THE CHRONICLER OF THE KITCHEN July 2012
Mike
Campbell
MY
PHILOSOPHY
“Do my best, and forget the rest".
USE YOUR HEAD
Your brain is the best tool you have!
SAFETY
“I HAVEN’T CUT MYSELF YET” is not a reason to be reckless.
Knives are carried pointed down and rolls are sliced on a cutting board NOT the
palm of your hand! Close the blade before you clean the slicer! Water turns to
steam at 212 degrees F; so do not put your hand in immediately after opening. “USE
YOUR HEAD”.
YOUR FECES DOES STINK !!!!!!!
There is only one
God and He does not wear checked pants! He also does not work in
a kitchen. We human vessels are weak, we blunder, and we are less than perfect,
so don’t try to pass yourself off as “CHEF ALMIGHTY” and expect others to genuflect
to your magnificence.
APOLOGIZE; IT’S THE HARDEST THING YOU’LL EVER DO IN THE KITCHEN.
The “right” or
“wrong” of a situation is not the issue. The paramount challenge is not
poisoning your work environment and personal relationships. The constant stress
of continuing an argument will make you and those around you miserable. I
advise swallowing your pride, maybe feel uncomfortable for a few minutes, and moving
on to a happy place.
THINK
USE YOUR HEAD
FIRST AND YOUR BODY SECOND.
TREAT OTHERS AS YOU WANT TO BE TREATED
Don’t talk down
to others, and do not take them for granted. You can learn from everyone. You
will need help at some point so do not alienate those around you.
KEEP AN OPEN MIND
Try new things
and new combinations. If it sounds crazy, try it anyway! You will never broaden
your experiences if you travel in a rut.
ALWAYS ASK WHY
NEVER STOP
THINKING, things can always be done better. Do not accept the answer; “I’ve been doing it this way for years”.
Things change, techniques that made sense at one time may loose their
relevance. Search for more efficient methods. You will NEVER know all
the tricks of the trade!
WHAT’S THE NEXT STEP ?
Prepare! Is your
station stocked and backed up? What happens when you run out of an item? The
time to answer these questions is before
service not when you are in the weeds! Can I make my life easier by doing a
little extra now, instead of standing around? Get out of the kitchen mindset of doing only what is required to
survive this shift!
I AM MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE CUSTOMER
This is simple
math. There may be 100 customers being fed by 3 or 4 cooks. Therefore, one cook
is responsible for 25% to 33% of the plates, while a customer is one percent. A
disgruntled customer may infect a few others and ownership may lose 5%. If a
cook goes down, 25 % of the customers will be ill served.
TRAIN YOURSELF OUT OF A JOB
I learned this tenet from an old
Accounting boss. How can I advance if there is no one to take my place? Train
those with less skill than you. There is no faster way to get something
done than to have someone else do it. I once worked for a Chef who
acted as the receiving clerk and stored all the deliveries. He refused to train
someone to place things where he wanted them. Instead he spent years moving
boxes while lesser-paid staff was available. I WILL NEVER BE THAT CHEF!
MANAGEMENT
This
is work. Management is not pontificating and assuming things are the
way you want them, just because you said so! Management requires communication,
education, understanding, encouragement, accountability, and follow up. “Follow up” is the hardest aspect of
management, NEVER ASSUME. You must ensure that staff followed you instructions.
If there is a mistake you want to find it first and not be embarrassed by a
customer or look unqualified to a boss. If the staff is properly trained a good manager can quickly ascertain a
situation. Staff must know you have performance standards. These standards must be enforced
all the time, not just when you are in a bad mood!
LEARN WHAT NOT TO DO
Emulating a
mentor is a great idea. Discovering qualities, characteristics, practices, or techniques
in others that you admire and make your own will help us evolve. Only an active
mind will seek to understand what is occurring around it. If positive
attributes are rarely encountered, then study qualities that are not productive.
I have found it easier to catalogue traits that I find offensive than to
analyze what is being done well. A boss’s irritating traits come to my mind
much quicker than the positives. When someone’s behavior irritates you, resolve
not to imitate that action.
DO IT RIGHT - THE FIRST TIME
If you perform
your tasks properly the first time you will not be doing it again. This is
especially important when you are busy, if the chef is unimpressed with your
product or the customer sends an item back, you will be making the dish a
second time. Develop and maintain a ‘TEAM CONCEPT’. A lazy action may save you
time but how many other will pay the price? Return items to their proper spot! Others
will waste much more time trying to find it. Do not take someone else’s prep!
LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES !
This is how I developed my philosophy. I have made many mistakes,
bad techniques, laziness, and bad decisions. I can always improve on my
mechanics, motor skills get better and faster with repetition.
Improving myself,
my inner being, THAT IS THE REAL STRUGGLE.
I owe, I owe, its off to work I go.
Into THE
CAULDRON!
“The difficult we do,
The impossible
takes a little longer!”
Is tuisce deoch na sceal
