Latest / Chef's PSA Podcast / If You Compromise Your Standards You Fail Ep. 81

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If You Compromise Your Standards You Fail Ep. 81 · Chef's PSA Podcast

• 0:00
  Hello Chefs, This is Chefs PSA Podcast.
• 0:02
  I'm your host, Andre Natera. On today's episode, we're going
• 0:05
  to talk about compromising standards and how it's a
• 0:07
  slippery slope to having none. Stay tuned.
• 0:22
  This episode of Chef's PSA is sponsored by J&R Grills and
• 0:25
  Smokers. Many of you have heard of J&R
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  smokers and grills that typically last for decades.
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  I've had the pleasure of using them for over 5 years at one of
• 0:32
  the top restaurants in Austin. They're beautiful.
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  They gave me the control over technique and the smoke infused
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  flavors I wanted. I'm thrilled to have J&R as a
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  J&R, they'll stand with you. They've always stood with me.
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  Go to jrmanufacturing.com to learn more.
• 0:57
  Before we get started, here's a brief update I mentioned on the
• 0:59
  last episode. I finished writing the book The
• 1:02
  50 Most Important Chef's PSA's. Think of it as a continuation to
• 1:07
  the Line Cook survival Manual and How Not to Be the Biggest
• 1:10
  Idiot in the Kitchen. There's some crossover with both
• 1:12
  of those books. It's done.
• 1:14
  It's free. You can find the link in the
• 1:16
  show notes. Go get it.
• 1:18
  If you've enjoyed the other books, I think you'll enjoy this
• 1:20
  one. It's along the same lines, and
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  it's a good starting point. If you don't have any standards
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  for your new cooks, boom there, I wrote them for you.
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  I could say all the things that you want to say that you can't,
• 1:28
  so you're welcome. If you want to support the show,
• 1:31
  make sure you leave five stars, subscribe on YouTube, hit the
• 1:34
  thumbs up button, share with a friend.
• 1:36
  And by the way, I got to tell you, I'm a little annoyed.
• 1:38
  I had a perfect five star rating and now I'm down to a 4.9 on
• 1:42
  Spotify. I just hit 505 stars.
• 1:45
  Or I should say there's a four in there somewhere.
• 1:48
  But thank you all, I appreciate the support.
• 1:51
  If you want to get the books, go to chefspsa.com, you get the
• 1:54
  books, the merch, you get this at Happy Chef.
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  But we digress on with the show. One of the biggest challenges I
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  see people, executive chefs, chefs reaching out to me is how
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  do they maintain the standards in their kitchen.
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  It seems to be the most frequent thing.
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  I'm asked, especially by executive chefs or sous chefs,
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  how do I deal with all this chaos that I'm experiencing and
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  people not respecting me or my standards in the kitchen?
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  And I can tell you from experience, having standards is
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  not a bad thing and it's become a little bit trendy.
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  I've noticed, at least in conversations I've had with
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  other chefs, because I've noticed this kind of freestyle,
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  free for all, kitchen management style for the recipes change.
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  There's no specific set way on how to do things.
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  Everyone marches to the beater of their own drum.
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  Someone who worked at one restaurant does it this way.
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  Someone who worked at another restaurant does it this way.
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  They showed me in culinary school.
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  I'm going to do it this way, but when you have no standards, what
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  I notice is that people default to the path of least resistance.
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  No one ever says let me make my job a little bit harder because
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  I want it to be just a little bit more perfect, a little more
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  swaynier. The default setting on most
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  people is to make it easier. They want to make it easier on
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  them, which doesn't necessarily mean better for you or your
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  guest. When I was a young executive
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  chef, I loved being liked by everyone in the kitchen.
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  I wanted to be everyone's favorite.
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  I was a young chef. I wanted to cook good food.
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  I could throw down in the kitchen and create beautiful
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  things, and I wanted everyone to like me.
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  And I had this freestyle cooking approach where I would execute
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  all the very difficult food, but I wouldn't really show anyone
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  how to do it because I thought it would be too difficult to
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  train them. So I took on the majority of the
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  work. One day I created this dish.
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  I don't remember what it was, but it was complicated and it
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  was only for about 30 people. At the same time, I had a
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  catering for about 800 people. My boss came up to me and said,
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  hey, who's going to execute this dish?
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  It seems very complicated. The one for 20 people.
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  I said, well, I'm going to do it.
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  And he says, why are you going to do it so well?
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  Because no one else here knows how to do this level of food.
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  And he said, don't you think that it's more important for the
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  head chef to be making sure the big party goes well?
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  And I argued that no one knew how to do this fancy dish that I
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  had created and I needed to be there for the 20.
