Chef-Janitor, Chef-HouseKeeper, Chef-Whatever..etc..

Don't want to go into detail here! But, i'm wondering if any of you have ever been expected to take on additional duties or responsibilites which were not related to your Chef's position? If so, how did you feel about it, and what did you do?

I hate when that happens. Where I worked in Phoenix, the hot-line cooks never had to clean anything but their own tools. The pantry people, on the other hand, had to do everything except mop the floors and empty the garbage!!! And we got paid less than they did!!! Grrrrr!!! That's part of the reason I left that job.

I just started a job where the dishwasher goes home as soon as the kitchen closes and the cooks have to stay until the last customers are gone; then we mop, finish the dishes, do the garbage etc.
Very humbling...
CS

[Nick.Shu]

arrogant as it seems, i had a owner say to me "tonight you do the dishes!". The situation change quite shortly after i said to him: "make your goddam mind up, am i a apprentice cook or a apprentice clean?"

Dont get me wrong, i am very stringent with regards to cleanliness (i started as a stewart/kitchenhand, etc). Anyway, to a certain point i will clean perhaps as an example or whatever to proove a point, but i tell you this: if you are any good as a chef, you will have an instinctive drive towards hygiene and not need to demonstrate it to staff worth their pay.

The major problem with this though, is that most chefs in a kitchen are salaried - compare those costs to casual staff and the $$ chachings start ringing.

I cannot offer a solution to this, but it is definitively a subject/situation worth debating

Some employers want to squeeze as much work as they can out of an employee, especially in a Right-To-Work State like Va. They will advertise for a Chef, which in my thinking involves food-related duties; Then they sneak in various odd jobs. I think it's an insult. There are professional housekeepers, sanitors, secretaries, and others out there who will do their thing and do it well.

My floor scrubbing skills stink, but my food gets compliments. But, if the floor don't shine, those compliments mean absolutely nothing. Very frustrating.

[Pastachef]

Sometimes I feel like my job is slave labor. I do the menu, order the food, keep track of the budget, clean out all of the equipment every day, sweep and mop the kitchen and dining room, sling the heavy cases of food around the pantry and put it away, set the tables, serve the food, take out the trash several times a day, swipe and clean up the spills and messes after all of the college kids non-stop...and when the housekeeper (who is supposed to help me and doesn't) is out, I have to clean the hotel sized sorority house single handedly too! When we open and close for christmas break I have to help her clean house, as well as when we open after summer break. NO cook in any of the other houses has to do all this. They do their job only and leave. No house director has been willing to stand up to this housekeeper so I'm stuck. I am looking for a job in another house though. Too bad I didn't do it before my feet went out on me.

[Shimmer]

I just started working in a kitchen, and intend to work my way up. I am in the pantry position. The wonderful thing is, I had one of my superiors say that a chef should never ask anyone to do something they aren't willing to do themselves. Come on, people. Let's be positive. Sometimes the dishes have to be washed. Sometimes the garbage has to be taken out. Does it really matter? Have respect for those people "beneath" you. I know managers are only thinking of what needs to get done, and don't typically figure in people's egos. (Psst... the customers won't see you, so what's the problem?)

I firmly believe in maintaining a positive attitude regardless of the situation. It makes you appear a better person, even if you aren't. The key is to be easy to work with. EVEN if you think you are the best.

Shimmer (Pollyanna)

[cape chef]

Shimmer,
You beat me to the punch.

In any situation there is a positive and a negitive,It is our choice which one we choose to guide us. Don't get me wrong...these things sometimes can really present difficult issues. But with that said,I agree with Shimmer (polly anna) 100% I have done all the things that you all are talking about,and I still do many times.The positive I take from these chores is that there is no one that knows the kitchen inside and out like I do. I have a title of Exec Chef..but it doesen't mean a thing if you can't bail out a dishwasher in the weeds,or know what chemical to use to wash your floor. At the end of a busy shift help your UT people empty that 500 pound trash barrel and look at there expression.Although many might think this is a proffesion of glamour..believe me it is not.It is constant hard work,love ,creativeness,and yes mopping the floors.If there are personel issues that you feel need some attention then make yourself heard but in a positive way. No one should be allowed to be a goof off while others are busting there *** ,at the same time these type of chores will never go away.
Be the best you can be,and don't let people take advantage of you.
cc

[Mezzaluna]

Cape Chef, I'll bet your staff would do anything for you.

[momoreg]

I am a pastry chef/janitor.

Cape Chef
You're my hero! When I get out of school in four years can I work for you?
It's only a few hours commute-right?

CS

[Nick.Shu]

my thinking upon these lines is that, well, iam doing the job of another person.

That implies two things:

1) someone is failing their job standard and expectations.

2) the time spent doing someone elses job erodes my own job standards.

i dont mind helping out people but i cant stand being tested and i really despise people who attempt to play me for a fool and treat me as someone who doesnt know anything.

heh, im just a little "end of my tether" at the moment. 2 months of 6 days a week with no relief, not being paid properly, and one of my kitchenhands gave me the flu last week.

I'm the best darn dishwasher in the kitchen, When I scrub the floor its clean and I can put away a delivery as fast as anyone. I'm also a pretty good plumber, mason and carpenter. But what really scares me is when someone has a computer problem they also come to me.

[ March 21, 2001: Message edited by: dlachez ]

[ March 21, 2001: Message edited by: dlachez ]

SHUGIE,
You're an amazing person. Your job has some major responsibilities! Know what you mean about your feet giving out. Thought I had a few more years before that started.

I wash, scrub, take out trash, etc... under duress. But, toilet duty is where I draw the line. I think the sight of the Chef exiting the Loo with plunger and Drano in hand, wouldn't do much for the appetite of the guests. There may be a Chef's position opening soon around here!

[Pastachef]

Thank you for the backup, Jeni. I feel the same way about the bathroom thing. The last time I did the cleaning while lunch was steaming in the chafing dishes I had to deal with a broken toilet and one that overflowed. Last year when the house closed down for the summer I have to work like lightning to scrub out the ovens, freezers, salad bar, cabinets, (inside and out) refrigerators,milk machine, juice machine, microwaves,water machine, do an inventory, etc. while this housekeeper dawdled on the first floor until I was finished with the kitchen, dining room and pantry. By the time I was finished sweeping, mopping washing woodwork and windows in all of the bedrooms upstairs I couldn't walk for twenty days! My foot doctor was on vacation and my insurance company wouldn't pay for me to see anyone else. The cooks in the houses were long gone. I spend hours of my weekend doing the weekly budget, menu and food orders. The housekeeper can forget her job when she goes home. She makes the same salary that I do. SHE DEMANDED IT TO THE PENNY AND GOT IT! When she comes back after being out a day she is grumpy looking and quizzes me about what work I did when she was out. When I manage to do it all she asks me if I did the basement too! I have quite often gone around dripping with garbage. We don't have any bus boys, and the budget won't allow kitchen help for me. After a small stroke I had my daughter come in and help me on a day when the housekeeper was out because there was a special function going on in the kitchen and house tours for possible new memebers. I got cussed out by the housekeeper because I hadn't done all of the work by myself! That's the day I quit and had HER terrified. She was good for awhile, but soon got back to her old ways.