122 - Behind Kitchen Doors: Chef Secrets

Today we are going to be talking about behind the kitchen doors, unveiling the culinary cold for thriving under heat and pressure. How do chefs do it? How do they actually manage to work the long hours and be in the difficult situations in their lives and in their work and still thrive and be amazing. This is one of the things that so many people are, are fascinated by the culinary field. So first thing we're going to talk about is what about it? What? How do we what is actually going on in the kitchens. I mean, you've got kitchens that are like 190 degrees, sorry, 100 degrees in there 90 to 100 degrees on a consistent basis. And then if you're working on the satay or you're working on the grill, those temperatures because raise over 110, about 220 degrees, it can be hot, the stress that's happening that in that environment, everything is very fast paced, you are dealing with seconds, instead of hours, you are dealing with minutes instead of a day. Everything needs to be done very quickly and effectively. And then to top it all off, it's all about precision. It's all about making sure that everything is completely accurate. You know, it's one of the funny things that we joke about. If a chef messes up on a dish, the server freaks out, right? And how can I send this out to the guests blah, blah, blah, like, understandably but, but if the server says show messes up was like Chef, I forgot to say this or forgot to tell you this or he needs to have this. We can't as as cooks, we can't freak out. We just had to switch out, switch around, fix the problem and get on it and get out and keep on working. So it's a kind of funny thing about that. If, if you think about it. A lot of things have happened in the culinary industry over the last 510 years, we have been rocked left and right. We have been pushed and prodded and and pushed to our absolute limits and had very little things sometimes, and then the pandemic hit and our entire industry completely shut down. completely shut down. We had to think on our feet. We had to figure out new ways of doing things. We had to figure out how to go from a sit down restaurant to a purely takeout restaurant. The we had to figure out how to get the products to us from the from the different purveyors because they shut down the amount of food that was in the in the fields that were destined for her restaurants got completely obliterated, there was no place there was no outlet for them to go out. There were a couple of purveyors who transitioned really well. And, and were able to kind of repackage a little bit and sell it to the general public, because the grocery stores were completely empty. But, I mean, it was it was it was huge. I would say the amount of stress that was happening leading up to the pandemic, I would say about one in four chefs would fit had felt kind of overwhelmed with the amount of stress and since the pandemic and the year has said and this year since have I say that's probably doubled or tripled. There are very few chefs out there now who don't feel that stress the overwhelming stress of staffing. Of of your p&l is food costs. of making sure that they're making a profit. And, and are they going to continue to have their job and how to navigate this new environment. So let me talk to you about, but those one out of four people who are, are able to survive who are able to thrive and are able to, you know, deal with the heat and the pressure and the stress of working in this industry. Now, I'm going to tell you this, the things that I'm going to talk about, I guarantee you've already heard, I guarantee you've already heard, and the reason why you've already heard them is because they work. The issue is, they're hard to do, they're difficult to do on a consistent basis, you may be able to take a second here or there and do one of these things. But to be able to do this on a consistent basis, is what's going to set you apart from the other chefs, it's what's going to help you to overcome that stress, the heat, the pressure, and all of the frustrations that happen by working in the culinary field. So the first thing is the biggest. And this is the one that's going to help set the tone for everything else. And that is your mental resilience. What kind of mental resilience Do you have? What kind of tolerance Do you have? How much stress can you can you take and be able to handle without blowing up without burning out. And one of the things that happens is you gain this mental resilience by being in these situations, by being in the places in situations where you're going to be pushed to your limit, where you're going to be stretched. And there's two ways of doing it, you can either let the world bring it on to you, and you deal reactively with it, or you can go out and look for it, you can put yourself into situations and say, I'm going to put myself into the situation, on purpose with the express intent of figuring out how to survive and how to thrive in that situation. Now, if you're going into it with that kind of an attitude, that right there doubles the chance of you succeeding, just because you've got that mental fortitude of I'm doing it on purpose. So what are some things that you can do to be able to build up this mental resilience that you that you need to be able to handle everything that's coming in. First of all, you need to know your strengths, need to know what you're good at. And you need to know what others are good at. Because you're not going to be able to do this on your own, you're going to need to rely on other people. So you need to know your strengths as well as other people's strengths. And then you also need to know your weaknesses, you need to be admit to what you're not good at, and what others are not good at and do not put them in to these situations. Um, unless it's on purpose, okay? Unless you've given if you're putting this putting