Source
r/KitchenConfidential•
braiser77

Kitchen Went Down Hard

And it was every station. I waited 40 minutes for a scoop of gelato. The guests were pissed off, which is totally understandable. We had parties of 8 and 10 that walked out. Then, the kitchen spent precious time plating the orders for those tables and sending them out only to find nobody there. It was like watching a person die while knowing there was nothing you could do to save them. It was a true shitshow. One of the worst I've seen.

Posted Dec 10, 2023, 8:03 AM UTC

42593
TheChefMike•

You mean worst you’ve seen SO FAR! 😊

575
Remarkable-Thought-7•

You will always see worse <3

30
skallywag126•

Soooooo, the kitchen got into the weeds, it happens, whoever was leading the line failed to correct the course. Whoever was running the front of house really fucked up. There sounds like there was zero communication between the two. FoH should have told the BoH to abandon tickets of the walkouts. That alone would have greatly eased the burden on the kitchen. It sounds like not a single person stepped up to help with the simple things either.

All in all a total staff failure

426
TheLastRaysFanEx-Food Service•

On extremely busy nights in our busy season, we would have a manager run the door/wait-list with the hosts. Holding the seating of tables when the kitchen even showed signs of starting to go down was a huge deal. Communication with the floor manager and kitchen manager was key as well.

We'd tell people we're on a wait, they'd see an open table or two and want it. Straight up lie to their face "We've paged the guests for that table and they're on their way". But it was better for everybody that way.

168
wildbill88•

Stalling is a gift. It pays dividends when you find someone that can handle that AND keep the guests happy.

57
mybrothinksheisgod•

I tried to explain that to the new manager, who was actually the owner's son, I ended up being so mad at him I basically yelled at him because he saw the kitchen busy and I wasn't happy with the quality of the food that was going out.

I thought he understood...he didn't. He almost did it again next week but a server told him to look at me and he "got it" until he did it again the following week and I ended up not giving a flying fuck about it anymore.

The hostess told me they tried, but he would say we could handle it and to keep seating.

19
BrickChef72•

Yep, typical. Then he put in the log book. “The Kitchen went down” and his daddy thinks his son did great.

3
geowoman•

This is the way.

17
AntonyBenedictCamus•

Every great kitchen I’ve seen does this

12
meowmixzz•

Yea, time for a staff meeting about communication and a constructive conversation about how the team can come together next time.

26
Entire_Day1312•

If you work FOH , and you waited 40 minutes for a scoop of gelato, thats on you.

205
pleathershorts•

If I ever dreamed of stepping behind the line during service my sous would have my head. Where I work that’s where the gelato is, just gotta wait on pastry to scoop it

75
PurchaseTight3150Chef•

If you step behind the line without asking, then yes. For the most part don’t go back there, we don’t want you there. But in situations like this all it takes is a “May I?”

Wait till someone acknowledges you, then ask if you can just grab the gelato. If they say no, ok you did what you could. But just standing around for 40m waiting on a scoop of ice cream is outlandish and straight up idiotic

43
pleathershorts•

You should meet my sous lmao

1
PositiveAgent2377•

Asking a FOH to do BOH work? I think you are going too far m8 /s

29
johnbaipkj•

In most situations I'd agree but a 40 min wait time for a scoop of ice cream I'd just say hey that's all I need, mark it off and get it. That wait time directly effects the tip they're getting from that table. They're relying on that tip.

9
PositiveAgent2377•

They should get it themselves then.

It's not hard to scoop some ice cream, so I'm sure a server can do it.

6
johnbaipkj•

Yeah I agree. That's what I meant. They should have just got the ice cream and tell whoever to mark it however they do it. Sorry lol the steak house I worked at for a few years, the waitress makes there own deserts and salads. Might help someone but only when we didn't have much to do

2
irishguy_2012•

yet they have no problem asking you to do their work.

8
FocusIsFragile•

Huh? Go behind the line, ESPECIALLY while the plane is crashing into the mountain?! Can’t think of a faster way to get fired/murdered.

7
Eternal_Koevoet•

I go with the latter, especially when it's THAT server (That means you Elliot). It's better not to cross the " Line of Death" than get clobbered

7
Entire_Day1312•

If its 40 minute dessert times, i can guarantee whoever is left would LOVE if you got your own gelato and cleared it.

5
FocusIsFragile•

I can’t stop thinking about your reply. I’ve gone through every chef / sous I can recall from like 1999 til I left the biz in 2018 and I cannot think of ONE who would not have absolutely flipped their shit if I went behind the kitchen line in the midst of a disaster. Would have been a total disaster at each and every restaurant, total nightmare, absolute doom. I think you’re trying to get me killed.

