BigboyDan

Right now cheeses are more expensive than meat - $6.00 a pound for store-bought cheeder, blows me away...

There's the other factor: chef's want to make money. As far as Robuchon, he wanted out of the Paris three-star rat race (selling Jamin), not out of fine dining - see Robuchon Las Vegas.

Dean Fearing seems to agree: http://www.rimag.com/web-exclusives/articl...ings-dallas.asp

Rudy's uses gas and wood - I can't eat their brisket at all, that gas does something...

Get more cooks behind the line during the rush.

But it's not about what patrons wear, right?

Formal dining, it's about the service? Uh, right?

If formal dining is passing, it's only passing for the middle class...

A degree from Cornell is one of the most valuable lifetime assets one could have. A diploma from CIA means that one still doesn't know how to cook.

The Executive Sous is an Executive Chef or a Chef de Cuisine in the making. If anything, that dude's underpaid given his duties. His job is considered management and he runs the entire kitchen, pastry/baking area included, during his shift. When you want something done, you go to him. The Pastry Chef has a lot of autonomy, and she pretty much gets whatever she wants, when she wants it. She has a say in who works in her department, but she doesn't have management duties (she doesn't want them). And, a $24 per hour rate ain't too bad.

Non-union (Texas), but kitchen employees get all the normal benefits that you'd expect from a large hotel. Pay scale reflects the fact that there are hundreds of employment applications received per year for work... so... Three shifts, 7am-4pm, 4pm-11pm, and 11pm-7am. The kitchen is really run, of course, by the Executive Sous and the Senior Sous and the two Sous (one each day shift).

Last week I went through the back-of-the-house payroll, and thought I'd post what everyone's making. Full brigade hotel kitchen (Mobil 4-star) in a large Texas city (per annum, daily personnel, minimum 40 hours scheduled weekly): Executive Chef - $110,000 + quarterly bonus Chef de Cuisine - $60,000 Executive Sous - $50,000 Senior Sous - $45,000 Sous (2) - $40,000 Junior Sous (2) $30,000 Chef Saucier - $35,000 Garde Manger - $30,000 Chef de Partie (6) - $26,000 Demi Chef de Partie (6) - $17,000 Commis (23) - $10-12 per hour Pastry Chef - $48,000 Head Baker - $40,000 Baker (4) $18,000 Dishwasher (8) - $10.00 per hour Buffet Chef - $28,000 Chef de Rang - $27,000 Restaurant GM - $70,000 Certified Sommelier - $45,000 Sommelier (2) - $25,000 Kitchen office staff (3) $24,000 Looks like a lot of people, but it's not: breakfast, lunch, dinner services, tea service, bar food service, 24-hour room service, pool bar, snack bar, etc...

"Five second Rule!" "Hobart" is always used for the stand mixer, no matter the brand. "Green shit", chopped parsley. "Gimme' an all-day". "Need a runner". "Get this order outta' my window, dying here!"

By all means go - especially for lunch.

The closing of the Cafe at The Four Seasons says nothing positive...

El Bulli waiter to quizical diner, "No one really comes here to eat the food..."

Gotta' the love the store front. I get the smothered pork chops everytime...

Jisho has it exactly. In addition, there is a trickle down effect where one can find high quality food now at casual restaurants. And that's where we're headed. There's still a market for Per Se, but there is a greater market for Zoot.

Electric skillets. My mother gave me her Sunbeam electric skillet when I went off to college in 1975 - she received it as a wedding shower gift in 1957. I still use it.

Finally! It amazes me that people here think that the owner (who answered the phone) doesn't have the right to run his own damm business the way he likes. It's the reason most of us start our own business, in fact in my case, the only reason. I am sure that Dave is looking at this thread and laughing his ass off. I know I would be if I was him. "Gee, I might have been rude to the guy but look at all the free advertising I just got." No such thing as bad press. ← I'm not sure that owning a restaurant gives you the right to be rude to customers any more than being able to afford your prices gives customers the right to be rude to you. If a chef/owner was rude to me, I don't think I'd go back to his or her restaurant no matter how good the food. ← Why would a chef/owner be rude to you in particular?

Try cancelling a hotel reservation at the last minute; in fact, try to make a room reservation without a credit card. I would not be "rude' to a customer myself, but I would not run a small high-end place without a CC payment penalty for a last minute no-show. At a larger place, I would count on walk-in customers to account for no-shows...

Fat Guy has it exactly right - word for word.

One works for a particular chef to learn his cuisine and get some general kitchen experience. One can start at the bottom of the kitchen ladder and apprentice, or after culinary school, do "stage" work (a few months employ). The implied deal is that one works cheaply for the education received. A big name is secondary, but it can help.

Bradford Thompson of Mary Elaines at The Phoenician won 2006 Best Chef Southwest. I just think that Weisman has done well with what he has. Le Reve ain't in The Phoenician...

Tabasco Cholula Jardines (Austin) Ass-whoop (mine) Pace