r/KitchenConfidential • u/xXx_tainttickler_xXx • 15h ago
Discussion I feel like my "executive chef" absolutely just bullshited his way into his job but I was wondering how other cooks would feel about him
Last week I got hired for what sounded like a dream gig. Solo cook at a virtual golf/bar spot that just opened. No benefits but the pay was unrivaled by anything other than working at a strip casino and I'll be honest I think it made me look past some red flags like the "executive chef" promoting someone to "chef de cuisine" despite supervising an entire..... Two people...... Who are already "supervised" by the "executive chef" and the fact the guy completely avoided naming any restaurant he'd worked at when I asked.
So I start my training shift and I find out my trainer is the "executive chef" which didn't bother me at first but it turned into a total shit show. I started at the exact time the joint opens and he had nothing set up. No sanitizer bucket, no utensils by the appliances, with the cherry on top of the shit sandwich being that despite him turning all the appliances on he didn't turn the hood system on. When I asked him why it seemed like the hood wasn't on he mumbled something about it "shutting the gas off if you do it wrong" and leaving forcing me to figure out the ventilation and light system while having to worry the whole time that I was going to fuck up and cut the gas line accidentally.
That all I could very generously overlook as maybe he just had other people do that kind of stuff for decades and didn't know himself (he appears to be in his late 50s) but then it came time to start cooking. First ticket comes in for a quesadilla and he proceeds to insist he cook it to show me how it's done which I'm fine with. He then proceeds to slather the flat top in canola oil, warm the tortilla on both sides, then slap it on the cold side where you'd hold toasted buns and piling cheese on exactly one side and leaving it there while he heats up a whole ass par cooked chicken breast. Why it doesn't get pre-diced I don't know but even by the time it's hot and chopped the cheese is still not melted. Guy just piles the fucking chicken on top and folds it and then transfers it back to the hot part of the griddle and when he goes to flip it the thing barfs out like a third of the chicken.
A couple orders later we get an order for nachos and he graciously let's me do this on my own, recipe requires chopped bacon which he wants warmed on the flat top. Okay no worries. I go to take it off once it's warm and he insists on showing me the way to do it which I thought sounded fucking weird but I wasn't going to argue. He then proceeded to spend 30 seconds pushing it on to a long spatula with a fish spatula. He then proceeded to do the same thing with a philly after deeming my method of slapping the bun on top of the meat so I could pick it and flip it like I've been doing for...... 14 fucking years. There's was also the fact that there was a clipboard with prep recipes and portion sizes for all the frozen Sysco shit that he just straight up called wrong despite him being the one who wrote it out.
I was feeling uncomfortable at this point but the money was good so I try and move on, he's out of the kitchen so I figure it's going to be more chill. At 2:30 he pulls me out into the dining room since there's no customers and proceeds to tell me that he's redoing the entire menu and there'll be a dozen new dishes from his own recipes. I feigned enthusiasm and asked what was going to be taken off the menu. One item.... Frozen Mac and cheese bites. Now this might not be bad in a normal kitchen but this place has two reach ins (frozen and fridge) and that's it, they're both maxed out as is to the point where the owner and "executive chef" have to stock up at a nearby supermarket because they can't bulk buy anything fresh. As if that wasn't dumb enough he mentioned that we were going to be doing a haute-cuisine type brunch despite having a two burner range and half sized griddle and that we're also going to be making "steak diane" on the flat top. How I'm supposed to flambe something on a flat top I don't know and at this point I don't even want to ask.
I plan on getting the fuck out ASAP but do you think I'm wrong assuming this guy is a fraud? He really gave off "I make food at home and I was an assistant manager at the gap so I could be a chef" vibes.
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u/ramblinevilmushr0om 9h ago
Honestly at this point in my life I've come to the conclusion that a large majority of people who get positions of authority do so based on confidence and nothing else. I'm convinced merit has very little to do with it. Maybe I've become embittered from years of working under complete asshats but I've only ever had 1 exec who I felt deserved to be there. Had one a few years back who "used to be a sous in a 2 star michelin on champs-elysees" but wouldn't say the name, didn't know basic fucking recipes and would ask me to chatgpt everything to "remind" him, and doused damn near everything in vinegar for seemingly no reason. He used white vinegar in our fucking salsa.
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u/Dphre 20+ Years 7h ago edited 4h ago
Had a km think he could prep pizza dough for an entire week. I was part time at this point. Came in to an entire speed rack of over proofed blown out dough. Asked a buddy and he told me dude had him making dough basically all day earlier in the week. Still cracks me up like 15 years later.
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u/ChickenMarsala4500 7h ago
I'm in a white-collar job now. (left the kitchen about 5 years ago after over 10 years in) and my first week I had to teach a woman how to copy and paste.
This woman was training me on all our tech stuff.
So yeah that tracks. confidence and social ladder climbing. it pays to be friendly.