3
Entire_Day1312•

If there are 1 hour ticket times on the board, there is no chef present. There is only whoever is left after whatever the fuck happened that caused this FUBAR.

Ican personally guarantee Juan Carlos would rather you scoop your own fukkin ice cream and clear the ticket.

If its a two star with ultra fancy desserts and complex plating? Stay on that side.

A scoop of fucking sorbet? Clear the ticket, please and thank you.

( i am also a lifer, + 30 years in the business, both sides of the pass, currently called Chef by my co- workers, but waited tables and tended bar for years).

Just clear the ticket, it helps everyone, especially your own pocket.

2
jolloholoday•

But I've been so busy I've not even had a moment to input my orders. Here you go, 10 tables all at once chef...

6
AGQ-•

Surely someone else could have scooped gelato :( sorry mate, must have been brutal.

150
srrymydog8yrtwinkie•

Yea, there does come a point where people pitch in, right?

108
meowmixzz•

Yep, at my old spot whenever we’d be in the weeds the FOH manager would come back and ask for my dessert tickets and start plating desserts for us. That guy was a boss.

76
I_deleted•

FOH: “sell dessert so we can turn these tables”

40
meowmixzz•

Hey man, more sales = better food cost = we get our food cost bonus. One team.

15
ryguy_1•

Or they ran out and were making more 😭

4
meowmixzz•

Making gelato on the fly? I don’t think it works that way mate

13
ryguy_1•

It’s happened before!

1†
Allison1ndrlnd•

Gimmie 5 minutes and a nudie mag, i gotchu

-11
srrymydog8yrtwinkie•

Fair enough.

1
weGloomy•

Wtf where you doing for 40 minutes while you waited for a scoop of Gelato? Just go scoop it?

89
LongRest•

Probably making actual food

18
weGloomy•

I read this as a FOH person watching the kitchen crash, but I guess they didn't explicitly say if they where BOH or FOH

44
3nc3ladu5•

how many people cried in the walk in tho

64
pdxcranberry•

Time for a safety meeting

26
sulking_crepeshark77•

Only true scale of how bad a service was^

11
Chemical_Party7735•

That's a server thing.

3
durandall09•

I always preferred screaming off the loading dock

2
Driftmoth•

I bet it was getting crowded in there.

1
Lvl13humancleric•

Why didn’t you scoop the gelato? That’s wild.

37
nfk24•

Sounds like poor communication between front and back of house. If a table walks out, the kitchen should be informed before sending the food out to a dead table

36
Key-Professional-747•

Right?? Who from foh isn't telling the kitchen that not one, but two tables have walked out, and just let them cook their food, further putting them in the shit

6
SB-Chef99•

How did it get to that point??

33
unforg1v4bl3•

Sounds like cascading failure. Shit happens, but not by itself. Gotta figure out what went wrong and why. Everybody crashing together is a great excuse to make it not about blame and singling people out, but pinning down each and every point of failure that caused it and working to make sure it doesn't happen again as a team.

98
PointOfTheJoke•

This dude manages

16
DisposableSaviour20+ Years•

Place I quit just before Halloween was because of this. Shit happens, sure, but I would try to get to the bottom of a shitty night, and GM is getting on to me saying “PoInTiNg FiNgErS dOeSn’T HeLp!” No shit, jeff, but figuring out where things got off track helps prevent the next time.

10
unforg1v4bl3•

I mean sometimes you do your investigating and turn up that "oh hey George is a lazy piece of shit and Dave cracks under the slightest pressure" but I know at least where I'm at management could solve a hell of a lot just by not treating people like shit and paying them better. It's hard to even justify calling people out on their shit when you're paying them a thoroughly unlivable wage. All this aside, at least on a line, if no one is recognizing a squeaky wheel when it starts to cause problems it likely means everyone is for shit. Can't always dodge it, but if you get hit by a bus and you're surprised you should definitely remember to look both ways next time.

7
DisposableSaviour20+ Years•

Trust. Most times my investigation would turn up the same three culprits, but GM would tell me not to discipline them, or write them up. Then he’s got the nerve to shocked pikachu face me when I told him off and walked.

4
forfeitthefrenchfry•

Sounds like tickets in the window/expo breakdown to me.

15
Live795•

Assuming you guys have an expo, it all starts there. If expo get a flat tire, the rest of the kitchen will fall apart too.

18
PattyThePatriot•

I worked at a tapas place and was FOH manager. Expo was my favorite place to be. I loved expo on a busy Saturday, tracking orders, and keeping the machine running.

