Jakea222

I believe I was answering your question but since you are - well - slow to pick up I edited out a lot of what I put in to start because - you are way too smart for me - The responsibility of a chef is to provide a service. The service is food to the public. You do this in the most affordable way because you want to make money. You also take in to consideration - your labor - which I won't discuss because scottie has ALL of the the answers on that one - while going local is always a good thing it sometimes does not fit in with budgetary constraints and as tough as things are now - not very appealable to the financial guys. I am more concerned about buying and cooking things that are on the start of endangered watch lists and also making sure that my vendors are following safe guidelines. I think it more appropriate to ask you if you have anything to say about the responsibility of a chef instead of your hiring practices and opinions

Craftsman tool box! Sorry no fancy stuff here

I appreciate the name calling of the "Lazy CIA CHef" SO you must have no education or one from the other schools. Anyways, the immigration issues is a lot bigger that not hiring in the first place. When an employee provides you with the information needed and required by the Feds, who the hell has the time to do huge back ground checks when all you are doing is hiring the person to cut the grass on the course or prep in the kitchen. So it is a lot bigger issue - let play this scenario. Which American will work the fields to bring me the foods I need and to have a hot kitchen with people I treat like gold to follow my lead in prepping food for the guests and then cleaning up the mess. You know not many will for the pay. I am a CIA Grad and I did not work for less that 10 an hr becauseI know that my education and my experience made me worth a little more than that. Now I am a Sous and - well make a hell of a lot less that 10 an hr if you do the math for the title. My peeps have papers -= real beats me - I treat them like family in the fact that I am with them more and in close proximity banging pans and running the line that these are my brothers and sisters. Now - take them out of here for an illegal issue - I can say it would hurt us BAD and I would really feel as if a family member had died. SOme of the people making the issue of illegals don't know too many - I know of some and might even know some I didn't know were. Some have horrible stories about death squads, and murdered family and I could not even think about sending any one of them back --the pay taxes, with the money they earn - they contribute to the local economy with food, gas, BEER had to add that one and most of them live happy normal lives.

We did a perty and did a veg crudite - one "male" and one "female" using veg - you can probably figure it out - but it was fun - we did hollow out cabbage for a dipping sauce and they enjoyed it a lot.

I had 3-5 hours in some of my cooking trials. ONe place was so filthy that I made everything from scratch. You might say I lost interest about half way through and walked out after I plated...

I am one of 2 trained and experienced chefs in the kitchen - here is the deal. While I am always striving for perfection in everything - neither one of us "2" can be doing the food all of the time. So good enough is a range. it is like you want 1 10 on everything but your acceptable range is 7 to 10. You have to take in consideration the skills of your staff....as far as getting the best ingredients - whover that post was above - you look for good quality for a reasonable cost. A chef can make something good from anything. While mystery baskets which I have talked about before are the test for a chef. You non chefs that all you talk about is Top CHef - well, while most of that stuff is not as "on the fly" as you would think - look at your fridge and write menus - for us chefs - the skill is in making something good from almost nothing. Flavor profiles - what goes with what - but I am not sure how this post has gotten so far from topic.

I have had a couple of famous 5 star resort cookbooks and am wanting to expand that collection. Example - The Waldorf Astoria - The Greenbrier Hotel and I want to know if you guys know of sites that I could find OR know of good specific books that would be on the same level of "fine" dining hotels and resorts that I should add to my new collection. Thanks

Very good post. Kitchen time abuse happens everywhere if they are paying you or not. If you are just starting your cooking career, expect about what you are getting. If I added my pay and divided it by my hours I get paid about 10 bucks an hour - I am a Sous - so the stress of being blamed for everything, listening to the FoH staff complain and then the BoH complain along with all of the trials and tribulations of the industry I chalk it up to a stepping stone that will get me to the next place. I look at a lot of it as a learning experience, but time will push me on when the right time and place becomes available. I cook, wash dishes, scrub flat tops, grills, clean fryers and boards. I have earned the respect of the staff which is the most important thing to me right now and keeps me keeping on. Good luck

I am not talking about line cook jobs - most of your larger places you haev to cook for the board, F&B and others. I think of all of the places I applied I cooked all of them but maybe 1. Some places even on extern you had to go and shadow so yes it still happens...

well if anyone hires a chef - not a line cook - they had better have them come in a show what they can do -- I did mystery baskets - helped with dinners etc...first it gave me a look a them and they could look at me. One place was so discusting - I lost focus on my cooking demo becasue I had to clean before i could do anything and it was at the poit where I could not tell what stocks they had on the floor uncovered and not dated that all smelled the same with a great fat layer that I half assed my final plate of 3 and placed it - the exec and pastry chef started to do the Top CHef judging crap and I stopped them and said enjoy I am withdrawing from consideration due to the lack of cleanliness. So it is good to see them - but I would never consider anyone just due to paper UNLESS the credentials and experience was huge!

