NY restaurant industry

[chefzadi]

Chefzadi:

What IS the best technique to get the copper pans so shiny?

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Lemon and salt. Or Lemon, salt and vinegar.

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I always used lemon, and sand. Or use the French method, which is to find the lowest-ranking commis you can find, and tell them to do it.

We digress, ladies and gentlemen.

Sleepy_Dragon - I'm about the most hardened socialist you'll find in a kitchen, but the system is so utterly riddled with the current prevailing attitude that it's going to be very hard to swing. Whether we like it or not, we have to operate within market forces. Market forces may well dictate that some people will pay more to eat at an establishment where they know the staff are treated scrupulously well, but it's still a market force.

Malheureusement, most chefs and organisations are still very much of the 'just hold still so I can climb up your back' mentality.

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Come to think of it, I think I did use sand. But this almost 25 years ago. My memory is not that good.

And yes, unfortunately the "climb up your back" attitude exists. I think it exists more at the fine dining level and much more so in the States than in Europe. And it goes both ways up and down the line. In LA I've had prep cooks just out of school eyeing my Exec position. The best way I've found to handle it is to let them try it.

I actually walked out of a job (I was the chef) because of the way the owners treated the staff. The owners treated me quite well by the way. The staff pushed for it and they sincerely asked for my support. They wanted me to put my job on the line for them. Ummm...did they follow me out the door? No. Just one waiter. The place went dead the very next day, as soon as the customers found out I was gone they would walk out and the place shut their doors permanently less than 2 months later. And yes, the owners did ask me to come back, but I just didn't want to. So maybe everybody learned a lesson here. The owners did for sure.

Shit flows both ways... It flows all around...