Controlled Chaos

Problem solving is 95% of our jobs as chefs. Writing the menu is the easy part. Hiring the cooks is the easy part. Checking our email is the easy part.

Then there is the staff training, the dealing with a dozen farmers and specialty purveyors, and the obscure email conversations that tend to spin the information into an almost new language. During a busy service things can become very confused very fast. All the prep work and the shared information can suddenly become this cloud of convoluted kitchen nonsense. It is in those moments that we put all of our cunning to the test. We have to untie the knots. We have to restring the instruments mid solo. We have to put out the fires before they become wild.

When problems happen the easiest thing to do (usually our first reaction) is to get frustrated. I say things like, "Really?...really?...wow." Then I start blinking a lot. Then more often than not, split decisions are made and the problems go away. I wish I could skip past the frustration every time. Last week I observed my Chef problem solving the shit out of a Sunday lunch/brunch service. We ended that service with 310 covers and $12,000 in sales. I noticed very little frustration, and believe me he had plenty to get frustrated about. Instead he deflected problems back on their source or in the general direction of the lunch cooks, which I have to say is quite entertaining to the rest of us prepping for dinner service.

Solving problems in a busy restaurant requires creativity. It requires knowing when to rely on instinct and when to trust your sources. It requires gathering as much information available in the shortest amount of time and getting the problem solved and out of the way before the next one happens.

As chefs we solve so many problems in a day, half the time we can't even remember what exactly it is we are bitching about. :)