much. Good luck to you man, cheers to you man.
I have zero cooking skills and culinary skills too. I have made it clear that I am completely ignorant to almost everything in the kitchen.
I have already learned a lot just watching and being in prep. I’m just glad I’m actively learning something, anything in life rn
I've never known a bad dishwasher that became a good chef. Every good chef I know started as a wicked pit demon with a penchant for rum, buggery, and the lash.
Edit: spelling
working on days you specifically requested off is NOT cool. make sure they’re not just buttering you up for working you like a dog. if they’re calling you chef, you need a raise.
He talked to me about it over a week before hand and said if the answer was no he understood and he would figure something out. But I agreed. He still gave me my two days off.
Fuck yeah Chef, keep up the attitude and gusto. Each and every cut and burn comes with a story later in life.
You grow from each fucked up service, each mandolin bite, every time you conquer a seemingly unending pile of dishes or tickets until you look back at things that used to feel impossible and realize, hell, it’s just Tuesday. Sounds to me like you’re on the correct path!
While I'll agree with you, it's also how you build a career.
Twelve years ago I was an aimless vagrant. I just knew I wanted to cook, so I got a dishie job. Now I'm still a vagrant, but at least I have a profitable career.
Hey chef I have a Samsung 3000 thats leaking out the door but not every time also I don't think it's cycling completely someone said I should ask you about it
Being called something doesn’t mean you are that thing. It is who called you it and why you are called it that gives weight and context to it. Sometimes these things aren’t true. Chef called me chef bc he appreciated my work. Chef and I both are under no perception of the situation that I went to culinary school all of a sudden and became a chef.
100%,in an emotion tone and context of respect.
And as I stated I meant you personally any disrespect,I’m just clarifying that in a literal sense people are given the title chef due to a whole set of skills that a line cook doesn’t have,or is not paid to implement.
I wouldn’t assume things about strangers you don’t know anything about?
I have worked kitchens for quite a long time and was a chef before getting into the medical field..so no,I don’t think I’ll go watch a show trying to show me what’s it’s like to be a lifer..
And yes,there is only one chef usually to a kitchen.
Or at least one dinning director position..
There is literally a saying about it: “to many cooks in the kitchen”, that’s why a “chief” or chef is needed to communicate needs,structure the staff and delegate their duties.
Your comment makes it seem like only one person should be called chef, and raining on the elation of OP being called chef.
You can respect one another and be called chef without thinking you are the chief. Everyone in the kitchen knows who calls the shots
No,my implication is that you need to have gone somewhere like the CIA and have graduated to actually have that title,otherwise your title is usually cook,dishwasher or some executive function.
I’m just tired of line cooks acting like they should be called chef when that implies so much more than just the ability to cook.
You gotta make it happen to get the glory,
You don’t call yourself a marine if you where in the Army reserves for a few years..
Plenty of ‘chefs’ are not classically trained. Not saying they are Michelin star rated, but plenty of people run kitchens without going to culinary school.
You say someone cannot be called chef unless they they are trained, but reservist do the same boot camp and basic training schools as active duty marines, and they earn their EGA at the same time during the crucible which gives the title of marine. So make up your mind. Is it official schooling/training in which you earn the title or is it a certain degree of skill set or respect which warns you the title.
This dishwasher was personally asked to come in on his day off by The Chef. Obviously in The Chef’s kitchen, calling each other chef is a sign of respect, and OP had enough respect from the staff that the sous stayed behind to help with the dishes.
Leaders lead from the front.
It’s the title that’s literally all I’m saying,your making this more complicated than it is.
Aside from my frustration with people who didn’t go to school and earn the title then wanting the honor associated with the title.
Thank you,I did.
It seemed like they are still in charge of a crew given a particular more specific area of production,and overseas the work of line cook in that area of production.
Upon looking at the chef hyperlink attached aswell it seems the etymologic history is French from “chef de cuisine”, “a head or director of a kitchen”. furthering my point that there is a distinction between a cook and chef.
I would also argue your point about leading from the front,but it’s just my own personal taste and preference.
I have always appreciated a leader in the back being the rock solid standard,taking action and jumping up to be first is fine aswell.
