10 years in the kitchen. Recently took an expo position at an “upscale” french spot (they are full of themselves and the entire menu is 20-30% more expensive than it should be.) Expo was new to me, but I caught on quick and was doing a good job (or so I thought.)

Over the last 4 months, we haven’t had a bad service outside of the first two services I worked, which was just a clusterfuck of being understaffed, and all of the staff that was on being new.

Last week we had a bad brunch service on sunday. The new chef was working the line, and he looked like it was his first time on the line. He couldn’t remember more than 2 items fired at a time. He asked for an all day 4 times in 10 minutes, during which nothing changed. At one point he yelled at me about not being a mind reader, and I told him that I don’t know what else to do, you have 3 x 2 y 3 z fired, same as 15 minutes ago.

This past sunday service was smooth. Because it was dead. However chef still couldn’t remember shit. 3 items fired and he puts up 2, forgetting the other. And this is what some of his food looked like. I couldn’t get too many pics, but there was some bad stuff. This guy got me fired.

by Reddituser42069

20 Comments

  1. Candid-Mind9021

    I hope you didn’t send those eggs out to a guest.

  2. SuperDeliciousFlavor

    Tbh I was never critical of my chefs like that because I understood early on that there’s chefs that are great leaders, managers and money makers that might not be the most technical. My mentor said it best and it stuck with me: Sometimes the exec chef isn’t a great cook but he knows food and can run a business, in that case he just needs a great sous chef, maybe 2, to have a successful establishment. Some of the greatest trainers and coaches in history were not the best players.

    That being said, the food does look terrible, however you’re 10 year as into the kitchen and are just now Expoing and you said yourself “I think I was doing good” which doesn’t say much lol I’m sure if we were a fly on the wall we’d be like “Ya both these guys suck”

  3. serendipitousevent

    Those eggs aren’t poached, they’re stolen.

  4. Business-Soft2356

    Sorry you got the axe… could be a Chef who prefers to not be expedited by their staff… I am FOH Operations now days. But I know for a fact every EC in my organization would much rather be I’m the pass than on the line. And in the off cluster of a fucked service where they work a station on the line, they 911 me to come expedite. If the Chef was new, they may have not grasped the organizational chart and allowed themselves to have gotten “got”.

  5. 9999steps

    Lmfao, your post history bro… You have been doing this just over a year according to your “I’m in love with my boss” post. GTFO.

  6. ihatetheplaceilive

    As an expo, why are you sending out subpar food? That’s on you.

  7. bananaoldfashioned

    10 years experience and this is your first time on expo? Not impossible… but sus.

    You got fired because of one bad service? Not impossible… but sus.

    Your story seems like it’s missing a lot.

  8. whyyoudeletemereddit

    He yelled at me for not being a mind reader. Surely that’s not why he yelled at you and that’s how you interpreted it so what did he actually yell at you about? It’s more fun getting the actual details rather than how it made you feel.

  9. NotBradPitt90

    OP getting cooked worse than them eggs.

    But in all seriousness that place sounds like it has super high turn around if everyone’s new and hire people who can’t even poach an egg yet expect them to cook $90 steaks. Hopefully you at least got paid properly.

  10. Effective_Aggression

    #2 photo tells the whole story doesn’t it?

  11. BodybuilderDue4035

    That looks horrible 🤢 Most likely u got the boof if you let those dishes out instead of making him make another one hope you get employed soon

  12. Chemical_Estimate_83

    Are those suppose to be poached eggs. Looks like a failed abortion.

  13. Nolubrication

    If you’re expo, you’re responsible for deciding what makes it beyond the pass, no? Did you serve the plates in the photos or did you have them refired and prepared to an acceptable standard?

    For what it’s worth, I did most of my line cooking time with my own ticket machine. I was a decent cook and could pump out some volume while juggling my own tickets, but never got great at memorizing my “all day” when working with an expo. In the one kitchen where I cooked under that system, I was 100% that guy who needed my all-day given to me every minute or two.

    It’s possible your “chef” never had to work under an expo for any length of time. Not all kitchens run that way. But cooking shit food, and serving it for that matter, is a whole separate issue.

  14. Soft-Detective-1514

    Don’t try to fall back on a career in food photography or still life.

  15. Miami_Mice2087

    See all I’m getting from those photos is “eggs bacon yummy” and “oo i haven’t had those fried dough thingies since chichis went out of business!”

  16. super-hot-burna

    Sounds like everybody but you did something wrong.

    I’m sure that’s definitely reality.

  17. kidsaredead

    As someone who worked all day brunch location for 3 years. not even in my first day i wouldn’t plate those eggs.

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