Stories of crazy chefs ....

From reading messages on here from the last month or so I notice i'm not the only person to purchase a copy of Anthony Bourdains Kitchen Confidential which I believe was a best seller there in America. I just like to add I loved reading it.

During the book many stories are written about alcoholic, violent or just plain lunatic chefs he encountered through his career - has anyone else many stories from their past they can share about a coleague they worked with who was something out of the ordinary ?!?!?

:smokin:

[cookM]

A friend of mine worked with this well-known chef in S.F. He happened to like her, so she never got the treatment. But she told me about this one time he went over to the grill cook, a woman he happened to dislike and asked, "Is that salmon pink inside?" She assured him it was. He asked again, and she replied the same. As he walked away, he said, "That salmon better be as pink as your p***y!"

Another cook I knew worked at this other well-known restaurant in S.F. The well-known chef went over to one of the hot line stations right before service to sample a sauce. He hated it and threw a whole handful of pepper into it and told the cook to fix it...RIGHT BEFORE SERVICE!

[shroomgirl]

I think we are all extraordinary. that's who we are....It takes a certain personality to do what we do....ego, artistic license, structure, perfectionism, etc....
I have a friend that gets two inches from your face when he talks to you (no personal barriers) I'm not sure how his kitchen staff adapts to his closness.

[lynne]

I agree with shroomgirl that it takes a different sort of personality to be in a kitchen, but I also think too many people work too hard to be that stereotypical hot-tempered chef. I know of 2 people that I formerly worked with that go out of their ways to cultivate what they consider the "right kitchen attitude.'' Sad that they think that is a prerequisite to having a reputation!

[Greg]

You know, I'm no saint when it comes to dealing with the waits or bumbling cooks in my employ, but going out of your way to be like that? What a waste of energy. Except for the guy that told the chef he knew how to make hollandaise. I came in and knew something wasn't right just from the look of it. He'd used a 1:1 ratio of whole eggs to butter! Add that mistake to his many others and you get one swearing, berating, sauce throw-awaying sous chef!

Chefs are weird people, just weird in general. I have no qualms about doing or saying anything when I'm in the kitchen. Anything from singing brittney spears until I get punched in the face, to asking waitors if when they jerk off do they prefer to have a thumb up thier butt. I just can't help my tone of voice. Chef Bourdain was absolutely right when he said he has to strain while at family parties not to say "pass the ****ing potato salad ******" I have the same problem. I read the book and when he said his idols at the time (of the CIA) had bee Hunter S. Thompson and William S. Burroughs I thought you know I just finished reading books by the both of them and I have been reading them for a few years now, chefs are vikings

[This message has been edited by Nicko (edited September 20, 2000).]

[cookM]

Originally posted by dishdog:
Chefs are weird people, just weird in general. , chefs are vikings

Oh, I always thought of us as longshoremen!

[Nick.Shu]

heheh, the things ive seen.

First episode - when i started on potwash, there was this chef who like to upset the head. After being trained on cold larder, this guy started acting up. One night, he: 1) squirted a entire bottle of raspberry couli over the heads uniform.

2) swung a beef filet at the head and spanked him in the face with it.

3) put up his dukes and started swinging at the head.

[UniChef]

When I was young and just coming up in the business, I worked with a chef who had a real hard time with the hostess. Seemed she insisted on eating her employee meal ahead of everyone else. After going back and forth, the hostess got the owner involved, who told the chef to have her meal ready early.

I was on the other end of the line when I heard a deep throat-clearing snort, I turned and saw the chef dropping a huge luger on top of a freshly preparred meal. He turned and smiled at me, ladled some sauce on top and put it in the window. The hostess strolled into the kitchen with a grin on her face and promptly picked up her meal.

Needless to say I stayed on that chef's good side.

[cookM]

Unichef, you just reminded me of a story...The story takes place in a diner in San Francisco called the Pinecrest. It's in the theatre district, so if you're ever in SF...Anyway, this line cook and FOH person had a long standing feud. One day they got into it over a POACHED EGG. The wait berated the cook about special orders, etc. He had been known to do special egg orders if it was a cute woman. I guess he had just had enough cause one day he came in and shot her.

There's another story I heard about this 2 cooks at Bette's Oceanview Diner on Fourth Street in Berkeley. Apparently, they were arguing and one of the cooks hit the other on the side of the head with a cast iron skillet! It's an open kitchen, too.

[shroomgirl]

No wonder you guys are into Tarentino movies you live it....shootings over poached eggs, brains all over a cast iron skillet, sides of beef "slapping" heads....knife wounds from fellow workers, babies born in pickle barrels. Sounds surreal

[Jim]

The scenario: About 9:00pm, BUSY Friday night. The expeditor keeps reaching through the pick-up window and grabbing 'munchies' of the chef's mis en place. Chef is 350#, 6'6" and MEAN!! Chef warns the guy 3 times. Forth time, chef turns around and skewers the expeditor's hand with his saute fork. Ran the fork straight through into the cutting board. Removed the fork and fired the guy.. right there, hand pumping blood like a squeeze bottle of ketchup at a hillbilly family reunion. Moral: Don't mess with the chef. Ever. Ever.

[cookM]

Re: Jim's fork stabbing chef. Hey man, I wouldn't take such drastic measures, but I understand the sentiment. Those FOH people should know that the mise is GOD!!! Don't mess...EVER!!

Cooks are vikings, longshoremen, etc... (insert any thing cool and tough)

[This message has been edited by cookM (edited September 24, 2000).]

[Nick.Shu]

heheh, once i was working a cajun restaurant and FOH manager/owner and Chef/owner had recently been divorced.

Chef had just a slight case of the green monster because a regular started paying extra attention to his ex wife.

The said customer also liked spicey gumbo's. So the chef loaded 1 portion of gumbo with 5 tablespoons of "Daves Insanity Sauce".

Need i say more.



[This message has been edited by Nick.Shu (edited September 24, 2000).]

[UniChef]

Originally posted by qjwin625:
Physically grab a customer and throw him in the street (that was me) (the ******* was drunk and harassing a table of women--it was my finest hour--GOD, it felt good!)

When I was a kid I worked in a BBQ joint. The bar was just off the kitchen and there was a partition that had a huge bell on top of it. Whenever there was a fight, the guys fighting would inevetiblly run up against the partition and the bell would ring. All us cooks would get to pick up broomsticks, paddles, whatever, and run out into the bar and break up the fight. Free beer for the kitchen!