Jump to content

Jakea222

participating member
  • Posts

    264
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Jakea222

  1. boy - I wish I could tell you that we could use help like last year - but things are bad from a banquet part here at the club....I even have discusses with a few other chefs and they are losing holiday gigs right and left - with Coke here in Atlanta cancelling a big one downtown for employees so -good luck -- I know that Proof in the Pudding was a while back looking for help - but that was a while back - good luck I will keep my ear down for you - g
  2. I don't know anymore with the stock market guys making money and now getting no slap for being andmaking stupid deals and we have to come running - I guess if I saw a chance to make some money and comprimise my pricipals IN FOOD ONLY - I guess I could do it too.
  3. The new food labeling laws hit very soon - so he better watch out - delis and places that self pack stuff are in the danger zone
  4. I found out and I did not know this when I was at CIA that if you certify ProChef it also certifies you with ACF at certain levels.
  5. Not a ton of pro chefs on here - the ones that do - get frustrated l;ike I do - but it is all in good fun and sometimes some good stuff comes out of it - I have bouced some ideas off the group and so on - I also think people have a false sense of the COMMERCIAL FOOD BUSINESS - and especially on this site. It is funny - my father is retired after being a blue colar guy for 45 years. I talk to him about every day or on the drive home from shift unless it is past the late news...anyways, he starts telling me about the Foodnetwork show that had what really happens to the tv shows and the REAL CHEFS that make the tv chefs look good - he was so upset he said he was going to delete it off his remote - I almost died laughing. I had a guy that rounded with us and I think he had a sense of reality. Cooking fancy stuff at home or following a recipe is you being a Foodie - Two kinds of chefs the young ones that work a hard shift and go out and party until dawn sleep a couple hours and hit the line - the second is the older folks who work smart, hard and make it happen to go home to the wife who saw you last week or your cats who come in watch you brush your tired teeth because they miss you too - doing the cat rub on your legs you can't feel along with the lots of things from hair to toe nails are tired, cut bruised or burned - cats don't care - the real chefs they are drinking a glass of wine and unwinding on the internet on sites like this OR reading or emailing fellow chefs about the day or watching thir spouse sleep beide them = so foodies - and chefs are 2 seperate things - you know, I would not change my chef life for the world
  6. Sometimes this forum pi--es me off so bad and then a thread like this comes along and makes me laugh - OR allowed me to list my good ones.
  7. Not the aged beef - just the 12 oz - I amy have nuked it and then thrown it in the fryer - all of my WELL done burgers if I am in a rush gets fried - well done hot dogs too - but this we standard in Boca FL - the people liked them that way
  8. nope I wanna get them out so I can focus on the next - When I am busy I am thinking of 15 things and once the food hit the plate and hits the pass I am done and rarely remember it - Always looking to the last thing that came in. When something comes back it throws your mind off into anger and then you lose momentum
  9. I am a customer oriented kind of chef - but I work in a country club - a golf club which is around 98% men. So you think it would be pretty cut and dry right - give me the elite country clubs of south florida any freakin day. We have a guy that comes in 5-7 days a week for 2 meals - he still wonders why he is divorced 3 times. We have a guy that can't have any of his food touch How about the guy that can't be around any of the other guys at the table if they have a PICKLE on the plate. One insists on his bananas being cut up for him We have one that comes in to the bar every day - eats at least 1 if not 2 at least 5 days a week. Asks the bartender the specials everyday - but has the same sandwich and side everyday FOR BOTH MEALS! I have been at this club for 2 years and only a hand full of times does it come in different. WE had a guy that prided himself on ordering in at 2-5 minutes before close. He does not do it too much since the chef went out and told him that we start scrubbing down about 30 min before close after sitting there all afternoon would appreciate a little courteousy - have not seen him late for a while now OR how about the people that walk in at close - order drinks and have to go to the bathroom - OR better MAKE A CELL CALL! I think our server turned the lights out on him while he was outside while his kid drank 3 cokes before he giggled and came in to order So the service industry is a tough one - I know why we drink or get temperamentl when we take time to carefully construct menus of fry aged steaks at 80$ a # and only to have ketchup poured on it or the sunday brunch that you shake the menu up for variety only having people complaining about the fact that we didn't have chicken fingers! It is tough and sometimes it is hard - but I try to get it to the pass and forget it I will leave you with this one 2 - 14 oz Filet Mignon - PITTSBURGH (for anyone that doesn't know - it is a very hot pan, cast iron is the best, sear it brown on both sides, still very rare - the original black on the outside and blue in the middle) I did it by the book only to have it come back if I could cook it a little more - my answer is usually no problem becasue I knew when they oredered they had no idea...BUT it came back again - it went in the frier to a nice med well and they were happy - so the moral of the story - people that order to show off terms they have no idea - On my list of the worst!
  10. Guy Fieri - did he have a lot to sell out? I like his show just don't like him. But if I saw Keller do that it would kind of drop his image - Guys had no where to go - as far as me - I had an exec job before becoming a chef so I went down in pay but the passion is where it is all at for me - if McDonalds approached me about a project and I saw a "passionate" angle - I would jump - But I am not Keller either.
  11. Are you serious? ← serious about what? ← Not sure what the question was either - Wes - you know what you want - you just have to figure out HOW to get to where you want to be - and do it --- it is passion that drives chefs not money (even though it is very nice) I love what I do not becasue of the Exec being jealous of my work, or the yelling at why I orederd what I did or the notes I leave for the staff to remind them - I do it becasue I want to look good and I want my crew to feel good about what they do...
  12. glad I asked - this has been a good thread so far
  13. You sound like you are getting closer to figuring it out - take time to figure out a plan and then follow it -
  14. Thanks I am going to try this for the next chefs table dinner
  15. and as I have said before - I have a degree and FOUNDATION from the CIA - the rest is SELF TAUGHT - I know the basics and the rest is up to me! So yep I have a degree from CIA and I am self taught! You are what you put into your life.
  16. Wes - in anything you have to do your homework. You should have and it is all hind site now - but looking in to a program before you start should have been a top priority especially since it is by far an expensive thing to take on in any type of degree. The questions you have now are where or what to do from here. Some comm colleges have some real good programs and you chose unwisely - so do you stop and do the "school of hard knocks" where you can expect to start washing dishes and doing prep which nothing wrong with that - or do you pick yourself up and go to another program. I think you posted on this "what to do" and I think and I could be wrong that lots of opinions hit you from CIA grads to self taughts - so now you know - if it makes any difference - I am a CIA grad and I am proud of that - but I have worked for some poor places where people have told me that they are real good and well - I was like you are now - they were blowing sunshine up my a--. So take a day - get your head back on and then come up with a battle plan - giving up on your passion will hurt you no mater what - so get moving man - quit telling this group - get your head back on and follow your passion!
  17. Saw this (syllabub) in a Williamsburg Cookbook - anyone done it - did it work and was it any good!
  18. I think that the small places offer a great opportunity. The big names certainly help when job jumping, but if I had to be a fly on the wall - being a CIA grad with some of the best chefs from all over the world - I would like to spend some time with the chefs teaching the basics at the CIA and other culinary schools all over the world and seeing the fundamentals. The basics went so fast that many of the things that were taught I rarely use especially in the South USA where they would not no the difference between a terrine and pickle bologna loaf!
  19. Jakea222

