Tylers Bullshit.............

This is going to hit a few topics in this condensed newsletter this week. I’m sure you’re wondering what’s with the title or what is this fool going to blather about this week? Well, there’s a few things I want to touch on that have been making me think a good bit this past week. Something that drives me crazy on multiple fronts from industry professionals to the people that analyze what a chef is and what it is they actually do.

Most of you that know me that read this know that I do not have TV and haven’t since my divorce years ago. Yes, I do have a TV but I do not have a TV subscription with any service or use it for nightly entertainment. A movie or documentary, of course. However, I prefer to read or watch YouTube clips or videos or listen to talk radio and podcasts. That being said, the title of “Tylers Bullshit” comes from a recent movie that i’m sure we all have seen over this past year.

What is “Tylers Bullshit” and why am I writing about such nonsense? Well, let’s get into it and see what you all think. I came across an article the other day that was discussing chefs salaries and cooks wage levels. I had read a few posts from a person wanting to know if it was worth learning how to cook and work their way up in the kitchen hierarchy. Of course there was a lot of positive words, but one struck me as something I have heard and I know most chefs or cooks that have been around the block in kitchens all over have heard before as well. This post said “why should they get paid more? All they do is order food, cook a little and wash dishes.” I have to say, this is the kind of response that makes “Tylers Bullshit” every chef and cooks dream of seeing happen with that kind of comment.

The job itself isn’t easy in the least. It’s physical, it’s long hours, it’s repetition like no other, it’s fast, it’s hot, it’s stressful, it’s argumentative and can be down right demeaning and nasty. On the flip side, it can be one of the most amazing careers you can have. I think everyone should at least spend a year as a server and a year in the back of the house to get an appreciation of what happens when you sit down at your favorite dining establishment and what goes in to what is on your plate if the chef and staff are worth their salt. So to answer the persons stupid comment. Yes, we wash dishes when our dishwasher calls out or is a no show. Along with that we come in early, we order from multiple vendors trying to get the best product for staff to work with, create and execute for you on a nightly basis. We manage anywhere from 4 to 500 staff members depending on the establishment. We do inventory, food costing, labor costing and scheduling. We write menus, do R&D, taste, design, taste, do staff tastings, finalize and produce it for customers. We cook, we cover shifts of call outs and no shows, we go to meetings, we go in early and stay late to prep. We fix the equipment to get by until the repair person shows up mid service. We deal with staff issues good and bad. We deal with alcoholism, drug use, derogatory comments to staff members and at times theft.

This isn’t to make you feel bad for anyone that is a service professional but more of a picture to paint that it’s not just smiling in a picture with a plate of food or a James Beard award or a Michelin star or Forbes or Relais and Chateaux ratings. This is what they deal with every single day. They work 6 to 7 days a week 12 to 16 or more hours a day. We don’t get lunch breaks, we don’t get mandatory 15 min breaks, we don’t get insurance, we don’t get matching 401k plans or large amounts of vacation days and PTO time. It is hard to tell someone that has all of this at their job that this isn’t a thing or offered at a lot of smaller higher end places. Corporate does a lot better but it still has its issues as well. So in essence, the labor of love is a real thing. It’s not about the money even though we would all like to be compensated and not constantly having to struggle. We do it because we want to see people happy. We want to work with the best food products and get the best ingredients and work with the best people so we can in turn push ourselves to be the best version of ourselves. People that run their mouth like this person I read would’t last the week. Their feet would hurt, their body would ache, they would get into a dispute with another cook and get their feelings hurt or just be in a stressful environment with no one to hide behind and all you can do it take it and learn from it.

“Tylers Bullshit” is from the Menu. Basically he is a guy that knows everything, talks the talk and has the swagger. However, give him a pan, fire and ingredients and you get nothing. Not a thing, except excuses, shit performance and a lackluster willingness to learn anything about the craft and what it takes. It’s truly a beautiful piece in that movie! This also leads me to the second part of this writing. What exactly is a Chef?

So, what is the meaning of what a Chef really is to you? Someone that has been to culinary school and worked at a few places? Someone that did it on their own going from place to place and learning as much as possible to develop their palette and own style? Someone that cooks at home? Someone that writes or does a podcast that has book knowledge and nothing else? Do we even really know anymore? It’s thrown around and dragged through the mud and it really should be addressed because it’s more than people really think and sometimes what they think isn’t real at all.

When I started as a kid washing dishes and prepping I wasn’t old enough to give advice or for anyone to even listen to me. I wasn’t old enough is what I heard all the time. Most of the time I was just getting screamed at in French. It was a motivating action to make you work harder, faster, more efficient and get thick skin. When I got into my mid 20s and moving up the ranks, graduating school and working at some great places I still was too young. 30’s came and it still felt like the same thing. 40’s were better but still, not old enough. So, I would always ask myself “when are you considered a chef?” I had the respect but I was young. Does that matter? Do you need to be a 70 year old guy with a tall hat and French flag colors on your cuffs and a neckerchief to be considered a chef?

When I was young and older I questioned everything and everyone. Not because I was arrogant or being a jerk, I just wanted to know why something was being done the way it was. A lot of things just never made sense and the results never really tasted good to me so I always asked why. That was never something that most chefs wanted to deal with. I personally still feel to this day that they didn’t know. That’s how they learned back then and never questioned. Taste, plate ups, theory, it never mattered. It was what it was and that was it.

Nowadays the title is what people want. It brings more money but also brings the shitstorm of responsibility. People with the title that can’t break down a fish, bone out a leg of venison or French rack of lamb. Make a proper stock, season properly, have no interest in pastry because someone else can do it or you can buy it pre made. They have the chef title. Is that a chef? What about the person that is in front of people and loves talking the talk and rubbing elbows? Their kitchen teams suffer from resentment when they are the ones making it happen and the one leading isn’t there. Is that a chef? What about the person that cooks at home and tells everyone they are a chef because they know. They are an accountant but they know food and do it better than anyone and know the lingo. Are they a chef? What about the people coming out of culinary school that go into their first year as a commis chef . They call each other chef. Are they chefs?

I don’t see people doing that with other professions. If I fix the kitchen suite during service to muddle through, waiting for a service tech to come fix it or change the belt after it snaps on the hood vent am I an HVAC tech? If I do my own taxes for myself or my business, am I an accountant? If change the oil in my truck am I a mechanic? Are you seeing what i’m saying here? Sounds pretty stupid doesn’t it. So why do people feel the need to be that way to hospitality people. You haven’t put the work in. You haven’t had the privilege to be screamed at so close, spit covers your glasses while you’re trying to complete a service. You haven’t had to come in at 10 am and work until 3 am only to be back in at 6 or 7am to get brunch rolling and then do a dinner service right after and then have to start inventory. Don’t tell me you know because you don’t know what that feels like and you never will.

So in closing what is a chef? You know, to be honest I don really know. I don’t consider myself one. I have earned that title and done the work. However, I still consider myself a student and forever will. I have no embroidery on my jacket. I once read Marco Pierre White said he didn't do that either. We are all cooks. That always made good sense to me. Most will disagree with me and that’s ok. I have my personal feelings on this topic but I still will never fully know at what age, what skillset, what temperament, what demeanor, and what style make you a chef. But what I do know is that I want each and every person that isn’t in the industry to think about all of this. Hospitality people work very hard to provide a service and most times it’s taken for granted. Taken for granted by “Tylers Bullshit” and that should just never be the case!

Scott (The Traveling Ungulate)