I post here every now and again... I'm young and raw skilled but in my opinion very talented chef in the making. I've been running kitchens since I was 16 and I've done alot of different kinds of food. I've done the Long Island type 200 seat diners, small town italian, 5 star Connecticut cuisene, and now I'm an assistant Kitchen Manager at this Banquet/125 Seat Italian/American Restaurant.
It's pretty crappy restaurant despite the owner (completely genius owner... knows how to save himself money) making major profit. Me coming from a recent tour at my uncle's 5 star restaurant I picked up alot of good CIA tricks and trades and I like to try to use them but my kitchen manager (lifetime diner cook switched to italian and spent 8 years to get his title) says that the owner doesn't like change and that I have to serve a completely tasteless garlic/flour/chablis cream sauce for steaks instead of making them have some taste.
Another issue I have is that I don't get any respect from any of the crackhead/zero intelect runners/pizza cooks and I end up taking the blame when they don't do their work but when I ask them they basically say screw off. Don't even let me get into the dishwashers: Chance of clean plates/skillets/any kitchen item at about a 10 percent ratio.
What I'm basically asking is what's the best thing to do? Should I give up on this place and maybe head toward NYC or Boston to find a small time chef looking for raw talent? Should I devise a plan to try and dethrone my kitchen manager? We've had sit downs before and he basically shoots them down in fear of the owner seeing the knowledge that I have so he doesn't get dethroned.
I've chatted with the owner a bit and when I throw him some of my dishes from the past he seems really impressed. I'm also throwing around the idea of going to CIA or a culinary school and get a degree/internship under a great chef but cash is not so hot and I'm scared of going 50 grand in debt for a piece of paper that I can obtain the same knowledge under a great chef.
FYI: I live in Binghampton, NY which is basically a pretty poor and depressed area full of italians. There really aren't any GREAT restaurants around so if I decide to leave Donoli's I'm heading either to Albany/NYC/Buffalo/Boston. I can't go back to my uncle's because A> I left without notice being basically benched for a horrible intern and my uncle breaking some of the pre-hired promises made and also idk if any of you live near/in Conn but rent starts at least 1.5 gs a month and that's hard to do making 11 an hour with a 40 hour week.
I also have the possiblity to go back to my diner days making 12 an hour under the table but I really don't want to go back because I really topped out in potential and want to cook some great food.
Also, at Donolis we have a saute station consisting of about 5 burners available and I would love some saute ideas. Currently we serve: Veal Scalopinni, Veal Francais, Shrimp Scampi, Fett/Chicken Alf, Tuscan Veg (Side dish). On the line we have available Burgandy and Chablis. Plus we serve a cream sauce for our mush/lobster ravs. It's quite flavorless but it's a seller.
My thoughts on new saute items are as followed:
Bistek Au Pov
Penne Ala Vodka
Buffalo Chicken Pasta
The restaurant itself is pretty much known for it's prime rib and Italian dishes and most of the customers are regulars. I've asked about some possible bass/salmon specials but apparantly seafood is too expensive.
I would love some advice thanks guys!
It's pretty crappy restaurant despite the owner (completely genius owner... knows how to save himself money) making major profit. Me coming from a recent tour at my uncle's 5 star restaurant I picked up alot of good CIA tricks and trades and I like to try to use them but my kitchen manager (lifetime diner cook switched to italian and spent 8 years to get his title) says that the owner doesn't like change and that I have to serve a completely tasteless garlic/flour/chablis cream sauce for steaks instead of making them have some taste.
Another issue I have is that I don't get any respect from any of the crackhead/zero intelect runners/pizza cooks and I end up taking the blame when they don't do their work but when I ask them they basically say screw off. Don't even let me get into the dishwashers: Chance of clean plates/skillets/any kitchen item at about a 10 percent ratio.
What I'm basically asking is what's the best thing to do? Should I give up on this place and maybe head toward NYC or Boston to find a small time chef looking for raw talent? Should I devise a plan to try and dethrone my kitchen manager? We've had sit downs before and he basically shoots them down in fear of the owner seeing the knowledge that I have so he doesn't get dethroned.
I've chatted with the owner a bit and when I throw him some of my dishes from the past he seems really impressed. I'm also throwing around the idea of going to CIA or a culinary school and get a degree/internship under a great chef but cash is not so hot and I'm scared of going 50 grand in debt for a piece of paper that I can obtain the same knowledge under a great chef.
FYI: I live in Binghampton, NY which is basically a pretty poor and depressed area full of italians. There really aren't any GREAT restaurants around so if I decide to leave Donoli's I'm heading either to Albany/NYC/Buffalo/Boston. I can't go back to my uncle's because A> I left without notice being basically benched for a horrible intern and my uncle breaking some of the pre-hired promises made and also idk if any of you live near/in Conn but rent starts at least 1.5 gs a month and that's hard to do making 11 an hour with a 40 hour week.
I also have the possiblity to go back to my diner days making 12 an hour under the table but I really don't want to go back because I really topped out in potential and want to cook some great food.
Also, at Donolis we have a saute station consisting of about 5 burners available and I would love some saute ideas. Currently we serve: Veal Scalopinni, Veal Francais, Shrimp Scampi, Fett/Chicken Alf, Tuscan Veg (Side dish). On the line we have available Burgandy and Chablis. Plus we serve a cream sauce for our mush/lobster ravs. It's quite flavorless but it's a seller.
My thoughts on new saute items are as followed:
Bistek Au Pov
Penne Ala Vodka
Buffalo Chicken Pasta
The restaurant itself is pretty much known for it's prime rib and Italian dishes and most of the customers are regulars. I've asked about some possible bass/salmon specials but apparantly seafood is too expensive.
I would love some advice thanks guys!
Kitchen Confidential: A must read for anyone who works in the industry! My uncle gave it to me my first night working with him and I haven't put it down since!