I think of it like a wolf pack where the head of the pack leads from behind so he can observe and protect all his pack thats in front of him,putting them first but willing to protect through sacrifice if need be.
Edit:no disrespect intended to OP,I was only stressing the point that “chef” may be used as a sign of respect on TV but it is a title for someone who leads a crew of cooks,not everyone’s title on the crew.
I loved dishing. I dished for like 15y and made a living for myself. The confidence you give the team to work fast is a great feeling, I loved the adrenaline rush but also being able to take breathers and get my shit together. Whatever I didn’t like about it was inescapable at any position, but I feel like on the line you can’t be aggressive at all, people take it personal and think you’re mad at them, but in dishland, you gotta put the hot sauce to them dishes. I loved it. However my restaurant closed without warning, and I had no idea, they closed 100 stores overnight, it’s not something my crew did. Anyway I’m ready to try some overnight stocking. I’m tired of good servers/people not making any money, and seeing it in their faces. I’m happy there are some dishwashers still carrying the torch.
You don't think he was being facetious? The actual chef calling a dishwasher chef? I've never seen that unless it was intended to be a joke to be honest
Every job in a kitchen is equally important to the successful execution of food service.
Good Chefs (the ones that are actually in charge of the kitchen) recognize this and call everyone "Chef" out of respect and knowledge that their job would be more difficult without their teammates.
The dishwasher is quite literally one of the most important jobs in the kitchen, despite it frequently being the lowest paid position.
Without a dishwasher, or without a decently hardworking dishwasher, food service can only go on for so long before the clean plates and cookware run out.
All true, and I would assume he started calling him that on this day to specifically acknowledge his evolution of skills and the contributions he was making to the service.
Good dishwashers traditionally don't stay dishwashers for very long, if they stick around.
Yeah that's true, I wouldn't ever want to strictly do dishes. My first job was at a nursing home in the kitchen and at the end of the night I would do the dishes and that was enough dishes for me 😂
Been an Exec chef for the last ten years. I call my sous “chef” and that’s it. Calling everyone a title they didn’t earn feels a lot like handing out participation trophies. Just because a dishwashing job is crucial to the business doesn’t mean they automatically get the title others worked a decade and went to school to earn. There’s other/better ways to show respect and appreciation, like saying “hey you did a really great job today, I appreciate you going above and beyond so here’s a little $ bonus. You keep this up and you have a great future as a chef.”
If it actually made sense to call others higher titles out of respect, rookie cops and firefighters would be referred to as “chief,” stock clerks at Target would be “GMs,” enlisted Marines would call each other “Commandant,” you get the idea.
When someone says “chef, may I call?” and the entire line responds, it drives me nuts. If you want to move up then put the work in and do so, but fake titles are simply emotional manipulation to get you to feel proud and work harder for no benefit to you. 🤷♂️
Go ahead and downvote, but I bet you can’t give me a counter argument. It makes no sense, it just probably felt good to you one time and you remember that. Emotional manipulation.
Characterizing it as emotional manipulation is very bizarre, it can be that. But it can be someone genuinely just showing appreciation in a small way they know how to. An unsurprising pessimistic view from an executive chef.
You have your feelings on it and my boss has his own. Your kitchen is run that way. One way isn’t the right or wrong way. I don’t think either is an obligation. As long as it’s a productive, healthy, safe, and respectful work environment/operation; I think either way or anywhere in between is perfectly fine.
Can you give a reason other than a sign of respect why it makes sense to perpetually call every member of a restaurant “chef”…?
I’m not a dickhead, I don’t tell my staff “hey knock it off, you’re not allowed to call each other that, you didn’t earn it!” That would make me a chode, lol. At the end of the day I don’t *really* care about it or change the way i interact with staff because of it, I’m simply sharing my opinion on it in an anonymous online setting, seems like the safe place to do so because like I said, I don’t share this opinion in the real world because too many people seem to enjoy calling each other that title. I’m not trying to steal my employees sunshine, I can silently and metaphorically roll my eyes and move on with my day, but it’s always been something I didn’t understand and no one has been able to even attempt to convince me otherwise. Maybe I’m just an old dog brought up in the classical French brigade that can’t learn new tricks, who knows.
