It saddened me.

I was very upset to see my new culinary school graduate (school does not matter) tell me she will not help in closing because she did not realize that is part of what a line- cook does. She had no industry exp. before going to culinary school and was expecting it to be glitz and glamour. And this saddened me, why? Because I spent many a night in the French Quarter scrubbing pans and mopping up bodily wastes to get where I am now (restaurant is not important) because I was passionate. Do I like to mop? NO. But I will still be the first to take off my toque and pick one up in order to help my staff.

I would like to add however,
I do not by any means fell like schooling is a waste and I respect each and everyone of the culinary students who spend their offtime searching this message board. I went to school in France and used to think I was a GOD. Now, I am not so sure. Yes I am confident in my success, but does school really make the chef? I think it is a combination of desire and a god given gift. I have many in my staff who have never even graduated elementary school, but my god they can make a pastry that would make you weep, or a sauce that will make you tremble with delight. Let us not look down upon those that are less fortunate who could not attend culinary school or those who got bachelor degrees in other fields (and I am not saying you would) Take it from a 62 year old chef whose seen it all.

[monpetitchoux]

Toque, Only the tough ones make it, and we make it with grace. Even if it's with a whick in one hand and a plunger in the other. It's completely unrealistic and unprofessional of her to refuse to close. It's not even as hard as at home. At least in the restaurant, the dishwasher does most of the work. In an office setting, not only would you get frowned upon by your superiors and peers for a messy desk, but sloppiness and refusing in keep an orderly work environment will result in poor evaluations and dead-ends. Make this perfectly clear to her. She'll probably weed herself out of the kitchen soon. If she wants glitz and glamour, she might try modeling, but that's hard work, too.

It is good to hear such good sense.
Closing to me is like an artist putting away his paints so they will not dry out. If they dry out you can no longer paint.

[monpetitchoux]

There is not a more beautiful way to put perhaps the most unglamorous part of our work. I should come to work for you.

My Friend,
I learned that from a sous-chef I met recently while in Denver at Tasteez (This may be wrong) European Restaurant (a fine place), I wish I could take the credit.

[layjo]

Yeah I have worked with a few cooks (even a few who took on a lead cook's position...suprised me!)who disliked and left the job because of the cleanup afterwards! But that is part of the job! You learn alot of things about the equipment you work with, when you clean it. I like to clean, because I have grown to like it and feel that it is part of my job anywhere I work! When I was in culinary school we would have to clean the kitchen from top to bottom, and side to side; the instructors felt we needed to get as much to reality as possible in our daily learning. Like the place I work now, the cooks are responsible for cleaning all the equipment, walls, steam tables, sinks, floors, walk ins, and reach ins assosiated with the lines. Well hopefully you can get the person to understand the reality of daily job duties that need to be performed as a cook.

[ May 17, 2001: Message edited by: Layjo ]

[kokopuffs]

Funny, when I worked as a chemical lab technician, we ALL participated in cleaning glassware, even the full chemists did their share. You want clean vessels, then clean up.

[mofo1]

I have always made it a point to be the hardest working person in the kitchen. If that means cleaning the grease trap or swabbing the toilet, fine. Yhe one thing I absolutely will NOT do is tolerate the whining of a co-worker. You don't want to be here? Fine. Take your sorry *ss home and don't plan on ever working with me again. I guarantee you won't. Quick story: In the kitchen I work, I recently had the privilege of working with a very young (16) lady that was hired because she was exploring career opportunities and she was interested in being one of us. This girl is from a privileged background and is drop-dead stunning to look at. Worthless, right? Dead wrong. Never, and I mean never, have I seen anyone (regardless of age, sex, experience, etc.) work as hard as this young lady did. Show her something? Bam!! She had it. Flustered on the line? Not once. Toilet backed up? Not a problem. I think she would have used her hand if the plunger didn't work. I won't say her name, but I absolutle guarantee you will hear her name in the future if she enters this field. Oh, and she also never ONCE complained. Not even when I basically forced her to cancel a date one night by not letting her leave because of an unexpected rush. Amazing. Gives me hope for the world.

Here we go again. Give me a break. What is this, anyway? A little reverse psycology for culinary students? Who cleans up the kitchens in the culinary schools? From what I've seen of new culinary grads, they're usually stressed out for a while, while making the transition from school to the real world. Was she oriented to "putting her paints away?" Everyone isn't a tough-as-nails type of person, who can jump right in. EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT. That's just the way it is. All you Martyrs can take a hike. Toque, it sounds like you're saying that all a chef has to do to esteem themselves to their co-workers, is wipe up excrement, and plunge the toilet. Too bad that kid spent all that money and time in culinary school. Having been an Registered Nurse, I am no stranger to dirty work, which is part of caring for the sick and elderly. Now, The kitchen is my domain again and I will clean and scrub it as needed. However, hand me a plunger and there will be much more than sadness in the air, I promise you.

[Murrmaid]

Cleaning up after myself was part of my culinary courses as well. In fact, I would have done a bit better on my baking final if I hadn't been doing dishes!

I think Jeni has a point - everyone IS different - some people are great employees/co-workers and don't have a problem cleaning up their messes and helping out and some people are....different....and should probably pursue other career options. I think it comes down to - do you love what you do, or do you just love the "idea" of what you do?

Hand me a plunger, toque!

[Greg]

Jeni, check your pm's, please.

Why are we talking aboutt this again. I close the kitchen every night from Tuesday thru Sat. I clean and take care of the kitchen and the equipment but I do not do plumbing or cleaning of restroom. I don't recall the original post mentioning anything about that. He just said the new employee does not want to close. Closing and doing dirty work are two different things.

[Nick.Shu]

im used to closing off about 7 shifts out of 8 no problem.

Cleaning toilets, nah hah. Imagine the gratification pouring out of the highly esteemed customers mouths as to the quality of the food and the excellent taste once they found out that the chefs who handled their food also handled some merde.

It doesnt do much for me - and this is looking thru a potential customers view.

So what if i have some pride, because if cleaning toilets was either my forte or career of choice, then i would of become a plumber.

[Anneke]

There isn't much I won't do around the house but if there's a plumbing problem, I call someone.. I don't care how silly and easy to fix it is!

Similarly, if chef asked me to unclog the toilet, I would either say no or pay someone else to do it. And that's that. I'm just squeemish that way. I use my hands to touch food, and a myriad of other things which are and should remain pristinely clean. Somehow, after unclogging a toilet I don't think I could feel clean again for months... But then again, that's just me..


I should add that I sweep, mop, degrease etc etc etc every night that I work at the restaurant. The first night that I worked, I also thought someone else would do the cleaning but I never had a tantrum over it. My work station is never neater than when I clean it myself!

[ May 22, 2001: Message edited by: Anneke ]