somebody's weakness on display and saying, I'm going to push your weakness, so that becomes a stronger, you need to make sure that you that they understand that that's what they're doing. They understand that you're doing this on purpose, and they're okay with it. Okay? Because if you just throw them under the bus, per se, and say, Well, that was a test to see how well you do know, you're setting them up for failure. But if you go to them and say I'm going to put you in this situation, I want to see how good you do try your best. If you fail, that's no problem. I don't I don't bother, don't are, don't worry about it, we'll talk about it to how you can become better next time. But I am going to put you in the situation. And so do your best. That's setting that person up for success. They may not actually succeed in the event, but you're setting them up for success in that if they don't succeed, they know that you're not going to be upset, they know that you are going to help them to learn the things and to grow so that the next time they will be successful. Okay. So knowing the strengths of yourself and others, and knowing your weaknesses and the weaknesses of others. And then using those things, knowing those kinds of things, having a plan for every situation. Now a lot of this comes just from straight up experience. But having that plan if such and such happens, then I do this. Okay. You know, you're working on the grill? If you have if you overcook a steak, what are you going to do? What's your backup plan? If you're working in banquets, you run out of food? What's your backup plan? What are you going to do? If you run out of that kind of food? What is, you know, what's the next kind of plan that you've got? If you're working if you're a manager of some sort, if so, and so doesn't show up? What's your plan? What is what's going to happen? If a large table shows up, what's your plan? Okay, have those plans for every situation? To help you with those plans? You need to have your mason plus, having everything ready, making sure that you have everything ready and, and be to be able to handle those situations. Okay? Do you have all the products that you need? Do you have all the equipment that you need? Do you have the staffing that you need, and if you don't have that plan for every situation, and make sure that when you're dealing with those situations, you rely on the strengths of others, you're kind of catching the drift here. The next thing is setting the clear expectations of yourself and others. That's another way that you can build that mental resilience, mental preparation and toughness is if you understand what the expectations are, then you know what needs to happen. And, and you don't get bogged down by everything else that's going on. Okay. And like I said, experience is one of the one of the bigger ones we're going to be talking about now we're going to move on to how to how to manage that preparation, the Mason plus okay. And mastering the art of preparation. So we're going to talk about why it's so important to be prepared. And I talked about the me some plus I talked about the having the plan, and helping that build up your mental toughness. So we're going to talk about why preparation is the cornerstone of kitchen success, and how that preparation is going to prevent chaos in the heat of the moment. So he was saying before, having that plan, for every situation, having that idea, what are you going to do if something falls apart? What's your plan? What's your plan B? What's your plan C? What's your plan D. Okay. For example, just the other day, I was in a banquet and the people blew through all of the roles. And we bake all of our roles in house from scratch. What's your plan be? Okay, you can't just pull new roles, you know, make up some roles real quick and throw them in the oven and have them ready in 15 minutes, right. So here we have this banquet that's going on. And there's about 20 people. That's, I mean, they ran out of rolls. It never happens. But this time it did. So what do you do? What's your plan B? Right. So our plan B is we actually had several baguettes, that were DALED baguettes that we put in the freezer, and we use in the restaurant for like Christie's and stuff. So what we did this time is we pulled those out, cut them while they were still frozen, and then threw them in the throw them in the oven for five minutes and sent those out. Okay? What is your plan B? What are you going to do in the case that you run out? Okay. Being able to think on your feet, being able to make those decisions. That's what being a chef is all about. And that's what makes you and sets you apart from the others that are just like throw up their hands go like, It's not my fault. Everybody ate all the roles, you know. Make sure that as as you're doing these kinds of things that you are not only just as the chef, thinking about this in your head, but you are sharing these ideas and this and what's going to happen in the future with the rest of your staff. I had a really amazing bake bank banquet chef that I worked with. His name is Alex press roll. And this guy taught me a lot about being prepared for your banquets and how Having those plans in advance. He would sit there and talk. And as he was starting to let me as he was starting to let me take over some responsibilities of this banquet, he'd be like, Okay, today, you are in charge, I'm going to put you in charge, you're going to be doing this. And I'm like, Okay, sweet. I'm ready, you know, and I was ready and everything like that. And then he's sitting there. And he's like, Okay, you got all the food? Yes, you got all the thing, ready to go? Yes, everything. And he turns to me, it's like, what are you going to do if you run out? And I'm like, What do you mean? He's like, Well, what do you do? If you run out? What do you do if this burns? What's your backup plan? And I'm like, oh, okay, that