I have
been a bus boy at a very prestigious restaurant, LeBaron Hills, for roughly 3
years now. I have a pretty good understanding of how food is prepared, and of
who prepares it. In all the movies and shows on TV, the cooks are presented as
mean angry people who yell at everyone for the simplest of mistakes. However this
is not really the case, the cooks I work with are always happy and fooling
around. They do get angry sometimes, but for the most part they are happy-go-lucky.
Cooks in real life are nothing like those depicted in movies and TV shows.
One
example of the cooks not being mean jerks was when all the waitresses were on
their break smoking cigarettes outside, and the head chef snuck out side and
scared them all. He had it all plan out too. When I showed up for work the
first thing the chef said was “we’re gonna prank the waitresses tonight!” I thought
he was just saying that but as the night progressed I overheard bits and pieces
of his plan to scare them. He was going to “the bathroom” right before their
break, but he was actually going to go hide outside and wait for them. He told
everyone except for the waitresses his plan besides the waitresses, so everyone
knew what was going to happen but them. Needless to say his plan worked
flawlessly, and he got them pretty good. This is just an example to show how
not all chefs are up tight and mean.
On some
occasions though, the cooks can get a bit mean and edgy. For example, one night
the restaurant was extremely busy. Every table was full, and there were people
waiting to be seated. So the cooks were working extra had to keep up with all
the orders, but the waitresses were slacking and food was backing up in the
window, which is where the cooked food is place for the waitresses to pick up,
so the cooks had no place to put the cooked food. At first It didn’t really
bother the cooks but then as the waitresses took longer and longer and started
to not pay attention, the cooks got angrier. While I was cleaning off a tray
off dirty plates the cooks yelled at me to carry trays of food out to people,
even though it is not my job. When I dropped off the food the waitresses rush
back to get the rest of the food and I went into the kitchen to help out. All the
cooks were screaming at the waitresses and swearing and slamming things. They were
so mad, and the waitresses were firing right back with insults. They were
mostly just swearing at each other. It was a very busy night and the waitresses
were slacking, so it is understandable the cooks got mad. It was a rare
occasion for the cooks to get mad, that was one of the few times I've ever seen
them mad.
The cooks
like to have fun while they work. There was one time the cooks and the dish
washers had a little mini food fight. It started when a dish washer was texting
while I was cleaning off a tray of dirty dishes and the cook working the salad
stations saw this and he threw a cherry tomato at him. The dishwasher then
threw a piece of food, which was on one of the plates I was cleaning, at the
cook and then it was on! The cooks just unloaded in the dishwashers. The dishwashers
had the disadvantage of being out numbered 2 to 6 and they didn’t have food to
throw besides what was left on my tray. So they just got buried in food the
cooks were throwing lettuce and tomatoes at the dishwashers, and I got hit a
couple of times by accident, but it was all in fun. Everyone was laughing and
having a good time. It only lasted about 30 seconds but it just shows that
cooks aren’t always uptight, and that they know how to have fun even while at
work.
When cooks
are shown on TV they are always made out to be mean, but that is clearly not
the case. From my experiences I would say the exact opposite of that; they are
funny and easy going for the most part. However, they do have their moments of
being mean but everyone gets mean once in a while. They are over all very nice and
fun to be around.
