Struggling as a line cook...

I finished 3 semesters of culinary school, and I've had a few part-time jobs in the past year or so afterwards. And at every single one of them, I keep hearing that I need to "pick it up"...even if I was trying my best, the chefs made it seem like I was dicking off.

The last one even resulted in me getting fired a few months ago, after about three weeks. It was a super-high volume steakhouse, and by the end of the second week they were expecting me to cover flat-top AND char-grill. Granted, someone would jump in and help during the weekend dinner rushes, but I still had a hard time keeping up. I was rock solid on my temps for the most part, but when their little screen had me in the weeds by about 10 tickets, I'd sometimes spend 15 minutes on one ticket...but I never had any plates come back. And then I called up to ask about my schedule for the next week one day and they put me on with the chef and he said that I "wasn't working out" and that they were gonna cut me loose. I was hoping I'd get more of a chance to prove myself than three weeks...and everybody on the line was saying how much I'd improved in the little time I had been there. I don't get it...it's not like they were throwing a lot of money at me or anything, and I'd like like to see someone come in and get thrown into the fire that quick and do a better job. :(

So anyway, I'm beginning to wonder if I picked the right industry to work in...it seems that I can't keep up with what most chefs are going to expect of me. What do you guys think?

15 minutes per dupe is a long time considering you can cook many steaks at once. The key to working a line is The minute you hear or see ordrd put it on , then pull it off half or 3/4 way.. Or possibly you are not cut out for the line work. Try pantry.Good Luck

But I really like working the line, and wish I could be better with my drop times and stuff. It's really exciting, especially when I'm able to keep up. What do you mean by pantry?

The line isn't for everyone. I've heard the same speech of "pick it up". Some chef's believe you should be able to do it all on your own. Which I think you should as well.

Advice on how to rock the line and make your ***** is:

Keep your cook.... No need to panic when it hits the fan. Just remember you can do your best and nothing more then that.
Be organized. Make sure you have all your stuff you will be needing ready and waiting for you so you dont have to run around like a mad man.
Remember you can cook more then one bill at a time..... Stagger everything by a min or two so it gives you time to plate.
Oh and make sure your garnish is easy and ready ahead of time. No need to fiddle **** around when your trying to get food out.

Most off if some chef fires you who cares. He probally wasn't worth busting your balls for anyways. There are alot of kitchens in this world. You just havn't found your little kitchen home yet. Keep looking..... Its out there I promise.

Lets not think that just because someones a Chef it makes them a master at every station on the line. In most cases a Chef is the worst one to have working the line. The line cooks do this everyday. The Chef is the leader, calling in the orders. He calls the bullet, you need to shot. A Chef will see if your worth your weight by watching if your orders come up when needed. If hes yelling at you all the time to shake your Butt, then you may be to slow........................Bill

True. A chef has the knowledge and when no time restraints are there can make the best food in the kitchen. On line I have never met a chef that could cook as good as his Sous or top Line Cook. If anything they mess up the flow of everything cuz now everyone feels they have to bring their best. If your slow though you will never last in this industry.

I'm going to be completely honest. Based on what you have said, it appears as if you haven't learned the importance of multi-tasking and speed. These two things combined with focus, communication, and organization will turn you into an all star line cook.

Anybody can memorize recipes. Anybody can learn how to grill, braise, poach, bake, etc. Anybody can cook a great steak. But can you cook 20 great steaks at the same time, while setting up your plates, while communicating with the rest of your line, while staying clean and organized, while keeping your cool? That is what being a line cook is all about. It is tough and frankly, some people are simply not cut out for it.

I've cooked in high volume restaurants for years and being in the weeds comes with the territory. But it's all about how you handle yourself that matters the most.

Ask yourself a serious question because there is a big difference between being a chef and a cook. Do you want to create the menu or do you want to cook the menu?

My advice, Start in pantry. That station will make you a speed demon or break you. Others may laugh that you work in the pantry but it will train you far better than any other station. Pantry deals with all salads, cold apps, desserts and most of teh time all at once.

In order to handle all that you have to be organized like a pro, be lighting fast, able to think ahead. By far the busiest station, well at least where I have worked. Once you mastered the pantry the rest of teh stations will seem much easier, because you know how to be organized, how to prep and how to keep it cool during battle.

Pantry might be the lowest spot on the line but I will always remember what my old GM told me. "You work the most important station in the restaurant, the guest start and end their night with your food"

The way all my former chefs trained new blood was the totem pole way. Pantry, then HOT APPS, SAUTE, GRILL, then sous chef(maybe) Anyways its late and Im losing my train of thought, Good luck to you, start off small and work up

Great point Rivver, thats a lot of the problem today, these kids get out of culinary school, and no offense Copter, but hey dont know how to work a line and they do need to start from the beginning. However they will progress faster because of skills they have learned, case in point you always get your steaks right..but you have to learn how to balance the whole scene, and that takes time, but dont give up

15 minutes for the 10 tickets is optimum.
:peace:

Organization, organization and a little more organization....don't get caught with your pants down i.e. running out of prep, poor organization. When cooking multiple small tickets try combining them, i.e. three table of two come in at the same time, fire it all as a table of six...Don't read just one ticket, fire it and then read the next. It's always easier to look at 3/4 tickets at a time and fire the whole lot...work the grill from bottom to top with rare meat at the bottom and med rare etc above (depending on the hot spots of the grill). Maybe look for a job as lunch line cook to begin, this can sometimes be an easier time of day to learn. All these things might help, but not everyone can handle the pace of a busy kitchen. There are plenty of hotel jobs that don't require you to work a line, maybe try banqueting.

