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

[LogghiB]

I don't like it when the owner meddles with who does what in the kitchen. I think the chef's job should be to make sure thing get done that need to be done. (Be it by means of delegation or just doing it him/herself.) The owner should, of course, place guideline in how finances should be run. But if I can never mop the floor and still bring in acceptable labor costs, so be it. If noone else is there to mop the floor, I mop it. My job is to make sure the floor is mopped, by any means necessary.

And I don't mind doing dishes, really - it makes me feel important to be the highest paid dishwasher on the face of the Earth; if only for an hour or two.

[chefzell]

Chef's are managers and managers manage by delegating certain jobs, so they can do the manager's job.

Anyone who doesn't understand that and makes the Chef do chores that soeone else is better suited for is not a good manager himself and needs to do some learning in that area.

[chefzell]

A Chef should never do certain kitchen tasks. Mopping, washing dishes, general cleaning, etc. because he/she needs to hold themselves at a higher degree.

How are cooks and other kitchen employees suppposed to look up to you if you are washing dishes or scrubbing floors.

There should be someone else, a utility person for example who can do that work.

Yo cannot manage effectively if you are working with your employees. There has to be a hierarchy. There has to be order. If not there is chaos and confusion in the kitchen.

[Greg]

Originally Posted by chefzell

A Chef should never do certain kitchen tasks. Mopping, washing dishes, general cleaning, etc. because he/she needs to hold themselves at a higher degree.

How are cooks and other kitchen employees suppposed to look up to you if you are washing dishes or scrubbing floors.

There should be someone else, a utility person for example who can do that work.

Yo cannot manage effectively if you are working with your employees. There has to be a hierarchy. There has to be order. If not there is chaos and confusion in the kitchen.

I disagree with this. I think a chef will earn more respect from their crew if a chef shows a willingness to do the grunt work. From time to time, that is.

[LeCuisson]

Originally Posted by chefzell

A Chef should never do certain kitchen tasks. Mopping, washing dishes, general cleaning, etc. because he/she needs to hold themselves at a higher degree.

How are cooks and other kitchen employees suppposed to look up to you if you are washing dishes or scrubbing floors.

There should be someone else, a utility person for example who can do that work.

Yo cannot manage effectively if you are working with your employees. There has to be a hierarchy. There has to be order. If not there is chaos and confusion in the kitchen.

I disagree.

When I was working in San Francisco, our Chef would arrive and spend a few hours getting administrative work done, then help out the front of house getting the dining room setup before service. He would then spend time in the kitchen with the rest of us.

I agree that there should be a hierarchy in the kitchen, that your staff should know and understand that you are their leader, but that doesn't mean you don't help out when you are needed.

As far as being around employees and helping during business hours, a Chef needs to do so when required. I would personally draw the line at hanging out and drinking with employees.

That's when things turn "personal", is after the shift is over. You turn into "one of the guys" when the after hours partying and hanging out together occurs. After the shift is over, I go home alone.

[Just Jim]

Originally Posted by chefzell

A Chef should never do certain kitchen tasks. Mopping, washing dishes, general cleaning, etc. because he/she needs to hold themselves at a higher degree.

How are cooks and other kitchen employees suppposed to look up to you if you are washing dishes or scrubbing floors.

There should be someone else, a utility person for example who can do that work.

Yo cannot manage effectively if you are working with your employees. There has to be a hierarchy. There has to be order. If not there is chaos and confusion in the kitchen.

I too disagree.
A Chef should be above the team, but he/she should be a part of the team.
If you consider yourself too good for a menial task, you are mistaken.
Yes, in a perfectly run situation, with your aces in their places, there is someone other than the Chef to do the task at hand, but we all know about best laid plans.
The Chef's job is to ensure it gets done.
Period.
I would rather jump in the dishpit than jump in at the top and push everyone down a spot.
One, it keeps everything running smoothly.
I don't care how good you are or what you know, a station will typically run better if the regular person mans it than if the Chef comes in having rarely worked it.
Also, it shows everyone that no one is above doing any task, even the Chef.
If I can do dishes, I'd sure as heck better not hear a no from one of my line cooks when I ask them to pitch in.

One thing I've occasionally noticed that irks me;
If I see my Chef doing dishes, the first thing that crosses my mind is "I'd better get my butt over there and take over for the Chef"....but I see other people who see the Chef doing dishes and think "cool, it must be a good time for me to take a break".
Now if the Chef says he'll take over, go on a break, that's one thing, but otherwise I think it's pretty presumptuous.

[C Cina]

(Sometimes) Those who can't, teach, no?

[Jim]

(Sometimes) Those who can't, teach, no?

...and maybe those who teach can just do it better. Careful... a good many teachers are on-board here.


I once had the opportunity to hear Charlie Trotter speak and this is what has stuck with me from those years ago:
"When a job is beneath you, you are benath the job"

[chefzell]

I was an executive chef with chase manhattan banks, then with met life. I made anywhere from $57,000 to $84,000 / year my dishwasher made
less than 1/3 of the money I made. My Manager saw me once helping to clean and his attitude was he was wasting money paying me that money to clean when he could pay someone else 1/3 that money to clean.

I asked about the times when there was no one to clean. He told me if I couldn't staff and run the kitchen, perhaps I should be a dishwasher.