I made the right cjoice going to CIA. I am an "older" student and it was the only place I felt as many other did when I went in as they tried to get teh career changers together at one time - it worked - we lost 2 a lawyer that was a mess and a kid that was having a sleep walk and stealing construction equipment - but nice guy. My education was the best I paid for - you noticed I did not say mommy and daddy. I paid for - put it on a credit card and got frequent flyer miles and paid the entire balance off the next month! I wa lucky I had come froma great job and my wife was and still is the bread winner. But school politics is everywhere. But I was there - Got a STAR on my diplo,a saying I was there everyday to learn from some of the best chefs in the world - I did, I asked and I put out great stuff. Still drawing back from the foundations I had gotten in each and every class in some form or another...The CIA on my resume has opened doors to chefs that also are alums and discussions about the school is a lot and makes a lite conversation and always got a chance to cook. I never had any trouble cooking or my gift of gab. I had 2 that were uneasy on saying yes to me and I told one no and the other Ijust did not feel as if my skills were up to the standard they wanted right out of the gate. But the place I am in now and beofer I am Executive Sous. My first job out was sous then Exec Sous and still Exec Sous for 18 months. Putting out menus - developing new things and seem to be the bartender of the staff as everyone is coming to good ole me to talk about crisis either personal or business....oh well - I would not have changed th world with my deciosn - do I question that I left my nice ACd office with a view great MONEY and bankers hours...now - cranky members wanting this that are not on the menus - bartenders helping me with a cold concoction deal with the AC being broken and another 8 hrs left --- oh well - love the food not the place!

i-64 w - The greenbrier hotel - drapers cafe - 5 star hotel - nice stop before going down the mt! i-64 w - Tamarac - it is the arts and crafts stop at Beckley WV - the Greenbrier runs the food court at that place used to be very good.

While I agree to a certain degree that the president of a school should not have an open door policy to students - he/she must be visible. I worked for 25000 + University and the president was very visible in lots of things - while it is his job to steer - the long term effects of not being active a little in the school will show up later as the Alumni Association starts beating the mailbox for money. I only saw the man one time - at graduation. While I think it important at the Hyde Park campus to be very "pretty" becasue it has so many guests and busses and red hat ladies lunches (flashback) I certainly do not like what I see. Campus locations everywhere - nowhere Texas - come on. JW did that and is closing campus locations becasue of costs Now I will say that my education at the CIA was very good. But I can say that most places will not care about you as an employee and it may just be another learning experience of not being cared about as a student. ex. I just suffered through an un air conditioned kitchen for a month 125+ degrees on the line. The adm was more concerned about losing money by closing for a couple days than closing and fixing it so the staff would not wear down in the heat open 7 days a week 14 hr days 4 chefs - so I really dont care about the president of the CIA I care more about the guys in the trenches teaching at the school and the students.

The CIA was getting strange when i was there in 03. When I graduated - here we are line up in the hall and some lady starts tells us how things will play out and she says - After Dr. Ryan starts in then - blah blah - and I made an off the wall statement sayng "who the hell is Dr. Ryan" - well of course when I made the statement the room was quiet for some off reason and then everyone looked at me laughed and high fived me - I saw the man once when I was there - the ADM was so hell bent on campuses all over the place that they really left the students in a thought process of who the hell are these administration people. The "front line professor" are the ones that are probably really wondering what the heck is going on. My friends and mentors up there never answer that question when I ask how things are going. Mostly that they have students that don't have the passion - money is getting some kids through and while the education is still very very good and cutting edge - it is not like it was.

Ok that is way off waht I want to do - but sounds nice

When I was at the CIA - the library had all kinds of stuff like what you are hitting on - and your number sound about right - some of the things I saw in them parks or whatever - the BIG Chefs were not paying much if anything - just so the name was in the hotel. That was like a 5 year thing and then a % like what you were going at sales. I can't remember which Celeb chef in vegas 0 but they paid for the kitchen etc and have a contract for 10 yrs and after 5 will talk about money --- so whatever that means

OK - Now that I see your post I understand from your menu thesis question that you are not a chef - ok - look - I am a career changer chef. I went got a business degree worked 10 years as a university medical school comm dir and realized I was not happy - food made me happy . I took my white colar job and went to the CIA - I chose the CIA becasue I was a career changer that wnat to make sure I could get a jump since I am older than the HS kids that have 20 years to learn where I was in another career. Culinary schools (any of them) give you a great foundation on which to build. The problem with culinary grads is they tend to come out with an ego which hurt us greatly. The school of "hard knocks" or working up is a good thing too - BUT I will argue with anyone that says that many places are wanting grads OR certifications (ACF or PROChef) so the road you take is up to you. All schools are expensive - but so in Med school Law school or wherever - they make a heck of a lot more money that chefs. I came out of the CIA and went straight to Sous (French for Slave) my term is more the Executive Chefs Puching Bag - I am paying my dues until I get the title of Exec - and working toward certifications - so the raod continues for me but it is not a glamourous life by any means - take you time - you ahve a year your senior year to think about options of what you want - hey it took me 20 years to figue it out and I am a chef - but still want to be a billionaire!