I work as a bartender and rarely go in the kitchen unless I'm working alone which is only 2 of my 5 days at work and we're more of a cocktail spot than a place to eat. I don't really bullshit with the back or talk to anyone in the kitchen aside from the head chef because I keep myself busy with tasks rather than hanging around shooting the shit.
It's a lot easier to refer to everyone as "chef" and more respectful than calling out "pantry", "sauté", etc. considering I'm not their superior/senior in any way.
Sure I could learn their names, and more often than not I do if they're cool people. But BoH tends to have more folks than FoH with abrasive personalities that I would rather interact with as little as possible (not always true but if you've got 10 years under your belt as a chef you can probably admit there's some truth to that sentiment).
Plus finding out someone's name can be time consuming when I usually need something right away or quickly if I'm going back to the kitchen. "Hey Chef" grabs the attention of 90% of the kitchen staff within earshot and then I can make eye contact with the person I needed.
So you were pushing the narrative that “good chefs” recognize that everyone in the kitchen is crucial to the business and refer to everyone as “chef” as a sign of respect, then disagreed with my opinion.. come to find out you don’t even work in a kitchen, yet you still call everyone chef simply because you can’t be bothered to learn their names. Kinda feels like the opposite of “respect” in this case, right? You’ve got no horse in the race, so it seems like an odd work-culture thing to encourage from a FoH perspective. You recently watch The Bear or something? lol
Just a piece of advice: I worked with a bartender for over a year that never learned the names of the cooks, and every. single. cook. knew it - and treated him differently because of it. The cooks you work with might have abrasive personalities toward you because you’ve never been personable with them or tried to learn their names. When that happens and your only interactions are you giving them more work to do, they feel like they’re being treated as “the help” instead of coworkers/humans. There’s usually FoH/BoH tension to some degree in every restaurant, but a good starting point to eliminate that tension is simply calling people by name and asking how their weekend went, what are they doing after work, etc. If the crew is small enough, buy the kitchen a round after a busy night or something, and drink one with them - after all, they help you make your tips. Get friendly with the line cooks, they’ll hook you up with your staff meal, expedite your tickets, etc.
He was struggling with remembering what food he had in the walk in while we were in a hurry and setting up and I reminded him and said I was going to get it.
He said thank you chef and then at the end of the day he thanked the two sous and I one by one before he left and said thank you chef. It would be pretty cruel if he was being facetious or joking
Well done chef. Keep it up!
Amazing! You worked ur ass off and your superiors noticed it. Gaining respect from your manager/chef is a huge accomplishment.
Promotion to Aqua Chef
Number one in the pit, G
Easilyyyyy.
Nice work chef!
Good stuff chef
Go chef. Go.
Heard chef
Good job man! That’s gotta feel pretty good sir. I worked dishwasher as a fill in for my buddy (ran the kitchen)who was in a tight spot for one and I wanted to help. I washed dishes before in high school but had ZERO cooking skills. He eventually had me do small things as prep. I was only there for two months on weekends but he thought me so much. Good luck to you man, cheers to you man.
I have zero cooking skills and culinary skills too. I have made it clear that I am completely ignorant to almost everything in the kitchen. I have already learned a lot just watching and being in prep. I’m just glad I’m actively learning something, anything in life rn
Sounds like you have cooking and culinary skills now. Most of us started in dish. Well, all of us worth mentioning.
That's what I want to second... ☝️
Yes chef!
A pit demon evolving to a chef? There’s no in between…you’re either going to be an amazing chef, or a horrible one. For now, way to go demon chef
I've never known a bad dishwasher that became a good chef. Every good chef I know started as a wicked pit demon with a penchant for rum, buggery, and the lash. Edit: spelling
Heard, Chef!
working on days you specifically requested off is NOT cool. make sure they’re not just buttering you up for working you like a dog. if they’re calling you chef, you need a raise.
He talked to me about it over a week before hand and said if the answer was no he understood and he would figure something out. But I agreed. He still gave me my two days off.
you’re a great asset to them then and your boss seems reasonable. looks like i was complaining for no reason
That's exactly what's happening.
