How to deal with annoying waiters? - Page 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travis Spear 

Well the other day I worked the line during the breakfast shift and I'm still learning. I have my omeletes down pact,but I still cant flip the sunny side eggs with out breaking the yolks. Anyway I'm only 17 and I still am learning how to move faster and multitask,and the waiters arent understanding too that. Like when I make a mistake they start grinning at each other and speaking in another language. They say I'm going slow but when ever I have to food out fast they are no where insight to give it to the customers. How do I deal with these annoying waiters. I'm about 3 months into this industry and of course I'm going to make mistakes,but I can always learn from then so how can I deal with people that will try to bring my confidence down into thinking I'm not a good cook.

Sorry You are having trouble flipping eggs. If you will picture  the capitol letter D laying down and the bottom of the pan being the flat part and the direction of the eggs going in the arc, if you will turn the D into an oval an when you flip the eggs, have the eggs contact the pan on the down stroke instead of coming to an abrupt stop the eggs will have a softer landing.
That reminds me of when I first came to Florida. I took a job as Banquet Chef at a Country Club and Omlette Chef on the Sunday Brunch. They had the Omlette Station at the head of the line  and everyone had to wait for those having omlettes ( Dumb, I know but, that's the way they had it) So, I asked the Exec. if we could put the Omlette Station at the end of the line so those who didn't want omlettes would not have to wait. But you know those culinary gratuates " If it is not their idea, it is not a good idea." So when the Exec. Chef  went on vacation I asked th GM if we could change it to remove the "bottle neck" at the head of the line and he said go ahead. So, I put the Omlette Station on an island and with 4 butane burners instead of the usual 2 burners. When the Exec. Chef returned, the Sunday Brunch  had increased over 100 people more than when he left. And  if I needed a break or to find something in the walk-in that they couldn't find I would ask to Exec. to spell me and he couldn't operate 4 omelette pans at once. He could use but 2 and the GM asked why? I told him " First you have to want to and then you have to watch and culinary grads. know everything don't you know? " The Exec. and Sous were Culinary grads. So I had to train a dishwasher to relieve me if I had to leave the Omelette Station. Then the GM asked why a Dishwaser was doing the omlettes And I told him " Remember You Can Lead A Horse To Water But, You Can't Make Him Drink."

I thought "borrega" was goat......silly me.

I had a handlebar mustache for many years and the Hispanics always called me "morsa"   walrus

I really recommend you perfect your eggs in a pan.  I hate is eggs done on the flat top.  You can't scramble an egg on a flat top.  You can't get that nice round shape and tender whites.  You can't do omelets either.  Those turn out as greasy stuff wrapped in egg paper.

Originally Posted by kuan 

Never a breakfast cook myself, but nevertheless +1

BDL

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chefross 

I thought "borrega" was goat......silly me.

I had a handlebar mustache for many years and the Hispanics always called me "morsa"   walrus

Pretty close actually.  "Borrego" is lamb, "cabra" is goat, with "cabron" meaning more specifically "goat-man," or "he-goat."

And another +1 to eggs in pans rather than on a flat-top.  You can fit more eggs onto a flat-top than you can on a spider range of the same dimensions, but at the cost of so much quality.

Cooking eggs on a flat top compared to a pan is more about presentation then it is technique.

Sorry Kuan but scrambled eggs work very nicely on a flat top as do over easy, medium, hard eggs.

The trick it to pay attention to them as they cook, (something you can get away with not doing when they are cooking in a pan.)

Like any good breakfast cook timing is everything.

I can't begin to count the number of times I received browned eggs done in a pan.

Omelets work well too on a flat top grill. Greasy? Not mine......I can pour a round omelet on a grill and form it to look pretty descent.  

I have been that breakfast cook who's egg yolks have broken countless times.

I'm the one who has 5 flats of eggs sitting on the shelf above the stove and goes through those in less then 2 hours.

Ill have had 2 flat tops grills going through breakfast. I am alone. I have bacon, sausages, ham, etc....meats on the one grill.

The other is for eggs, pancakes, French toast, etc......

It's not rocket science, but it does take practice.

The health inspector would kick my ass if I kept 5 flats of eggs out of the cooler at a time!  The whole "they cook faster at room temperature" thing doesn't really fly with those guys...

I disagree with Ross.  You can't stir the eggs on a flat top and get a creamy texture.  Your eggs can't sit in a nice pool of butter and get that nice round pan shape on a flat top.  You cannot get an omelet shape on a flat top.

I have used both methods  for hi volume  and the egg pans are actually much quicker and easier  work once you get down the use of multiple pans. Also using your pans on a French top versus  a burner really speeds things up by allowing the use of more pans. Using a flat top requires more attention and the quality in the presentation is never as consistent as when using a pan.The trick on a flat top is to run your eggs on the cooler side of the grill and to fold the scrams in on themselves as they start to set with a couple of chops through the cooked and still runny eggs to get them to stand up and fluff.

I remember back in the early 80s a lot of chains who did not use pans had the cooks crack there eggs in a steel circular ring on the grill to make the appearance of a pan cooked over easy egg. Cooking volume eggs in a pan is a real good skill to improve as if your good at it you can do breakfast anywhere...Oh and you learn about hot pan handles really quick and the use of a dry towel. That would be calliente = Hot my friends...................

Quote:

Originally Posted by kuan 

I really recommend you perfect your eggs in a pan.  I hate is eggs done on the flat top.  You can't scramble an egg on a flat top.  You can't get that nice round shape and tender whites.  You can't do omelets either.  Those turn out as greasy stuff wrapped in egg paper.

I was thinking more of the over E/M/H eggs, sunnys & basteds. During Sunday brunch i do not have space for a poacher, omelettes & trying to cook OEs out of a pan. Qualitywise i wouldn't give it to either side for the overs & sunnys. I can get some pretty sexy eggs off the flatty. It's about knowing where your egg temperature side of your grill is & timing. The young guys that throw those things on the hottest part of the grill either have verything break or it turns brown. Then i make them cook it again.

I scramble all eggs in pans. You're right, they just don't look right off a flat top.

I also omelette everything in pans. Wouldn't be much point for omelette pans otherwise. When i was young & doing the egg cook thing at a franchise, they had omelette rings for 4 eggers. Just a massive egg grill. By the time i left there i'm pretty sure i could've cooked OEs blindfolded.

There were some truly great posts here, full of good advice and useful information to anyone reading, regardless of age, rank and experience.  Really good thread. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stonecold 

Waiters are the scum of the universe, fight fire with fire make a name for yourself or they will ride you for the rest of your stay in that establishment, front of house staff need to be clean and well presented so use this fact to your advantage. A bit of pea purée on a bendy pallete knife skilfully flicked at a clean shirt will sort all your problems. Or not. Learn their language is a good idea though, then you know if the cheeky buggers are even talking about you.

They're just people.  There is no need for FOH vs. BOH bickering.  Sometimes it's better to think of it as a search for the truth.  They're trying to figure it out, you're trying to figure it out, somehow the two don't communicate well.  They depend on you for a paycheck and you depend on them.