Right?!?
Maybe we should all read this and think about it...
Baking Business
and
Decisions
I have had to, over the last few days, sit and reflect back on the last year. This is not one of those nice reminiscences about how I have grown and yadda yadda, that happens around new years, but more one of those, 'this is your yearly managerial evaluation and we want to know what you think' types of projects.
And so,
A year ago, I was the tournant chef in charge of nothing but taking care of the business while the other chefs were off. I had no real home kitchen, no major responsibilities other than to take care of the other chefs (monitor and maintain), and was not feeling the growth. It was what I had signed up for, but not what I wanted.
In April I took over as chef de cuisine at our Italian restaurant. This was quite fulfilling. The work was demanding, the cooks were very qualified, the food was good, etc. I did the first major menu overhaul in several years, modernized the food and the menu itself, recosted everything, was working 12+ hours a day making pasta, curing meats, working the line, expediting, etc...
And then I was pulled in the week after I came back from vacation and was told that the restaurant was being closed.
Bummer.
In September I was reassigned as the AM (read 4am) sous chef in charge of banquets and breakfasts. Good times...not really though.
I have gone through growth and stagnation, great times and pissy attitudes, I have had a good thing dashed and a bad thing pushed. I am in a place I dont like, and yet have to make work. I have been put on action plans, and called out, and had my job threatened, and my performance questioned, and my reputation tarnished, and my motivation quenched.
I look at the situation around me now and wonder now what?
Is it time for a life changing decision? possibly...
The job market is scarce, and no one really will talk to you while you are five thousand mile away...your resume gets dumped to the bottom of the pile. My career with the current company depends on a boss who I dont get along with well, and a GM who only hears from the boss's mouth. I have already been turned down twice for transfers. So now what? Being told that I need to continue to do what I am currently doing and work the political game and opportunities will open up for me is not really a great motivation.
We watched a movie last night with an anti establishment theme set in nineties. Very trendy in those days. But it seemed pretty cheesy and looking back on those days and currently, it seems like jumping on the anti-man band wagon is not all that it is cut out to be. Especially if it looks like you are just doing it and not believing it. I have never really thought of myself as anti-corporate...but I guess i am. But I guess I am also a contradiction happening daily. I dont like the corporate soulless pursuit of profit, but I want to get paid. I dont like the political games, but I want to be respected. I dont like the mass produced food, but I want the 'unlimited' budget. I believe that a corporation has a responsibility to its employees and suppliers...and yet I dont see how I can help make a difference in the monster.
So...the evaluation is there to make yourself look as good as possible...but for what...there are no raises this year...as if there was one last year...there is no near future prospect of transfers...there is no real movement in the sous chef pool. So what does it all come down to?
When is it better to be a cook? And when is it better to be the chef?
If I could chuck it all and pay the bills while doing it, I would go back to being a line cook in a heart beat. So what is stopping me?
Sarah is dealing with her own frustrations about becoming a boss...as we have all had to go through. It is no easy thing...even if you have been doing it for 10 years.
And no I have not been outed...
Baking Business
and
Decisions
I have had to, over the last few days, sit and reflect back on the last year. This is not one of those nice reminiscences about how I have grown and yadda yadda, that happens around new years, but more one of those, 'this is your yearly managerial evaluation and we want to know what you think' types of projects.
And so,
A year ago, I was the tournant chef in charge of nothing but taking care of the business while the other chefs were off. I had no real home kitchen, no major responsibilities other than to take care of the other chefs (monitor and maintain), and was not feeling the growth. It was what I had signed up for, but not what I wanted.
In April I took over as chef de cuisine at our Italian restaurant. This was quite fulfilling. The work was demanding, the cooks were very qualified, the food was good, etc. I did the first major menu overhaul in several years, modernized the food and the menu itself, recosted everything, was working 12+ hours a day making pasta, curing meats, working the line, expediting, etc...
And then I was pulled in the week after I came back from vacation and was told that the restaurant was being closed.
Bummer.
In September I was reassigned as the AM (read 4am) sous chef in charge of banquets and breakfasts. Good times...not really though.
I have gone through growth and stagnation, great times and pissy attitudes, I have had a good thing dashed and a bad thing pushed. I am in a place I dont like, and yet have to make work. I have been put on action plans, and called out, and had my job threatened, and my performance questioned, and my reputation tarnished, and my motivation quenched.
I look at the situation around me now and wonder now what?
Is it time for a life changing decision? possibly...
The job market is scarce, and no one really will talk to you while you are five thousand mile away...your resume gets dumped to the bottom of the pile. My career with the current company depends on a boss who I dont get along with well, and a GM who only hears from the boss's mouth. I have already been turned down twice for transfers. So now what? Being told that I need to continue to do what I am currently doing and work the political game and opportunities will open up for me is not really a great motivation.
We watched a movie last night with an anti establishment theme set in nineties. Very trendy in those days. But it seemed pretty cheesy and looking back on those days and currently, it seems like jumping on the anti-man band wagon is not all that it is cut out to be. Especially if it looks like you are just doing it and not believing it. I have never really thought of myself as anti-corporate...but I guess i am. But I guess I am also a contradiction happening daily. I dont like the corporate soulless pursuit of profit, but I want to get paid. I dont like the political games, but I want to be respected. I dont like the mass produced food, but I want the 'unlimited' budget. I believe that a corporation has a responsibility to its employees and suppliers...and yet I dont see how I can help make a difference in the monster.
So...the evaluation is there to make yourself look as good as possible...but for what...there are no raises this year...as if there was one last year...there is no near future prospect of transfers...there is no real movement in the sous chef pool. So what does it all come down to?
When is it better to be a cook? And when is it better to be the chef?
If I could chuck it all and pay the bills while doing it, I would go back to being a line cook in a heart beat. So what is stopping me?
Sarah is dealing with her own frustrations about becoming a boss...as we have all had to go through. It is no easy thing...even if you have been doing it for 10 years.
And no I have not been outed...
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