The most annoying thing to you?

Hello,

I am a director of human resources and I would be very intersted in hearing what drives chefs nuts?

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Regards,

Ted

Ahh where do I begin. Although I would have to say there a lot of things about my cooks I would have to say I get much more annoyed by servers. What really annoys me is the server who just doesn't care. Leaves their food sitting in the window, forgets to place an order, or repeatedly places special orders.

[Greg]

Poor or non-existent training procedures bug me. In the back, I can address this, but a poorly trained waitstaff isn't within the scope of my duties (doubly frustrating!). Also, I'd like to pay some of my crew better, but can't.

[Nicko]

I have to second Greg, I had some rock and roll line cooks that I felt deserved a lot more than $7.50 an hour. The powers that be wouldn't budge one bit. Shame to, many of those cooks left for better money, and although I hated losin them I didn't blame them.

[Jim]

1. Waitstaff that TOUCH the FOOD.
2. EVERYBODY knows more than you.
3. "You charge how MUCH for that????"
4. Hearing crudite pronounced crew-dite.
5. "Cooking isn't that hard of a job. Why are you so tired?"
6. "Help Wanted"
7. "Let's Make a Deal" or "The lady on table 3 wants shrimp in place of the fish. She also wants rice instead of the potato. And asparagus instead of the spinach. And soup in place of salad"

[cookM]

What bugs me is when my fellow cooks have absolutely no sense of urgency whatsoever. In the meantime, I am doing 4 things at once.

[Chef Chris23]

SERVER'S DRIVE ME UP THE WALL!!!!!!!! I swear, I want to pull my hair out!!!!!! AGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! Ohhhhh wait a sec, is this getting posted?? Hmmmmm on second thought I love Servers, servers are the best LOL, no really!!!........ On a more serious side, There are some good servers as well as Bad servers, and same goes as bad cook's and good cook's. But I have been lucky, because everywhere I have worked I have got to choose who is where and who is gone. So I really dont have the headach's as most of you have, because if I see a server touching food on a plate that is ready to go, they now they will be gone in a heartbeat. Plus I have had cooks who where not afraid to talk up to them as well, so that helps. Ohhhhhh and another thing that drives me nuts or Human Resource people who havent got a clue about the food industry and higher the lest talented person, because they fit under budget, that's why I make sure I get to choose who is put in that position. Ok now I'm of my soap box, sorry guys.

[Nick.Shu]

as a chef there are issues in the kitchen that desperately need resolution. These are:

1) Training - the commercial kitchen of today at least needs experience. Failing that, an efficient, competent training schedule will atleast attempt to bridge the gap.

2) Poor knowledge of both procedures and food laws (in laymans terms - common sense) i guess that refers to the above.

3) Poor motivation, nothing will fix that, except for the inevitable.

4) People that have the experience but not the knowledge (i.e. those who have done a job for virtually forever but still need to be told.)

5) Floor staff that challenge the chefs judgement.

6) Chronic budget paring - usually down to the bone at the expense of food and quality.

4,5 & 6 are the things that s**t me off the most. 1 & 2 are preventable but depend on time factors and establishment size.

[shroomgirl]

Having to check up on someone else to see if they've followed through~ so I hire premium help to work for me. I refuse to work with people I need to baby. Attitude is everything, if your trying I'll work with you. But as a policy I hire well, pay well and keep the staff I have happy. I also make sure they try the food and know what it tastes like....other caterers apparently do not feel the same way.

I don't have a large group though so I don't know how this translates to larger facilities.
shroomgirl

i simply cannot stand people who do not think about what they are doing, how they are doing it, and do not give a ****...we work in a feild that requires a great since of common occurance, as well as a great deal of passion to find success...people that come into a restaurant to merely collect a pay check are worhtless and we seem to be saturated by them...here's to motovating the people around me...it is a common chore for us all...

What bugs chefs?
1.people who work in kitchens for just a paycheck,not because they love to cook.It shouldn`t be a stepping stone to another career.
2.cooks that smoke and dont wash their hands afterwards.
3.dirty kitchens and walkins
4.swearing in kitchens
5.kitchen people who refuse to get along with front of house people.We are a team!
6.servers who blame the kitchen for an error when they forgot to order an
entree.
7.working 70 plus hours a week
8.seeing cooks waste food knowing that months of it is the reason for your food cost being 2 points to high.
9.that our industry doesn`t have pay standards that ahdere to the rest of the working world...when education and experience parallels
10.going out to restaurants and paying good $$ for food that could be good if the chef would only supervise the cooks cooking instead of resting on his or her laurels.
Okay I`ll be quiet now!

[chefjohnpaul]

I will second the motion on "alichef's" list.
It is almost mine verbatem. We are in an industry where too many people are just passing through, too much is demanded, and the compensation is compaatively weak. If so many cooks/chefs/waiters didn't have a passion for this art form and trade you couldn't keep anyone around and restaurants as we know them would become extinct.

Okay, it's the FLOOR MANAGER: they always cover for the waits, it's funny, in order to get a job as a cook you have to crawl naked across broken glass for a liveable wage while a wait fills out an app and well, you know the rest.. If I hear "They're college kid execuse one more time........"

[Chef Mark Hayes]

What really drives me nuts is when I hire a recent Grad or a current culinary student and they seem really sharp, and soon they think they know everything and are expecting to be promoted to sous chef. I hate to generalize, but many kids fresh out of culinary schools these days don't understand the sacrifices and time you have to spend learning your craft. I've been a Ex.Chef for nearly 10 years now and I am thankful for all the adversity and hard work I had to go through to get there. Many young cooks do not understand that you can't write your own ticket out of Culinary School. I'm not down on Cooking Schools, I am a product of the C.I.A. attitudes are just different. But then again, maybe it's just me.

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M.W.H.

Are you kidding? I could have my own section devoted to my pet peeves. What I absolutely cannot tolerate is when I someone use bad cooking technique to save themselves from being in the weeds. Hey I am all for shortcuts, but not at the cost of technique.