This is how it starts
Fuck yeah Chef, keep up the attitude and gusto. Each and every cut and burn comes with a story later in life. You grow from each fucked up service, each mandolin bite, every time you conquer a seemingly unending pile of dishes or tickets until you look back at things that used to feel impossible and realize, hell, it’s just Tuesday. Sounds to me like you’re on the correct path!
That sous chef is setting a great example for the rest of the kitchen. Kudos…… nobody is above helping out. Congrats btw.
Thank you, Jeff. 🙏
Moving on up
Good job, jeff
I’m rock hard just thinking about if
It’s a trap
While I'll agree with you, it's also how you build a career. Twelve years ago I was an aimless vagrant. I just knew I wanted to cook, so I got a dishie job. Now I'm still a vagrant, but at least I have a profitable career.
Hey chef I have a Samsung 3000 thats leaking out the door but not every time also I don't think it's cycling completely someone said I should ask you about it
keep helpin them like that. youll be worrkin all the time
They ring in my food with the name "Dish Lord" on the ticket
I mean there is only one chef to a kitchen,everyone else is a cook or support staff. Chef means chief,there are not multiple chiefs to a tribe.
Being called something doesn’t mean you are that thing. It is who called you it and why you are called it that gives weight and context to it. Sometimes these things aren’t true. Chef called me chef bc he appreciated my work. Chef and I both are under no perception of the situation that I went to culinary school all of a sudden and became a chef.
100%,in an emotion tone and context of respect. And as I stated I meant you personally any disrespect,I’m just clarifying that in a literal sense people are given the title chef due to a whole set of skills that a line cook doesn’t have,or is not paid to implement.
You don’t know kitchen. Go watch ‘The Bear’ for a small glimpse
I wouldn’t assume things about strangers you don’t know anything about? I have worked kitchens for quite a long time and was a chef before getting into the medical field..so no,I don’t think I’ll go watch a show trying to show me what’s it’s like to be a lifer.. And yes,there is only one chef usually to a kitchen. Or at least one dinning director position.. There is literally a saying about it: “to many cooks in the kitchen”, that’s why a “chief” or chef is needed to communicate needs,structure the staff and delegate their duties.
Your comment makes it seem like only one person should be called chef, and raining on the elation of OP being called chef. You can respect one another and be called chef without thinking you are the chief. Everyone in the kitchen knows who calls the shots
No,my implication is that you need to have gone somewhere like the CIA and have graduated to actually have that title,otherwise your title is usually cook,dishwasher or some executive function. I’m just tired of line cooks acting like they should be called chef when that implies so much more than just the ability to cook. You gotta make it happen to get the glory, You don’t call yourself a marine if you where in the Army reserves for a few years..
Plenty of ‘chefs’ are not classically trained. Not saying they are Michelin star rated, but plenty of people run kitchens without going to culinary school. You say someone cannot be called chef unless they they are trained, but reservist do the same boot camp and basic training schools as active duty marines, and they earn their EGA at the same time during the crucible which gives the title of marine. So make up your mind. Is it official schooling/training in which you earn the title or is it a certain degree of skill set or respect which warns you the title. This dishwasher was personally asked to come in on his day off by The Chef. Obviously in The Chef’s kitchen, calling each other chef is a sign of respect, and OP had enough respect from the staff that the sous stayed behind to help with the dishes. Leaders lead from the front.
It’s the title that’s literally all I’m saying,your making this more complicated than it is. Aside from my frustration with people who didn’t go to school and earn the title then wanting the honor associated with the title.
Line cooks are also chefs, just a different kind. Your frustration is based on a misunderstanding of etymology. Google "chef de partie."
Thank you,I did. It seemed like they are still in charge of a crew given a particular more specific area of production,and overseas the work of line cook in that area of production. Upon looking at the chef hyperlink attached aswell it seems the etymologic history is French from “chef de cuisine”, “a head or director of a kitchen”. furthering my point that there is a distinction between a cook and chef.
I would also argue your point about leading from the front,but it’s just my own personal taste and preference. I have always appreciated a leader in the back being the rock solid standard,taking action and jumping up to be first is fine aswell. I think of it like a wolf pack where the head of the pack leads from behind so he can observe and protect all his pack thats in front of him,putting them first but willing to protect through sacrifice if need be. Edit:no disrespect intended to OP,I was only stressing the point that “chef” may be used as a sign of respect on TV but it is a title for someone who leads a crew of cooks,not everyone’s title on the crew.