would be good to know, you know. So he started getting me to think about those kinds of things, saying, What's your backup plan and doing it before. So having that plan before doing your pre shift rituals, whatever that is, for the line cook, that pre shift ritual that is checking the line, going through every single thing, checking it, making sure the flavor is good. Texture is good, the color is good. You've got all your equipment, getting your meat supplies in order. The other thing is having checklists. I can't tell you how many chefs say how they just look at their line. And they know what they're missing that very same day after saying that, Oh, yeah, I just look at my line. Everything's good. Okay, you're good. Oh, yeah, I got everything, three orders in and he's forgot his bottle of oil. Or halfway through the shift. And he's almost out of salt and pepper needs to get some salt and pepper. Or, you know, there's this dish, that doesn't happen very often. And there's a nice little garnish kind of, you know, let's just say a little paprika or something. And he goes to look for it, and it's not there. Or it goes to grab it. And he goes and he goes to shake. And it turns out, it's empty. Okay? Having those checklists will help you go through that Mason plus having those checklists. For example, I've been doing, I've been doing these videos for a long time. Right before doing this video, I'm sitting here going to my saying to myself, Okay, I think I've got a rhythm. I'm pretty sure I know what I need to do. And I need to put together a checklist. So I can just be like, check, check, check, I got everything, I am ready to go. So I feel confident in what I'm going to produce. And what I'm going to talk to you about making sure you know, if you've looked some of my old first videos, there's been times where the audio doesn't even come through half the time. Or I forgot the lighting, or I got started and I forgot, you know, one thing or another. I need to make checklists, even for this. So having those checklists is very important. Now the thing is, is how do you keep up on your efficiency of your work? Okay, making sure that you are, you're prepared, you're organized, it can, it's all part of this missin plus kind of concept that everything is in its place, everything is ready, everything has a place everything is in its place. Making sure that you understand the priorities of what needs to happen, versus what can happen. And also, with the planning of that kind of stuff. It also allows you as you're planning and thinking ahead, to be able to prevent the fires to be able to see the smoke as it's just starting to smoke and snuff it out, solve the issue and, and get that resolved quickly before it turns into a full blown fire. Okay. Now let's talk about communication. I talked a little bit about it before in making sure that when you are stressing or when you're going to give somebody the opportunity to grow and put them in into an area that you know they have a weakness, they know they have a weakness, making sure that there is good communication in there. Okay, it's also good, good communication is essential in the kitchen. A lot of a lot of restaurants have very short commands, to be able to pass on the information in the least amount of Time, and the most efficient way. The chef calls out the order. Some, some kitchens, they just say heard. Some they say Yes, Chef. Others, they actually repeat their sections, what the order is to make sure that the communication is going both ways. Yes, Chef. If you're going behind somebody that's behind, if you're having knife sharp, you're going around the corner corner, you know, those kinds of things, those clear communications, those are those are communications that we understand really well in the kitchen. But how well do we understand the communication of information that is not direct, and that kind of stuff, for example, the communication of your plan, the communication of what is expected, the communication of any future events, the communication of expectations, and what the chef is going to expect of you, every single day, or in or, or this day or that day, you know, what is your expectation of the staff if you're the chef, and if you're a cook, what is the chef expecting you to be doing this day? That communication is so easy to break down. Because after a while, we start to assume that the other person knows what's going on. And if we continue to kind of misunderstand that, and and and not communicate and make sure that that that understanding is there. Frustrations can happen, the stress levels in the kitchen can go up, people are no longer confident in how they're feeling. And then their own in their own job, they start to worry, am I going to get fired? Does the chef like what I'm doing? The the old, the old way of thinking with the chef's is that if the chef doesn't say anything, then he's good, then he likes what you're doing. What I have found is over time, that kind of attitude has kind of evolved to where the people who used to be cooks and have gone up in the ranks to be chefs, they are now afraid to say things. Because they want to I don't know, this is something that I had struggled with for a while and I'm going to tell you what my experience is with the communication. I always, a lot of times as a chef, I would allow other people to do things a little bit different. And the reason is, is because I wanted to see what they were thinking I wanted to understand and I wanted to see if what they were thinking is actually going to work. And then I would come back later and be like, hey, this did work or this didn't work. But sometimes there would have they would start to build that conflict, they will start to build that. Miskin miscommunication between the two. And as a chef, I guarantee it's the responsibility is was upon me. And because of that, then if I would allow it on a