One of my favorite days at that place is I could do line in a pinch, and because of that I'd usually send kitchen home early on mid-week days. I did that once an hour before we closed and 30 minutes before we closed an 11 top walked in. Was fun taking orders, making drinks, and then making food. Was probably the most fun I've had in a restaurant, but wouldn't want to do it regularly. The table was cool because I told them I sent everybody home because we close at 9 and it's 8:30 in december. They understood and were fantastic.

12
johnbaipkj•

Damn that takes some balls. Have to know everything, keep up with timing and paying attention to every station. Did it help your pay doing it all yourself after letting everyone go home?

2
PattyThePatriot•

I got tips but outside of that, nah. I just did it because both my kitchen guys worked two jobs so if they wanted to cut out early and I could allow it I would.

3
Original_Boat6539•

Easiest thing to do is blame the host

17
branston201020+ Years•

Strong men also cry. Strong men also cry.

15
Padgetts-Profile•

Mind if I do a J?

4
UnlikeAnythingElse73•

This is why FOH needs to learn desserts

14
johnbaipkj•

Yeah for sure. Steak house I worked at for years, the waitress had to make they're own deserts. I'd help sometimes but it wasn't the kitchens job.

3
Classic_Show8837•

Man I’ve been there before. I had 2 guys call out and 1 quit on a Friday night in season.

I did my best but trying to cook for 600 was too much. The broil station was typically two guys and sauté was another 1, I was trying to cover by myself.

First turn was huge all three private dinning rooms were sat 20-30 in each. Plus the dining room.

I thought I was doing ok until the expo. FOH manager held up tickets he found. I’m talking a stack of like 20. He had pulled the aside when he changed the tape but didn’t say anything. Those were supposed to be fired before everything I had going already.

It was bad and we had to turn people away after that, the most brutal night I’ve ever had.

12
DisposableSaviour20+ Years•

Man, I would tell that manager, and the KM, dude misplaced the tickets, dude can fire all that food, unless you want me to walk.

3
Classic_Show8837•

I was the sous and chef was out of town

2
LongRest•

Cascade failure. Ultimately it’s going to be a leadership problem. Someone needs to see things getting fucked early and unfuck them. Are your FOH loading tickets all at once? Does expo suck? Are you underprepped? Are there too many steps in your dishes for your staff and space and volume?

It’s not the line not working hard enough, it’s probably not the dish pit because that’s obvious, that leaves a couple things.

7
IamShopsy•

I’m sorry that happened, I’m sure a lot of us have been there and it’s a terrible feeling. Hopefully the experience helps to avoid it in the future.

5
Deliciouszombie•

this too shall pass.

5
B8conB8conB8con•

That is partially on FOH for over-seating, partially on the Chef for not taking control and prioritizing the orders and partially on the team for not pulling together.

5
seething_with_class•

What's fun is management/owners who expect that third thing to pull all the weight and refuse to allow even a vestige of crowd control by FOH and intentionally interfere with the kitchen's attempts to prioritize.

2
B8conB8conB8con•

As long as you remember it’s only dinner and not rocket surgery.

3
seething_with_class•

The problem is the hospital administrator dragging their kid cousin's brother's Dish TV satellite into the rocket surgery room for a quick solar panel scraping while you're up to your elbows in the guts of the spy satellite that a family came from across town and waiting an hour for you to adjust the antenna on.

6
DisposableSaviour20+ Years•

This guy rocket surgeries

7
DE4DHE4D81•

I remember a Mother’s Day, mind you my first grill/ fry shift, when the POS went down right before opening. Servers didn’t appear in the kitchen for 30 minutes after flooding orders in while cooks were wondering what’s happening. Tucker waterfall from 10:30-10:30. Ugh

3
Cheeseisextra•

If I ever get my own place I’m going to tell all of my employees that we will be getting paid double time on Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day and July 4th and Thanksgiving and Christmas Day and NYE and NY Day. I will then turn around and surprise them by FUCKING CLOSING every single one of those days(along with every other stupid holiday)yet I’m still going to pay them double for a whole day. One catch is they cannot go to another restaurant on Mother’s Day. Go take your mom to go do something else. I don’t care what they would do on the other holidays.

6
Smash-ya_up15+ Years•

If it makes you feel better, we run hour long ticket times several times a year during any lake holiday. Regular restaurant but counter service, so there is no controlling the flow. Customers still get pissed even though it is obvious the restaurant is overwhelmed. We just keep our head down and keep pushing. There will always be days that get like this in almost any restaurant especially if staffing is an issue. Best thing to do is to let customers know that the kitchen is behind before the ever sit down or order food. That way at least when they get mad about waiting, they were already told that was going to happen.

2
ArchberdmansSix Years•

What’s a lake holiday?

1