[Dan S. LaMerde]

Originally Posted by CrazyTATT

Second, if you are on top of your game, you don't get stressed to the point of swearing. You handle ALL situations with calm, poise and balance.

It's not always about being stressed. In the kitchen I work at I'll hit the floor saying something like "Alright B****es, it's time to rock, get your s*** together and lets get this mother f***** going". I rarely get stressed out at work, but the kitchen is like a family and you don't have to be on your best behaviour with the crew. We insult each other and have verbal fights over who the best cook is and who's food is s***. The Truth is all the cooks we have now are great (chef has finaly fired the potheads). We get the job done, my skin is thick enough to take the insults i know it's just to make others laugh, and if you have fun at work the day goes by a whole lot faster.

[CrazyTATT]

I hear you, I am not above razzing my guys, and giving "Motivational Speeches" . But as a rule, we tend to not drop "f"bombs every chance we get. But yea, I get ya:-)

My statement was more geared to the post prior to me. someone dogging some one for NOT cussing in the shop.

[cakerookie]

Your going in there to cook right! Cook, do your job the best you can and let the other stuff roll off your back. Its your career path so your in charge of how far it will or will not go. ATTITUDE, ATTITUDE have a good one and you will do fine.

Regards Cakerookie...

[travisbickle]

Originally Posted by Dan S. LaMerde

It's not always about being stressed. In the kitchen I work at I'll hit the floor saying something like "Alright B****es, it's time to rock, get your s*** together and lets get this mother f***** going". I rarely get stressed out at work, but the kitchen is like a family and you don't have to be on your best behaviour with the crew. We insult each other and have verbal fights over who the best cook is and who's food is s***. The Truth is all the cooks we have now are great (chef has finaly fired the potheads). We get the job done, my skin is thick enough to take the insults i know it's just to make others laugh, and if you have fun at work the day goes by a whole lot faster.

Dan, that's exactly what i was getting at!!! And I got bombed out out for my take on kitchen life by two ******** that are so thin skinned, that when somebody cusses, they don't know weather to **** or go sail! My advice...SAIL!!!! Working as a professional cook or chef is not for the limp wristed, dig? That's where the saying comes from..."If you can't stand the heat..." If you can't stand the heat, go be a sales person at Radio Shack, or else, just **** off.

<This post edited to remove profanity>

[Greg]

Travis, I hope you enjoy your job as a lead line cook. I don't see you advancing past it.

[Dan S. LaMerde]

Originally Posted by CrazyTATT

My statement was more geared to the post prior to me. someone dogging some one for NOT cussing in the shop.

I just re-read the post and I agree, i wouldn't look down on anybody for not cussing. My take on kitchen life may not be as politically correct as others but I believe you should demonstrate your professionalism in your food and work ethic. show up on time, work your butt off and make great food and you will have my respect i expect the same in return.

[Mikeb]

First time line cook eh? Main things are to stay organised, stay clean, and stay calm. It's easier to work quickly and efficient when you're calm and your station is in one piece.

And despite what some people say, the FoH are NOT the enemy (especially the bartenders and sommeliers). I can't understand the constant BoH/FoH feuding because I always got along with the FoH at all my jobs - the kitchen and serving staff would always party and drink together, we'd sit and have wine with the sommelier, servers would get staff meal (if we had time to cook it), etc... Sure, we get frustrated with them sometimes (and vice-versa), but at the end of the day everyone knows each side is just trying to do their job (it helps though that all of our servers are true professionals, as is our kitchen staff). It's alot easier to get through the day if the ENTIRE staff behaves as a single team.

[Andrew563]

I hate that foh boh battle that goes on. It seems to me that the foh are the ones who are selling my food. And I would challenge any cook to try and do the servers job. Remember this, anytime a cook screws up a dish, guess who gets the complaining and yelling about it first. The foh.

[diane]

I think it displays a paucity of vocabulary to resort to swearing. I don't like it myself. And would not have it in my kitchen. If someone really messed up, I would say nothing at the time, just get whatever sorted out. Usually a look will suffice, THEY know they have messed up, and are already feeling bad. It would be a very rare circumstance I call someone 'dragon dodo scrapings from the pit of H**l' or somesuch. As for foh and boh, both should be taking care of each other. It is a vital interface.

[diane]

I and while I am on the subject, emergency room is stressful too. But no-one swears. There Isn't Time to waste a word space.

[Blade55440]

The great part about the guy asking this question:

I'm about to start a line-cook job here soon also. So this really helps me.

I've had some minor FoH/BoH experience through my program as well as experience by volunteering for various events throughout town.

To be honest, everything you folks have said is pretty much correct.

Be prepared in every way imaginable, do the extra mise en place just in case if you're worried. Don't argue with anybody (especially any of the chefs or the other cooks/employees). If somebody is trying to teach you something, shutup, put your head down, and listen very intently to every word that person has to tell you, you might learn a trick of the trade that you would've NEVER learned otherwise.

I've been lucky enough to work with people (through the events) that will FORGET more about food than I will ever hope to learn in my life.

As for the FoH/BoH relationship and language issues. Here's my two cents:

FoH/BoH: Treat them exactly as you would wish to be treated if you were in their position. If there is a problem, get it worked out and fast, but BE CURTIOUS!