couple of little things, it was start to build. And then when something really big happened, and I needed to address it. And I would just go to address it and it would blow up, it would blow up. And a lot of that had to do with that communication. There was no consistent communication of your doing good. This needs to be adjusted. This is exactly what I want. It was always a thought process in my head that I only say something when they're doing something wrong. And so anytime that I began to talk to that person, they assumed that I was going to really that I was going to belittle them per se that I was going to tell them what they're doing wrong, that they weren't going to be good. Okay, and it began, it started causing a lot of problems. What I found over the years since since then, since I realized that is that I need to focus on the things that they're doing right. I need to make sure that I'm paying attention to what they're doing, and constantly say that's exactly what I want. Yes, this is right. You're doing great here. That's amazing. I love what you're doing there. And then occasionally say, you're doing great, I need you to adjust it a little bit so that it becomes better, okay? And having that communication open, where I'm constantly giving praise, I'm constantly giving good feedback. I'm constantly letting them know how they can improve. And not just telling them how they're doing wrong. Communication, and building that team, that is really that's going to help you to really get a much better resilience within this, this kitchen. Okay. The last thing I'm going to talk about, is your physical endurance. So we've talked about the mental resilience, we've talked about the importance of preparation. And we've talked about building that teamwork. And having that communication, and making sure that you are talking with your team and building your team up, instead of belittling them and pushing them down and grinding them down. Let's talk about the physical endurance of chefs. Because this is where we think that we do great. We pride ourselves in working 10 more hours every single day, we pride ourselves and working six days a week, we pride ourselves, it is a it is a badge of honor, that we can work 14 days straight for 12 hour shifts. We need to get rid of that badge of honor. If you're constantly having to work 14 days in a row, 10 hour shifts, that isn't a badge of honor. That is a lack of leadership. We need to build up our physical endurance to be able to withstand and be able to handle the occasional times that that's going to happen, it is going to happen. That's the nature of the business. But if it happens on a consistent basis, there's something wrong. So let's talk about how to be able to withstand and how to be able to endure the occasional time where you are working lots of hours. The biggest thing is keeping physically fit. The old adage of Never trust a skinny chef, be yes. You should be a skinny chef, every chef needs to be skinny. In other words, you need to be physically fit, you need to have the physical stamina, your body needs to be able to endure the stresses that is going on every single day. And if you are not in physical fits condition, those stressors are going to affect you tenfold. So you need to make sure that you are physically active, not just the up not just the walking around and stuff like that, that you do in the kitchen. Okay, we do that all the time. We're on our feet all day. I'm talking about pushing yourself and becoming better becoming physically fit, lifting some weights, doing some endurance running some bike riding, some hiking, I don't know getting outside and doing something that is not just walking. You know, getting out there and and really making sure that you're fit. We need to eat better. Okay. How many times have you heard I don't want to, I don't want to invite you over to my house because you're a chef and you're gonna cheat my food. What they don't realize is that if we don't cook it, we're going to love it. Because we didn't have to cook it. We didn't have to put all that preparation and we understand the effort and, and, and work that it takes to produce good food. And if we're going to show up at your house, we're going to love it. Because what we normally do the stuff that we normally ate, it's the piecing on the line. It's the vegetable here, it's the sauce here we're tasting the food, tasting the food tasting the food. We got five minutes to eat. We just grabbed something throw it in, put it into a frickin tortilla. I don't know what it is and just scarf it down. You know, chicken nuggets at home because they we don't have time. We don't want to sit there and cook corn dogs, cereal, all that kind of stuff. Just we as chefs, you know, we don't eat very good on our own. Yes, there's going to be the occasional meal but we're super excited and we spend that time we make that amazing and we just love salutely Love sitting out and least on the food, but the majority of the food that we eat is not very good. And we need to change that. I believe that it is changing a lot in the, in the current in how things are going right now. And it's getting better and better. So continue, we continue on that. The next thing is, we need to listen to ourselves, we need to listen to our bodies, there are going to be times where we are done. We are physically exhausted, and we need to listen to that. We need to make sure that we are taking breaks throughout our shifts. Now, I've talked about this multiple times the importance of taking that five minute break, take a five minute break, go outside, get some sun, take a minute, close your eyes. Relax, release the stress, release the stress, just release it and just be like just be in the moment. Right then right there. Okay, and be there for a couple of minutes. Then once you've calmed yourself down, have that rest and you start jumping, you know, jumping up