Cooking tryouts for jobs

[Qwerty]

Any of you ever done these before, mystery basket/blind ingredients style? What were they like. I'm talking about at the chef/sous-chef level in a fine dining place.

What did you make? What was the thought process when you saw your ingredients? Was the tryout a disaster? Was it great? What did you cook?

If you are a chef/owner, what do you look for from potential chefs from these tryouts? What works well, what doesn't? Any horror stories?

[Just Jim]

Never done one myself, my demos were always my choice on menu.

Haven't asked anyone to do one either.

That being said, and for what it's worth, I would look for the following:

Cleanliness.

Efficiency.

Technique.

Utilization of product.

Waste control (which ties in with utilization).

Overall demeanor (are you visibly stressed, too casual, an obvious homicidal maniac).

The hardest part for you may be unfamiliarity with the equipment.