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Female chef/Male chef

post #1 of 20
6/8/06 at 6:44am
Thread Starter 
The other day, a server came up to me in the kitchen and made an interesting comment. He said, " My table said they could tell that there was a male chef cooking their food." I asked " How could they tell?" He said " Male chefs tend to stack their food, female chefs tend to have their food more on one level"

I went and talked to the table, they said they eat all over the country and that they have seen this trend all over. Now, I have never thought of this, any comments or observations? Do you all think this is just one persons opinion or an actual trait?
My life, my choice.....
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post #2 of 20
6/8/06 at 7:57am
I've only worked under one female chef, she went vertical on everything.
http://www.regattaofcotuit.com

In contrast, a couple of male chefs that I have worked for used the whole plate, very flat presentation. (I prefer stacked.)

That table could have said every plate that they had anywhere was done by a male chef and been right 80-90% of the time. At least from what I have seen in the industry, females in the chef position are the minority.
Will work for a bed and shower... I want to find a place to live that isn't Vermont. I am interested in seeing a few sites.
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post #3 of 20
6/8/06 at 8:37am
I, personally, would have written them off as pompous, arrogant morons. Probably wouldn't have even bothered with a table visit to a group like that. These people also tend to be "name droppers" and will tell you how they ate something similar in San Fran., but that Gary Danko does it better.
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post #4 of 20
6/8/06 at 9:10am
I'm with Pete on this. One's gender does not dictate how one presents food. Just like all pastry chefs aren't female and or gay and all restaurant chefs aren't male...and or gay. Stupid generalizations and misconseptions. At the "table visit", I would have asked them what their favorite TV food show was and gone no deeper than that.
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post #5 of 20
6/8/06 at 10:50am
oh i lo-o-o-o-ove those people. the same ones who say things like "delish" as if they were saving money on syllables or something.
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post #6 of 20
6/8/06 at 11:20am
I find that very interesting. I am sitting here again with my friend and we both agree that we would rather stack then spread the food on the plate. (We are both males). But that is a very interesting point to bring up in a resturaunt.

We both agree that food looks more presentable stacked. Stacking a meal makes it look like you have pride in your dish along with effort in presenting and plating your food.

Its all about prefrence i guess. But thats funny that they mentioned that.

These people are just bringing that up. I would love to mingle with my customers. Dont be so nieive, Pete.
"Some of us Cook. Some of us Grow. All of us Eat."
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post #7 of 20
6/8/06 at 3:19pm
I hated the trend for super stacks, and never did it. Hard for the server and the diner needed an engineering degree to dissemble it.
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post #8 of 20
6/8/06 at 3:57pm
I am probably considered one of those pompous customers. I will always challenge the server if I feel my food is oversalted or overspiced. I will bet the server that the person who prepared my meal smokes cigarettes if I find the dish over salted. I haven't lost in all these years, well once in Vegas.
The chef, knew who we were, and came out to boast how his favorite server beat me out of whatever 50 bucks. I( just love her yadda yadda. He told me he was having enough problems being an alcoholic, he did not have time to smoke. Then kept em commin till they walked us out.

Never! Live To Work!:::::::Work To Live!::Life Is To Short!!
Paninicakes.com

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post #9 of 20
6/8/06 at 5:37pm
Bah
stacking a meal in a pile is like serving 3 different pastas on one plate.
The first thing I learned in art school was that all the colours put together make grey. I say they should all be served on their own plates...veg, protein,
starch. However, making room for lots of customers means smaller tables that lack the space for such a spread. Call me old fashioned, but I still like all the friends seated next to one another letting one smile compliment the other.
(How you can tell the sex of the chef from all that is beyond me!) :)

Cheers. (from the old dog that actually learned a new trick last week)
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post #10 of 20
6/8/06 at 7:23pm
Haven't done much a'la carte cooking for almost 10 yrs now, but I'm STILL not a fan of stacking foods, at least for mains, desserts is another story.

Don't like it for the practical reasons: Long time plating, fartin around with tamping pvc pipes with cous-cous and what not, trying to make a bone-in veal chop stand on it's end... and then spying the roomservice waiter as he gets to the elevator squashing the whole thing so he can get a cloche over it.

Mind you I'm a cook, very rarely do I eat sitting down with a knife and a fork, come to think of it very rarely do I eat sitting down... Anyway, when I eat I like to try a little of this and a little of that by itself, once I've tried a little of everything then I'll start messing around, thinking first if this will compliment that before trying them together. My dinner, I'll do the mixing. I'd rather do this myself than the Chef mixing a wild mushroom rissoto with a balsamic reduced lamb jus just because it makes sense to stack them together....
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post #11 of 20
6/9/06 at 4:00am

Eiffel Tower Food

I am also a nonstacker, and guess I come from a fairly long line of nonstackers. I remember that tall trend when I was going through culinary school. While it may create a wow, it does nothing to aid in the eating. Honestly, it's pretentious.

Some things were meant to be atop something else. Usually a starch is at the bottom of the pile, ie: rice, mashed potatoes, couscous, pasta. Beyond that, I think the main idea of each dish should be shown, not hidden.

Just my 2ยข.
Ciao,
Order In/Food Out ~ It's NOT magic.
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post #12 of 20
6/9/06 at 5:13am
Name-dropping, pompous customers who want to impress someone with their secret knowledge notwithstanding, it's an interesting discussion. My first thought would be that the taller your plate gets, the more risk of a fallen tower. Tall=risk=men, flat=safe=women.

In other words, it's always possible to overthink things!
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post #13 of 20
6/9/06 at 5:18am
Well, maybe I've been neutered....I like a little heighth on my plates, but not 'stacked' up. :look:
cj
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post #14 of 20
6/9/06 at 5:29am
I'm not a stacker either, I hated it from day one. A few levels is all I need to get the point accross.:crazy:
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post #15 of 20
6/9/06 at 7:45am
But here's a point to ponder on:

If a woman Chef got to run the Pentagon, would the missiles be differently shaped?
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post #16 of 20
6/9/06 at 10:32am
No, they would be just GOING OFFwhen you didn't expect it !and probably the missles right after:p

Never! Live To Work!:::::::Work To Live!::Life Is To Short!!
Paninicakes.com

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post #17 of 20
6/9/06 at 10:37am
I'll accept any way the chef brings a plate to me. I have had problems with contrasting stacks from soft to brittle. Not pleasant to eat.
I layer desserts, I might go tall on a garnish.

Never! Live To Work!:::::::Work To Live!::Life Is To Short!!
Paninicakes.com

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post #18 of 20
6/10/06 at 11:09am

Stacking

I have noticed the same thing over the years in many places. I think it may revert to the male superiority ego.Dont forget chef in french is chief and for a long time it was considered men to be chief By standing up we make a statement that we are above all. This is only a theory on my part. I have plated both ways depending on the course and what entree I am serving. I also keep in mind the ability of my servers, and type of clientel.
chefed:lol:
CHEFED
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post #19 of 20
6/10/06 at 7:47pm
................................Unstacked, not silicone. :crazy:
I would go for the bun in the oven look and give birth to the bomb only after intense labor.......:lol:
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post #20 of 20
6/10/06 at 10:29pm
Thread Starter 
I have been really looking at my presentation and plating style after I recieved that comment. Some stuff I do go vertical, I have a skewer dish that I stick into half a granny smith apple , but, I also have stuff that is all one level. For me, its what looks best.
My life, my choice.....
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