Validation

[bourbonsamurai]

Last night, dinner service held the potential for massacre all night long.  Just a perfect storm of everything you work to avoid, but once in awhile must surmount anyway, despite best efforts.  For those that don't know, the sous chef runs service from the pass through window, which is where the kitchen and dining room meet.  I've run the pass many times, but never under the kind of pressure and high stakes as last night, where it's ALL on my shoulders to deliver.  I've been exceptional under pressure in my previous career, and so much so I've still got a hefty reputation for it, but this was the first time I've been in that position as a chef.  I am so pleased that I handled it with elegance and grace, in the process earning respect from the top tier staff you'd expect to be working a Saturday night.  The staff was my first goal, because if they won't buy what you're selling, you're gonna have a shitty night.  If they're onboard, you can really run to potential and that's what I'm paid to do. They were all in almost at once, and I knew then I could deliver the goods.  Instead of getting massacred, we did all the killing, and after service, the executive chef I work for thanked me and said that I've proved to be everything he was told I was, and he's glad to finally be working with another experienced and skilled chef after so many years.  Everybody made good money last night so the whole front of house was grateful for my help, too.  I needed a win, after the last few awful months, and I got a good one.  As hard as I've worked to be this, it feels really good to be me this morning.
 
 

[deanulve]

Congrats man!
Nice when you get a win!

[eduardoritos]

Great t read this. 
you're crafting a good career, i think. 

[M11]

Congratulations! By the way, whenever I read your posts with stories from the kitchen, I'm reminded of that show, The Bear, and all the madness of working in a restaurant. Does that show present an accurate depiction?

[bourbonsamurai]

Almost everything is accurate, down to the smallest details.  The only discrepancy is that on The Bear, everyone is called chef.  That's not right.  In New Orleans, it's only the Executive Chef, Chef de Cuisine, and Sous Chefs that are called that.  Especially in a town with the history and respect for tradition as New Orleans.