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  And my boss, you know, he was a former chef.
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  He comes up to me and he gets really close.
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  And he says, you're not in the little leagues anymore.
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  I pay you to be the chef, not to be a cook, he says.
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  You need to be at the big party and you need to teach someone
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  how to do the other one. It was a lesson that I learned
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  because I wanted to own everything.
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  I didn't want anyone to learn anything.
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  I didn't want to take the time to invest in people, to train
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  them to become better. I didn't really also have any
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  standards. I had standards for myself that
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  I wouldn't show anyone. Later on.
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  Fast forward a bit. In my career, the kitchens where
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  I had no standards, even though I could cook very well, I was
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  not successful. My most success that I've ever
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  achieved in a kitchen was the place where I had the most
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  amount of standards. It was kind of the embryonic
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  stages of chef's PSA because it was everything.
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  Fold your towels, cut your tape, set your cutting board up like
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  this Label has to go exactly right here on that line under
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  the deli cup. Make sure everything is covered
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  in the lined and straight. Only scrub the tables using a
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  back and forth motion. Then squeegee was a method of
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  hierarchy on how I wanted everyone to clean language.
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  We used Call back Chef Loud. There were so many standards.
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  This is how we fillet the salmon.
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  This is how we fillet the fish. This is how we sear the fish.
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  The brine is exactly this. Purees are done exactly this
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  way. No boxes on the tables, no boxes
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  in the kitchen. So many standards were
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  introduced and the cooks loved it.
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  Initially I thought that I'd get a lot of pushback, but the more
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  standards I introduced, the more they enjoyed working.
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  There it was identifying the rules to the game.
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  If you have two people playing a game, let's say they're playing
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  chess, but you say it's a free for all you can play however you
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  want. No one's going to know how to
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  win. But once you identify what the
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  rules are to the game, then the game is beatable.
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  The game is winnable. The same thing applies in the
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  kitchen. When cooks and chefs know
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  exactly what the expectations are, the expectations are clear.
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  They know how to succeed in the kitchen, they know the path to
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  promotion, they know what's expected of them when they
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  arrive at work, and they know they're going to be held
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  accountable when things are done that are counter to the culture
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  in the workplace standards. And I say this often, how you
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  work when no one is watching is even more important than how you
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  work when people are watching. When the chef is in the room,
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  everyone buttons up. Everyone works a little
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  different. But when the chef leaves,
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  everyone operates a little different.
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  Maybe the radio comes on, maybe the Magic Chef juice comes out
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  and the food gets better. Anyway, we digress.
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  When I was a young cook, I was a sous chef and the line got
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  smashed rail full of tickets. Chaos.
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  Busy servers are running around pouring gasoline on themselves,
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  lighting themselves on fire, and I needed to pump the food out
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  and I had to do this dessert and I don't even remember what I
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  did, but I know I didn't do it to standard.
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  It was just for me at that point.
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  It was just like, sell the food, get it out, customers need to
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  eat. And I deliberately compromised
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  the quality and deviated from the standard.
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  Now my chef saw me, saw me out of the corner of his eyes and he
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  walked up to me and he says you're better than that.
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  I'm disappointed and I'll never forget that.
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  It was one of those moments where he didn't yell at me, he
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  didn't embarrass me, he didn't scream.
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  Just the simple fact that he said I'm disappointed and you're
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  better than that. My heart sunk because he was
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  right. I knew I was breaking standard
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  and I thought no would see and that was an important lesson for
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  me. And it's important that you have
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  someone on your team that is also holding you accountable,
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  because if you're the rule maker, you can't operate as
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  Caesar is above the law. A rule, for one, is a rule for
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  none. Meaning if you're the chef and
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  you're allowed to do this, but the cooks are not allowed to do
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  that, what do you think happens as soon as you leave?
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  If you say no one's allowed to eat the steak, and then you go
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  and eat a steak, guess what happens?
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  And you say no one's allowed to eat the steak As soon as you
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  leave, They're all eating steak. They're probably making more
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  than just steaks, right? Because the standard that you
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  display is what the standard is. And if you, as the chef cannot
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  follow that standard, then it shouldn't be a standard.
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  Because I promise you, they're all watching.
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  And not only are they watching, but as soon as you step out the
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  room, there's they're talking about it.
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  They're talking about you behind your back and saying they tell
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  us to do this, meanwhile they go do it.
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  How? How do they expect us to do
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  that? When I see them do it?
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  It's a double standard. It cannot exist.
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  So when you're going to implement standards, those
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  standards cannot be compromised and they can't be compromised
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  when it's busy and they can't be compromised when it's slow.