    Pole Beans

    Oh yeah - bacon fat! I add some onion to it too - the the same as above - My grandmom did that too! Holy cow - but if you miss a string - it makes for some serious choking hazards - My grand father grew them and man we ate a ton - had some red potatoes added too seems like I remember the potatoes were awesome with the bacon flavor!
  20. All I can say is Holy COW! I was inspected about a month ago - I got a 98 - missing 2 points for a stupid towel that was wet and on a cutting board....the bars got 100. I can't understand how you could get a 15! BUT I have cooked in a few places that certainly could have gotten that - one in an Atlanta Club - no names so I don't get in trouble - I did hear that the Mgt firef most of the staff after I tried for a position (turned it down mid way through the cooking "tryout") Too grossed out and too worried about amking the chef and pastry guy sick using the stuff they had!
  21. This is a hard area for fine dining chefs as I have found out. I came from the CIA and NYC working in South Florida and some very upscale places and I am here to tell you i would never open fine stuff here. People here are way too simple. Complex foods are not ordered, they would rather have meat and potatoes. So putting spins on things is a tough things unless you can fry it! But this "society" was a help to me on my Summer Peach Salad and I twisted it and it is working for another month anyway! - thanks to all who gave input
  22. Jakea222

    blue cheese sauce

    The cream breaks - I know been there and tried many things. I tried a light roux and it also broke I tried the cornstarch thing - simalar to arrow root and it still breaks on reheat or sitting warm. I tried using cheap white cheese (out of a bucket that is liquid even when cold) I added bleu cheese to it - but it was weak in taste -- Very good question I hope someone can help you and me out
  23. how about balsamic vinegar - - I have taken the cheap stuff (gallon) add some sugar and reduce it - then add it - have turned rice very dark - should work - but I did not see if you wanted a flavor and the flavor profile may be way off
  24. Jakea222

    Brunch

    good idea - but ruled it out because the club members eat Grits - I know - I am a yankee (anything north of Atlanta! ha) and did not understand the facination. We have Red Mule Grits - look em up - a Real Mule named LUKE grinds them and they ship them all over the world...even on our holidays potatoes are not eaten. crazy huh!
  25. Jakea222

    Brunch

    We are doing a trial run to see if it can grow to as big as our special Sundays. Fruit and Berry Display Assorted Breads, Danish and Toasters Aspargus Tart Scrambled Eggs Bacon, Sausage Red Mule Grits Will do Omlettes to order out of the kitchen Breakfast Lasagna - Pnacakes layered with Frutis and Pastry Cream Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Roulade Grilled Salmon Roasted Pork Tenderloin Wild Rice and Grilled Veg Assorted Desserts SImple but it is the first non holiday time so we will see
×
×
  • Create New...