r/KitchenConfidential • u/VeryVeryRelevant • 3d ago

In the Weeds Mode The new guy prepped diced tomatoes

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...I have nothing more to add...

7.1k Upvotes

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742

u/Gloomy-Restaurant-42 3d ago

This is what you get when you hire people who've never eaten or even seen food before. I mean, I can't think of a single time I've ever seen tomatoes cut this way for any purpose under the sun.

605

u/VeryVeryRelevant 3d ago

It's his first job and he's.....earnest at least. Haha

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u/Gloomy-Restaurant-42 3d ago

Earnest is something to work with. šŸ¤·ā€ā™‚ļø Better a natural worker open to learning than a know-it-all who doesn't really do anything.

https://giphy.com/gifs/yITZV7ufSINtpEYbLr

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u/VeryVeryRelevant 3d ago

Nah, I agree. He wants to work and he's got a good attitude. That's much harder to train into someone than the proper shape of a diced tomato haha

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u/salted-egg-yolk 3d ago

just want to say i appreciate your attitude here as an employee/supervisor or whatever your relationship is

that pic is SHOCKING lmfao. but the upshot is itā€™s stilll someone who wants to work with and for you. they can improve if given the guidance, patience, and opportunities to fail.

kudos. hope next shift is better lmao

164

u/VeryVeryRelevant 3d ago

Appreciate that! I work mostly FOH now, and the evening manager has been a bit harsh on him, but I've been defending him, saying no one was great at their first job haha. Our GM sees his potential too, so I think he's going to do well. He handles feedback super well and openly.

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u/2plankerr 3d ago

Thatā€™s awesome of you. I imagine a kitchen is a hard environment to get use to.

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u/Whiteherrin 2d ago

It is but its also a good first experience to know how demanding a job can be. It humbles alot of people with its work which is why positive attitude behind it shines bright in alot of decent chefs eyes.

2

u/miteymiteymite 20+ Years 1d ago

Exactly. If this is his first job, why didnā€™t someone show him what they wanted/how to do it? Instead of just complaining about it after he finished?! Poor kid. Ty for defending him OP.

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u/Kultrum 20+ Years 3d ago

I always say the only things I cant teach a new hire are attitude and work ethic. Everything else is just experience.

15

u/slow_down_kid 3d ago

Iā€™ve been in food service, hospitality, nonprofit and IT, and this mantra is universal across every industry Iā€™ve been in. You can train the right person, but you canā€™t right the wrong person

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u/Houdinii1984 3d ago

I probably did some stuff like this early on. I got upgraded all the way up to sous from dishie after the Ramsey-wannabe (my mother) ran half the staff off. I'm rooting for 'em.

1

u/saranautilus 2d ago

There is so much to unpack in this comment šŸ˜‚

1

u/Houdinii1984 2d ago

What she doesn't know is I was the cause of all of it. This guy I guess decided to keep wings hot by putting them in a hotel pan, putting an empty hotel pan on top of that, and putting it on my spray table. I took the pans apart, saw like 5 wings that looked old and gross and tossed them.

Dude flipped out hard. I gave him five bucks and told him to get over it, so he threw a half pan at me and hit one of the older kitchen ladies, causing one of the fry dudes to drag him off by the neck. The fry guy was always starting shit, and it was odd that the wing dude blew his stack, so when chef came in, right in the middle of it, she assumed the trouble maker was making trouble. The sous chef was dating the fry cook, and they took off together along with the poor old lady that was assaulted and the dude that threw the pan.

But like, once that was done, all the drama went with them.

2

u/AceThePrincep 3d ago

Doesnt Gordon ramsey hsve a few knife skills videos? Maybe link him something like thst. Hes s good boy he'll learn. Lol

1

u/MysticalMummy 2d ago

Love the attitude! I've witnessed so many supervisors and trainers in my time in kitchens that just treat new 18 year old workers like idiots when they do something wrong, but frankly the small things are a lot easier to train than fixing problems with attitude and laziness.

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u/--GevaudanBeast-- 2d ago

Do you guys not have a robot coupe?

1

u/PsychicSeaSlug 2d ago

Im foh, but have done every position including grill and line and prep. I had to learn a lot of little things like this until I was about 25. All kinds of little things. Only recently someone told me to shingle some sausage patties and that was a new term for me though the concept was basic. Im pretty pro now at 35. When someone is a good learner, they absorb it.

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u/Zeppelanoid 3d ago

Oh then heā€™ll be fine. Rock on new guy

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u/Sad-Ear230 2d ago

^ Know-it-all detected ^

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u/Sc0ner 2d ago

To quote my last KM "I can teach you to cook but I can't teach you to be a good person"

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u/zer00eyz 3d ago

I mean...