The advice above is pretty sound, the key is to be vigilant and to get a handle on multiple tickets. It's also a good idea to organize things in terms of meats and pickup/standby. So in the rush you'll count all the tickets (or the first several if you are starting out) and you find that you have 4 strips, 6 tenderloins, 4 lamb, 2 pork, 6 venison, and 7 chicken and that 3 of those strips, 2 lamb, 2 pork and 5 chicken are on pick up.... what do you do??? Your food's starting to get burnt and the chef is yelling at you to give him the food.

First thing is don't stand there like a doofus! Keep yourself busy, don't stare at a steak grilling if you have other tickets and other orders. Keep counting the meat you have cooking or waiting to be fired and make sure you have enough for all the orders. Make sure that meats for the same table will be out at the same time, especially important that they're still quite warm when they go out to the pass (most importantly, don't serve hot meat.... you're going to get juices bleeding on the plate)

Keep an area on the line for seared/ready to be fired meats so you can keep an accurate count. Keep the meats of the same table together and always try to work on a ticket as soon as it comes up.

Oh I forgot the most important thing. Vote for me in Maninpulated Photos!

You need to do what everybody else did roflcopter. Go to Line Cooking School. For me it was a pancake and pie place when I was 19 years old. I started where we all begin- making pancakes or some other menial task that led to another more difficult station that led to another more difficult station. At the pancake house if you were on the egg station, you were at the top! If I would have tried to get a job at anything besides an entry-level job I would have been laughed out of the place. Why? Because I didn't have line cooking experience. But after a year at the pancake place I was cooking the egg station and feeling comfortable and that eventually led to a job at a steakhouse that led to a job at a vegetarian restaurant that led to a job at an upscale fish place etc etc. So think about starting at some place that is set up to train you. Its not where you start that is important on your resume, its how you did when you were there and where your goals lie. Good luck in your endevours.

WOW :suprise:

Thanks for all the awesome thorough responses! I'd say this has restored some of my confidence that I can survive in this industry...I was getting pretty discouraged and starting to think that all those tuition payments that creep up every 30 days were going to waste.

This is EXACTLY how it was for me all the time! I had to keep him at bay the best I could..."five minutes chef", "two minutes chef", "30 seconds chef" to collect my thoughts and look at the screen and make sure it was all down, make sure it wasn't burning, plate the stuff that was done...I felt like running off of that line screaming at the top of my lungs.

It seems like I don't mind prep work as much as other people do...I tend to enjoy knife work and take pride in being able to do it well and somewhat efficiently. As it's been pointed out to me, maybe I should start there and work on my speed and being able to focus and multitask.

Thanks again! :thumb:

the fun thing is once you get it all together and learn to flow with the orders you'll look back and barely remember how you could have been so inefficient and unorganized. untill you do something else for six months and then get tossed back on a line in a new kitchen and have to learn to flow with that kitchen

I agree with everything that's been said here, and it's true.. once you've been doing it for a while it will come naturally to you.

screens? wow. that would be nice. i havent seen a ticket in four years, and havent used a screen since i was 15 years old at dairy queen.

everything is call-outs; you have 20 strips with 4 temps coming with 6 chickens and two hangers and a pork, oh and by the way, one of the mid rares wants no salt and the well wants sauteed mushrooms on the side. oh and pick up a grilled chicken breast for the caesar salad.

repeat it all back and hope you can keep it straight while hes ordering and firing more, and you have to coordinate with 5 other cooks making other things...

yeah that sucks.

just keep workin on it man. youll either pick it up or you wont. and if you dont? servers make good money...

All this time I thought I was born a master chef! LOL, it's hard to remember sometimes how difficult it is to get started in this biz!

ok...your not gonna` want to hear this, but here it goes anyway. My first bet is that you liked the food industry and then wnt right to school thinking you`d get a good start there,but it`s still not too late. nothing will teach you speed like " jumping in the tank and bustin` suds"...they`re is no such thing as a slow dish washer(at least not in my place) you`ll learn multi-tasking there too. washing dishes & pots, sweeping, mopping, then prep and cleaning up after the chefs.
I know this sounds demeaning, but it`s not ment to. I`ve mentored many chefs, soux chefs, and even an exec. chef or two. working the line IS TOUGH....it takes a few years to get it right.
no matter what move you make next, I`d like to hear about it. I would truely like to help. Bill

Working the line can definately takes its toll on your spirits. I've learned to never take things too personal but always take things seriously. If ever you do find yourself in the weeds always remember to breathe, this will help you to stay focused and keep things in perspective. Cheers