on the balls, your feet, start building up your energy again. All right. All right, I'm gonna go back in there to ripe for service, I'm gonna crush it, we're going to be awesome. I'm going to be awesome. I've got everything ready, I am ready to go. All right, let's do this. And you go in there and do it. That five minute break that release of your of the stress, releasing the tension, a quick relax, and then building yourself up. That is going to stretch your endurance level a lot. Okay? During those times where, where you just got through a rush you know, just got through a rush, the dining room filled up all at once every all the food went out, there is not a single person, not a single seat in the dining room right now, that does not have food in front of them. And you've got five minutes to relax. Do the same thing. Okay? You may not be able to leave the line. But still take a beat a minute, 30 seconds. Okay, build yourself up. Okay, now look at your line, start building out, you know, pulling out your backups and filling up your line again. Okay, but take that moment. Take that moment to stop, relax. One thing that I forgot to mention was if you're leading the line, and you are in the thick of things, and all of a sudden you are starting to get behind. This is a trick that I learned from working at at a restaurant where we were doing 500 covers every single night. And it was just insane. And this was when I was starting really starting to lead a line. The chef pulled me off the side and he saw that I was just starting to get overwhelmed. And he's like Nick, stop. He's like, stop, stop what you're doing. Stop right now. You stop. Take 30 seconds. Look at all the tickets on the line. Okay, then, now that you know what needs to be, what are the next three tickets that are coming? Check with your other cooks, see where they're at. Figure out your surroundings. Make a decision which one which ticket you're going to focus on and lead that line again. That changed my life. That changed how I saw things. He told me he's like that one minute, that 60 seconds of stop, you stop everything. There is no food gonna go out in that 60 seconds. You're going to be behind by one minute. But that one minute will allow you to catch back up and you will be ahead of the game within 10 or 15 minutes. If you stop for one minute. If you do not stop for that one minute, you will be high you will be behind further and further and further for over an hour. So that's what he taught me. Again, listening to your body, your body is the same way. Take that five minutes, relax. Release the tension. Set yourself up. Figure out what needs to happen next Just take inventory of your surroundings. Make that decision and then go. That brief pause, that pitstop that happens in the races, they stop, switch out the tires fill up the gas off they go. That is what's going to help you maintain that endurance to be able to survive, those 10 plus hour shifts, those 14 days in a row, okay, we're going to have them, these are the skills that you need to use to be able to overcome that. So let's just do a quick recap. Okay. We talked about having that mental fortitude, that mental endurance, that mental resilience by having the plan of attack, building that communication, having your meeting plus ready, setting clear expectations for what needs to happen every single day. Have your pre shift rituals, have your me supplies and your checklists, and you're, and you're reviewing of what's going on every single day. Okay, anticipate what's going on, pay attention to the smoke, and put those, put the smoke out before it becomes a fire. Talk to the team. Let them know what's going on what your expectations are. Tell them what they're doing well celebrate the things that they're doing great. And make sure that you are addressing these conflicts and these issues early on. So that they don't become big fires. And lastly, make sure that you are physically fit, you've that you have the stamina, the physical stamina to be able to survive, and to thrive in this environment. Now, I kind of didn't touch on this. But it's but it doesn't need to be said, rest, sleep. It's very important. Okay, get your sleep. Make sure that you as you're doing all of these other steps, as you're getting, make sure your visa plus is ready. As you're doing those release. And and and setting yourself up for the next time and taking breaks throughout your day. It will allow you to sleep better at night. Because you will not have all of that stress built up. When you get off of work, you'll just have that last little bit. And if you can do a quick release right before you do the cleanup. And you're barely going to have any stress and you can just go home and relax. Take a beat and go and go to sleep. Okay. The whole point is, is that I want to make sure that you can lay down on your bed comfortably, not exhausted, not burnt out. Not devastated from the day's events. But comfortable. Yes, you're tired. But you're not burnt out. You're not overly exhausted. Okay. If there's anything else, there are so many other tips and tricks that I'm sure all of you can, can share. And that you've learned, please put them in the comments below. I would love to hear that kind of stuff from you. Love to get your input. Let's get some discussions going on about how to how it is and what are some of the skills and tips and tricks that waiters chefs use to be able to handle these stressful situations. I've given you some of mine, I'd love to hear some of yours. So next week, I'm going to be talking a little bit more about leadership and how it is that you can become a from a cook to a chef to an inspirational chef, and what steps you can do and how can you fast track that to get there quicker. So join me next week on Thursday, one o'clock Mountain Time. And I appreciate everything that you guys have been doing here. You guys are awesome. See you later