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  And they can't be compromised when they're you're short
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  staffed because the 2nd that you start making exceptions is the
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  2nd that the lines get blurred and people don't know, well, is
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  that really a standard or is that only a standard?
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  When right? When are the exceptions to the
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  rule? Now if you're going to have an
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  exception to the rule, I think it's important that you clearly
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  outline what those exceptions are.
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  So people don't say, well, you did it last time.
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  Well, I did it last time because, and here's why it's the
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  exception to the rule. Because if you don't articulate
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  that, and if that's not written down and if people don't
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  understand, then it's a very slippery slope.
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  Because there will be drift on the standard and you'll stop
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  paying attention to it and you'll stop following up.
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  Because as the chef, you get busy and you forgot about it and
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  then you come back and you notice what was the standard no
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  longer resembles it at all. It's now drifted and you got to
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  pull it back in. Don't make it a standard if you
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  can't hold yourself and your team accountable to it.
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  Also, don't make standards that are not realistic.
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  We all have lofty goals and we all want to be perfect.
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  But if you can't introduce standards that everyone could
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  do, there's no point in introducing them.
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  Wait. Wait till you get better.
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  Wait till you get the resources that you need to make sure it is
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  a standard. Because the more you compromise,
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  the more people push. And if you're a chef leader,
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  people love to test you and people love to push.
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  And their little push is at the beginning, They're just going to
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  do this and they're going to say, oh, chef didn't say
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  anything, I'm going to push a little further.
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  And if they know that they pushed you and you didn't say
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  anything, they're going to move the line a little further and a
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  little further and a little further.
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  And before you know it, you're standing on the edge of chaos.
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  And it's very difficult to come back from that because at that
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  point, people realize there's no standards, it's chaos.
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  They know there's also no consequences and you're not
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  going to hold them accountable. And when it's chaos and there's
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  no accountability, as they say, the fish stinks from the head.
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  You're the chef. You're accountable.
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  You have to answer for it. You have to answer for
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  everybody. That's one of the things that
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  people don't fully think about as the chef.
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  You didn't do it, they did it. But you're responsible.
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  You have responsibility and authority for the people that
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  work under you. So if you're not holding them
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  accountable, then you're condoning the behavior.
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  It's a tough leadership lesson to learn as a chef.
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  You have to almost stay on fire all the time.
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  You have to have a Hawkeye, You have to notice every single
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  detail. You have to be inspecting the
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  standards until they become autopilot for everybody.
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  And when the standards do become the automatic default setting,
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  that's when you really have greatness in your kitchen.
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  When people know that this is the way it is and they don't
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  have to be reminded. But it's not easy, as Danny
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  Meyer says, in setting the table constant gentle pressure, it's
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  constant little adjustments. Adjusting this, making sure the
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  chives are cut like that. The brunois is perfect.
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  The sear is this way, maybe a little too much oil in the pan,
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  maybe it was too hot. You got to turn it down.
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  That fancy little knob, that magic little thing that can
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  adjust the heat. Learn how to use it.
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  But constantly tweaking and refining and making sure that
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  people are able to execute your vision and your standard, it's
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  your responsibility. It's not their responsibility if
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  you're not holding them accountable.
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  If you're not holding them accountable, they're not
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  responsible for it. So you have to inspect what you
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  expect and also expect what you expect.
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  And when it's not done, you have to correct it.
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  And I'm not talking about blowing up and getting mad at
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  everyone. I'm talking about just simply
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  going up and saying, hey, this is how we do it.
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  Let me explain to you why, which is also a critical learning when
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  trying to implement standards. You can't just say do this
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  because I said so. There has to be a why behind it.
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  People learn with the why. I want you to fold your towels.
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  Why do I need to fold my towel? Because if you don't fold your
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  towels and you use it, once it's dirty it's soiled.
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  You only get three towels of service and by folding them your
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  station stays tidy. You learn to work clean and you
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  get an exponential amount of uses out of it.
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  Boom. Now I understand the why.
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  Now I will believe in it. Why do you cut the tape short?
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  Well, because if you use a tape that's that long versus tape
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  that's that long. If it's five times the length,
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  it's also five times the cost. That's why you cut it short,
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  because everything is important in the kitchen.
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  The decisions can't be arbitrary.
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  There has to be a reasoning why behind it.
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  Now, I'm not saying that decisions won't be arbitrary.
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  There's going to be a couple that you say.
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  I just like it that way. Why do we do that?
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  Both? Because Chef just likes it that
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  way. It's not necessarily the best
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  reason, but it does happen. And if it does happen and you
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  need to explain, This is why I like it that way.