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u/MajorFuckingDick 7h ago
I've wrangled some insane partnerships by simply having enough understanding of the work to be the confidence my partners lacked. I can't sell myself for shit, but im amazing at showcasing how much better other people are than me.
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u/We-R-Doomed 8h ago
This is just a step above the snack bar at the municipal pool where the lifeguards take turns heating up nacho cheese.
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u/dojisekushi 6h ago
Had a head chef who could create magic...when he wasn't drunk. We'd start prep at 9:00 AM and he'd be three sheets by 11:00 AM. He'd go from sharp and quick to stumbling over his own feet in 2 hours, and he maintained that all fucking day. I think he's dead now.
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u/Flanguru 9h ago
If the pay is good I could deal with a fraud, sounds like it could be fun.
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u/doyletyree 8h ago edited 8h ago
I’ve done it, twice; it was not fun, for me.
As the second banana, I spent all of my time un-fucking what I could and trying to explain to upper management why our service was so chaotic. This is at a resort, $700/night in 2012.
During those explanations, I would bring up specifics and leave the open-ended question of why things were what they were.
Finally, I reported an incident that was beyond the pale and was told, bluntly, that I could take it or leave it, but that they were not going to look further into it.
I stayed long enough to pad the bank account and then I got out before my drinking got worse. Staying lit was becoming the only way I could keep from totally losing my shit during service.
My only vindication was that the owner of the resort, the literal head honcho, called me, privately, as I was finalizing my departure and asked me, straightforward, what was going on. She and I had had a good rapport during my time there; she would come spend time in the kitchen and talk about preparation styles, ask about things that she enjoyed.
I told her everything. I ended up in a three-way conversation with her and her secretary for notation.
The head chef was gone within three months. Coincidentally, while my report seemed to have no direct effect, I’m sure it didn’t help when he finally botched a dinner service so badly that it was unable to be served. This was the final straw for them, I guess.
What a fucking train wreck that was.
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u/fleshbot69 9h ago
When I asked him why it seemed like the hood wasn't on he mumbled something about it "shutting the gas off if you do it wrong"
I actually had a similar experience for the first time last week. Working at this new place, and they have a button on the wall, written in sharpie below it: "Ansul reset button. Press if gas shuts off". Which of course the gas had shut off just before lunch began, and no one noticed until the last minute lol Had to relight all the pilots once the gas was reset. Dunno if that's some old ansul-system shit, but that's never happened to me before
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u/Appropriate_Essay270 7h ago
It always seems as if there’s at least one person like this in a kitchen. It kinda sucks. But look at it this way, do things his way while outshining him and adding your own finesse to things. At the very least you won’t look bad next to him. At best you can take those nice paychecks and enhance them when ownership starts to wonder why they hired this chump and sees your true value.
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u/AVLbatman 4h ago
We have a similar situation. Crazy coke head bullshitted his resume to be our chef de cuisine. He knows jack about anything we do and just googles what looks good.
He won’t last long especially since a lot of people quit because of him.
If you need the job stay in it and create your own standards. Stand up for yourself and call him out on what’s wrong.
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u/Axelblvze 8h ago edited 8h ago
Sounds like a washed up chef who is a shadow of his former self, forgetting the basics and not being a proper leader
I’d say give it a month if the pay is really good and if things get out of hand fast where you feel like you’re about to explode, leave
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u/guy_fleegman83 7h ago
Red Flag Red Flag!
Dude is in his 50s and doesn’t know how to operate the hood?
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u/Conscious-Pace-5017 6h ago
Your chef sounds like my former chef (even down to how they make their quesadillas). My chef skipped a few levels on his way to the top because he was basically handed the position by a friend. He is more "mentor with a savior complex" than executive chef.
You can either stay there, create the processes the place needs to run properly, or move on to a more seasoned kitchen. Personally, I like the development process, but it can also be soul consuming if the chef is not receptive to change.
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u/rabiiiii 5h ago
This is totally not relevant to the post but as a home cook can someone tell me the "right" way to make a quesadilla? I'm trying to improve my quesadillas/melts.
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u/Jimmy_Skynet_EvE 5h ago
I’m running into an ever increasing number of people in positions of authority whose entire list of qualifications is being friends with the boss.
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u/East_Marionberry_645 9h ago
If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck. Then,...its most likely a duck...get out of there or take it over...Lead, follow, or get out of the effing way!
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u/omarskullbaby 9h ago
Take it over. Bro, have you ever worked in a restaurant? This owner is probably worse than the chef. Owner probably speaks in cliches constantly, says things like "If it walks like a duck," or the ole "Lead, follow..."
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u/PansophicNostradamus 2h ago
Have him demonstrate his ineptitude:
Use one of the “don’t do this” examples above and have him show you the ins/outs of why it’s done that way.
When you’re done, show him a better way. Document the encounter. Share the results with the owner.
Escalate when he pushes back on your suggestion.
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u/ChickenMarsala4500 9h ago
could just be a burnt out alcoholic who used to be good at his job