I hope you plan to figure out your labor - skilled labor and your facility - you have a huge freakin menu - it looks great and as chef I appreciate all of the dished you have - but in the real world you have to think of: your place - are the items from fried green tomato to grouper carpaccio who is your clients your facility is going to have to be a fairly good size place. Your Labor - well most things are easy to do on your menu but you still have to train someone to do them so you have to think of how many people and at what skill level numbers - how many people are you going to get in the door - are you in a LAs Vegas kind of place or downtown nowhere I would cut that menu - nothing is more frustrating to people than really having to read a menu - why Cheesecake factorys work I have no idea - the menus are crazy food cost - right now things are costing us A LOT. I would not wanting to be opening a place right now - deliveries for my club are costing 10.00 and with the costs going up - that is a lot. Some things have gone up 10 - 20% so that is a piece As I am working on a menu - I have to think of who I have on the line - are they able to do formal dinner service - things you have take people and that is the first thing I see wrong - too many items - too many ingredients - I see your "handle" is chef - if you are a chef - which many people are not in this blg - you better really look into your thesis and consider the outside economic factors - if you don't your professor is going to kick you down with a letter grade - At the CIA - My menu development was carefully considering all of the facts - the big one being = LABOR - INVENTORY - WASTE - if you have that stuff on hand and it rots you lose bigtime! Oh and the thing about spelling - nothing pisses me off more than seeing things mis spelled on a menu - one thing for typos on informal things like here and on personal emails and crap but on a menu - better have a proof reader!!!

Thumb Rules - well here is a big one - make sure that your PERSONAL PROPERTY cannot be hit if you fail over time to pay back investors on scheduled payout dates. I knew a guy that bought into a franchise gig, did everything he was supposed to do - did great when he opened for a while and then 9-11 hit and he dropped his profit numbers and the franchise went after him -

I read an article by MIchael Ruhlman that talked about the bastardizing of the traditional Caesar Salad as people want chicken, shrimp, steak whatever. Nothing is more annoying to a chef than have some "feedbag" guest demand things that make no sense. Order yesterday Casear Salad Blackened Chicken Dressing note Half Caesar Half Basalmic Vin. add Blue Cheese Crumbles I had to pass it to the line cook - made me physically ill

OK - cheese - I could not find one that we had in house that tasted good. I like the pound cake crouton thing As far as the sweet vin - it is sweet BUT does have a twang - the sugar in the first rasp mix was not for sweetness but to get them to juice up like strawberries Pickled - not sure - can you grille them and them pickle them -

OK - sorry I have not replied to the post - I just got the note saying it had been reworded on the title and I was looking for the wrong thing! It is a little late so I will give you the ingredients of the vin. I cooked down about a pint of rasberrys with some sugar until they kind of poped. cooled and then strained. So I had about 1/4 cup of very sweet syrup. So then I cheated to test. I got raspberry preserves and red currant jelly and meled them in a pan. I could have taken a bath in it right there. I added the real stuff and the chef crap started to pick my brain. I took that mix and seperated it into 3 bowls. 1 had orange juice, one cranberry and one lemon to think it down before I wisked in oil. They were all great and the taste with the GRILLED peach were all good. BUT did not POP. SO I added a little Champagne Vinager and reworked all 3....It Popped them - the cranberry juice mix was the best. SO I wrote that one down specific....so then I added the lemon and the cranberry together to see what happened and IT ROCKED! Here is the build Clear Glass Bowl Spring Mix - Romaine The front 3:00 to 9:00 position will have grilled peaches - great cross marks (grill Pan) The very top will have a Sugar coated Georgia Pecans - the test - well - I am not sure which one came out the best! Egg whites - sugar, cinnamon, curry powder, paprika, cayenne and red chili flakes. Now this is not as hot as you may think. The first chew is nice and sweet and then you get a little spice - not fire. the peach and vin and the nut - Holy cow! I will try to get some pics as I finalize the plate and pic and train the staff for a start next week.

the first thing I thought of was a dessert pasta!

The salad I have come up with is a - Well The Georgia Peach Melba Salad Local garden greens tossed in a melba vinaigrette and topped with grilled Georgia Peaches and Hot and Sweet Georgia pecans. The test fires have been very positive and working out a few methods for the peach...anyone seen a salad like this and any ideas? We will offer grilled chix and shrimp as an add on any idean to make this better - thought about pound cake croutons!

Ireee - you are a woman after my heat - sous vide = come on guys grill the hell out of it