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  It's personal preference. And explain to them that it is,
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  It is your personal preference. At least be transparent about
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  why it is what it is, because they're going to say it anyway
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  behind your back. It's better that they know the
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  truth and you're able to admit it, and they could most likely
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  get behind that. There's going to come a time
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  when your standards have drifted and you got to get them back on
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  track, or you're coming into a new kitchen and you got to get
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  them back on track. It's important to be upfront,
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  transparent, and clearly outline what the standards are.
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  But it starts with you, It starts with you holding yourself
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  accountable, and then you hold one person accountable and you
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  tell them you need to hold that person accountable.
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  And little by little, that accountability starts to spread.
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  I like to take an approach when talking to a group.
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  I implement the standards with as much people, so everyone
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  could hear it because there's nothing worse than just telling
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  one person what the new standard is and they don't tell anyone
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  else. And they're saying, well, Chef
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  said, well, chef didn't tell me. Did chef really say that or are
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  you saying that and there's a little bit of friction between
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  the two line level chefs. Is it true?
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  Did you really say that as the chef, I don't know, put yourself
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  in their shoes. It's going to lead to more
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  confusion. It's better to be direct
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  upfront. If you could document it, great.
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  Make sure you outline exactly what all the standards are, and
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  one of the last things I'll say is when a standard is not
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  working, it's OK to say you know what, that's no longer a
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  standard. We've changed our mind on it.
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  As they say, as the information changes or your experience with
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  things change, you're allowed to change your mind.
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  Don't get so dug in that something's a standard that
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  you're not open to. New ways, more efficient and
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  better ways to do things often. Joke around, no cares how you
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  did your last job or school or whatever, But the truth of the
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  matter is, is you're going to work with people that have good
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  ideas that have come from other restaurants or other kitchens.
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  And maybe they don't need to say it on the first day, but maybe
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  you need to pick people's brains also and say how did you do
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  that? How did they do it there?
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  Do you know of a more efficient way When someone comes to you
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  and says, I have a more efficient way to do that, You
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  need to make sure as the chef you're creating an environment
• 14:55
  where people feel confident enough to bring up new ideas.
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  Because that's how you're going to innovate.
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  If you're in an environment that you've created where people are
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  not comfortable bringing up new ideas and then you are the sole
• 15:07
  generator of ideas. And as I like to say, one of us
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  is not better than all of us. Force multiplier, if you're
• 15:14
  leveraging your entire team and the knowledge of everyone on the
• 15:17
  team. So don't be afraid to change the
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  standard. I talked about earlier how I was
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  most successful where I had the most amount of standards.
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  And all those standards came from a group of different chefs
• 15:28
  that all had different backgrounds.
• 15:29
  We all got together in A room and we said we need to open up
• 15:33
  something great and we wanted to be special and we wanted to be
• 15:35
  memorable and we want to have the best cooks.
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  How do we do that? Everyone had different
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  backgrounds from different restaurants.
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  Some were coming from restaurants at the World's Fifty
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  Best Michelin 3 star restaurants, one star
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  restaurants, or some were just from the good local restaurant.
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  Now, me being the chef, I had to be the decider of what the
• 15:54
  standard was going to be. So two people may have had
• 15:57
  differing opinions on what the standard should have been.
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  I had to exercise my 51% of the vote as the chef and say you
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  know what? I've heard you both it's going
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  to be a combination or it's going to be neither.
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  It's going to be mine or you know what, I like this one.
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  We're going to go with that. And as I was selecting the
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  standard, it was also important for me to know that that is a
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  realistic standard for my kitchen because I didn't want to
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  implement standards that were not realistic for the team, for
• 16:22
  the skill level, for the amount of people that were managing or
• 16:24
  for the food that we were doing. You have to do some self
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  analysis and introspection to make sure that you're not
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  putting yourself in a situation where you have so many
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  standards. It prevents you from having a
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  successful service balancing act.
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  You're walking the razor's edge in order to become a great chef.
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  That's what people don't understand.
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  I get a lot of questions. It's like, what's the right way
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  to do this? Like there is no right way.
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  There's not a perfect answer for everything because what works in
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  one kitchen doesn't necessarily work in another.
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  It's not always a cookbook answer.
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  Where the recipe always works, it ain't where you from, it's
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  where you at anyway. Compromising your standards is a
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  slippery slope to having none. Don't compromise on your
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  standards. Stay strong.
• 17:04
  If you want to support the show, you know what to do.
• 17:06
  Make sure you leave five stars. Nothing less than five stars.
• 17:08
  Subscribe. Like the video.
• 17:10
  Share the video. Go to chefspsa.com.
• 17:13
  You get the books, the merch. I appreciate it.
• 17:15
  See you next week. Hit the porno music.