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Teamwork is a MUST

Quick notes for waiters and waitresses out there. You always, always must remember is that once a chef has had a yell at you about a screw up, the issue is over. They've said their piece, and they've moved on. If you keep hanging onto every harsh word a chef has uttered to you, then you'll lose sleep, but as sure as the sun rises, he or she won't blink twice. Even after the shift is done, the kitchen is closed and clean, and everyone's sitting down enjoying a cold one, they'll be your best mate again, simply because you've taken off the uniform, and you're out of the restaurant. But if you really are in the bad books with your chefs and want them to love you forever again, (yell less, smile more and feed you well) keep the coffee flowing!

Having said that, I now know 2 chefs who don't drink the stuff, and one of them's the head chef (so go with coffee and coca cola, just in case). According to Anthony Bourdain, as a chef, you need to get that good caffeine & nicotine buzz to get you going in the morning, and I couldn't agree more on the part of coffee (strong and leuk warm, gotta drink it fast!) I'll pass on the cigarettes, though, thanks. I expect it sounds pedantic, and it's a hard sentence to pull off, but I think that trying to cook and taste what you're preparing after having a smoke effects the taste of what you're tasting. It might not, but I'd rather not chance it and ruin my taste buds later in life. Of course, having said that, everytime I go out the back to dump cardboard boxes, or rubbish, the waft of cigarette smoke always follows my direction. It's so frustratingly tempting!

I only work 2-3 shifts a week at the restaurant, but even after the first week, I knew who was switched on, and who was lagging the team down. Let me get this very clear right now. I DO NOT WANT TO LAG THE TEAM DOWN! I watch, shift after shift, from my prep area these laggers pull the team down in the middle of service, and although it is either due to lack of discipline, or knowledge, or experience, and sometimes not that person's fault, I am determined not to be them when I get allocated to a station.

I watched this one girl in the kitchen for the first two weeks get snubbed by everyone. I'd walk into the kitchen, and say g'day to everyone, and they'd all g'day me back. But whenever this one strolled in and said hi, noone, and I mean NOONE would utter a word back. Some wouldn't even look up. I didn't realise what it was until I had to work a shift with her in the bar kitchen. Good god, did she gossip, and gossip, and gossip... And slow as! Being that I was still new, I was still bugging her to show me how to prep the menu items, but she'd work so slow and talk so much, I kept getting pushed to the end of my tether. This really sucks when you're on the bottom of the food chain because you just can't pipe up without getting yourself into big trouble.

So the good news? She's gone! Let me hear you say a "Woohoo!" I guess the moral is that it's always going to be hard to get a good team together without a few loose screws. But if you don't love a challenge, don't become a chef!!