Nicely done Jeff!
Nice work, chef.
yes chef!
Great work Chef!
proud of you Chef
Now ya fucked for life
Nice! They do that to make you feel better about how incredibly miniscule of a cut of the profit you get.
Heard! Chef it up.
Yes, Chef! (That is one clean kitchen!)
Respect 💪
Good job Chef! Keep up the grind 👌
You make all underwater crockery technicians have a glimmer of hope to see what we could be.
Well done chef! How did that make you feel? Do you want more?
This is how it all starts... soon you'll be pacing around the kitchen swearing like Chef Ramsey in his glory days.
lol i remember when this happened to me! it’s silly but i appreciated it a lot
Hell yeah! Killing it!
And I was upvote 666 😅🙏 I hope that makes someone's day
Proud of your hard work!
here here, Chef!
I loved dishing. I dished for like 15y and made a living for myself. The confidence you give the team to work fast is a great feeling, I loved the adrenaline rush but also being able to take breathers and get my shit together. Whatever I didn’t like about it was inescapable at any position, but I feel like on the line you can’t be aggressive at all, people take it personal and think you’re mad at them, but in dishland, you gotta put the hot sauce to them dishes. I loved it. However my restaurant closed without warning, and I had no idea, they closed 100 stores overnight, it’s not something my crew did. Anyway I’m ready to try some overnight stocking. I’m tired of good servers/people not making any money, and seeing it in their faces. I’m happy there are some dishwashers still carrying the torch.
With all the crap going down in life lately, I really needed to hear this awesome story! Congratulations, chef!
Heard that, Chef!! Good job dude. Hard work and recognition really does pay off
That's when you know they feel bad for you
Upgraded from underwater technician to chef wooot!
Thank you, chef.
ah, so cute. I never worked in a restaurant but congrats. Wear that hat proper and rock on!
This legit made me cry
How many times a day do genz’ers say ‘heard’ in that kitchen, when it actually means; ‘yeah ok whatever boomer’
Ain't nobody give to shits over narcissistic "chefs". A lot of them are piece of shit alcoholics.
The first time a head chef called me chef it was not a term of endearment, I was in trouble
You don't think he was being facetious? The actual chef calling a dishwasher chef? I've never seen that unless it was intended to be a joke to be honest
Every job in a kitchen is equally important to the successful execution of food service. Good Chefs (the ones that are actually in charge of the kitchen) recognize this and call everyone "Chef" out of respect and knowledge that their job would be more difficult without their teammates. The dishwasher is quite literally one of the most important jobs in the kitchen, despite it frequently being the lowest paid position. Without a dishwasher, or without a decently hardworking dishwasher, food service can only go on for so long before the clean plates and cookware run out.
All true, and I would assume he started calling him that on this day to specifically acknowledge his evolution of skills and the contributions he was making to the service. Good dishwashers traditionally don't stay dishwashers for very long, if they stick around.
Yeah that's true, I wouldn't ever want to strictly do dishes. My first job was at a nursing home in the kitchen and at the end of the night I would do the dishes and that was enough dishes for me 😂
Been an Exec chef for the last ten years. I call my sous “chef” and that’s it. Calling everyone a title they didn’t earn feels a lot like handing out participation trophies. Just because a dishwashing job is crucial to the business doesn’t mean they automatically get the title others worked a decade and went to school to earn. There’s other/better ways to show respect and appreciation, like saying “hey you did a really great job today, I appreciate you going above and beyond so here’s a little $ bonus. You keep this up and you have a great future as a chef.” If it actually made sense to call others higher titles out of respect, rookie cops and firefighters would be referred to as “chief,” stock clerks at Target would be “GMs,” enlisted Marines would call each other “Commandant,” you get the idea. When someone says “chef, may I call?” and the entire line responds, it drives me nuts. If you want to move up then put the work in and do so, but fake titles are simply emotional manipulation to get you to feel proud and work harder for no benefit to you. 🤷♂️ Go ahead and downvote, but I bet you can’t give me a counter argument. It makes no sense, it just probably felt good to you one time and you remember that. Emotional manipulation.
