What type are you?

[blue_wolf]

As I was working the brunch this morning, a thought occured to me. In A. Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential", Tony discusses two extreams in kitchen environments. One is pure chaos; shouting, swearing and just plain madness (This is his kitchen). The other is the oppisite; calm, soft spoken commands, cool and collected (Scott Bryan's kitchen). I know these are extreams, but it did get me thinking : What kind of kitchen do you lean twards?

I try to run a calmer (is that a word?) kitchen, though it is difficult when working with individuals who don't want that. Plus, from everything I've seen, the front of the house doesn't reflect the layed back atmosphere (Country Club). This kind of goes with the dream kitchen/restaurant threads, but it was just a thought on my part. So, what type is yours or what type would you like it to be.

[Chef Douglas]

From my experience I have worked in both, the crazy shouting kitchens and the quiet calm kitchen; the latter was an open kitchen so screaming was not an option, obviously. What I found though was that things got done relatively the same way, whether it be Expo screaming for table 42 or the chef saying go on 31, the food all went out to the clients quickly and effeciently.

Personally I lean more toward the organized chaoitc kitchen, there is a morbid sense of normalicy, to me, when everyone is shouting and screaming but the food keeps coming up and going out.

[jscibelli]

we are all obviously guided by some sort of inherent element to love and run a kitchen. The screamers, in my experience, often have some sort of issue to work out. The calm ones are great but end up exploding over something completely insignificant. The bottom line is that we are all here for a reason that ties us together. I prefer the screamers, they get it out and then it's over. Beware of the silent types.

[Skeleton]

I got trained in a screaming kitchen, then went to work at a Laboratorial Molecular Gastronomy type place. ... The food at the second place was astonishly good, and I learned a **** of a lot there, but... I like being able to express myself in the kitchen. We have chosen a stressfull way to live our lives, why should we have to keep all that tension inside? It's the chaos and fun of a balls out, slammin' Firday night with fire all around us but when everything magically (heh, it only seems like magic, how much work went into it?) comes together perfectly. It's that moment, when all the tension comes out.

When I was at the laboratory, we weren't even allowed to talk when we were prepping. ... Screw that, I say. Life is too short to work in a place where you have to be a robot.

Happier cooks make better food.

[Rivitman]

Mine is a quiet kitchen, albeit not well organized, and at times, frantic.

Mostly due to our small staff, many of whom have very strong personalities.
Trust me. I'd love to vent. But I made a concious decision to deny my natural inclinations. For one, I don't need to inflict the stress on myself, and secondly, I don't need angry, hurt, or pouting staff working with that kind of distraction. And again, because of our small staff, if I lose my temper I think I lose some leadership value. I think I'm expected to keep my cool no matter what. Once in a while a little frustration leaks out, but mostly I save it and vent it by writing or playing video games.

[DanBrown]

As with every aspect of life, it must be balanced between many different gravity fields. Tension and release, paranoia and trust, jokes and seriousness. A great kitchen is one in which humans are encouraged to learn and grow together, since for many of us, an entire lifetime will be spent there.

But you cannot have emotional chaos, it never leads to greatness, only tears and frustrations.