Language: Bad language happens. EVERYBODY uses it, it's going to happen eventually. Kitchen is going to use it much more than FoH, but that's because you are away from customers.

Just keep your language to an absolute minimum, everybody understand that it happens, it's going to happen, and as long as you're not too excessive about it, nearly everybody is ok with that.

[Peachcreek]

I tell my new hires this:
Line cooking and prepping are a game called "How well can you follow directions?" The better that you play the game, the more you are worth to me. And the better you can take directions the better you can give directions...
Good luck.

[GreaseChef]

After working BOH a number of years, I spent a few waiting tables (fine to diner, in that order).

Regardless of which side of the house you work, it's possible to make the night miserable for the other. Example, a waiter can send in four tables at once, and spend all night suggesting only sautee items. "Got enough pans, buddy?"

On the other end, the kitchen can toss a plate under the salamander for a bit, or just fire one persons tables all at once.

Either way, the whole place suffers. Working as a chef, I always keep it in my mind that the kitchen's job is to help the waitstaff get the best tip possible on every table. I am the only chef that I know of that takes this approach, but I will tell you that it works like mad. It can make life in the kitchen a little harder from time to time, but if the FOH knows what the limits are, they can make the guests feel welcome and everybody wins.

I can think of a couple of restauraunts that my wife and I have been going to for years because the food is good, but more importantly we have a specific waiter that really knows how to treat us. Don't think so much of yourself in the kitchen, food is only half of why the guests come in. Food is an entertainment expense for the guests.

Granted, there are restaurants that ARE just about the food, in my experience they are holes in the wall with shabby decor and cheap meals that would blow your socks off.

As for swearing, you'd think that I had Tourettes if you ever saw me talking to my work table. Most kitchen have foul language, tasteless humor, and goings on that would constitute serious sexual harrassment lawsuits in any other industry. Imagine calling somebody the, "Typing B***H," at an office, or the "Cash B***H" at a grocery store. "Grill B***H," no problem.

My first day on the job at the first hotel I ever worked in, I had been told that the chef's nephew was a real pr**k. Apparently he'd be getting in my face and giving me a really hard time for the first six months or so. About an hour into the shift he gets real close and starts in on me for nothing in particular. When he was done, I calmly said, "Hey Rick, ever had to pick up your teeth with broken fingers?" He was quiet for a few seconds and then laughed and said, "I Liiiiike youuuu." Then we were good. Not swearing, but words I could never use at a bank.

So, IMO, Tourettes is a part of most kitchens... No big deal.
FOH people are as important as BOH, almost always. Treat them well, and let THEM buy the drinks after the shift.

[chefdom]

The first reply was soooo dead on. This whole thread reminds me of a kitchen sometimes. These replies have gone in many directions but the first time line cook has to make sure not to get caught up in all these distractions. Most of you guys made real good points and I'm a believer that well placed fit of anger or the f-bomb can have a real strong effect but not when over used. The only advice I can add to the already great input is that remember your goal (short term and then long term). If somebody next to you doesn't always pull their weight, you keep working full speed, run them over. Never let other people or things pull you down. It is the chef's job to fix those problems and sometimes you might think he doesn't see what's going on but if he's sharp then he'll take care of it. Never get caught up in what other people are making compared to you. Jealousy can be the biggest downfall of a line cooks mental being. I always preferred not to know what other cooks made when I was coming up. There will be a time when you can name your price but not before you struggle. fight, learn and respect your craft. Good luck and if you stay true to these things I know you will do great.

[eponodyne]

Hey, all; first-time poster here.

I'd like to say that it took me far longer than it should have that cooking on a line wasn't about learning technique or exercising ego. Successful cooking on a line, IMHO, is maybe 20% heating and plating, and 80% KEEPING YOUR HEAD TOGETHER. Always know where you are in the chain of orders, what just went out, and how your stocks/mise situation is. IF you feel yourself starting to choke, fight it back down, take a deep breath, and pump the food out. IF you get too far in the weeds to often, you may find this situation is remedied by opportunites for employment elsewhere.

Not to say technique isn't important--obviously, it is--but when you can hold down your station 5 nights a week and have no sendbacks or miscooks, then you'll be getting somewhere.

One last thing on the FoH/BoH issue: Both sides are right; waitstaff and bartenders see line cooks as a pack of barely-housebroken savages who smell like French fries (oops, pommes frites), speak in an incomprehensible argot while slowly cooking their brains, and can't keep their suspenders up (so to speak); and the BoH sees FoH as a collection of whiny, flirtatious, gaping-maw-of-need, overcompensated prima donnas.

A possible solution: The last place I cooked at, two years ago, the waitstaff and BTs tipped out the kitchen to the tune of 18% each--and kitchen got tipped first. In return, cooks who screwed up an order would pay $1 per screwup; and if it was bad enough that the server got stiffed, the cooks picked up a 30%-of-tab tip. Took a while to get the system running smoothly but everybody made more money in the long run, and there were a lot fewer problems. If I can get my **** restaurant venture launched and floating, I'm going to try to implement the same policy there.

Good luck. It's a rewarding trade.