I’d like to elaborate on something I posted online earlier this morning. Here is a bit of advice to the cooks out there. Stop being so damn nice. Don’t get me wrong, I want a solid team that play well together and enjoy what they do. But there’s something I’ve seen a lot of in recent years. Nobody wants to call each other out when something’s not right. Maybe it’s because many of my cooks are good friends outside of work and don’t want to hurt each other’s feelings. I’m here to tell you that in a kitchen, you need to be honest about the food. When someone creates a special and we do a tasting, often everyone agrees that “it’s really good”. Then I get to it. It’s too salty…or under seasoned…or needs more acidity. I’ve even tried things that were scorched and nobody said anything. We’re doing ourselves and our customers a disservice if we continue to operate like that. Then it’s my job to discern if (1) your palate is shit (2) you don’t know (3) you don’t care or (4) you just don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings. Just get over it. It’s how we all learn. Tell your buddy that he used too much salt and let’s fix it and move on. I expect that if I’m off my game today and something isn’t top notch, that one of my cooks tells me so. I’d respect them more for it. The idea that it’s solely the responsibility of the chef, cdc or sous to make those calls needs to stop. Let’s continue to push each other. It’s everyone’s responsibility.
If you like what you see, please consider hiring me for an in-home dinner or cooking lesson. I run a personal chef business based out of Frederick, MD. Get more information here. Thank you.
Chris Spear
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