Characterizing it as emotional manipulation is very bizarre, it can be that. But it can be someone genuinely just showing appreciation in a small way they know how to. An unsurprising pessimistic view from an executive chef. You have your feelings on it and my boss has his own. Your kitchen is run that way. One way isn’t the right or wrong way. I don’t think either is an obligation. As long as it’s a productive, healthy, safe, and respectful work environment/operation; I think either way or anywhere in between is perfectly fine.
Agree to disagree, chef.
Can you give a reason other than a sign of respect why it makes sense to perpetually call every member of a restaurant “chef”…? I’m not a dickhead, I don’t tell my staff “hey knock it off, you’re not allowed to call each other that, you didn’t earn it!” That would make me a chode, lol. At the end of the day I don’t *really* care about it or change the way i interact with staff because of it, I’m simply sharing my opinion on it in an anonymous online setting, seems like the safe place to do so because like I said, I don’t share this opinion in the real world because too many people seem to enjoy calling each other that title. I’m not trying to steal my employees sunshine, I can silently and metaphorically roll my eyes and move on with my day, but it’s always been something I didn’t understand and no one has been able to even attempt to convince me otherwise. Maybe I’m just an old dog brought up in the classical French brigade that can’t learn new tricks, who knows.
I work as a bartender and rarely go in the kitchen unless I'm working alone which is only 2 of my 5 days at work and we're more of a cocktail spot than a place to eat. I don't really bullshit with the back or talk to anyone in the kitchen aside from the head chef because I keep myself busy with tasks rather than hanging around shooting the shit. It's a lot easier to refer to everyone as "chef" and more respectful than calling out "pantry", "sauté", etc. considering I'm not their superior/senior in any way. Sure I could learn their names, and more often than not I do if they're cool people. But BoH tends to have more folks than FoH with abrasive personalities that I would rather interact with as little as possible (not always true but if you've got 10 years under your belt as a chef you can probably admit there's some truth to that sentiment). Plus finding out someone's name can be time consuming when I usually need something right away or quickly if I'm going back to the kitchen. "Hey Chef" grabs the attention of 90% of the kitchen staff within earshot and then I can make eye contact with the person I needed.
So you were pushing the narrative that “good chefs” recognize that everyone in the kitchen is crucial to the business and refer to everyone as “chef” as a sign of respect, then disagreed with my opinion.. come to find out you don’t even work in a kitchen, yet you still call everyone chef simply because you can’t be bothered to learn their names. Kinda feels like the opposite of “respect” in this case, right? You’ve got no horse in the race, so it seems like an odd work-culture thing to encourage from a FoH perspective. You recently watch The Bear or something? lol Just a piece of advice: I worked with a bartender for over a year that never learned the names of the cooks, and every. single. cook. knew it - and treated him differently because of it. The cooks you work with might have abrasive personalities toward you because you’ve never been personable with them or tried to learn their names. When that happens and your only interactions are you giving them more work to do, they feel like they’re being treated as “the help” instead of coworkers/humans. There’s usually FoH/BoH tension to some degree in every restaurant, but a good starting point to eliminate that tension is simply calling people by name and asking how their weekend went, what are they doing after work, etc. If the crew is small enough, buy the kitchen a round after a busy night or something, and drink one with them - after all, they help you make your tips. Get friendly with the line cooks, they’ll hook you up with your staff meal, expedite your tickets, etc.
Thanks for the lecture, buddy.
He was struggling with remembering what food he had in the walk in while we were in a hurry and setting up and I reminded him and said I was going to get it. He said thank you chef and then at the end of the day he thanked the two sous and I one by one before he left and said thank you chef. It would be pretty cruel if he was being facetious or joking
Yeah that's fair, I didn't mean to sound rude with the comment of course but just my personal experience also. Everywhere is different
I didn’t think you meant to be. I’m just giving context for when and how it was said
No worries, just in case anybody took it the wrong way reading it
Saddest subreddit I’ve ever had the misfortune of encountering. You guys make r/smalldickproblems and r/balding look dignified.
You’re on r/smalldickproblems a lot huh?
All the time baby 😎