Now there is nothing wrong with being a dishwasher, but I spent a lot of time and money training to be a Chef.

I guarantee that Charlie Trotter is not washing dishes in his restaurant, nor is he moping the floor.

[Montelago]

Obviously a controversial topic. People on both side have good points. Yes, you should be a good manager, and be able to delegate jobs to the appropriate staff, but what do you do when there is nobody to delegate to? You do it yourself, or you get the team to gang tackle it and get it done. I remember when I hired in as a line cook at one of my very first jobs and was getting a tour of the kitchen. The chef pointed to the dish tank and said, you see that big guy there washing dishes, he is probably the highest paid dishwasher in the history of the world. I asked him why and he informed me that it was the owner of the entire restaurant group. They currently own about 13 restaurants in the metro Detroit area. He was in on a routine walk through and noticed that the dish tank was getting killed on a particularly busy night. He took off his coat and tie and put on an apron, and proceeded to work for two hours in the tank. That is not demeaning, it is leading by example and putting the good of the team above the good of the individual.

That being said, there is a big difference between taking one for the team and being a doormat. PastaChef is being treated as a doormat.

[Risque Cakes]

PastaChef is being treated like a doormat because not only is she allowing it, she must LIKE it!

There is nothing wrong with jumping in when your short staff or knowing what to do from soup to nuts and back.

As a Chef (that translates as CHEIF) you are supposed to be large and in charge, and they are treating her as a doormat because they are counting on the fact that if they don't do it...SHE will do it ...on top of EVERYTHING else she is taking on.

Please, I will share this MOM nugget with you...You are NOT indispensible and you are NOT GOD! you don't need to be everywhere and do everything.

You are being treated as LESS than a doormat because once in a while some Sorority girl throws you a crumb of praise? Is your self esteem so low that that's all it takes to win you over?

YOU are the boss in your kitchen and if you need to tell this woman to STEP OFF..DO IT. PUT YOUR BIG GIRL CHEF PANTS ON AND ACT LIKE A CHEF!

YOU are in control and no body can treat you like crap unless you GIVE them the power to do so and it seems that you have given this woman the power with BOTH your hands.

I won't even allow a bad natured customer get to me. I don't do weddings because I do NOT want to deal with a BRIDEZILLA ( not that every bride is a Bridezilla but why take the chance, and I call them B***CHzillas..lol)

I also don't do kiddie cakes because I refuse to deal with the crazy parents out there.

I have a motto, when I have a P.I.T.A. client there is a 20% surcharge...( that's the PAIN IN THE ASSett customer..lol) I am the CAKE ****, and I have said a few times to a PITA customer...."NO CAKE FOR YOU!"

I refuse to do something I love and have a passion for, under stress or duress!

that said...

I have my own business, I work alone and do everything alone...I MUST because if it doesn't get done...it just gets to be a big albatross around my neck.

I do all my own cleaning, even though I can hire someone for 50 bucks to come in and do it, but won't. If my toilet gets clog, and I can't unclog it with a plunger, I call the plumber and get it done. I gather my garbage and take it to the dumpster, I do all my paper work, vendor calling customer follow-up, even clean outside my property now that the Restaurant next door is open and they use our walkway to get back and forth! I sweep the side walk, wash my window ( even though the crack head will do it for 5 bucks!...lol. It's my business and if I want to micromanage it I can!) I work 15 hour days, come home, take a shower do a lil cheftalk and fall into bed to do it all the next day.

I don't suffer from ULCERS, I give them.

My pricing structure has to take all these things into consideration..lol

[FR33_MASON]

As a former G.M. of three nightclubs I had alot of 'holier than thou' and 'not my department' to deal with. All I can say is that I would never ask anyone to to do what I would not do myself. I would remind myself of one of my favorite quotes "I must follow the people for am I not their leader?" Benjamin Disraeli.

[Montelago]

Big girl chef pants. I love that. I wanna party with you Risque.

[Greg]

Originally Posted by chefzell

I was an executive chef with chase manhattan banks, then with met life. I made anywhere from $57,000 to $84,000 / year my dishwasher made
less than 1/3 of the money I made. My Manager saw me once helping to clean and his attitude was he was wasting money paying me that money to clean when he could pay someone else 1/3 that money to clean.

I asked about the times when there was no one to clean. He told me if I couldn't staff and run the kitchen, perhaps I should be a dishwasher.

Now there is nothing wrong with being a dishwasher, but I spent a lot of time and money training to be a Chef.

I guarantee that Charlie Trotter is not washing dishes in his restaurant, nor is he moping the floor.

Your manager was a fool. If you're helping out an hourly employee, their work gets done faster and they're off the clock faster. You're on salary, so you're saving labor cost.

As far as time and money spent training is concerned, I once worked for a chef that trained at La Gavroche working the line with Gordon Ramsay. I used to have a picture of him sweeping out the dumpster area.

[Chad Aaland]

This is sort of on topic:

Besides the cleaning and helping out stewards/dishwashers, you should also use as little pots and pans as possible. Reserve a towel and wipe out a pan you used for a job that didn't make a lot of mess. What I've heard from the Chef I work for, in Charlie Trotter's kitchen, the dishwashers don't arrive until service. Until then, you're on your own. You learn real quick how not to make a lot of dishes.