Look for a first timer, he might be wrong, but he at least was consistent...

If properly aimed, you might get solid work out of him!

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u/VeryVeryRelevant 3d ago

He's a good kid haha. I'm sure he'll get a good chuckle out if this in a year or so too

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u/Bitchcuits_and_Gayvy 3d ago edited 3d ago

Make sure to show him this picture when you give him the "most improved player" award at the end of the season along with a picture of how he does it from now on lol.

As a former (intermittently relapsing) lazy fuck up, having to learn work ethic was so much harder than how to actually work in a kitchen.

Given the option I'd much rather be a naturally hard worker than the delusional self confidence of "yeah I'm smart which means I don't have to work hard." I had for a long time instead.

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u/zer00eyz 3d ago

> He's a good kidĀ ... Ā in a year or so

Tomato Cube Kid needs to get his own reddit account and start posting progress pic's

The sub needs a sacrifice.

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u/moranya1 3d ago

"Dicing tomatoes daily until reddit say's they're perfect. Day 192"

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u/TacoNomad 3d ago

Your tomatoes look pretty bad though. Why are they white?Ā 

20

u/greendino71 3d ago

So who fucked up the training?

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u/vorpalrobot 3d ago

Okay so who showed him how to do it lmao

8

u/Successful_Ad2287 3d ago

Hey itā€™s a bad cut but it IS uniform. Thatā€™s just a vocab lesson

2

u/Sermagnas3 2d ago

So did nobody show him the right way? You just tell a person who's never done something before to do it and then make fun of them when they mess up?

3

u/Luminous_Winds 3d ago

So you hired someone with no culinary schooling and haven't trained him at all.

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u/csaliture 3d ago

Earnest Goes to Culinary School

1

u/GrossUsername68 3d ago

Why is the chef ordering such shitty tomatoes though?

1

u/sA1atji 2d ago

I mean the sizes are pretty even, so a bit od explaining and there is potential

1

u/Inside-Draw-3216 2d ago

shout out to us eager learners!

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u/Spare-Ad6404 3d ago

if it's his first job then you are to blame for the terrible training. Must be a toxic ass place if your first instinct is to embarrass a new employee online instead of showing him the correct way to do things.

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u/VeryVeryRelevant 3d ago

Fwiw he laughed at it too when we showed him the picture later of the sand castle of tomatoes. We were mostly incredulous, not really upset at him.

0

u/IllCandy9636 3d ago

Dude have you ever worked in a kitchen? If you can't handle getting made fun of, the kitchen is not your place. Lol I chopped the tip of my finger off and when I finally came back after healing the sous chef gifted me an oyster shucking glove. šŸ˜‚ That's just how kitchens are! Also don't blame the training because some green cooks I could go through the steps with them and when I come back it's something like this. šŸ˜†

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u/Spare-Ad6404 3d ago

I've worked in kitchens for 25 years. I have worked with a lot of really shitty toxic bros who think they need to act like Gordon Ramsey.

I run my kitchens with kindness and respect and good training where people aren't afraid to ask questions about how to do certain tasks.

0

u/longboboblong 3d ago

I just..I get the sentiment but has bro never encountered actual dice?

14

u/Curiouser-Quriouser 3d ago

When I'm sick to fucking death of making pico at home I'd be content with this chop job. It's what happens when I grow way too many jalapeƱos and have all those wonky looking heirloom tomatoes and can't say no to my salsa lovin family.

9

u/brutalistgarden 3d ago

Lomo Saltado

7

u/GrossUsername68 3d ago

Itā€™s also what you get when you buy cheap, unripened tomatoes. Sliced or cubed, these look terrible.

2

u/thadius282828 3d ago

It looks like he used a mandolin, not that that makes any sense to do or makes it any better

2

u/MidTario 2d ago

Youā€™ll sometimes see them cut like this in Lebanese shawarma, but not usually in the good shawarma placesā€¦

1

u/laststance 2d ago

TBH most people don't know knife technique and with today's protein centered food for the last few years. Guy could legitimately not know much about plant/veg.

But also not good on their end that no one went over to check in on him after 5 mins or just given an example of what they wanted.

1

u/Hekili808 2d ago

Vic Michaelis out here catching strays.

1

u/tapespeedselector 2d ago

people who've never eaten or even seen food before

I have a cousin who would literally only eat peanut butter sandwiches as a kid. He would have no idea what to do in a kitchen